A Rule of Thumb about Chapter 7 vs. Chapter 13
If you qualify for both Chapter 7 and 13, look closely at how much you’d be helped by Chapter 13 before choosing Chapter 7 merely because it’s simpler.
The Morality of the American Airlines Chapter 11 Reorganization
A corporation which files bankruptcy is considered to be proactively using a strategic business tool. But a human being who files bankruptcy is considered to be irresponsibly breaking promises to creditors. Let’s see if this difference in attitude makes sense using the example of the bankruptcy filing of American Airlines in late November. Selecting […]
The Most Important Choice in Bankruptcy
Chapter 13 costs much more than Chapter 7, takes about 10 times as long, so you do a Chapter 7 if possible, right?
The Purpose of Bankruptcy in the U.S. Constitution
The most respected early commentator on the Constitution fills in some historical gaps about bankruptcy and leads it in a better direction.
Anatomy of the American Airlines Bankruptcy
A corporation files a Chapter 11 business “reorganization” and tends to be seen as engaging in proactive strategic planning. A human being files a Chapter 13 consumer “adjustment of debts” and tends to be seen as an irresponsible failure. Let’s think about this from the perspective of American Airlines bankruptcy filing of last year, which […]
The Chapter 13 Debt Limits
Too much debt can disqualify you from filing under Chapter 13.
Keeping Vehicles That You Owe On in a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy
Chapter 7 is the take-it-or-leave-it bankruptcy when it comes to your vehicle with a loan against it. In most cases you either keep on making the payments or you surrender the vehicle, nothing much in between. To be clear I’m talking here about a vehicle that you owe on, with the lender as a lienholder […]
How to File a Chapter 7 “Straight Bankruptcy” Even If You Make More than the “Median Family Income”
The amount of your income may not disqualify you from Chapter 7.
I Make Too Much for Chapter 7, Owe Too Much for Chapter 13, So Now What Do I Do?
If you don’t qualify for either Chapter 7 or 13, do you have to do a very expensive Chapter 11 reorganization? Or could you still qualify after all?
Keeping Everything You Own Through Chapter 13 Bankruptcy
One good reason that people filing Chapter 7 don’t lose any of their stuff to the bankruptcy trustee—if they did have something to lose, they would likely have filed a Chapter 13 instead. How does Chapter 13 protect what you’d otherwise lose in a Chapter 7 “straight bankruptcy”? As I said at the beginning of […]