The unfolding of the COVID-19 virus episode has been the weirdest experience in my lifetime. I remember the courthouse bombing by Timothy McVeigh in Oklahoma City and commercial jets hitting the Twin Towers on 9/11, but those were one day events.
The corona virus is different because it continues from day to day
Below is a letter written by a 64-year old bankruptcy attorney to the United States Trustee, the agency that oversees bankruptcy cases.
Clifford J. White III, Director
Executive Office for U.S. Trustees
Re: Covid-19 and consumer bankruptcy practice
Dear Director White:
On behalf of our NACBA membership and our entire NACBA Board of Directors, I
At first glance it appeared that the debtor had a “slam dunk” case to receive a hardship discharge of her $140,000 student loan debt.
The debtor is a 36-year-old single mother of two disabled children, ages 11 and 12. She received no child support since her ex-husband voluntarily terminated his parental rights. She could not
Lower-income debtors simply cannot afford the high cost of filing chapter 7, and that is a real problem when garnishments strike.
The cost of filing Chapter 7 in Nebraska ranges from $1,300 to $1,800 and ALL of those fees must be paid in full to file a case. How can low-income debtors stop garnishments
The ironic feature of the bankruptcy system is that a debtor must come up with a lot of money to file a case. Indeed, it costs a lot of money to go broke!
According to bankruptcy law professors Pamela Foohey, Robert M. Lawless, Katherine Porter
The 8th Circuit Court of Appeals has affirmed a Bankruptcy Appellate Panel’s opinion regarding whether a retirement account awarded to a spouse in a divorce case is exempt in a bankruptcy proceeding.
Last year the BAP court ruled that a retirement account awarded in a divorce case was not earned by the debtor and was
The Final Report of the American Bankruptcy Institute on Consumer Bankruptcy offers suggestions to make paying for bankruptcy more affordable. The report does a good job of explaining why fees are so high, but the suggested remedies are generally lame and at times just plain wrong.
In what way? Well, the report correctly diagnoses the
Low income debtors often need to file bankruptcy to stop garnishments, car repossessions and foreclosures. The problem is, filing Chapter 7 bankruptcy is expensive and attorneys will not file a case until ALL those fees (typically $1,400 to $1,800) are paid.
Why won’t attorneys file cases for a small retainer and monthly payments on the
It costs a lot of money to go broke. It really does. The cost of filing Chapter 7 in Nebraska is about $1,400 to $1,800 for the typical case, and many can never afford that cost.
To make matters worse, once a bankruptcy petition is filed with the court, attorneys are not allowed to accept
I recently returned to work after being a stay at home mom. When I quit working I stopped paying on one large credit card. They took this all the way to judgement and are now trying to garnish my wages with my new employer. I am a mortgage processor and am wondering if I file