Orange County Bankruptcy Blog
Posted on Sep 13, 2011 By Joseph Tosti
If you are knee deep in overwhelming debt and heading straight towards bankruptcy, hold on your breath and think twice as other alternatives are there which can help you to pay down your debts faster, ...
Continue reading "Does Debt Settlement Trump Bankruptcy?" »
Posted on Aug 1, 2011 By Regina King
Millions of consumers in America are contemplating bankruptcy to discharge their overwhelming debts. But once you file bankruptcy your credit score might drop temporarily. Therefore, people who are ...
Continue reading "How can you reestablish your credit score after declaring bankruptcy?" »
Posted on Jul 1, 2011 By
The Social Security Administration is a mess. Currently, SSA is in the midst of an overhaul in which they are attempting to go “paperless.” Unfortunately, they are understaffed with many ...
Continue reading "Can I Discharge my Social Security Disability Overpayment in Bankruptcy" »
Posted on Jun 29, 2011 By
The owners of the Los Angeles Dodgers baseball team filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Monday, effectively putting off a potential ownership seizure of the team by Major League Baseball. ...
Continue reading "What Small-Business Owners Can Learn from the Dodgers' Financial Woes" »
Posted on Jun 27, 2011 By
Fewer people have filed bankruptcy petitions so far in 2011 than they did in 2010. Last year there were over 1.5 million bankruptcies filed in the United States. In the first quarter of 2011 there ...
Continue reading "Why Have Bankruptcy Filings Gone Down?" »
Posted on Jun 22, 2011 By
You filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy and something went wrong. Maybe you didn’t have a lawyer, or perhaps something went awry in your case. Whatever it was, you want to get out of the case as ...
Continue reading "How To Dismiss Your Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Case" »
Posted on Jun 22, 2011 By
If you are an “above-median income” debtor, you may wonder if you can still file Chapter 7 . The answer to this question is “yes,” but your case will be more complicated. ...
Continue reading "Can "Above Median Income" Debtors Satisfy the Means Test and Still File Chapter 7?" »
Posted on Jun 16, 2011 By Joseph Tosti
The ability of Chapter 13 debtors to use their plan to "strip off" a wholly unsecured junior mortgage lien was not conditioned on their eligibility for a discharge, and instead depended ...
Continue reading "Lien Strip-Off Not Conditioned on Discharge Eligibility" »
Posted on Jun 9, 2011 By
Leases are their own animal under the bankruptcy code. They are neither secured debt, nor unsecured debt. They get their very own schedule, schedule G. And the Bankruptcy Code provides that leases can ...
Continue reading "The Truth About Lease Reaffirmation" »
Posted on Jun 8, 2011 By
To sign or not to sign a reaffirmation agreement is always a question in a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy when there are secured debts. Bankruptcy Law Network is presenting information regarding the ...
Continue reading "Bankruptcy Reaffirmation Agreement: To Sign Or Not To Sign, That Is The Question." »
Posted on Jun 2, 2011 By Joseph Tosti
One of the hardest issues for a bankruptcy attorney to deal with is the issue of the Reaffirmation Agreement . When a person files a Chapter 7 bankruptcy he is given a rare opportunity: To start over ...
Continue reading "Chapter 7 Bankruptcy And The Reaffirmation Agreement!" »
Posted on Jun 1, 2011 By Joseph Tosti
I wanted to write something about what makes those who procrastinate file bankruptcy. First of all, procrastination and bankruptcy often go hand in hand. The unknown is scary and making a move during ...
Continue reading "What Causes an Emergency Bankruptcy?" »
Posted on Jun 1, 2011 By Joseph Tosti
I recently got a phone call from a client. She got a letter from her mortgage company giving her the “opportunity” to reaffirm her mortgage. She wanted to know whether she should do this. I told her, ...
Continue reading "Why You Shouldn’t Reaffirm a Mortgage in Bankruptcy" »
Posted on May 31, 2011 By Joseph Tosti
The U.S. Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit, recently ruled that an Ohio doctor could discharge her federal income taxes in chapter 7 , based upon the government's inability to prove that her failure to ...
Continue reading "Federal Income Tax Discharged in Bankruptcy Unless Non-payment was Intentional, Appeals Court Says" »
Posted on May 28, 2011 By Joseph Tosti
Bankruptcy stops most collection efforts. There's an automatic stay , an injunction, as soon as the case is filed. Then there is the discharge injunction , when the case is over. Those are the core ...
Continue reading "Stay and Discharge Violation Settlements Not Confidential" »
Posted on May 26, 2011 By Joseph Tosti
Chapter 13 repayment plans are meant to be flexible. One way to save money is to give up a car you are paying for in order to keep your payment low. But the timing of when you make that decision could ...
Continue reading "Can I Give Back My Car in Chapter 13?" »
Posted on May 21, 2011 By Joseph Tosti
If you're filing for bankruptcy, do you still have to pay back creditors? Depending on how your local court looks at it, that old car may save you $200 a month. When you file for bankruptcy , you've ...
Continue reading "Projected Disposable Income Held Ransom For $200?" »
Posted on May 19, 2011 By Joseph Tosti
Eric Myers of North Carolina filed for bankruptcy in the hopes of a better financial life. What he got was a slap in the face and lack of employment prospects that would help him fulfill that dream. ...
Continue reading "Another Appeals Court Approves Bankruptcy Hiring Discrimination by Private Employers" »
Posted on May 16, 2011 By Joseph Tosti
All too often today people are declaring bankruptcy because they get sick or are injured in an accident. In America about half the people declaring bankruptcy are doing so because they cannot pay ...
Continue reading "Medical Bills send People Bankrupt" »
Posted on May 16, 2011 By Joseph Tosti
Going bankrupt is a devastating decision to make. It affects you emotionally and psychologically for years to come. The pressure of impending foreclosure , debt collectors and creditors constantly ...
Continue reading "Life after Bankruptcy" »
Posted on May 12, 2011 By Joseph Tosti
The number of people in the US filing for bankruptcy rose by 9 percent last year to 1.53 million, as more working families fell victim to job losses, plunging home values and unforgiving creditors. ...
Continue reading "1.5 million Americans filed for bankruptcy in 2010" »
Posted on May 12, 2011 By Joseph Tosti
Yesterday, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit (Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, North and South Carolina) affirmed the bankruptcy court's decision to dismiss the debtors' ...
Continue reading "Fourth Circuit Affirms Dismissal of Chapter 7 Case Based on Totality of Circumstances" »
Posted on May 11, 2011 By Joseph Tosti
Bankruptcy fraud is back in the news today, with the indictment of Lenny “Nails” Dykstra on charges of bankruptcy fraud and obstruction of justice. The indictment accuses Dykstra of looting his ...
Continue reading "What Lenny Dykstra Can Teach You About The Perils Of Bankruptcy Fraud" »
Posted on May 11, 2011 By Joseph Tosti
Filing bankruptcy does not predetermine what happens to the house after bankruptcy. In an era of underwater houses, the home may just pass through bankruptcy in the direction of your choosing ...
Continue reading "You’ve Got Choices For The House After Bankruptcy" »
Posted on May 10, 2011 By Joseph Tosti
Clients ask "What's the difference between chapter 7 and chapter 13 ″? Sometimes, they call chapter 7 "straight bankruptcy" or just "bankruptcy". Sometimes they call chapter 13 "wage earner plan" or ...
Continue reading "Differences Between Chapter 7 And Chapter 13" »