Author Archives: doug

Hardship discharges are available in Chapter 13

By doug | Published: January 31, 2013

What happens to bankruptcy debtors who are in a Chapter 13 case, but hit a bump along the road and find that they are no longer able to make their monthly payments to the trustee? In cases like this, a hardship discharge may be available. There are three essential requirements, all found in bankruptcy code […]

Posted in Chapter 13 | Comments closed

Massachusetts debtor nearly loses house in “simple” bankruptcy

By doug | Published: January 29, 2013

An Andover woman nearly lost her $600,000 home when she filed a routine consumer bankruptcy case recently — and her hair-raising adventure highlights one of the biggest traps out there for Massachusetts bankruptcy attorneys. The debtor in the Welch case owned a house worth $608K with a mortgage of $314K on it. She had filed […]

Posted in Real estate | Comments closed

Forgotten but powerful bankruptcy code section helps with tax debts

By doug | Published: January 21, 2013

Recently I was doing some research on the bankruptcy code and it’s controversial section 506, which deals with the deceptively simple concept of an “allowed secured claim,” but has in fact been the source of much bitter litigation in the consumer bankruptcy wars between debtors and creditors over the last twenty years. My eye caught […]

Posted in Taxes | Comments closed

Massachusetts lawyer doesn’t get paid in Chapter 13 bankruptcy

By doug | Published: January 17, 2013

For Massachusetts bankruptcy lawyers, a good example of how not to get paid cropped up recently with a bankruptcy appellate panel at the First Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston. In the Stone case, an attorney sought over $9,000 in attorney fees for representing married debtors in a Chapter 13 proceeding. The appeals court whacked […]

Posted in Chapter 13 | Comments closed

New guidance on bankruptcy fees for adversary proceedings

By doug | Published: January 16, 2013

Can a bankruptcy judge force a lawyer to represent a client in an adversary proceeding? Stopping just short of deciding the answer to that question should be “yes,” Massachusetts bankruptcy judge Melvin Hoffman recently suggested that what an attorney can’t do is to refuse to handle adversaries as a matter of course. The Alaya case […]

Posted in Practical tips | Comments closed

A Massachusetts chapter 7 bankruptcy train wreck

By doug | Published: January 14, 2013

From the debtor’s point of view, what would be the worst possible experience to have in a chapter 7 bankruptcy case? Well, how about having the trustee file a lawsuit against the debtor, move (successfully) for an injunction to prevent them from spending except for daily essentials, and then press the court to deny the […]

Posted in Chapter 7 | Comments closed

Congress extends tax break for foreclosure victims

By doug | Published: January 9, 2013

As part of the settlement of the various fiscal cliff issues, Congress extended the rules for forgiving the tax consequences of foreclosures for homeowners. Briefly, the tax code treats the forgiveness of debt as income for tax purposes — leaving debtors who have had their debt “forgiven” by a foreclosure sale liable for a whopping […]

Posted in Foreclosure | Comments closed

What happens when a check is outstanding at the time of a bankruptcy filing?

By doug | Published: January 4, 2013

If a debtor files a bankruptcy case after having written checks on a personal account, but before they are cashed who gets to keep the money? This is a question that is being asked in the Henson case before the United States Court of Appeals in the Ninth Circuit, which has jurisdiction over the nation’s […]

Posted in Bankruptcy News, Exemptions | Comments closed

Bankruptcy trustees must return debtor’s funds upon conversion from Chapter 13 to Chapter 7

By doug | Published: November 8, 2012

Bankruptcy lawyers representing debtors with active Chapter 13 cases that might not be doing so well should keep in mind one fundamental truth to Chapter 13 practice: upon conversion of the case to Chapter 7, the debtor (and not the trustee, court, or creditors) is entitled to a return of any funds held by the […]

Posted in Chapter 13, Chapter 7 | Comments closed

Disney timeshare not a legitimate expense in Massachusetts Chapter 13

By doug | Published: October 22, 2012

Massachusetts bankruptcy lawyers should take a close look at a recent case decided in Worcester by bankruptcy judge Melvin Hoffman as an example of what will not fly when proposing Chapter 13 plans in this district. The case involved a married couple who owned a Disney timeshare in Orlando (pictured). Their schedules indicated about $6K […]

Posted in Chapter 13 | Comments closed
Call now: (978) 975 - 2608