Category Archives: Practical tips

Debtors with primarily business debts may still need to provide evidence of income to bankruptcy trustees

By doug | Published: September 19, 2013

Bankruptcy cases often resemble ticker tape parades: lots of paper flying in all directions. Debtors with primarily business debts — that is, more than 50% of their debt total is from a failed or failing business — get a break when they file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy: they can skip the means test, meaning they […]

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Whoops! “I filed bankruptcy, but forgot there was a lien on my house!”

By doug | Published: August 26, 2013

What happens if you file a bankruptcy case, then years later you go to sell or refinance your house and discover there is a lien from one of the creditors still on it? Well, it may be possible to reopen the case and file a motion to have the lien removed. This motion would be […]

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Converting a bankruptcy to Chapter 7 offers chance to eliminate more debt

By doug | Published: August 8, 2013

Bankruptcy debtors involved in a Chapter 13 case often find the payments too much, or life throws them a curve, and they are forced to abandon their payment plans. The usual strategy in this situation is to convert the case to Chapter 7 (a few cases are even converted back and forth several times). Once […]

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Zillow printouts start to gain acceptance in bankruptcy courts

By doug | Published: August 1, 2013

Back in 2010, Massachusetts bankruptcy court judge Melvin Hoffman went out on a limb and trashed the use of Zillow.com printouts as an improper way to value real estate in a bankruptcy case. At the time, Hoffman’s opinion in the Darosa case was the only published comment from a bankruptcy judge in the United States […]

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Bankruptcy laws can stop debt collectors cold

By doug | Published: July 11, 2013

National financial columnist Michelle Singletary today reported on a slew of alleged abuses by a debt collection firm that has led to one of the biggest fines ever levied by the Federal Trade Commission — $3.2M against the collection firm Expert Global Solutions. Singeltary’s article contains a litany of the most maddening debt collection abuses […]

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Bankruptcy certificates may soon be filed directly

By doug | Published: June 11, 2013

As it stands, today, debtors looking for a bankruptcy discharge must complete a financial education course (either online or over the phone) before the discharge will be granted. Proof that the course was taken comes in the form of a certificate which must be filed with the bankruptcy court. (The certificate isn’t nearly as grand […]

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Would your ex-spouse torpedo your bankruptcy case?

By doug | Published: June 4, 2013

Russell DeMott, a bankruptcy lawyer from South Carolina has written a very entertaining article about the extents that ex-spouses can go to make life miserable for their old partners — including combing through bankruptcy petitions and making all sorts of objections, from the accurate to the ridiculous. DeMott’s point is that if debtors with an […]

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Which credit cards should a debtor declare on a bankruptcy petition?

By doug | Published: June 3, 2013

One of the most common questions bankruptcy lawyers get from clients runs along these lines: “Which of my credit cards do you think I should declare in the bankruptcy?” This one actually has a simple, straightforward answer: all of them! There are a few reasons why. First of all, the bankruptcy law simply requires debtors […]

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Bankruptcy effective against plague of collection lawsuits

By doug | Published: May 29, 2013

The Boston Globe and Washington Post reported on May 29, 2013 that debtors across the United States were facing a new wave of collection lawsuits, many of them based on questionable facts. According to the Globe article, a number of collection cases have been built on shoddy records. “Authorities in California, for instance, say JPMorgan […]

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Bankruptcy hearings can be over before the fat lady sings

By doug | Published: May 20, 2013

A recent opinion from United States bankruptcy judge Henry Boroff in Massachusetts helps to clarify a much debated question of bankruptcy law: when is the debtor’s “meeting of creditors” really over? Each person filing a bankruptcy case is required to attend a “Meeting of creditors,” also known as a “341 meeting” after the code section […]

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