Debtors file bankruptcy cases. In response, creditors often file claims. A claim is just what you would think it is: a formal statement that the creditor is asserting a debt is owed. Bankruptcy court being a government bureaucracy, claims are made by filling out an official standardized government form. Although claims can always be disputed, [...]

Its that time of year again — time to consider when and how to reform the Bankruptcy Code. Specifically, should the bankruptcy code be amended to allow judges to force creditors to accept “cramdowns” — forced modifications — on first mortgages on a debtor’s house? This idea has been floating around for years now, and [...]

The recent Supreme Court decision in the Ransom case got a lot of bankruptcy academics interested again in the subject of how the Bankruptcy Code treats debtors with automobiles and trucks (which is pretty much all of them). It also may have some debtors nervous about how they (and their rides) will be treated if [...]

The Supreme Court issued a long awaited bankruptcy ruling on January 12th, but the result wasn’t very consumer friendly. The Court limited the number of deductions that high income debtors can take on the means test, which “tests” them to see if they qualify for Chapter 7. For above-average income debtors, the bankruptcy code allows [...]

Did you have a luxurious Christmas? Before you laugh, you might want to consider the Bankruptcy Code definition of luxury purchases. That would be more than $550 for luxury goods or services incurred within 90 days of filing a bankruptcy case. Alternatively, it can include cash advances aggregating $825 or more within 70 days of [...]

Alumni magazines are often a quick read and a throw-away, but I just got one from my dear old alma mater (Northeastern U.) that caught my eye. Professor Daniel Austin wrote a nice article entitled “Consumer Bankruptcy: Staggering Towards Coherency.” You can read the full article here. Professor Austin’s thesis is that the 2005 BAPCPA [...]

If you do file a bankruptcy case, generally you don’t want the court to dismiss it out from under you! Generally, dismissals look bad on your record — if you file another case right after the dismissal, you might have to “beg” a bankruptcy judge to let you file again. Forth Worth bankruptcy attorney Reed [...]

You can’t talk to a bankruptcy lawyer for very long before the phrase “automatic stay” pops out of his mouth. And that’s a very good thing, because the automatic stay is one of the most powerful concepts in the bankruptcy code, and one of the most important from the debtor’s point of view. But “automatic [...]

Many persons contemplating bankruptcy wonder about the effect of filing a bankruptcy case on the car (or cars) that they own. Starting April 1st, the federal bankruptcy exemption for equity in an automobile will be raised to $3400. (Until then, it is slightly less). Please remember that this exemption only applies to your equity interest [...]

A very common bankruptcy question concerns the minimum debt levels required to file a case. There aren’t any. The bankruptcy code has no formal cutoff points for filing a case under any chapter. Many folks are often confused about this because they have read about tough new requirements that Congress enacted in 2004 to try [...]