Author Archives: Jay Butchko
What Happens to my Personal Injury Claim when I file Bankruptcy?
When someone files bankruptcy, ALL of their assets wherever located, become part of the Debtor’s bankruptcy estate pursuant to the Bankruptcy Code. ALL assets means everything – house, car, furniture, jewelry, clothes, pets, everything. Some things debtors don’t realize are included are stocks and bonds (not part of an IRA or 401k), inheritance, ownership… Read More »
How Do I Create a Budget?
What is budgeting? My definition is that budgeting is an estimate of money to be earned and expenses to be paid over some given time period based on past period’s data. I like to think of budgeting as a diet; it is only effective if you use it. Some tips to remember as you… Read More »
My Landlord Died, is my Lease Still Valid?
We received another Crushing Debt Podcast listener question this week: “My lease expires in 8 months and my landlord just passed away. What are my rights?” Most every lease (at least the ones that we draft) should have a provision in it that says that the rights and responsibilities of the contract pass to… Read More »
What happens after I file my bankruptcy?
There is a significant amount of work that goes into preparing a bankruptcy case, whether Chapter 7, 13 or 11. However, once the case is filed, it is not over for the attorney or the debtor. There are somethings that can happen during a bankruptcy case, some normal and expected and some abnormal and… Read More »
What title issues do I need to worry about when buying a house?
What due diligence should you do when buying a residential property? What does the title insurance commitment mean and when should it be a concern to you? That is the point of this blog post. To some, using an attorney for a closing is a necessity. Some people live in states where attorneys are… Read More »
What is FIRPTA and when is it Applicable?
While we shy away from tax issues, they do intersect real estate law from time to time. One such intersection is FIRPTA – the Foreign Investment in Real Property Tax Act of 1980. When does FIRPTA apply to a transaction? What is the responsibility of the Seller? The Buyer? The Realtor(s)? The Title Company? … Read More »
Payroll: Bi-Monthly vs. Bi-Weekly
Recently, I got into a debate about whether Bi-Monthly or Bi-Weekly payroll was better. Part of the debate was on the very definition of the terms and the remainder of the debate was which one was better for purposes of filing bankruptcy. On both issues, I believe bi-monthly is the better payroll schedule. If… Read More »
My Siblings Want to Buy My Share of the Family Home
This week’s blog comes from a question from another podcast listener: My father recently passed and left me and my two siblings each a 1/3 share of his house. His house has no mortgage on it and my siblings want to sell the house. Before the sale, they want to buy my 1/3 of… Read More »
Should I form an LLC or Corporation?
I’ve seen a recent trend amongst consultations of people who invest in real estate that they own in their name alone and this can be very dangerous from a liability perspective. To help these clients, I typically discuss at least 5 forms of owning a real estate investment business. There are a few more… Read More »
I’m Buying Investment Property! What do I do next?
The most common question I get from Real Estate Investors is “when do I need to hire you?” Typically, you hire me at the beginning to make sure everything runs smoothly, or you hire me after everything has hit the fan! To make sure things go smoothly, I’ve thought of some due diligence items… Read More »
