May 16
With apologies to Paul Simon:
You Just slip out the back, Jack Make a new plan, Stan You dont need to be coy, Roy Just get yourself free Hop on the bus, Gus You dont need to discuss much Just drop off the key, Lee And get yourself free 50 Ways to Leave Your Lover
Until you get the property out of your name, you are still responsible for it, a fact recently pointed out by my colleague, Jay Fleischman. You have to do something to get that property out of your name so you can walk away with peace of mind. How do you do it?
As the song time suggests there are a myriad number of ways to transfer the title out of your name. Maybe there arent 50 ways, but here are a few:
First, you can contact your lender to see if they would accept a Deed in Lieu of Foreclosure. In this case, you would execute a deed transferring the property back to the lender. Once recorded in the Land Records, you no longer own the property. Some banks are offering a payment
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May 07
When a company or celebrity files bankruptcy it is a news-worthy event. The media often states that the company or person has filed for bankruptcy protection. But what exactly does this mean?
The federal bankruptcy laws are written to allow the debtor time to reorganize his or her finances. Reorganization would not be possible if creditors are allowed to continue collection actions like repossession, foreclosure, or lawsuits. Consequently, when a debtor files a bankruptcy case, the federal law immediately and automatically stops all collection activity. This provision, called the automatic stay, gives the debtor breathing space to work with legal counsel, the bankruptcy trustee, creditors, and the court to propose a plan to either repay or discharge debts.
The automatic stay is technically a temporary injunction, issued by the federal bankruptcy judge, and directed at creditors that forbids collection action without prior permission from the court. The automatic stay prohibits creditor contact with the debtor in an effort to collect on a debt, which means collection letters, phone calls, emails, and other harassment must immediately cease.
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Apr 14
The chief distinguishing characteristic of a Chapter 13 bankruptcy is its repayment plan. Unlike a Chapter 7 bankruptcy case, the Chapter 13 debtor submits a proposal to the court to repay creditors over three to five years. There is no repayment plan in a Chapter 7 bankruptcy case. Because of the repayment plan, Chapter 13 cases are generally more complicated than Chapter 7 bankruptcies, but the debtor’s relief can be more powerful. With this in mind, here are the top five questions clients ask when considering Chapter 13 bankruptcy:
Will I lose any property? No. The Chapter 13 trustee will not take property from you. The law allows you to keep and “exempt” a certain amount of property during your bankruptcy case. If you have property in excess of the legal exemption amounts, you are required to pay unsecured creditors an amount equal to the non-exempt equity during your repayment period.
How can I keep my car if I owe more than its worth? If your vehicle loan was made more than 2-1/2 years before your bankruptcy is filed, you can “cram down” your loan to the fair market value of the vehicle. For insta
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Tags: 13 Bankruptcy, Bankruptcy, Chapter 13, Chapter 13 Bankruptcy
Apr 10
I have been filing Chapter 13 and Chapter 7 bankruptcy cases in the upstate New York for over 20 years. Due to the many financial difficulties dairy farmers have been having over the past few years, I started filing more Chapter 12 farm bankruptcies.
There are very few farm bankruptcy filings compared to Chapter 7’s and 13’s, but in many ways they are so much more effective for the farmers who are forced into seeking the relief of a Chapter 12.
For one thing, the other players in the bankruptcy system seem to respect the farmers more than they sometimes do with Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 debtors. The judges are well aware of the daily hard work they must do to keep their farms going, and the financial risk they take due to unpredictable weather. For example, we had a 15 degree hard frost last night after an extended period of 75 degree heat opened up the buds of the fruit trees. In my experience, even most creditors, especially FSA/USDA, try to accomodate reasonable plans and requests of farm debtors.
The trustee also loves Chapter 12’s. We are especially fortunate here because our trustee is both Chapter 12 and 13 trustee, and is the current president of the Chapter 12 Trustee association. Most C
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Tags: Chapter, Chapter 13
Apr 02
Adversary proceedings are common in Las Vegas bankruptcy. In an adversary proceeding one party sues one or more other parties over an issue related to the bankruptcy in a hearing adjudicated by the bankruptcy court. Parties can include debtors, creditors, and the U.S. Trustee. One of the most common issues brought before the bankruptcy court in an adversary proceeding is a creditor disputing the dischargeability of credit card debt. According to section 523(2)(a) of the bankruptcy code a creditor can dispute the dischargeability of credit card debt if it was obtained via:
(1) False pretenses (2) False representation (3) Fraud (4) Use of a materially false financial statement
The bankruptcy code is understandably hostile to those who are trying to discharge debts they obtained by lying to the creditor. Moreover the changes to the code in 2005 made it harder for debtors to prove that they arent trying to discharge credit card debt after buying luxury goods or taking cash advances from their credit cards. Thu
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Tags: Bankruptcy, Las Vegas