With foreclosures at record levels nationwide you may be able to file a Chapter 13 and save your home. Even if you are thousands of dollars behind in your payments a Chapter 13 filing could stop the foreclosure and give you time to pay back the arrearage and get back on track. Call us today and we can explain how Chapter 13 may work for you.
The discharge of credit card debt, usually the single biggest component of a debtor’s unsecured debt, is dependent on the transactions on the card being free of fraud. The Bankruptcy Code excepts from discharge debts incurred by fraud, false representations or false pretenses.
Money Magazine has been following the situation of Jeffrey Yarbrough, a Texas restauranteur who filed Chapter 13 after his three Dallas restaurants went under.
The most recent article, published September 17, 2008, takes a look at how Mr. Yarbrough has done recently.
One of the most common questions that I receive as a Nashville Bankruptcy lawyer over the past 20 years is, “Can I transfer property that I own to someone else and then file bankruptcy?” While this may sound like an easy way to keep things that you own and still get rid of debt by filing bankruptcy, this is probably one of the most dangerous things that anyone could do in contemplation of a bankruptcy filing.
Tennessee continues to lead the nation in the share of people going broke, and experts fear the slowing economy will push the number of bankrupt Tennesseans even higher over the next year.
The rate of personal bankruptcy filings in the Volunteer State during the first quarter of 2008 was more than double the national average, according to a report released last week by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Neighboring Georgia and Alabama ranked second and third, respectively.
According to the Office of the United States Trustee, audits, which were suspended in January 2008, will resume on May 12, 2008.
5/9/2008
As mandated in Section 603(a) of Public Law 109-8, the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005, the United States Trustee Program (USTP) established procedures to audit petitions, schedules, and other information in consumer bankruptcy cases filed on or after October 20, 2006. Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 586(f), the USTP contracted with independent accounting firms to perform audits in cases designated by the USTP.
During a speech in Powder Springs, Georgia, on Tuesday, Barack Obama promised changes to the nation’s bankruptcy laws in an effort to help military families, senior citizens, and victims of natural disasters.
Obama accused Senator McCain of backing the interests of the banking industry and credit card companies “at the expense of hardworking Americans.” Those comments were made in reference to McCain’s support of the 2005 Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act, which tightened the country’s bankruptcy laws and made filing more difficult and expensive for many debtors. Obama had voted against the measure.
As credit card debt underlies many bankruptcy filings, it is not surprising that prospective bankruptcy filers want to know if they should stop paying credit card debt if they plan to file for bankruptcy.
At first blush, the answer to this question should be obvious - why should anyone “throw good money after bad?” However, I think that your decision in this matter should merit some thought.
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Credit card companies, or any creditor for that matter, can sue a debtor and may be able to take the debtor’s home, real estate, car, boat or any other personal property they own. People seem to think that if they don’t sign something that gives a creditor a lien on collateral, the creditor can’t take it. That is not true. Further fueling this misconception is the advise of so-called money experts like Suze Orman, who I have personally heard give false information that creditors can’t take a person’s home. Creditors can sue a person and take their home, car and other property - and they do!
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