Interesting and informative blog posts during the week of 6/20-6/24/11
Bankruptcy
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. Although the phrase “means test” suggests a single calculation…
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 quickly and easily as possible…
Bankruptcy is not for liars, cheats and crooks. Debt discharge is reserved for honest, but unfortunate, debtors who need a fresh start in life. If you do not want to come clean and make a full and honest disclosure of all your financial affairs, bankruptcy is not for you. Only people who tell all there is to tell about their money and property and answer all questions truthfully and completely…
Three or four more opinion days before the United States Supreme Court’s term closes. Sixteen opinions have yet to be delivered. But if a lifelong, diehard, Bronx-born Yankee fan, Justice Sotomayor (who some say saved baseball), is willing to sport a CUBS jersey while throwing out the ceremonial first pitch in Saturday’s Yankee-Cubs game (I can’t imagine a White Sox fan ever doing that!)…
In my last post, I wondered whether the Court’s decision in Stern v. Marshall would be a bombshell or a dud. It certainly was no dud. And after reading the 5-4 opinion, I’d say that it’s a bombshell in several respects, both from a bankruptcy and constitutional perspective. Here’s four reasons why:…
Our Rancho Cucamonga foreclosure defense attorneys were interested to see a recent decision reminding mortgage companies that they cannot violate the automatic stay on debt collection provided by bankruptcy. In Laboy v. Doral Mortgage Corp., the First Circuit Court of Appeals enforced sanctions against Doral, the mortgage lender, for willful violation of the stay provided to Luis Vazquez Laboy and Carmen Garcia Calderon…
I worked on a case this past week with a California attorney, practicing in the Riverside Division of the Central District. The client had a home that carried a mortgage of $402,500; however, the home was appraised at only $178,000. This is a common occurrence in California. Although the real estate market crash has affected every state in a large way, the state of California seems to have the largest gap. And every time I prepare petitions in California, it amazes me at the staggering numbers I encounter…
I do not have to tell you about the problems with our economy. If your law firm has not been touched by the current recession, you at least know someone who has. Now, you have the opportunity to add a much needed bankruptcy service to your current practice in order to assist your current clients in other ways…
My post on allonges generated quite a bit of response, on and off the blog. But here’s what’s troubling me–if allonges are being fabricated ex post, who is doing it?…
Vickie Lynn Marshall, as she is known to bankruptcy mavens, or Anna Nicole Smith, as she is known to normal people, lost today in her second round before the Supreme Court…
After rallying last fall, many of the big bank stocks have seen substantial declines from the beginning of the year. Growing fears about the health of the banking industry are discussed in the latest Economics and Mortgage Market Analysis issued by Fannie Mae…
The Defense of Marriage Act, which bars federally recognized same-sex marriage, got a surprise challenge from a California bankruptcy court last week. Here’s a look at what happened and what it might mean in the future…
The Supreme Court’s decision in Schwab v. Reilly, 130 S.Ct. 2652 (2010) last term provoked a lot of concern about the finality of exemptions. Under Taylor v. Freeland & Kronz, 503 U.S. 638 (1992), a trustee’s failure to timely object to an exemption, even a frivolous one, meant that the asset left the estate…
After fifteen years of litigation, two trips to the Supreme Court and the deaths of both of the original antagonists, the Supreme Court decided Stern v. Marshall, ___ U.S. ___ (2011). While Vickie Lynn Marshall, better known as Anna Nicole Smith…
Debt Settlement
An increasing number of students are getting into debt these days. A lot of college-goers spend recklessly without realizing that they would be repaying it for years after graduating…
And just for fun:
The following phrases actually came from “Some Useful Condescending Phrases” intended for Evil Overlords, but who hasn’t had the following thought bubbles over their heads during unending, unproductive, doughnut-free meetings…
