A typical Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 petition requires you to submit well over 50 pages of documentation, including:
- your schedules – which includes a detailed budget, a list of all creditors including addresses and account numbers, a detailed list of assets with estimated valuations, detailed information about sales, transfers, losses and recent payments to creditors, information about your and your spouse’s income over the past 3 years
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Yesterday, my son graduated from high school. His class selected a math/environmental sciences teacher named Nicole Brite to deliver the faculty address to the senior class. Ms. Brite delivered a spectacular address which was meaningful, witty and thoughtful (and she received a well deserved standing ovation from both the students and the audience).
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News reports indicate that former baseball star Lenny “Nails” Dykstra has been charged with bankruptcy fraud by a California based United States Attorney. Dykstra filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in 2009, scheduling $31 million in debts and only $50,000 in assets.
The Wall Street Journal recently published a new story entitled Hidden Medical Debt Trips Up Homeowners. The report documented several cases in which small medical bills that had been turned over to collection resulted in a more than 50 point drop in a homeowner’s credit score.
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Most of the clients who I represent in Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 cases view bankruptcy as their absolute last resort. Usually, by the time they get to me, these clients have exhausted every other alternative – they have borrowed money from relatives and friends, sold possessions on eBay and cashed out or borrowed against retirement plans.
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There are dozens of lawyers out there who offer to prepare and file bankruptcy cases. Some work in high volume “bankruptcy mill” firms that compete on price while others compete on experience, knowledge and service. Usually the cost differential is a few hundred dollars, but when you are considering bankruptcy, every dollar counts – so why would you want a lawyer like me as opposed to a firm that would offer to represent you for a lower price?
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Not surprisingly, I get calls from small business owners who are contemplating personal bankruptcy when their businesses fail. There are many issues that arise in these types of cases but I would like to focus on one problem that, more than any other, can force the business owner into bankruptcy.
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No one starts his or her adult life expecting to file for bankruptcy. Yet every week, I meet with men and women in their 30′s, 40′s, 50′s, 60′s and older who have become insolvent and need relief under the United States Bankruptcy Code. I often hear the lament “I never in a million years thought I’d be sitting in a bankruptcy lawyer’s office.” I usually respond by reassuring my clients that bankruptcy is a legitimate and legal financial tool that can offer hardworking families a kind of “do over” when unexpected circumstances finances to go south.
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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.
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Last month, my friend and colleague, Charleston bankruptcy attorney Russ Demott published an interesting article on his web site entitled “Fired for Filing Bankrutcy? No way!” This article was written by Elyria, Ohio bankruptcy lawyer Bill Balena, who notes that the Bankruptcy Code specifically forbids “employee discrimination” based on a bankruptcy filing if:
More on Afraid that You Could Lose Your Job if You File Bankrutpcy? The Law Says “No,” but….
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