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Purchasing a Home After Bankruptcy
By Robin Goralka Looking to purchase a home after bankruptcy can be a daunting prospect. Many people think that declaring bankruptcy will have a negative effect on their credit report for years to come, making it difficult to qualify for…
Are Debt Buyers Responsible For Driving Consumers Into Bankruptcy?
I recently came across an interesting article challenging the conventional wisdom about why people file for bankruptcy. Most people, myself included, have long concluded that the amount of debt a person has, combined with unfortunate personal circumstances (divorce, job loss,…
Building Credit
I hear it all the time in my practice. People say they want to “build their credit.” Every time I hear this phrase I cringe. It’s held up like a badge of honor, building credit or having good credit. “I…
Why Hire a Bankruptcy Attorney?
Filing bankruptcy can be one of the most difficult choices a person makes. Often you have been struggling to meet your financial obligations. Something happens and the house of cards comes tumbling down, leaving you faced with a proposition that…
Sears Files for Bankruptcy
Sears filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Monday, October 15. In doing so, it stated its plan for turning business around, and seeks to operate through the holiday season. In order to succeed, the company will need its creditors…
Supreme Court Rules That Inherited IRAs Not Exempt
In a defeat for debtors in bankruptcy, the Supreme Court ruled yesterday that a debtor filing for bankruptcy cannot claim an exemption in an inherited IRA as “retirement funds” under 11 U.S.C. §§522(b)(3)(C) and (d)(12). This case resolved a circuit…
Older Vehicle Deduction No Longer Available For Above-Median Chapter 13 Debtors
The Ninth Circuit Bankruptcy Appellate Panel issued an opinion (In re Luedtke) last month holding that “above-median” Chapter 13 debtors may no longer claim a $200 “older vehicle operating expense” when calculating “disposable monthly income” for purposes of determining a…
Five-Year Plans Now Required For Above-Median Chapter 13 Debtors
When Congress amended the bankruptcy laws in 2005, one of the changes concerned the length of Chapter 13 Plans. “Below-median” debtors (those with incomes below the median in their state of residence for a family of their size) were generally…
Divorce and Bankruptcy – More Strange "Bedfellows"
Last month, I posted an article entitled Inheritances and Bankruptcy – Strange “Bedfellows” outlining the odd intersection between inheritances and bankruptcy. This month I want to discuss the how bankruptcy and divorce can interrelate. Most people know that financial stress…
U.S. Trustee Audits to Resume
As recently reported in the Wall Street Journal, the U.S. Trustee recently announced a resumption of audits of consumer bankruptcy cases to start March 10. Those audits had been suspended due to budgetary constraints. Under federal law, the U.S. Trustee…