Bankruptcy budgets

November 26, 2007

August 16, 2007

August 4, 2007

June 27, 2007

  • Budgets in Bankruptcy Cases Must be Based on Real Numbers

    One of the trends I have noticed over the year and a half since the bankruptcy law changed is that we can no longer rely on guesses or estimates when it comes to creating a budget.  My experience in a recently filed case illustrates this point. (…)

May 19, 2007

March 1, 2007

December 6, 2006

  • Georgia Foreclosures Up 99%

    This morning's Atlanta Journal/Constitution published an article entitled "Georgia Foreclosures Jump 99%; rate is nation's 3rd highest."    According to this article, one out of every 449 houses will go into foreclosure.  Why the increase?  Interest rates on adjustable rate mortgages are going up.  In addition, underwriting standards by major lenders were relaxed over the past few years. (…)

September 26, 2006

  • Student Loan in Your Chapter 13 - Congratulations, You are Officially in Limbo!

    We have run across a confusing predicament for Chapter 13 cases filed in the Northern District of Georgia that involve student loans.  According to one of the assistant trustees whose identity we will protect, the judges in the Northern District have not yet decided how debtors should treat student loans in Chapter 13 case. (…)

July 9, 2006

  • Full Disclosure on Bankruptcy Petitions a Must

    My colleague attorney Scott Riddle recently posted on his Georgia Bankruptcy Blog an important reminder to both debtors and their counsel about the importance of full and complete disclosure of assets and debts in bankruptcy petitions. (…)

June 5, 2006

  • Behind on Mortgage and Vehicles - is Chapter 13 an Option?

    My mortgage is about to go into foreclosure–as we are two months behind right now and we also owe for June…The mortgage company will not accept a partial payment…and will initiate foreclosure proceedings very soon..we are also in trouble with our car notes and timeshare payments… should we consider bankruptcy if we cannot work out something with our lender???–Mark

    Jonathan Ginsberg responds: Mark, if your mortgage company will not work with you, then your only real option is Chapter 13.  I think you are smart to consider this option early - which is preferable to waiting until a few days before foreclosure to look into the process.  At a minimum, you should do the following now:

    1) request copies of all 3 credit reports (both you and your wife) - credit reports are free in Georgia but will take a few days to arrive in the mail (by contrast if you need them immediately, I can get them for $45 per person).  This is another advantage of starting early

    2) get your credit counseling certificate.  Credit counseling is now mandatory and if you wait until the last minute, you may not be able to get an appointment.  I have a section about credit counseling on my Atlanta Bankruptcy web site.  Consumer Credit Counseling of Atlanta and Hummingbird Credit Counseling are two organizations that my clients have used. (…)

June 1, 2006

  • Budget Numbers that Apply to Your Case

    One of the biggest changes in the new bankruptcy law has to do with the new approved budget figures now being used by the Bankruptcy Courts.  Previously, when I prepared a budget for a case filing, I spoke to my client, reviewed the budget shown on his questionnaire, tweaked it to get rid of any obvious problems and filed it.  As long as we were reasonable, there generally were no problems. (…)

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