Debt buyers and debt collectors seem to prefer going to bankruptcy court instead of federal district court when they break the rules.  At least that seems to be the lesson from their litigation strategy.
If you filed bankruptcy, scheduled a debt, and received a discharge of it, you have a right to count on the debt [...]

Banks and credit unions love to have automatic payroll deductions from their customers.  It helps them guarantee as long as you work, you pay them.  What happens when you file bankruptcy?
The bank or credit union should think twice about continuing to “accept” these payroll deductions.  That’s the lesson from a recent Eighth Circuit Bankruptcy Appellate [...]

Using revocable living trusts to avoid probate has become more popular recently.  But the impact of such trusts in bankruptcy makes some relatively simple cases much more complex – especially in states that recognize tenancy by the entirety.
A tenancy by the entirety (TBE) is an ancient way of owning property between a married couple.  In [...]

The current recession is sending a lot of large companies into bankruptcy, and a lot of employees are affected.  If you have a claim of some kind against a bankrupt employer, you have more hoops to jump through.
The most important thing to be aware of is the automatic stay.  When a person or a company [...]

Banks want to have it both ways and apparently they don’t see anything wrong with that.
Many banks have received cash-infusions from the federal government’s Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) in the form of cheap loans.  As part of the deal, the banks agreed to grant the government warrants which could be redeemed for stock in [...]

A large portion of existing credit cards carry some sort of perk for borrowers, like cashback or frequent flier miles.  Did you notice that those are often taken away if you go into default?
If you are getting close to defaulting on your credit cards, you have bigger problems then worrying over your cashback bonus or [...]

Bankruptcy law allows a trustee to recover payments made to creditors on the eve of bankruptcy, even if the payment was made with borrowed money the debtor never touched, according to the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals.
The situation is very typical.  A consumer carrying too much debt gets an offer to transfer balances from one [...]

Banks had to write off as uncollectible over 6% of their credit card balances in the last three months of 2008.  If this is what “nearing the end of a recession” looks like, let’s hope it ends soon.
We have reported here about the banks (and American Express) cutting credit lines to reduce their exposure to [...]

More bankruptcy courts are demanding mortgage servicers prove they are entitled to collect on a mortgage loan note before foreclosing.  The fight over standing to appear in court runs deeper than technicalities and tactics to stall a lender.  It is a matter of fundamental rights.
A Missouri state appellate court recently joined the chorus of tribunals [...]

No one can say the government lacks a sense of humor.  A sense of production values or a decent budget, sure.  But they do sometimes go for the funny.
This week the Federal Trade Commission released a video parody of the popular FreeCreditReport.com musical commercials.
You can see the video here (too large to upload to the [...]