February 20, 2007

• Can I Begin to Restore My Credit While I am in an Active Chapter 13?

  I’ve filed a chapter 13 due to divorce (no previous credit issues) and am paying rightly on my repayment plan having several years to go. (…)

February 13, 2007

• Understand the Psychology of Debt Collection Tactics and Avoid Being Manipulated

  My colleague, Boston bankruptcy attorney Nick Ortiz, has written a helpful post on his Massachusetts Bankruptcy and Consumer Protection blog summarizing your right to refuse to speak with a debt collector under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. (…)

February 12, 2007

• Red Flags of Debt and "Stop Buying Crap" - Good Advice from the Blogosphere

  I ran across an interesting post called "How the Red Flags of Debt Can Save You" on a blog called the DebtFree blog.  I think what is interesting here is that the author recognizes that most spending arises from emotional buying decisions - i.e. (…)

February 8, 2007

• Are Personal Debts Owed to Family or Friends Included in Bankruptcy?

  I loan a family member a large sum of money a year ago. Now this family member is filing for bankruptcy and has ask for my name and address and the amount borrowed from me. (…)

February 7, 2007

• Debt Settlement Services - Buyer Beware!

  My colleague, California bankruptcy lawyer Cathy Moran, has written an interesting blog post about debt settlement companies.  I regularly meet with clients who pay debt settlement services fairly hefty fees to "negotiate" debt settlements. (…)

February 6, 2007

• Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and Basic Collection Questions

  I often get questions about creditor collection practices.  Can I be sued for an old debt?  Did the bill collector do something illegal?  What is the significance of a "charge off?"

  California lawyer Jonathan Stein has gathered many of these questions together and has answered them quickly and eloquently.  Here is a link to the FDCPA section of his new blog - the California Debt blog. (…)

February 1, 2007

• How to Save Protect Your Income Tax Refund if You File Bankruptcy

  My colleague, attorney Chip Parker from Jacksonville, has written a timely post in the BankruptcyLawNetwork blog about how to save your income tax refund if you are thinking about filing for bankruptcy.  Chip suggests that you file your tax returns sooner rather than later, then spend your refund on ordinary and necessary expenses.  You would have to reveal receipt of the income tax refund on your bankruptcy schedules, but you would have the benefit of the money and the odds are very small that your bankruptcy trustee would challenge your use of this money. (…)

January 20, 2007

• Bad Credit Score Results in Higher Insurance Rates

  This past week the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral argument on an interesting Fair Credit Reporting Act issue.  In the case of Geico vs. (…)

December 29, 2006

• We're #1 - Georgia Leads the Nation in Bankruptcy Filings

  Today's Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that Georgia now leads the nation in bankruptcy filings.  More bankruptcies were filed in Georgia in 2006 than in any other State.  Over 29,000 petitions were filed in Georgia during the first three quarters of 2006, surpassing California (27,000 petitions), Texas (almost 26,000 petitions) and Ohio (25,000 petitions). (…)

December 4, 2006

• Why Does It Cost More to File a Bankrutpcy Under the New Law?

  Much has been written about the changes to Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 practice and procedure in the months since the new bankruptcy law went into effect.   From my perspective as a debtor's lawyer, one of the biggest practical changes that I have faced arises from a significant increase in the amount of work that is involved in preparing a case on behalf of a client. (…)

November 17, 2006

• AT&T Long Distance Customer Service Hell

  As a consumer bankruptcy lawyer, I hear stories all the time from clients about harassing bill collectors and unresponsive customer service representatives.  After a while, most of these stories lose their impact because I hear them so often.  Recently, however, I was treated to my own experience in customer service hell courtesy of the good folks at AT&T long distance. (…)

November 13, 2006

• Who Reads This Blog Anyway?

  Having maintained this blog for well over a year, I sometimes get the question - "do you know if anyone is reading what you are writing?  What I do know from my statistics program is that I get between 15 to 30 unique visitors a day.  I also get enough questions from readers through the "contact Jonathan" button that people are reading my posts. (…)

October 18, 2006

• Do Bill Collectors Intentionally Mislead Consumers About Bankruptcy Options?

  My colleague, bankruptcy attorney Kevin Chern, discusses a lesser known consequence of the new bankruptcy law in his Bankruptcy Lawyers Blog.  It seems that some of the more aggressive bill collectors are (wrongly) advising consumers that bankruptcy protection is not available, illegal or otherwise not an option. (…)

October 13, 2006

• Can I "Cancel" a Chapter 13 Bankruptcy if I Changed My Mind?

  Here is an interesting question I received this morning from one of my former clients. She raises several important points so I thought I would answer it on the blog rather than simply by email. (…)

September 25, 2006

• Credit Counseling on the Day of Your Bankruptcy Filing May be Invalid

  Consumer Bankruptcy News recently published an article discussing the holding of a Tennessee Chapter 13 case called In re Cole in which the Bankruptcy Judge dismissed a case because the debtor filed his consumer bankruptcy case the same day as he received his credit counseling. (…)

September 13, 2006

• New Official Bankruptcy Forms Required as of October 1, 2006

  You may wonder who it is who creates the bankruptcy forms that we fill out.  In 1922, the United States Congress established the "Conference of Senior Court Judges" - now called the "Judicial Conference of the United States" - to make policy and establish procedures for the operation of federal courts in the United States.  The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court is the presiding officer of the Judicial Conference. (…)

August 24, 2006

• Your First Meeting With a Bankruptcy Lawyer - What Do You Bring?

  One of the consequences of the new bankruptcy law has to do with the increased obligation on the part of both the lawyer and our clients to provide extensive documentation to the trustee and the courts.  Since much of this documentary information is mandatory, your filing will be delayed if we do not produce it at the time of filing. (…)

July 30, 2006

• Credit Counseling Requirement of Bankruptcy Code Generally Viewed as a Waste of Time

  In a previous post, I had written about the harsh consequences (i.e. (…)

July 29, 2006

• Weakening of Consumer Bankruptcy Protections Based on Faulty Assumptions

  One of the consequences of the new bankruptcy law (BAPCA law) has to do with erosion of protections offered by bankruptcy in various situations.  For example, the automatic stay provisions, which previously offered a comprehensive, no-questions-asked protection from any creditor action, no longer provides absolute protection in all circumstances.  Under BAPCA, the automatic stay terminates in 30 days (unless you go to Court to renew it) in certain repeat filing situations and it does not exist at all in the third case filed within a year. (…)

July 21, 2006

• Potential Debtors from Any State Will Find Helpful Information on Iowa Bankruptcy Lawyer's Web Site

  Although I practice law in Georgia, I spend as much time as I can looking at bankruptcy web sites from all over the country because of my interest in the subject and because I regularly work with lawyers as a web site development consultant.  I know how much work goes into creating high quality web sites through my own work on my Atlanta bankruptcy site and my Georgia bankruptcy site, and so when I see a well done site here in Georgia or from another jurisdiction, I have no reluctance to recommend that you use these sites written by my colleagues as part of your research. (…)