Are you using a debt management firm to settle your debts? Have you recently completed a short sale? Have you had a property foreclosed and the bank received less than the outstanding balance on the mortgage? If you have answered Yes to any of these questions, you should be on the look out for a…Read more
Bankruptcy as a Pre-Retirement Tool
Are you approaching retirement? Are you still burdened with massive minimum monthly payment obligations on your credit cards? Are you concerned that you will not be able to continue to maintain these payments once you stop working? U.S. News and World Report noted in a recent posting that an increasing number of Americans are entering…Read more
Why You Need An Attorney To File For Bankruptcy
If you are considering filing for bankruptcy, this is not time to go it alone. Much of what goes into the filing of a bankruptcy petition comes from the insightful and probing questioning from a qualified bankruptcy attorney. Under New York State law, only a licensed attorney can provide legal advice. Paralegals and other bankruptcy…Read more
Discharging Personal Income Taxes in Bankruptcy
There has been a long standing misconception that all tax liabilities were not dischargeable in personal bankruptcy. While the bankruptcy law has always held that payroll and sales tax liabilities incurred by the owner of a business could not be discharged in bankruptcy, certain personal income tax liabilities can be discharged in either a Chapter…Read more
Paying Back Student Loans: A Love/Hate Relationship
You’re a first year grad student, and the thought of repayment doesn’t even cross your mind. “That’s so long from now!” At every semester’s start, you long for the day you stand in the long financial aid line to get the check. The grad school years go by and, in the last year, you go…Read more
What happens at the Meeting of Creditors?
Section 341 of the United States Bankruptcy Code provides creditors the right to meet with the debtor to determine if a discharge or a reorganization of debt is appropriate based upon the facts and circumstances presented by a debtor in their bankruptcy petition. While creditors technically have the right to attend these proceedings, and to…Read more
Post Petition Mortgage and Auto Payments in Chapter 13 Bankruptcy
In most Chapter 13 cases, debtors are required to continue (or resume) making regular monthly mortgage or auto loan payments directly to their lenders. Remember, lenders will be tracking your performance carefully, so it is important to remit them on time. Here’s some tips about making those payments. From my experience, many lenders will not…Read more
Voluntary Mortgage Defaults – Just Walking Away
Earlier today, an article, written by Roger Lowenstein for the New York Times, discussed the pros and cons of homeowners, who have mortgage balances that exceed the value of their homes, voluntarily defaulting on their mortgage obligations and, in essence, preparing to walk away from their homes. Voluntary defaults are far from a new phenomenon. …Read more
Is the Mortgage Modification Process simply a prelude to a Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Filing?
In one of my recent posts, I listed a series of myths that you may encounter regarding the mortgage loan modification process. Upon further reflection, I may have discovered a major flaw in the entire mortgage modification process. On September 13, 2009, Newsday reported that the number of Long Island homeowners that had mortgages that…Read more
Can a Bankruptcy Filing affect my Immigration status?
This is a question commonly asked by many of my clients. Miami based immigration lawyer Michael Shane answers this question in a concise and well written article entitled “Effect of Bankruptcy on Naturalization Eligibility,” which is published on the Lawyers.com web site. Mr. Shane notes specifically that there is no immigration law, statute, or regulation…Read more
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