Author Archives: doug

Do consumer bankruptcies really hurt consumers?

By doug | Published: June 15, 2011

If you have been looking around on the Internet for financial or bankruptcy information, there’s plenty of it out there, but you gotta know who you can trust. If you’re looking specifically for bankruptcy information, we hope you will trust this site. I try hard to keep it up to date and accurate. Until recently, […]

Posted in Bankruptcy News, Chapter 7 | Comments closed

The Crystal Cathedral files a bankruptcy plan

By doug | Published: June 14, 2011

The Crystal Cathedral — the Southern California ministry founded by noted positive thinker Rev. Robert Schuller has filed with the bankruptcy court its plan from emerging from the debt load that caused the church to seek Chapter 11 protection last fall. Boiled down to its essence, the mega-church’s plan is sell it’s sprawling complex in […]

Posted in Bankruptcy News | Comments closed

Lawrence ranks in top ten for distressed properties, a precursor to bankruptcy

By doug | Published: June 13, 2011

A Massachusetts housing recovery is still a long way off, according to an article in the Boston Globe. And Lawrence ranks in the top ten communities in Massachusetts in the number of distressed properties — that is, homes where the owners are substantially behind on mortgage payments. A rise in the number of distressed properties […]

Posted in Bankruptcy News | Comments closed

Massachusetts bankruptcy blogger turns to working for the bankruptcy court

By doug | Published: June 2, 2011

Fellow Massachusetts bankruptcy blogger Bill McLeod has shut down his blog. But its not for lack of interest or traffic, but because he has taken a job with the Bankruptcy court itself — as the court’s “pro se law clerk.” What does a pro se law clerk do? There are only a few of them […]

Posted in Bankruptcy News | Comments closed

Chapter 7 Bankruptcy without paying the filing fee

By doug | Published: June 1, 2011

If you pick up the Lawrence Eagle-Tribune on Tuesday or Thursday, you’ll find an ad like the one at left which can be used as a “coupon” for a reduction of $299 off of a Chapter 7 bankruptcy case during the month of June. That’s like being able to file without paying a filing fee! […]

Posted in Bankruptcy News | Leave a comment

New Massachusetts bankruptcy exemptions chugging along smoothly

By doug | Published: May 26, 2011

The new Massachusetts bankruptcy exemptions, which were introduced in early April, seem to have been accepted by the bankruptcy community without much fuss. I know I filed several cases using Massachusetts bankruptcy exemptions and have had no trouble at all — the cases flew right through the system. When the changes took effect, for the […]

Posted in Exemptions | Comments closed

The cardinal rule of personal bankruptcy — list it or lose it!

By doug | Published: May 25, 2011

Sometimes dealing with legal matters is like walking through a minefield of complexity — court opinions that don’t agree, statutory language that can’t be figured out even with a law degree, and all that legalese that applies as soon as you click “accept.” In the bankruptcy courts, however, there is one cardinal rule that is […]

Posted in Practical tips | Comments closed

Chapter 13 Tests

By doug | Published: May 24, 2011

Thinking about a Chapter 13 bankruptcy case? Before you can file a case under this chapter of the bankruptcy code, there are a number of “tests” a debtor must pass. Here’s a way to keep track of them all: Debt limits: Chapter 13 has upper debt limits, but no lower limits. The current upper limits […]

Posted in Chapter 13 | Comments closed

Bankruptcy and divorce: can the bankruptcy court step in and re-do your divorce settlement?

By doug | Published: May 23, 2011

Bankruptcy and divorce — those handmaidens of a whopping mid-life crisis — are serviced by competing court systems with competing and confusing rules and requirements. Here is a guide to (at least partially) untangling the mess. First, since 2005 there has been a notion in the bankruptcy courts of something called a “domestic support order,” […]

Posted in Chapter 13, Chapter 7, The Bankruptcy Code | Comments closed

If you are going bankrupt, why are you worried about your credit score?

By doug | Published: May 20, 2011

One of the most perplexing things a bankruptcy attorney can come across is clients (and potential clients) who are overly obsessed about their credit scores. With some folks, its almost as if the FICO score itself is some sort of IQ number, indicative of intelligence, self-worth, or some other positive attribute. If you are thinking […]

Posted in Credit cards, Practical tips | Comments closed
Call now: (978) 975 - 2608