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A Chapter 13 bankruptcy plan requires a debtor to satisfy unsecured debts by paying all “projected disposable income” to unsecured creditors over a five-year period. In a recent case before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit (the “Sixth Circuit”), the court grappled with whether a Chapter 13 debtor’s wages that are contributed to an employer-sponsored retirement plan are considered disposable income under the Bankruptcy Code.[1] Read More ›
Tags: 6th Circuit Court of Appeals, Chapter 13

The bankruptcy process involves a set of federal laws designed to help individual and business debtors who cannot pay what they owe. All 94 federal judicial districts handle bankruptcies. Bankruptcy filings are done with the bankruptcy court in almost all of them. Federal bankruptcy courts have jurisdiction over bankruptcy cases, so they cannot be filed with a state court.
According to bankruptcy laws, filers who liquidate their assets to pay off their debts, or craft and carry out a repayment plan to pay back their creditors in a set period of time can have a fresh start. The Bankruptcy Act also protects businesses in trouble, providing them a means for orderly debt repayment through liquidation or reorganization. Either bankruptcy procedure is covered in the Bankruptcy Code, the three main chapters of which are Chapter 7, Chapter 11, and Chapter 13. The majority of bankruptcy petitions are filed under them.
The bankruptcy law is in place to achieve these purposes:

• To allow a bankrupt but honest debtor to start afresh by eliminating most of his or her debts.
• To make sure that debtors who have an available property for liquidation repay their creditors and do so in an organized manner.

Bankruptcy proceedings typically start with a debtor filing a petition for bankruptcy with a United States bankruptcy court. A bankruptcy filing may be done by an individual, by a married couple, or by a business or organization. Those who file for bankruptcy must also include statements enumerating their income, assets and liabilities, debts, and creditors. Filing for bankruptcy triggers the automatic stay, which stops all collection efforts from creditors, collection agencies, and other debt collectors. While the stay is in place, the debtor is covered with bankruptcy protection, and his or her creditors may not file or continue lawsuits, attempt wage garnishment, or even make a simple phone call to demand payment.
After the debtor has filed a bankruptcy petition, the clerk of court will send notice to the relevant creditors. In many  Bankruptcy Chapter 7 cases, very little or no money is available from the bankruptcy estate to give to each creditor. For this reason, they have fewer incidents of dispute and the filer gets a bankruptcy discharge without objection. Once debts are discharged, the debtor is no longer liable for their payment.
When disputes over property ownership and worth, the amount of debt owed, et cetera are raised in a bankruptcy case, they may result in litigation. The bankruptcy court handles litigation in pretty much the same way the district court handles civil cases. This means a process that may include discovery, pre-trial proceedings, settlement efforts, and the actual trial. 
Dealing with Bankruptcy Concerns? Contact an Oregon Bankruptcy Attorney Today!
Filing bankruptcy can be a confusing and overwhelming undertaking for a debtor in financial distress. It’s important to take every step carefully and make informed choices. Hiring a bankruptcy lawyer to advise and guide you throughout the experience is the smart move to make. If you’re considering bankruptcy, give us a call at Northwest Debt Relief Law Firm to schedule a consultation with one of our skilled and experienced Oregon bankruptcy attorneys.
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Consumer Financial Protection Bureau – pros and cons of Supreme Court decision
The question – can a President remove the Director of Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) ‘just because’?
The answer – yes.  But then it gets a little more complicated.  The bottom line – The director of the CFPB is exposed to the whim of a president who wants everyone to do their bidding, no matter the consequences to the consumer.  If the president cares about you and me more than big business, that is good.  But, if the president cares more about big business than you and me, that is bad.  The goods news – CFPB is still alive and kicking.  For those late to the party – the CFPB is one of the few organizations designed to protect you and me (the consumer).
The CFPB core functions:
According to the CFPB website, the CFPB was created to provide a single point of accountability for enforcing federal consumer financial laws and protecting consumers in the financial marketplace. Before, that responsibility was divided among several agencies. Today, it’s our primary focus.
Our work includes:

• Rooting out unfair, deceptive, or abusive acts or practices by writing rules, supervising companies, and enforcing the law
• Enforcing laws that outlaw discrimination in consumer finance
• Taking consumer complaints
• Enhancing financial education
• Researching the consumer experience of using financial products
• Monitoring financial markets for new risks to consumers

Sheila Law v. CFPB: Winners and Losers (a reprint from Credit Slips) July, 2020
posted by Adam Levitin (see some great quotes at the end of Mr. Levitin’s entire post – ‘Read More’)

The Supreme Court’s long-awaited decision about the CFPB’s constitutionality is out. It’s a tricky opinion to parse politically. The Court, in a 5-4 partisan decision, held that the CFPB’s structure violates the separation of powers because of the for-cause only removal provision for the CFPB Director in conjunction with the Bureau’s other features. Accordingly, the Court found that the Director must be removable at will. Here’s my attempt to lay out the winners and losers. As you’ll see, they do not track with the headlines of the CFPB losing—the CFPB was actually the winner here for most purposes. 
Winner:  The CFPB

The CFPB walks away from Seila Law still standing tall and able to do everything it could the day before the decision. Don’t lose sight of that. You can see this in part by counting the votes. While it was 5-4 (with conservatives in the majority) that the CFPB is unconstitutional, it was 5-4 (liberals + Roberts) on the severability issue, which keeps the agency alive. While the case was a tactical loss for the CFPB, it was actually a strategic victory. If there’s one big picture take away, that’s it. The CFPB functionally won here.  
Winner:  A Biden Administration
The most immediate practical effect of the decision is that a President Biden can fire CFPB Director Kraninger on Day One of his administration. That’s a good thing for those who want to see a more active CFPB right now. In the short term, the Supreme Court might have given a Biden administration a real gift. Indeed, I found it very strange to see the Kraninger CFPB send out an email scheduling an event for March 2021. That might be optimistic in light of the decision. 
Possible Loser:  CFPB Independence 
While the CFPB did score a general win, the decision might affect how the CFPB behaves in the future. The lack of a for-cause-only removal protection might have a chilling effect on future CFPB Directors. If a future CFPB Director is too aggressive, the financial services industry will surely lobby the President to fire the Director. Whether the industry will have enough pull with a future administration to actually get a Director removed or for the White House to get involved is far from certain, however. In other words, the trade-off here is that there’s a possibility of putting in a more active Director in January 2020, but that such Director and any future Director will face a political constraint of some type going forward. 

MUSINGS FROM DIANE:

Politics and politicians can be bullies.  “Bullying is the use of force, coercion, or threat, to abuse, aggressively dominate or intimidate. The behavior is often repeated and habitual.” (Wikipedia).  As soon as Trump got in the White House he started attacking the CFPB.  Why you ask?  Because he is not a champion of consumer rights (don’t trust me – look at his history).  The CFPB was born out of a group, lead by Elizabeth Warren, who were tired of consumers (that you and me) getting ripped off by big business – such as banks, mortgage companies, credit card companies, payday lenders, shady student loan companies, etc.  Richard Cordray was the first Director (under Obama), later Trump put his own shills in as directors –  Mick Mulvaney (as Acting Director), then Kathleen Kraninger.
From its creation until 2017, the CFPB “has curtailed abusive debt collection practices, reformed mortgage lending, publicized and investigated hundreds of thousands of complaints from aggrieved customers of financial institutions, and extracted nearly $12 billion for 29 million consumers in refunds and canceled debts.”

The post Supreme Court Decision – Consumer Financial Protection Bureau appeared first on Diane L. Drain - Phoenix Arizona Bankruptcy & Foreclosure Attorney.

If you are filing bankruptcy, Get Your Money Out of Wells Fargo. People filing bankruptcy get kicked when they are down, if they bank  at Wells Fargo. Wells Fargo sees your bankruptcy on your credit report and they freeze your checking and savings account.  At least they do if you have more than five thousand […]
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