USA Today recently reported that student loan debt in the United States, which totals $850 billion, now exceeds outstanding credit card debt in the U.S., which totals $828 billion.
USA Today gets its numbers from a web site publisher named Mark Kantrowitz, who publishes two scholarship matching services called FinAid.org and FastWeb.com. I was unable to independently verify Mr. Kantrowitz’ numbers but if you Google “total credit card debt in U.S.” and “total student loan debt in the U.S.” you will get numbers in the range quoted in the USA Today article.
More on Student Loan Debt may be a Bigger Problem than Credit Card Debt
Filed under Consumer protection, Discharge issues, Student loans by 
Because the bankruptcy system operates efficiently and quickly and it serves hundreds of people every day, I sense that many bankruptcy debtors forget that everything they submit to the bankruptcy court is done so under penalty of perjury. I recently ran across an article from a Texas newspaper about a Chapter 7 debtor who ended up in federal prison, convicted of bankruptcy fraud, because he failed to disclose an $84,000 insurance payment, proceeds from the sale of a vehicle and several bank accounts. This particular debtor used Chapter 7 to discharge over $1 million in liabilities.
More on Failure to Disclose Assets Lands Chapter 7 Debtor in Prison
Earlier this month the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments in a case involving the question of discharge of student loans in a Chapter 13 case. The case arose from a Chapter 13 petition filed in 1992 by Francisco Espinoza, an American Airlines baggage handler.
More on Student Loan Discharge Case Heard by U.S. Supreme Court
Filed under Chapter 13 issues, Discharge issues, Student loans by
I have been getting a lot of calls and emails lately about student loan debt. Perhaps with the economy in recession, student loan creditors are becoming more hard line about collecting, and student loan debtors have good reason to be worried.
Filed under Discharge issues, Georgia Bankruptcy, Student loans by
One of the least discussed changes brought about by the October, 2005 changes to the bankruptcy law was a provision that provides for “audits” of random cases. When a case is audited, it is selected at random by the United States trustee and the debtor and debtor’s attorney are required to submit extensive documentary proof of information set out in the petition.
Filed under Discharge issues, General consumer bankruptcy info by
The bankruptcy law requires debtors to attend two educational courses. The first requirement calls for a "debt management course" and must be completed prior to filing – your certificate of completion is your "ticket in" to the bankruptcy process.
More on Financial Managment Course Requirement – Filing Deadline
Back in April, I wrote a post about the issue of balance transfers and Chapter 7 bankruptcy. In this post I note that balance transfers were dangerous because from the perspective of the new credit card issuer, the transfer was new debt. In other words, if you have been carrying a $10,000 balance on your Discover account, for 5 years, and two weeks ago you transferred this balance to a new Citibank account to get a better interest rate, that $10,000 debt is new debt as far as Citibank is concerned.
Filed under Chapter 7 issues, Discharge issues, Georgia Bankruptcy, Preferences by
My colleague, Wendell Sherk, a bankruptcy lawyer in St. Louis, has written an interesting blog post on the Bankruptcy Law Network about bad checks, bankruptcy and Chex Systems. Clients and potential clients frequently ask me whether bankruptcy can wipe out a bad check. As Wendell points out, issuing a bad check is a crime in most jurisdictions. The Bankruptcy Code specifically excludes debts arising from criminal activity from discharge.
Filed under Chapter 13 issues, Chapter 7 issues, Discharge issues by
If I loaned money to a friend who committed bank fraud (I had to wire the money within minutes of having received the call from the friend directly to the Bank’s fraud recovery department) and that friend subsequently files Chapter 13, is it safe to assume that I have no recourse but to wait in line with other unsecured creditors?
Of course, I did not want the person to go to jail and did not obtain any promissory note or security agreement at the time the funds were wired to the bank’s fraud recovery department.
I have not yet obtained a promissory note and mortgage as I assume it could now be disallowed by the trustee because the money was disbursed in mid-February and I’ll bet there’s a "consideration" issue now.
What do you recommend? Is it too late to get a note and/or secure the debt. The friend has yet to file Chapter XIII yet.
Would there be any priority in my payment becuase I kept the person out of jail?
More on What Are My Rights if I Loan Money to a Friend and the Friend Files Bankruptcy?
Filed under Discharge issues, Proof of claim issues, Trustee objections in Chapter 13 by
Illinois bankruptcy attorney Mazyar Hedayat reminds us in his DuPage County Bankruptcy blog that random bankruptcy case audits will start on October 17, 2006. October 17 is, of course, the one-year anniversary of the effective date of the BAPCA change to the nation's bankruptcy laws.
Filed under Chapter 13 issues, Chapter 7 issues, Discharge issues by
