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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…
Agreement for Extension of Time Not Enforceable Without a Court Order
The recent case of In re Alazzeh from the Ninth Circuit Bankruptcy Appellate Panel emphasizes the harsh results that can occur when a litigant fails to obtain a court order approving an extension of time even when there has been…
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…
Using Bankruptcy to Reinstate a Suspended Driver's License
Under certain circumstances, the filing of a bankruptcy case can help reinstate a suspended driver’s license. Oregon law provides that a driver’s license can be suspended for a variety of reasons. The types of suspensions relevant to this discussion include…
Voiding Judgment Liens in Bankruptcy
Under Oregon law (ORS 18.150), a judgment entered or registered in the county where the debtor owns real property generally becomes a lien against that property. Theoretically, a lien creditor may have the right to foreclose on the lien in…
Be Careful When Loaning Money to Someone You Meet on Match.Com!
A recent opinion (Murray v. Hanley) from Judge Dunn of the Oregon Bankruptcy Court is a good illustration of why it may not be a good idea to loan substantial amounts of money to someone you meet online. In that…
Solving Tax Problems Using Chapter 13 Bankruptcy
As discussed in one of our previous blog posts, Chapter 13 Bankruptcy can be a very powerful tool to solve a fairly wide variety of financial problems. One of the more common uses of Chapter 13 is to solve tax…
Computer Problems No Excuse For Missing Filing Deadline (aka The Perils of Electronic Filing)
I read a rather interesting case today from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals where an attorney missed a filing deadline and attributed it to computer difficulties. The case of Anwar v. Johnson concerned a creditor’s attempt to have the…