Category Archives: Bankruptcy
Student Loan Modifications in Bankruptcy
Over forty-four million Americans have unpaid student loans totaling more than $1.5 trillion. Many student loan borrowers file bankruptcy cases due to the financial difficulties they encounter in repaying their student loans. Even though student loans are not dischargeable, similar to how IRS debt is non-dischargeable, there is still a benefit to filing bankruptcy… Read More »
What Debts are Unaffected by Bankruptcy?
This week’s blog is another question from a listener of The Crushing Debt Podcast, and the question is, “Can you file bankruptcy on a judgment that is for domestic violence?” Generally, the answer is that the debt would not be dischargeable – meaning it would not be eliminated by the bankruptcy. However, I don’t… Read More »
Should I Consolidate My Debt or File Bankruptcy?
There are many ways to eliminate debt: (1) negotiate a plan with the creditor directly, (2) “snowball” or “avalanche” the debt, (3) take out a consolidation loan, (4) transfer debt from a higher interest rate to a lower interest rate (a personal loan, or 0% credit card, for example), or (5) bankruptcy. Which one… Read More »
Answering Listener Questions
We often get questions from listeners of The Crushing Debt Podcast. In this blog post, I’ll answer some listener questions I’ve received. The first question I wanted to answer is whether a person already under a Chapter 13 repayment plan can legally have an automobile financed while still in bankruptcy? This question comes from… Read More »
Why People File for Bankruptcy?
This is another transcription of The Crushing Debt Podcast, Episode number 144, “Why do our clients file bankruptcy?” I’ve done many podcast episodes, written blogs, and wrote a book on how to eliminate debt, and it occurred to me that I haven’t often discussed why my clients file for bankruptcy, or why my clients… Read More »
Crushing Debt Podcast Episode 126: Schedule I & J of the Bankruptcy Petition
Schedule I and J of the bankruptcy petition is the budgetary portion of the bankruptcy petition and there is an art to completing someone’s budget when they’ve decided to file for bankruptcy. In this Blog post (taken from Episode 126 of The Crushing Debt Podcast), we’ll review the budget schedules of the Bankruptcy Petition… Read More »
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 »
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 »
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 »
I Can’t File Chapter 7 or Chapter 13!
It happens very rarely but, from time to time, we speak to a client that fails to qualify for Chapter 7 (liquidation) or Chapter 13 (reorganization). If they still want to file bankruptcy personally, what should they do? Chapter 11 reorganization. Wait! I thought Chapter 11 was for businesses? Not necessarily. Chapter 11 is… Read More »
