I get this complaint all the time: “My mortgage company is not reporting that I am paying my mortgage payment on time each month because I did not reaffirm their loan.”
Reaffirmation Agreements are documents that are signed in Chapter 7 with creditors for debts you want to keep. This is typically a home
According to affidavits signed by former Bank of America employees in a class action lawsuit filed in a Boston federal court, the bank regularly lied to customers seeking home loan modifications to deny their application. The affidavits were filed last week in a multi-state class action lawsuit filed on behalf of homeowners who claim
A new court opinion issued by the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals declares that alimony is part of the bankruptcy estate and can be liquidated by the Chapter 7 Trustee unless a specific state exemption protecting the alimony award exists. In re Mehlhaff, 2013 Bankr. LEXIS 944 (Bankr. D.S.D., Mar. 12, 2013).
Learning of new attacks being made against debtors who own Individual Retirement Accounts I am reminded of Al Pachino’s line in the last Godfather movie: “Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in!” As reported by Illinois law professor Robert M. Lawless in a recent article posted on CreditSlips.org
Owning a home can be a burden, especially for those who wish to surrender a property the bank does not want. Frequently the homeowner has vacated the premises and the property sits unoccupied for months or even years. These “Zombie” homes impose significant burdens for debtors, even after a bankruptcy is completed and the underlying
In a few weeks taxpayers will begin filing their 2012 tax returns, and for those taxpayers who are also filing bankruptcy at the same time a large number of them will forfeit the refund to the Chapter 7 Trustee. For nearly 20 years I have witnessed the Chapter 7 Trustee seize tax refunds from unsuspecting debtors.
A recent ruling by the Nebraska Bankruptcy Court underscores one of the primary differences between the treatment of divorce debts in Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 cases. (See In re Schulz, Nebraska Adversary Case #12-04070).
On August 30, 2011, the District Court for Buffalo County, Nebraska entered a divorce decree that included a division
The 8th Circuit Bankruptcy Appellate Panel has ruled that a Chapter 13 debtor may not create a special class of unsecured creditors for nonpriority, nondischargeable tax debts at the expense of other unsecured creditors. In the case of Shawn & Lauren Copeland v. Richard V. Fink, the debtors sought to create a separate class
Reading the opinion just issued by the Bankruptcy Appellate Panel for the 8th Circuit in the case of Shaffer vs. Iowa Student Loan Liquidity Corporation, I am wondering if we are now witnessing a greater willingness of the bankruptcy courts to discharge student loans.
Susan Shaffer is a single woman in her 30s
Two new court opinions were recently handed down by the 5th and 10th Circuit Court of Appeals on the issue of whether Social Security income is considered “projected disposable income” under the Bankruptcy Code. Projected disposable income is income that must be paid over to creditors during a 3 to 5 year Chapter 13 payment plan.
In the