Category Archives: Bankruptcy News

Are stimulus checks really exempt from seizure by a bankruptcy trustee?

By doug | Published: April 9, 2020

If the government were to mail out free money, who should get first dibs on it — the recipient or his creditors? What would seem to be an inane question in normal times has become a live issue in the spring of 2020. To fight the massive economic repercussions of the corona virus shutdown, the […]

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How the federal stimulus law will affect Chapter 13 debtors

By doug | Published: April 7, 2020

In response to the unprecedented impact from business shutdowns ordered to battle the Covid-19 virus during the spring of 2020, Congress passed a massive $2 trillion dollar stimulus package in late March. The new bill, which was debated for about a week on Capitol Hill, was quickly signed in to law by President Donald Trump […]

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What happens to your car payment when the world is paralyzed by the corona virus?

By doug | Published: April 2, 2020

With tens of millions of Americans sidelined, either in whole or in part, by quarantine orders due to the corona virus outbreak in the spring of 2020, a looming question for many is whether they can or should be making regular payments on the family car or truck. So far, at least, the media hasn’t […]

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Massachusetts marijuana firms face squeeze: forced to close, but unable to get funds or get bankruptcy protection

By doug | Published: April 1, 2020

Entrepreneurs in the emerging legal market for cannabis products in Massachusetts are facing a triple whammy crisis: First, the market for recreational (sometimes called “adult-use”) marijuana products has been closed by government order due to corona virus distancing measures, plus these firms will find themselves unable to participate in federal stimulus plans, and after that […]

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Stimulus legislation increases access to small business bankruptcy procedures; up to $7.5M in debt can be restructured

By doug | Published: March 31, 2020

In August of 2019, Congress did something that’s become a bit unusual — it passed bipartisan legislation, and saw it signed in to law by the President. The particular bill was a sweeping change to the federal bankruptcy code that was intended to open up Chapter 11 reorganizations to small businesses for the first time.  […]

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Extension of Chapter 13 plan payments may be possible through virus stimulus package

By doug | Published: March 30, 2020

The massive $2 trillion stimulus package enacted by Congress and signed in to law by President Trump on March 27, 2020 in response to the economic havoc wreaked by the COVID-19 pandemic contains a few passages that may ease the burdens of debtors in bankruptcy. Nicknamed the CARES Act, for “Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic […]

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First Circuit allows bankruptcy trustees to claw back tuition payments

By doug | Published: February 11, 2020

Add another wrinkle to the worries of consumers thinking about filing for bankruptcy — in New England parents of college age children may find their bankruptcy trustees going after money paid for their children to attend college. On November 12, 2019 the First Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston ruled that tuition payments made to […]

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Supreme Court puts some teeth into the bankruptcy discharge

By doug | Published: June 20, 2019

Debtors pay good money to go bankrupt — in exchange for which they expect to shed most of their debts and be left alone by prior creditors. But what should happen when creditors don’t get the message and continue collection or harassment?  The United States Supreme Court recently addressed this issue for the first time, […]

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The Supreme Court will decide a bankruptcy case

By doug | Published: June 12, 2019

The United States Supreme Court typically hears less than one hundred full cases each year, and out of that small sample, usually only one or two involve the federal bankruptcy laws. But on May 20, 2019 the Supreme Court announced that it will decide a bankruptcy dispute in the next term, which begins in October, […]

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Auto lenders getting aggressive with repossessions, even after bankruptcy

By doug | Published: June 8, 2018

Massachusetts bankruptcy attorneys should be aware of a recent uptick (during the spring and summer of 2018) in aggressive actions by auto lenders seeking to repossess debtor’s vehicles despite a bankruptcy filing. Several of the common lenders are upping the ante, but Toyota Financial seems to be taking the most aggressive positions of all. One […]

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