debt

The Truth About Lease Reaffirmation

by Kurt O'Keefe, Attorney at Law

    Leases are their own animal under the bankruptcy code. They are neither secured debt, nor unsecured debt. They get their very own schedule, schedule G. And the Bankruptcy Code provides that leases can be assumed or rejected. Rejection, as you might have guessed, means nope, not interested, take your leased property back, don’t [...]

The Modern Rules Of Student Loan Deferment

by Kurt O'Keefe, Attorney at Law

Attorneys from the Department of Justicethe Department of Justice presented a program on student loan debt. The presenters were government attorneys who fight discharge of student loans in bankruptcy cases, but, they presented lots of information on other ways to deal with repayment. Contact the ombudsman! was a recurrent theme. The Federal Student Aid Office [...]

No Money, Now What? Part 4

by Eugene S. Melchionne, Connecticut Bankruptcy Lawyer

You have no money – or so you think.  You’ve looked at your goals and figured out your net worth.  When the budget is calculated and values are determined, you see that you do have something to lose.  Well, don’t just sit there – do something! The conclusion most people reach at this point is [...]

Payday Loans, or Loan Sharks?

by Kurt O'Keefe, Attorney at Law

As banks go back to having lending standards, they turn down more borrowers. A new industry has sprouted in between traditional lender, like banks and finance companies, and traditional loan sharks like HBO’s Tony Soprano. They call themselves payday lenders. Some states, unfortunately not Michigan, have outlawed these parasites. Payday lenders charge effective annual interest [...]

Bankruptcy, Balance Sheets, and Fred

by Russell A. DeMott, Charleston Bankruptcy Lawyer

Filing bankruptcy if you have an interest in a corporation or a limited liability company requires some extra work for you and your bankruptcy lawyer.  Preparing an accurate balance sheet listing the company’s assets and debts is a critically important part of this process. As we’ve written before, just because you file bankruptcy doesn’t mean [...]

No money, Now What? Part 3

by Eugene S. Melchionne, Connecticut Bankruptcy Lawyer

So you have no money.  You”ve come to that realization.  You’ve sat down and figured out your goals – you know where you want to go.  So, what now?  If you have nothing to lose, then you have nothing to lose by doing nothing. A valid option that can apply to some people is to [...]