It has never been more dangerous for business owners to file Chapter 7 bankruptcy in Nebraska.
New rules now require that business owners prepare special valuation reports to provide more information about the assets of their business. Chapter 7 Trustees have the power to sell unprotected assets, and they are demanding special reports showing the
In finance, and in life generally, there are steps and elevators.
Steps and elevators take us to where we want to go.
When it comes to money, eventually we want to wind up in a nice place. A paid home. A retirement fund. An opportunity to slow down and enjoy the fruits of our work.
Business owners filing Chapter 7 beware! You may have to close your business until the Chapter 7 Trustee surrenders any claim to it.
That is the nightmare that potentially awaits unincorporated business owners who file Chapter 7. Why is that? And why does this only happen to unincorporated business owners?
The problem occurs because the
In today’s email inbox came this message:
Message from UST Regarding Necessary Documentation for Chapter 7 Section 341 Meetings of Creditors
The Chapter 7 Panel Trustees for the District of Nebraska have standardized the documents that they will request in every chapter 7 case. The following documents must be submitted to the appointed trustee prior
Are trailer homes, pull-behind campers, and RVs protected in Nebraska bankruptcy cases?
Homes are protected in bankruptcy by a law called the Homestead exemption, and traditionally that exemption applies to homes built on land a debtor owns. But what about portable homes and RVs sitting on rented lots?
Saundra Latham writes a good review of the best credit counseling agencies of 2018 in The SimpleDollar website. She correctly points out that the best credit counseling firms to handle a Debt Management Plan are:
Generally speaking, if you are signing up for a Debt Management Plan to consolidate your debts into a payment plan managed by a certified credit counselor that provides lower interest rates and financial counseling, you want to go with an agency certified by the National Foundation for Credit Counseling (NFCC). The NFCC has the toughest certification standards in the credit counseling industry and it is simply unwise to go with an agency not certified by them.
Continue Reading Best Debt Management Companies 2018 Reviewed
I continued to be amazed at the inability of banks to produce a copy of the actual credit card agreement signed by their customers when suing on a defaulted account. The inability or unwillingness to produce a signed agreement is truly astounding. How can a bank obtain a judgment for a debt on a written contract without production of the contract itself?
The answer to that question is that banks are allowed to rely on the monthly billing statements they send their customers as proof of the debt without having to produce a signed copy of the written agreement. This action is called an Account Stated lawsuit, and for the first time the Nebraska court system has issued a ruling specifically allowing these lawsuits to proceed in the case of American Express Centurian Bank v. Scheer, 25 Neb. App.784 (2018).
Continue Reading American Express v Scheer: Account Stated Nightmare Comes to Nebraska
The 8th Circuit Bankruptcy Appellate Panel has issued a new opinion that is really causing a lot of anxiety and uncertainty about the exemption status in bankruptcy cases of retirement accounts awarded to debtors during a divorce case.
If a debtor is awarded a portion of their ex-spouse’s retirement account in a divorce proceeding, is that account protected in bankruptcy? Until a few months ago the majority opinion was yes, but that is all changed since the BAP issued the Lerbakken opinion.
In Lerbakken, the debtor was awarded one-half of his wife’s 401(k) retirement account in a divorce proceeding. He subsequently filed Chapter 7 and the bankruptcy trustee claimed his interest in the retirement. The bankruptcy judge ruled in favor of the trustee citing the United States Supreme Court’s opinion of Clark v Rameker, a case involving inherited IRA accounts.Continue Reading Retirement Accounts & Divorce: Lerbakken Opinion Puts Accounts at Risk
A “Suggestion of Bankruptcy” is a document filed in a lawsuit to notify the court that the defendant has filed bankruptcy. Filing such notices with the court is very helpful to the court and to opposing parties so they may cancel upcoming court hearings or pending garnishment orders. Many courts automatically place a pending lawsuit on hold until further order of the bankruptcy court and take affirmative steps to release garnished funds.
Our office files bankruptcy cases electronically and in the next moment we electronically file Suggestions of Bankruptcy with the Nebraska court system. The system is efficient and quick. The goal is to “put out the fire” of collection activity as quickly as possible, and filing Suggestions of Bankruptcy greatly facilitate that goal.
In most cases the bankruptcy results in a discharge of debts, but what happens if the bankruptcy case is dismissed without a discharge? Does the filing of a Suggestion of Bankruptcy mean that the debtor’s bankruptcy attorney has entered a general appearance on behalf of the debtor-defendant? Is the debtor’s attorney in a dismissed bankruptcy case now obligated to defend the debtor in the state court action?Continue Reading Do Suggestions of Bankruptcy Constitute an Appearance of Counsel?