BankruptcyLawNetwork

Don’t Pay Your Bankruptcy Lawyer With Post-Dated Checks

07/14/11

So you’ve found the cheapest bankruptcy attorney in the market.  For only the price of $250.00 and the court costs, he’ll file your case provided you give him several post-dated checks for the balance of his fees.  So you can file now and pay later.  Great!!! (For you, not for him – read on to [...]

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New Bankruptcy Judge Appointed in Charlotte NC

07/13/11

Bankruptcy Court in the Western District of North Carolina will have a new judge soon.  The Honorable George R. Hodges announced his retirement for November 2011, and after an extensive search it was announced that Laura Turner Byer will succeed him.  Ms. Byers is familiar to those of us practicing law in Charlotte NC since she [...]

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Business Bankruptcy: the Basic Chapter 7 Process

07/11/11

1.    Once you decide that a business bankruptcy is the appropriate remedy for  your failing business, you must prepare a corporate resolution. 2.    The bankruptcy petition is then prepared listing all of the assets and liabilities. 3.    The business is closed.  Employees are terminated, paid their final wages, all taxes are paid, and the doors [...]

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Foreclosure Fraud Claims With Mortgage Companies: Settled?

07/08/11

We have bailed out the mortgage companies that brought us the foreclosure crisis, now the states and a federal government agencies are on the verge of a sellout buyout by the bad guys for fraudulent foreclosures. The Office of Comptroller of the Currency, or OCC, and the attorney generals for all 50 states are participating [...]

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Bankruptcy Issue: Insurance Proceeds After An Accident.

07/07/11

There are many issues that can arise when you file a Chapter 13 bankruptcy case and insurance proceeds from a vehicular accident may be one such issue.  Let’s presume the following facts:  You are two years into a five year  Chapter 13 Plan, you have had an accident that has totaled your vehicle, your full [...]

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Repeat Chapter 13 Filer May Obtain Extension of Bankruptcy Stay Through Terms of Chapter 13 Plan

07/07/11

A U.S. bankruptcy court in California agreed with a chapter 13 debtor that the terms of his chapter 13 plan could prevent a foreclosure, even though he had previously filed a chapter 13 which was dismissed in the one year prior to his second case.  Mortgage banks will consider this ruling to be an “end run” [...]

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Bankruptcy Basics: What is a “cram-down”?

07/06/11

So, you meet with an attorney to discuss your options in bankruptcy.  The attorney discusses a chapter 13 and says that you can “cram-down” your car in a chapter 13 case.  Cram what!?  I like the thought of cramming something somewhere for a particular creditor but what exactly is a “cram-down”? Under chapter 13, a [...]

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Chapter 7 Trustees are Wolverines

07/03/11

Explaining the differences between Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 bankruptcy can be difficult.  There are the obvious ones: Chapter 7 doesn’t involve payments to creditors, and Chapter 13 does.  And you can cure your mortgage arrears in Chapter 13 but not in Chapter 7. And there are many others. But what about the differences in [...]

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Can My Chapter 13 Plan Be Changed If Something Happens?

07/02/11

A Chapter 13 Bankruptcy last a minimum of 36 months, and more frequently lasts for 60 months. During that 36 to 60 month time frame, the Debtor will be making monthly payments, known as Plan payments to the Trustee. So it should not come as a surprise that things can happen that can have an [...]

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Can I Discharge my Social Security Disability Overpayment in Bankruptcy

06/30/11

The Social Security Administration is a mess.  Currently, SSA is in the midst of an overhaul in which they are attempting to go “paperless.”   Unfortunately, they are understaffed with many of the remaining employees overworked and poorly trained, resulting in an agency that routinely loses files, does not process information properly and does not have [...]

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