The term debt relief agency appears in a legal context for the first time in bankruptcy law in the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 [The Act]. The first chapter of this new bankruptcy reform law can be found at Title 11 U.S.C. 101. This is the General Provisions chapter and it [...]
united states bankruptcy law
We all know that individual tax returns are due on April 15 (or a day or two later if April 15 is on a weekend). But Congress inserted a little tax time craziness into sections 1308 and 1307 of the new and drastically unimproved Bankruptcy Code of 2005. Section 1308(a) states: (a) Not later than [...]
Bankruptcy! I don’t want to file bankruptcy! Hey, if you do want to file, there is something wrong with you. But you want to keep your house? Avoid foreclosure? Which option hurts more: losing your home, or, filing bankruptcy? We humans make decisions based on our emotions: we shy away (or run, if you are [...]
I wrote about attorney fees as a means test deduction some time ago. BAPCPA’s provision, codified at section 707(a)(2)(A)(iv) of the Bankruptcy Code, says that priority claims are deducted from income. Priority claims include a Chapter 13 debtor’s counsel’s fees. See sections 507(2), 503(b)(2), and 330(a)(4)(B). Therefore, our attorney fees are a means test deduction. Oddly, the [...]
Colleague Dana Wilkinson calls it “foreclosure limbo.” You made the difficult decision, accepted reality, you cannot pay your debts, and, even filing bankruptcy, cannot keep your condo. Or, like one of my clients, the condo you bought for your son’s family, which they could no longer pay. Whether in a Chapter 13 bankruptcy, or Chapter [...]
The Bankruptcy Code mandates that the debtor take a credit counseling course within 180 days prior to filing bankruptcy. The course is one of the many useless hoops debtors must jump through prior to filing their bankruptcy petition. If you really want to avoid bankruptcy, this “course” is not helpful I, like any other [...]
