Author Archives: doug

Qualify faster for public service student loan forgiveness by buying back months where payments were skipped

By doug | Published: October 18, 2023

In October 2023, the Department of education has come out with a new wrinkle that may help a few borrowers who have been waiting for Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) for their student loans. Broadly, PSLF wipes out student loan balances for borrowers who have done full time work for a non-profit employer for a […]

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Is there any way to reduce super high Parent PLUS loan payments?

By doug | Published: October 12, 2023

Paying off student loan debt can be plenty challenging enough when you are trying to finance your own education; but parents who borrow to help put their children through school are in a whole other league when it comes to repaying the loans. That’s partially due to the fact that parents are usually in a […]

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You still might not have to pay student loans

By doug | Published: July 11, 2023

With federal student loan forgiveness scrapped by the Supreme Court, beginning around September, 2023 millions of Americans will have to start making Federal student loan payments again. But if your annual income is below a certain level, and you are accepted into an income – contingent repayment plan, monthly payments will still be nada, nil, […]

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Use caution when claiming marital deductions on the means test

By doug | Published: July 10, 2023

High income debtors who wish to file a Chapter 7 bankruptcy case to discharge unsecured debts face a serious hurdle in the bankruptcy code’s means test, which gauges their income level, and compares it with a laundry list of average monthly expenses to see is the filer qualifies or not. Married debtors are allowed an […]

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Median income figures for bankruptcy means test were revised in 2020

By doug | Published: May 1, 2020

The United States Trustee has issued an increase in the median family income used for completing Bankruptcy Forms 122A-1 and 122C-1. The increase is based on consumer price index adjustments and is effective as of today, April 1, 2020. The new table is available here. Median income is used to determine eligibility for Chapter 7 […]

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Double vision: can a debtor have two bankruptcy cases going on at the same time?

By doug | Published: April 30, 2020

Most people don’t even want to file one bankruptcy case. Why on earth would anyone want to be involved in two (or even more) cases simultaneously? Usually the answer involves a debtor’s desperate attempt to stop a foreclosure auction so they can hang on to their home. Or, from the lender’s point of view, a […]

Posted in Chapter 13, Practical tips | Comments closed

Dewsnup case keeps rearing its ugly head

By doug | Published: April 29, 2020

The Freddy Krueger of consumer bankruptcy law is coming around to scare us again. That would be the Supreme Court case of Dewsnup v. Timm, which was decided way back in 1992. But because the Supreme’s interpretation of how to handle liens in bankruptcy court is so wishy-washy and apparently wrong, the controversy surrounding the […]

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Interim bankruptcy rules on the books in Massachusetts

By doug | Published: April 28, 2020

The bankruptcy judges in Massachusetts adopted the second set of changes to bankruptcy procedure rules this year, effective April 27, 2020. The compete set of rule changes can be read here. A bit of background: The creation of a new Small Business Reorganization Act in August, 2019 spurred a need for many small changes to […]

Posted in Bankruptcy News, Chapter 11, Small business bankruptcy | Tagged , | Comments closed

It’s time to get rid of creditor meetings in consumer bankruptcy cases

By doug | Published: April 27, 2020

Every debtor in bankruptcy travels somewhere, at least once. While most consumer bankruptcies are simple affairs, completed without a lot of trudging back and forth to court, each debtor must make at least one appearance, at a hearing with the somewhat misleading name “meeting of creditors.” This is a good time to put an end […]

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Can a state file for bankruptcy?

By doug | Published: April 24, 2020

With tensions over corona virus and the financial meltdown left in its wake approaching the boiling point, on April 22, 2020 Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) appeared ready to ditch the idea of bailing out strapped state governments, suggesting that the states might be better off filing bankruptcy cases instead. This in turn brought […]

Posted in Bankruptcy News, The Bankruptcy Code | Comments closed
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