Avoiding Judgments that Can Really Hurt You, and Hurt Your Bankruptcy
Many judgments against you don’t matter once you file a bankruptcy. But certain ones are very dangerous. How can you tell the difference? Letting a creditor get a judgment against you after it has sued you can sometimes result in that debt not being written off (“discharged”) in a later bankruptcy case. Or that debt […]
What if Protecting Your Home Is Your Highest Priority?
You may have serious financial problems but have still managed to keep current on your mortgage. How does bankruptcy NOT hurt your home but instead protects it?
Preserve Your Ability to File Bankruptcy at the Time You Want
Sometimes the timing of your bankruptcy filing hardly matters, but other times it’s huge. The three examples in this blog should convince you that you want to avoid being rushed to file your case because a creditor sued you earlier and is now garnishing your wages. Instead you want to preserve the ability to file […]
What is “Median Family Income,” and If You’re Making More Than That Can You Still File a Chapter 7 Case?
If your family income is more than the “median family income,” you may still be able to file under Chapter 7.
Ten Things You Need to Know About Assets and Exemptions in Bankruptcy
Most of the time, you get to keep whatever you own when you file bankruptcy. These 10 truths tell you how it works.
The Dangers of Allowing a Creditor to Get a Judgment Against You
What you don’t know CAN hurt you, if it’s a judgment against you by a creditor. Judgments can hurt in three big ways. 1) They enable the creditor to use powerful collection mechanisms against you to collect the debt. 2) A judgment can rush you into filing bankruptcy at a legally disadvantageous time. 3) And […]
What Makes Your Bankruptcy Simple, and Not So Simple?
If your financial life is legally simple, your bankruptcy will likely be simple. What is it about your financial life that makes for a not so simple bankruptcy case? Bankruptcy can be very flexible. If your finances are complicated, bankruptcy likely has a decent way to deal with all the messes. My new clients are […]
Record Corporate Profits Are Not Lowering Unemployment Rate
U.S. corporations are making record profits quarter after quarter, yet unemployment seems to be stuck at a devastatingly high rate. Why aren’t these financially flush big businesses hiring? I’ve been writing a string of blogs about how tax debts are dealt with in bankruptcy, and I’ll get back to that after today. But this is […]
State Sued for Diverting $50 Million from its Foreclosure Settlement Fund
The state with the highest foreclosure rate, Arizona, is being sued for violating the settlement’s federal consent judgment by not using the funds for helping homeowners.
Some States Are Not Using Their Foreclosure Settlement Funds to Help Homeowners
States recently received $2.5 billion from the major banks for foreclosure prevention and related help for homeowners. But much of that is not being used for those purposes.