Who wins when the mortgage arrearages in the Chapter 13 plan are less than the filed proof of claim? I have to admit that this has puzzled me for years, and the approaches of the three Chapter 13 trustees I practice before are different and without a an articulated theoretic basis. So I embraced a […]
On The Trail of The Involuntary Lien
If you just ask the client for a bill from each creditor, you stand to miss tax and judgment lien creditors who don’t send a monthly bill. Schedule D of the bankruptcy schedules should call out each entity with a secured claim on the debtor’s assets. Car lenders and mortgage companies are at the forefront […]
Case of the Naked Client
The bankruptcy petition came to my desk for review with no entry for “clothing and wearing apparel”. Funny, I think I’d remember if I’d interviewed any naked people lately. My new assistant has simply transcribed what the client reported on the questionnaire, and when questioned, the client shrugged that his clothing had no value, so […]
Business Partners: Another Phantom Creditor
After the discharge, the debtor wondered how her agreement with a former business partner to pay the former partner was affected by the bankruptcy, since the partner wasn’t listed in the schedules. After wondering how the client hadn’t mentioned it and I hadn’t flushed it out, I said a prayer to St. Beezley for the […]
Case Closed: Too Soon
Do I have to wait til the bankruptcy discharge is entered to avoid a lien under §522(f)? It might be logical but do so at your peril, I replied. Actually “peril” is an overstatement, but in this date of electronic dockets, most clerk’s offices are closing no asset Chapter 7 cases just as soon as […]
Writer’s Block And The Bankruptcy Schedules
Comes the plaintive call on the phone: how do I list this? Faced with a blank schedule and a house, located in another state, titled to an estranged non filing spouse, in which the debtor may have a claim under the marital property laws of California, the rookie bankruptcy lawyer froze. I’m flattered to be […]
Small Business Can Be Big Trouble
The newbies in my neighborhood have had a vigorous online debate about the risks in filing Chapter 7 bankruptcy for a debtor with a proprietorship business. One faction simply refused to believe that a bankruptcy trustee could or would shut down an operating business upon filing. But real estate lawyers deemed it true. Believe it. […]
