A follow up on the recent post on payday loans. I’m finding a lot of my clients with old payday loans are getting threatening phone calls from debt collectors. These collectors will call cell phones or at home or at work. They use highly-aggressive tactics. For example, they may pose as a police investigator or court official. These callers will … Read More
P is for Payday Loans in Bankruptcy
P is for Payday Loans in the Bankruptcy Alphabet. I love it when clients tell me that they have payday loans. Why? Because bankruptcy is a great tool with which to fight back against these lenders. Recently, Pennsylvania legislators chose not to permit payday loans in Pennsylvania. However, folks in Pennsylvania can still go to the Internet to enter into … Read More
O is for Obligations in Bankruptcy
O is for Obligations in the Bankruptcy Alphabet. When you file any type of bankruptcy, your biggest obligation is to tell the truth. When you sign your bankruptcy petition and schedules, you do so under penalty of perjury. You disclose your assets and their worth along with all of your debts, even those that you intend to repay. If telling … Read More
N is for No Asset Case
N is for No-Asset Case in the Bankruptcy Alphabet. Basically, this refers to a Chapter 7 case in which the debtor will retain all of his or her property. I’m not talking about any property that is secured (let’s say a mortgage or a car loan), because you can decide, if you wish, to surrender an unwanted house or vehicle … Read More
L is for Lien Avoidance in Bankruptcy
L is for lien avoidance actions in Bankruptcy Court. In order to truly get a fresh start after bankruptcy, it’s best to get rid of all judgment liens. Last week, I discussed “judgments” in the bankruptcy alphabet. There, I talked about the need to file a “suggestion of bankruptcy” in any pending civil cases in which you are a defendant. … Read More
K is for 4 Reasons to Keep your 401k
K is for keeping your 401k if you have debt problems. In other words, don’t take out money from your 401k to pay your creditors. And there are four big reasons for my advice: You can fully protect your 401k or IRA if you file bankruptcy. Neither the Bankruptcy Trustee nor your creditors can get access to your retirement funds. … Read More
J is for Judgments in Bankruptcy Court
J is for judgments in the Bankruptcy Alphabet. What is a “judgment”? It’s simply when a court rules against you. More specifically, what I’m referring to is a money judgment. I’m specifically focused on removing or preventing judgments from being entered against my clients. So, if a prospective client has retained me to file a bankruptcy case, then my goal … Read More
H is for Harassment by Creditors
H is for Harassment by creditors in the Bankruptcy Alphabet. First of all, once your bankruptcy case is actually filed in Court, then your creditors cannot contact you at all. Why? It’s the automatic stay of the Bankruptcy Court which protects you until the Court issues the discharge order (which in a Chapter 7 case is about 4 to 5 … Read More
G is for Gambling Debts in Bankruptcy
G is for Gambling Debts in the Bankruptcy Alphabet. Those of us practicing bankruptcy law are surely seeing an increase in new clients who have incurred debts from local casinos. The general rule in bankruptcy law in Pennsylvania is that you can discharge (wipe out) gambling debts in bankruptcy (if you do it properly). First, if you’ve incurred any gambling … Read More
E is for Expenses in Bankruptcy
E is for Expenses in the Bankruptcy Alphabet. Whenever you file a bankruptcy case, you must submit a list of all of your property, income and expenses. Schedule J of the bankruptcy schedules is where you must list your monthly expenses. One of the most important tasks for any bankruptcy attorney is to properly inquire into the living expenses of … Read More