By Scott Riddle Posted in Bankruptcy Basics,Chapter 7In this Blog, we have discussed Reaffirmation Agreements and the reasons why lawyers will almost never recommend reaffirming home loans. However, people who have gone through a Chapter 7 case and wisely chose to not reaffirm their home loan are being told by their lender years later that they cannot modify or refinance their loan… Continue Reading
By Scott Riddle Posted in Bankruptcy Basics,Chapter 13,Chapter 7Household size is an important factor in many consumer Bankruptcy cases. Most importantly, the Means Test figures are based on the size of the household so it is important in determining eligibility for Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 and in calculating disposable income to be paid in the Chapter 13 plan. It is also relevant… Continue Reading
By Scott Riddle Posted in Bankruptcy Basics,Chapter 13,Chapter 7One of the requirements of filing a Bankruptcy case is completing the Schedules honestly and completely. It is perfectly fine to unintentionally leave something out as long as the Schedules are amended. One of the most common items left off Schedule B (personal property) is claims or lawsuits that the person filing for Bankruptcy has… Continue Reading
By Scott Riddle Posted in Bankruptcy Basics,Chapter 7As discussed in more detail in other posts, to qualify for a Chapter 7 case most people have to “pass” the Means Test, which is based on your income for the six month period before filing. It is normally a straightforward calculation – add up all income you have received in the last six months… Continue Reading
By Scott Riddle Posted in Bankruptcy Basics,Chapter 11,Chapter 13,Chapter 7Throughout this blog, and most other Bankruptcy blogs and sites, we use the term “Bankruptcy Estate” (or just “Estate”), but what exactly is this “Estate?” In basic term, the Estate is created when a Bankruptcy petition is filed, and it includes all the property of the debtor that an be “administered” by the Trustee as… Continue Reading
By Scott Riddle Posted in Chapter 13,Chapter 7It is not uncommon for people who file for Bankruptcy to receive an inheritance either during their Bankruptcy case or shortly after their case is over. Is the inheritance part of the Bankruptcy estate and can the Trustee take the inheritance? In either a Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 case, if your relative passed away… Continue Reading
By Scott Riddle Posted in Chapter 11,Chapter 13,Chapter 7This time of year many people are checking the mail box (or bank accounts if they choose direct deposit) for their tax refunds. Many people are counting on the “extra” money to catch up on a bill or get some repairs done to the car. For people who have filed for Bankruptcy, or are thinking… Continue Reading
By Scott Riddle Posted in Chapter 11,Chapter 13,Chapter 7As this post is written, many people have either recently filed their tax returns or are getting ready to file by the April 15 deadline. While most of us are not happy happy happy this time of year, for some people it is a reminder of their lingering tax debt from prior years. A common… Continue Reading
By Scott Riddle Posted in Chapter 7Although this and virtually all other consumer Bankruptcy blogs discuss Bankruptcy cases that are voluntarily filed by individuals, occasionally someone asks whether they can be forced into Bankruptcy by a creditor or another party. The answer is yes, it is theoretically possible, but very rare in practice. The process is called an “Involuntary Bankruptcy Petition”… Continue Reading
By Scott Riddle Posted in Bankruptcy Basics,Chapter 13,Chapter 7Since we are Bankruptcy lawyers, with many years of experience, we see firsthand the dangers and hazards of trying to file a case without a lawyer. On a daily basis, people on legal forums like AVVO and Lawguru post questions about getting out of trouble they have gotten themselves into by not hiring a good… Continue Reading
By Scott Riddle Posted in Bankruptcy Basics,Chapter 7A Health Savings Account is a bank account set up by individuals that allows them to save money for medical expenses (including high deductibles). They were created in 2003, and allow people to make tax deductible contributions to the HSA and then spend the money on certain health related expenses. They have become popular since… Continue Reading
By Scott Riddle Posted in Bankruptcy Basics,Chapter 13,Chapter 7I recently came across an article listing fifteen shocking facts about student loans in the United States. You can access the article by clicking here, but fair warning that it is one of those pictorial lists that have taken over the interwebs these days. I will not copy the entire list, but here are the… Continue Reading
By Scott Riddle Posted in Chapter 13Yes, it is possible to have too much debt for Chapter 13 but those are unusual cases. Unlike Chapter 7 cases, with no limit on the debt that can be discharged, Chapter 13 does have limits. Congress thought the process may be too cumbersome if an individual comes in with too much debt and they… Continue Reading
By Scott Riddle Posted in Bankruptcy Basics,Chapter 7Lawyers who have been in the Bankruptcy field for any length of time have come across people who either want to try to hide assets in their Bankruptcy case, or who have been caught doing so. We occasionally are asked by potential clients how to shield or hide assets from the Trustee or creditors (a… Continue Reading
By Scott Riddle Posted in Bankruptcy Basics,Chapter 13,Chapter 7,Debt Collection & ForeclosureMany Bankruptcy cases in Georgia, and other states, are filed to stop a foreclosure of the family home. They are not filed only because of the foreclosure, but the realization that the family home is about to be lost is usually the final straw after a period of financial problems. It is certainly understandable that… Continue Reading
By Scott Riddle Posted in Bankruptcy Basics,Chapter 13,Chapter 7,Debt Collection & Foreclosure“Emergency” Bankruptcy cases or petitions, and “skeletal” petitions, are terms that are used fairly often in the Bankruptcy world and you may come across the terms in various websites (such as this one). The terms are related, but have different meanings. An “emergency” Bankruptcy case is, as the name implies, a Bankruptcy case that has… Continue Reading
By Scott Riddle Posted in Chapter 13,Chapter 7Homeowners in Bankruptcy typically understand their obligations as far as the home loans go. In a Chapter 7, they typically keep the home and continue making payments, give up the house and get a discharge of the debt or, in rare cases, reaffirm the debt and continue living in the home. These same options are… Continue Reading
By Scott Riddle Posted in Bankruptcy Basics,Chapter 13,Chapter 7The purpose of this Blog is to provide basic, easy to read, and hopefully easy to understand, information about Bankruptcy for individuals and small businesses. If you reached this page because you are facing financial problems and exploring Bankruptcy, we hope we can help you a little. You may have a specific question, and maybe… Continue Reading
By Scott Riddle Posted in Bankruptcy Basics,Chapter 11,Chapter 13,Chapter 7Even if you have a lawyer in your Bankruptcy case, you may be curious about what pleadings and documents are actually filed in your case. Your lawyer will most likely send you copies of just about everything filed in the case, whether it is by your lawyer or another party in the case, and you… Continue Reading
By Scott Riddle Posted in Bankruptcy Basics,Chapter 13,Chapter 7As we discussed in this post about the discharge of student (or educational) loans, most courts apply some version of the Brunner Test in determining whether a student loan should be discharged because of undue hardship. The Brunner Test is named after a 1987 case in the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, Brunner v. New… Continue Reading
By Scott Riddle Posted in Chapter 13,Chapter 7As we go along with this Blog we will discuss cases about one of the most important financial issues of our day – student loans. We know from this post that they are difficult to discharge in Bankruptcy, although there is a reason that we should probably try more than we do to get them… Continue Reading
By Scott Riddle Posted in Chapter 7In the last several years, home lenders have started telling borrowers that they cannot get a modification of their home loan if they did not reaffirm the loan in their prior Chapter 7 case. The same representatives are apparently telling borrowers that they need to reopen their Chapter 7 case to file a Reaffirmation Agreement. … Continue Reading
By Scott Riddle Posted in Chapter 7I frequently get calls from individuals who own small or mid-size businesses that are experiencing financial difficulties and need to close their doors. They often assume that they should file a bankruptcy petition on behalf of the business if it is a separate business entity. Often, filing the petition for the business does no good,… Continue Reading
By Scott Riddle Posted in Chapter 7In a recent Chapter 7 case, there was a question of what happens when a secured creditor (in this case the secured home lender) does not file a Proof of Claim in the case, or otherwise participate in any way in the case. In fact, in this particular case, the debtor (inaccurately) scheduled the lender’s… Continue Reading
