What Happens in a Chapter 7?

You need an attorney and you have scheduled initial consultations with multiple attorneys. What questions should you ask him/her to find out which attorney to choose?  I recommend the following:

• What do your clients like most about you?
• This question allows the attorney to highlight his strengths. By asking what his clients think of him rather than what he thinks of himself, he is more likely to answer candidly.

• Do you prefer email or phone calls?

This is a little bit more advanced than the usual topic, but I had a client come in who put her personal residence in a qualified personal residence trust.  Unfortunately, she got behind on her second mortgage, and the house had a moderate amount of equity in it; therefore, the second mortgage holder had no problem filing a foreclosure action against her.

Before some people actually make an appointment for a free consultation their lives are so stressful.  Finances - especially large amounts of debt often force people to make decisions that they know instinctively are wrong, but they make them because of fear and desperation.   Most people juggle their finances robbing Peter to pay Paul for as long as they can.  At so

Some creditors just don’t get it.

Under New York bankruptcy law (In re Boodrow) a debtor does not have to sign a Reaffirmation Agreement for a mortgage on real estate. This is a good thing (especially when dealing with second or third mortgages), since a signed Reaffirmation Agreement causes you to remain personally liable for the mortgage debt after bankruptcy, and... Read More »

Under New York bankruptcy law (In re Boodrow) a debtor does not have to sign a Reaffirmation Agreement for a mortgage on real estate. This is a good thing (especially when dealing with second or third mortgages), since a signed Reaffirmation Agreement causes you to remain personally liable for the mortgage debt after bankruptcy, and for any resulting deficiency judgment determined to be due after a foreclosure of the “reaffirmed” mortgage.

We often have initial consultations with people who have already filed a previous Chapter 13 case.

The answer to this question may surprise you.  You actually do not have to be destitute to file bankruptcy. Ideally, my clients would come to me before the bottom drops out from under them, but many wait until they are almost a year behind on their mortgage payments or a car has already been repossessed before seeking counsel from a bankruptcy attorney.

Check out 11 USC Section 523(a)(8) of the Bankruptcy Code.  In essence, it says that student loans cannot be discharged, except in situations of “undue hardship” on the debtor or debtor’s dependents.  That’s easy to say but hard to prove.  Why does 523(a)(8) even exist to except student loans from being discharged in bankruptcy?  Well,  Congress didn’t want crafty young college grads filing bankruptcy just to get rid of student loans, and that’s why 523(a)(8) is written into the Bankruptcy C