July 15, 2006

• Means Test Budget Serves as an Classification Tool, Not a Budget to Be Actually Used

  Having run through several means test calculations over the past few days, it struck me that a lot of the misunderstanding about both the median income test as well as the means test arises from a fundamental misunderstanding in the press and the general public about what the results of a means test really signifies. (…)

July 14, 2006

• Financial Obligations to Ex-Spouse Set Out in Divorce Decree May Survive Bankruptcy

  The Georgia Supreme Court recently considered the issue of whether a debtor/ husband could be held in Contempt of Court in Superior Court for refusing to pay a joint marital debt.  In the case of McGahee v. (…)

July 13, 2006

• Family Car Loans May Spell Trouble in Chapter 7 Cases

  Florida Attorney Jonathan Alper discusses in his Florida Bankruptcy blog several important considerations if you are thinking about turning to a family member to help you buy a car prior to filing bankruptcy.  In a scenario I have seen on occasion, Jonathan describes meeting with a client who had asked his parents to help him buy a car.  The parents bought the car, but titled it in the debtor (son's) name and never recorded a lien to secure their loan to the son. (…)

• Chapter 13 after Chapter 7

  I received an email today from a potential client asking about the rules for filing a Chapter 13 after a Chapter 7 that has been discharged. (…)

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 26, 2006

• Physician's Failure to Comply With State Malpractice Insurance Requirement Does Not Give Rise to Non-dischargeable Debt

  The 11th Circuit (Federal Courts in Georgia must abide by 11th Circuit precedent) recently issued an interesting decision denying the appeal of a malpractice victim in a bankruptcy petition filed by a Florida doctor, Dr. (…)

June 10, 2006

• Am I Allowed to Include in my Means Test Calculation an Allocation for Payments to Secured Creditors When I am Surrendering the Collateral?

  Thans to Judge Homer Drake, we have an answer to this question in the Northern District of Georgia.  In the Walker case (2006 Bankr. LEXIS 845, Case No. 05-15010 (Bankr. N.D. Ga. (…)

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 3, 2006

• Alimony and marital property are assets that should be disclosed in your bankruptcy petition

  The Georgia Supreme Court recently issued a decision in a divorce case called Benton v. Benton that has bankruptcy implications.  In this case, Mrs. (…)

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. (…)

May 31, 2006

• Chapter 13 and County Property Taxes

  I recently worked on a case that demonstrated the need for Chapter 13 attorneys to remain alert when dealing with county property taxes and Chapter 13 debtors. (…)

May 30, 2006

• Recent Use of Credit Cards - How Long Should He Wait to File?

  I wanted to get an opinion on whether I can file or not. I spoke with another attorney who stated that I needed to wait for awhile because I have recently used my credit cards. (…)

May 25, 2006

• Ex-wife is Attempting to Discharge Joint Credit Card Debt - Can I Stop Her?

  I declared bankrupcy 3 years ago, and I am just now starting to get my finances in order. (…)

May 23, 2006

• Top Ten Consumer Bankruptcy Law Mistakes in post-October 17 World

  Legal publisher Lexis/Nexus has released its list of the top ten mistakes made by consumer bankruptcy lawyers in the post-October 17, 2005 era.  Topping the list is failing to insure that the debtor has received pre-bankruptcy credit counseling.  As discussed elsewhere on this blog, bankruptcy judges have been unwilling to waive the credit counseling requirement under most circumstances.  A case filing without the certificate will be dismissed.  For debtors filing on the eve of foreclosure, when credit counseling organizations have no space, this requirement can be a real problem. (…)

May 22, 2006

• Means Test Musings

  Over the past few weeks, I have received objections in two Chapter 7 cases from the U.S. Trustee having to do with the median income/means test Form 22A. (…)

May 15, 2006

• Credit Card Company Loses a Discharge Action

  My friend, attorney Howard Rothbloom, recently emailed me about his victory over MBNA in a discharge complaint filed against his client. In the MBNA vs. (…)

May 2, 2006

• What is the difference between a preference and a fraudulent transfer?

  I see a possible trap for the unwary in one of the October 17, 2005 changes to the Bankruptcy Code. I do not have a firm answer to this and I welcome any suggestions or thoughts. (…)

April 5, 2006

• Using bankruptcy to re-negotiate secured debt balances

  Bankruptcy debtors often unaware that they frequently have an excellent opportunity to reduce balances and change payment terms on secured loan accounts. (…)

April 4, 2006

• Failure to pay full filing fee in prior case leads to dismissal of new case

  This afternoon, I received a call from a potential client with an unusual problem. (…)

March 29, 2006

• When is a family of 3 not a family of 3?

  Recently I appeared with a client at a 341 hearing and the trustee raised an interesting point about family size calculations for purposes of the median income/means test calculation. (…)