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Bankruptcy

The Debt Podcast

Hosted by Jay S. Fleischman, a bankruptcy and consumer lawyer located in New York City. Information and news designed to help you learn more about bankruptcy, debt relief, and consumer credit options.

Post Frequency: 4.9/day

Last Entry: November 23, 2010 at 18:33:08

My Hearing Was Continued Since My Debt Dates Were Incorrect.

Posted on April 13, 2008
Trustees, the US Trustee, and the Court can be a stickler when it comes to dates, and its not uncommon for your hearing to be continued as a result. Hopefully, after reading this Blog, no one will ever have a continued hearing as a result of incorrect dates again...

Rental Subsidy Discrimination Award Not Discharged

Posted on April 12, 2008
“Section 8″ is a phrase indicating public assistance, or a subsidy, for rental expenses. Discrimination against recipients violates Massachusetts law. A state court judgment for $1.00 actual damages, $5,000.00 punitive damages, and attorney fees issued against a landlord who then filed for bankruptcy protections - and lost as to this award...

Transferring Property Before Filing Bankruptcy, Without Being Paid For It: How to Fix the Problem, Part Two of Two

Posted on April 11, 2008
Part One of this article discussed the nature of the legal problems created by a transfer of property (real estate, a stock account, or some other valuable asset), for less than fair value, by a debtor prior to filing bankruptcy. Part Two will discuss what, if anything, can be done to fix these problems...

Five Tricks & One Trap For the Bankruptcy Means Test

Posted on April 11, 2008
An above-median income Chapter 7 debtor must pass the Means Test to avoid a mandatory five year Chapter 13 case. The Means Test takes the debtor’s income, subtracts IRS-allowed expenses and secured debt payments, and forces a Chapter 13 filing if the difference can pay a sufficient amount of debt...

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Just One More Time For The Record: Think, Twice, Thrice, Many More Times Before You Ever Decide To Represent Yourself!

Posted on April 11, 2008
There are several articles throughout BLN that tell you about why you should not represent yourself. This is so important that I am going to remind you again about why you probably do not want to take a chance and represent yourself. In fact I think all us will continue to tell you [...

What is Cash Collateral?

Posted on April 11, 2008
Cash collateral is usually only an issue in business bankruptcy cases. Cash collateral is defined as “cash, negotiable instruments, documents of title, securities, deposit accounts, or other cash equivalents,” 11 U.S.C. § 363(a), in which a creditor has a lien...

Paying Family Members Back Before a Bankruptcy

Posted on April 11, 2008
When a person is in financial trouble, it’s natural to look to family members for support. It’s also natural to want to pay back family members and not other creditors (like credit card creditors) before a bankruptcy. However, this is a bad idea and a classic pitfall for people planning a bankruptcy...

Transferring Property Before Filing Bankruptcy, Without Being Paid For It: How to Fix the Problem, Part One of Two

Posted on April 10, 2008
Occasionally, a person facing debt problems will become concerned that an item of property (real estate, a stock account, or other some other valuable asset) might be vulnerable to a judgment creditor, or that such an item could be taken from him or her in a future bankruptcy case...

Who Will Know About My Bankruptcy?

Posted on April 10, 2008
The most common question I get asked is; Who will know about my bankruptcy? The bankruptcy filing is public record as well as the creditor’s hearing or 341 Meeting of Creditors that you will attend is open to the public. Does this mean that the creditor will fly a banner over heard telling [...

Am I Responsible for Car Accident Damages in Excess of Insurance Coverage?

Posted on April 10, 2008
Car accidents happen all the time and most of us have sufficient insurance to cover the claims of an injured third party. What happens if you are at fault in an accident and the other driver sues you for thousands or millions of dollars? I received this question from a visitor to my Atlanta bankruptcy [...

Massachusetts Courts Split Hairs On Who May Seek Stay Relief

Posted on April 10, 2008
When a mortgage goes unpaid, a party can seek relief from bankruptcy’s automatic stay to foreclose. A mortgage can held by a lender, administered by a servicer, and owned by a nominee commonly called MERS (Mortgage Electronic Recording Service)...

Jones v. Wells Fargo Administrative Order 2008-1

Posted on April 10, 2008
This article is a follow up to the series of articles that I had previously written on the Jones v. Wells Fargo Case. On January 11, 2008 Judge Elizabeth W. Magner entered Administrative Order 2008-1 in the Wells Fargo Case. The purpose of the Administrative Order was to implement the accounting procedures ordered by Judge Magner [...

Family Pets One More Victim of Foreclosure

Posted on April 09, 2008
The pain of foreclosure runs deep. According to an article in The Washington Post, “Losing a Best Friend Along With the House,” local animal shelters are reporting that 15% of animals received in the past two months are the result of foreclosure...

New Massachusetts Law Creating 90-Day Right to Cure Default on Mortgage Loans

Posted on April 09, 2008
On May 1, 2008 the new Massachusetts foreclosure law will go into effect. Most importantly for homeowners facing foreclosure is the new 90-day right to cure mortgage defaults before foreclosure. The key to this new right is that legal fees and foreclosure costs cannot be imposed on consumers during the right-to-cure period...

Massachusetts Announces Creation of Regional Foreclosure Prevention Centers

Posted on April 09, 2008
Governor Patrick has announced $2 million in grants to support eleven regional foreclosure prevention centers. The press release is available here. These centers provide “outreach and assistance to homeowners in or approaching foreclosure as well as to those borrowers who have already lost their homes...

Listing Debts Owed to Relatives in a Bankruptcy Case

Posted on April 09, 2008
The bankruptcy law requires that every debt owed by the debtor be listed in the bankruptcy papers, and that the creditor be notified by the court of the bankruptcy proceedings. The reasons for this are many, including fairness to creditors, allowing the trustee to understand the debtor’s financial affairs, and enabling all creditors to share in [...

722 Redemption: Saving Thousands on Secured Assets.

Posted on April 07, 2008
11 USC 722 of the Bankruptcy Code codifies the power to redeem secured assets. In layman?s terms, this means you can make a lump sum payment and pay off the entire balance for the fair market value of the asset. Typically, this option is not always available for someone that just claimed bankruptcy...

Should I Reaffirm My Car In Southern California?

Posted on April 07, 2008
In most cases, No. In most cases, the value of the car is significantly lower than the debt against it. Sort of like our housing market……and look at the mess thats causing in real estate since values are now less than the loans securing it! So if you don?t want to go bust like all [...

A Bankruptcy Attorney?s Story: Catching Those Who Are Falling

Posted on April 07, 2008
For many years bankruptcy was seen as something that was used by either businessmen like Donald Trump or by people who didn’t have much income. This is no longer true as people in lower, middle, and the upper class are turning to bankruptcy lawyers for help...

Paid a Relative Money Recently? Here?s How to Fix It!

Posted on April 07, 2008
If you have recently repaid a relative for money you borrowed, your bankruptcy lawyer has probably told you that the trustee will attempt to get this money back from the relative to whom you paid it. This is because of Bankruptcy Code section 547, which allows the trustee to recover money repaid to a relative for [...

Teach Your Parents Well

Posted on April 07, 2008
You all know the words to Graham Nash?s 1970 hit and by now the tune is melancholically playing in your mind. And like most music of the slash decade, 60/70?s, it provides a life message. Teach Your Children involves communication between a parent and a child...

Debtor Can?t Afford Chapter 13 Payment - What are His Options?

Posted on April 07, 2008
I received the following email from a couple who are currently in a Chapter 13, but have seen their income go down: Last July, my wife and I filed Chapter 13 as we were barely over the median income for Washington State. I am now no longer getting the overtime I did up to the six [...

New Massachusetts Bankruptcy Web Site

Posted on April 07, 2008
The Massachusetts Bankruptcy Court recently launched a new web site. Judge’s opinions, local rules, and general bankruptcy information for both debtors and creditors can be found on the site. Among other things, under the Announcements Section is a copy and notice of the proposed revisions to the local rules of bankruptcy procedure...

Senate Says ?No? To Help For Homeowners In Bankruptcy Court.

Posted on April 04, 2008
Congress could help homeowners in trouble, but once again has said a loud “NO” to help for homeowners in need. Today the Senatet did not vote to support S.R. Bill 256 which could have helped so many families facing loss of their homes. Someone has got to give some relief to troubled homeowners [...

Senate Has No Appetite to Help Homeowners

Posted on April 04, 2008
Susanne Robicsek has already written about the Senate’s refusal to take action which would help homeowners in foreclsoure keep their homes. According to The Hill, Senator Dick Durbin, sponsor of the legislation (who, by the way, fought valiantly for its passage) had this to say: ?This really tries my patience,? he said...

More on Mortgage Company Abuses

Posted on April 04, 2008
Bankruptcy Law Network member Kurt O’Keefe wrote an interesting post on this blog about mortgage company abuses. Kurt referenced a story in the Atlanta newspaper about the Atchleys, a Waleska, Georgia couple who filed Chapter 13, and thereafter found themselves subject to multiple motions for relief from stay based on post petition payment [...

Idea to Prevent Future Mortgage Fraud

Posted on April 03, 2008
The biggest problem I have found in addressing flawed mortgage originations is that when there is wrongdoing on the part of industry it is often perpetrated by mortgage brokers. Many mortgage brokers are honest, but others spurred on by the desire for sales commissions commit fraud when inducing people into deals...

New Bankruptcy Laws: File By The End Of The Month or Start All Over! Part 2 of 2.

Posted on March 31, 2008
In my last blog, I touched on how Bankruptcy was a “snapshot” in time wherein all information on the bankruptcy petition must be accurate as of the date your bankruptcy petition is actually filed. In this blog, the ramifications of filing a month later is explored...

New Bankruptcy Laws: File By The End Of The Month or Start All Over! Part 1 of 2.

Posted on March 31, 2008
With the advent of the new Bankruptcy laws in 2005 came a plethora of new changes and requirements, most of which require numerous substantiating documents which also coincide with strict time frames. Failing to supply such documents and/or abide by the new time frames might mean something as slight as continuation of your case to [...

Bankruptcy And The Government?s Tax Stimulus

Posted on March 31, 2008
The tax stimulus law went into effect on February 13, 2008 when it was signed by President Bush. The law gives a rebate to all taxpayers who file returns for 2007 and who made $3,000 or more. It gives a rebate of $600 to the filer, $600 to the filer?s [...

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