Chapter 7
Business Owners Under Attack in Nebraska Chapter 7 Cases
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…
Chapter 7 Nightmare: Close that business right now!
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…
Necessary Documents for Chapter 7 Court Hearings
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…
The Lack of Counseling in Credit Counseling
Before a person can file bankruptcy they must take an approved credit counseling class and their attorney must file a Certificate proving the class was taken with the court. The idea is to make sure that consumers are being educated about alternatives to bankruptcy, and when this new requirement was introduced in 2005 there was…
Borrowing Money to File Bankruptcy
I meet lots of people who desperately need to file bankruptcy, but they lack the money to file. A typical Chapter 7 case costs $1,300, and paying the fee is probably the biggest stumbling block to filing a case.
A company called BK Billing provides an answer: borrow the money. Under the BK Billing model,…
Prosecutors Fear Use of Digital Signatures in Bankruptcy Cases
Bankruptcy courts across the country have embraced the electronic filing of court pleadings since 2001. This system, known as Electronic Case Files or “ECF”, allows attorneys to sign and file documents with an electronic signature instead of using “wet ink” signatures on paper. The system is a great improvement over the older paper file…
National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys Become More Local
I belong to the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys (NACBA), the only national organization devoted exclusively to serving consumer bankruptcy attorneys and their clients. The NACBA has over 4,000 members located in all 50 states.
The NACBA is a resource I use every day in my practice. Their website is filled with…
Closing the Business: A Step-By-Step Instruction
The writing is on the wall and your company must close. Despite throwing everything you had into making the business successful, it’s not working. The funding is depleted. You have drained all your personal resources, emptied the retirement nest egg, mortgaged the home and you are out of cash. You have talked to all the…
Student Loan Discharged Despite Zero Monthly Payment Option
The Eight Circuit Bankruptcy Appellate Panel (8th BAP) affirmed the discharge of a $27,000 of federal student loan debt despite the fact that the debtor, Sara Fern, was eligible to pay nothing in an Income Based Repayment (IBR) plan. See In re Fern.
The debtor is a 35 year old single mom of…