Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Information

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Social Security Income is heavily protected from your creditors outside bankruptcy.  And Congress has repeatedly emphasized that it should remain protected from creditors inside bankruptcy as well.

An open question has remained, though.  When a person files Chapter 13, one of the requirements is, generally, that their income — after their reasonable and necessary living expenses are covered — will be used to repay their debt.  But what if a part of that extra income is from Social Security.  Is it bad faith to hold that money back from the payment?

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Judicial mortgage modification, also known as  mortgage cramdown,  would NOT disrupt the residential mortgage lending market, but would prevent home foreclosures

Says who?

Says a Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland study just released..

See the L. A. Times article by Lew Sichelman for a more readable explanation of  mortgage cramdown.

Hudicial mortgage modification, NACBA‘s euphemism for mortgage cramdown, costs taxpayers nothing and is a real solution for many homeowners who want to keep their homes.

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Judicial mortgage modification, also known as  mortgage cramdown,  would NOT disrupt the residential mortgage lending market, but would prevent home foreclosures

Says who?

Says a Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland study just released..

See the L. A. Times article by Lew Sichelman for a more readable explanation of  mortgage cramdown.

Hudicial mortgage modification, NACBA‘s euphemism for mortgage cramdown, costs taxpayers nothing and is a real solution for many homeowners who want to keep their homes.

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I asked my receptionist tonight what was the Number 1 question asked by callers to my office.    Her response:  “How much will a bankruptcy cost me?”   And callers are usually not happy to hear the answer:   “it depends.”   There is only one fee that doesn’t change–the filing fee.   In a chapter 7 case, it is $299; in a chapter 13 case, it is $274; and in a chapter 11 case, it is  $1039.   Prior to filing bankruptcy, a debtor must obtain a special credit counseling certificate from a private company; those fees range from $15 to $70.   And then, there is the attorney fee.     Attorney fees can range from $750 in some parts of the country and could exceed $50,000 in a chapter 11 case. 

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I asked my receptionist tonight what was the Number 1 question asked by callers to my office.    Her response:  “How much will a bankruptcy cost me?”   And callers are usually not happy to hear the answer:   “it depends.”   There is only one fee that doesn’t change–the filing fee.   In a chapter 7 case, it is $299; in a chapter 13 case, it is $274; and in a chapter 11 case, it is  $1039.   Prior to filing bankruptcy, a debtor must obtain a special credit counseling certificate from a private company; those fees range from $15 to $70.   And then, there is the attorney fee.     Attorney fees can range from $750 in some parts of the country and could exceed $50,000 in a chapter 11 case. 

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Many Chapter 7 bankruptcy debtors worry that they will loose all their belonging, including their “valuable collectibles”. Depending on how you look at it, many debtors turn out to be lucky because they get to keep their collections.  That is because most collectibles have little resale value and fall within the allowed exemptions in bankruptcy.  Many of my clients are worried when they report that they have very expensive collections of baskets, figurines, gnomes, paintings and other collectibles.  For those individuals hoping to be able to retire from the sale of their collection, they usually get a rude awakening.  But for my clients that collected simply because they appreciated the items, they are relieved to know that they get to keep their beloved collection.

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Many Chapter 7 bankruptcy debtors worry that they will loose all their belonging, including their “valuable collectibles”. Depending on how you look at it, many debtors turn out to be lucky because they get to keep their collections.  That is because most collectibles have little resale value and fall within the allowed exemptions in bankruptcy.  Many of my clients are worried when they report that they have very expensive collections of baskets, figurines, gnomes, paintings and other collectibles.  For those individuals hoping to be able to retire from the sale of their collection, they usually get a rude awakening.  But for my clients that collected simply because they appreciated the items, they are relieved to know that they get to keep their beloved collection.

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When I first went into practice I had never been to bankruptcy court; in fact, I didn’t even know where it was.  And though just about 15 years has passed since that first New Yorker asked me to represent her in a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, that unsettled feeling of walking into bankruptcy court for the first time is never far away.