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Month:

Enforcing the Automatic Stay

The decision to declare bankruptcy is not an easy one and many find themselves feeling overwhelmed or stressed by the decision or the process.  In most cases, the stress is two-fold: financial stress and emotional stress.  The emotional stress is often caused by, or at least exacerbated by the near constant reminder of debt from creditor calls and letters. The Bankruptcy Code has within it a provision that often helps alleviate some of this stress once bankruptcy is declared: the automatic sta[...]

"Surrender" Under Bankruptcy

Bankruptcy and foreclosure are in some ways very different.  The former involves primarily federal law, seeks to assist the debtor, and involves all of a debtors assets and liabilities.  Foreclosure in contrast involves primarily state law, seeks to assist the creditor in securing the rights to the collateral property, and involves only the debtors home.  Despite these differences, the two areas of law overlap at points, in part because many debtors filing for bankruptcy have property that i[...]

Bankruptcy Fraud and Reform

Bankruptcy Reforms Criticized by Experts During a panel but on by the American Bankruptcy Institute, the 2005 overhaul of bankruptcy laws was sharply criticized by one of the panelists, an attorney that represents debtors in bankruptcy.  The 2005 overhaul was designed to help decrease abuse of the system by debtors and increase the relief unsecured creditors obtained.  The critique was that after ten years, the laws actually seem to have hurt consumers through the increased cost in filing for [...]

Bankruptcy Effect on Divorce : No Love Lost

The bankruptcy effect on divorce It’s been said that two things can make ordinarily rationale individuals act crazy: love and money.  It is not surprising then that when bankruptcy and divorce are combined the results  can get, well, interesting.  Such was the case in Morales v. Giddens, an adversarial case arising from the  bankruptcy effect on divorce regarding Christopher Giddens.  Christopher Giddens and Marta Morales divorced in 2008 after ten years of marriage.  The two agreed to a[...]

Potential Change in Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Rules

  Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Rules The start of the New Year brings with it the promise of fresh starts and change.  The American Bankruptcy Institute (ABI) is also hoping for change.  At the end of 2014, it released a 400+ page final report on proposed changes to the Chapter 11 bankruptcy rules.  As discussed in greater detail in previous posts, Chapter 11 is a reorganization form of bankruptcy most commonly used by businesses and high net worth individuals.  The report took three years to [...]