One of the nation’s largest debt collectors,Portfolio Recovery Associates, has been in the news lately, and this article exposes a hard truth about the collections system: Debt collectors know when your finances improve. Because debt collectors pay the credit bureaus to tell them. I’m a bankruptcy attorney, and I know people want to put off […]
Author Archives: doug
Debt collectors know when to pounce on you — how one does it
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Getting a mortgage after bankruptcy just got a little easier
Here’s a little bit of good news for people who have filed for bankruptcy, but are wishing they could buy a property again. As of July 29, 2014, Fannie Mae has relaxed its rules for qualifying for a mortgage with a bankruptcy on your record. While bankruptcy can be listed on your credit record for […]
Posted in Bankruptcy News, Foreclosure, Secured loans
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Letter presses administration on student loan bankruptcy standard
As of May 16th, 2014 there has been a new development, a bit of a surprising twist, you might say, in the saga of student loan collections. Seven Democratic congressmen (including Senator Elizabeth Warren from Massachusetts) have sent an open letter (text here) to the Department of Education asking them to clarify what qualifies as […]
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The worst bankruptcy mistake you can make in Massachusetts
Recently I ran across someone who wanted to make just about the worst mistake possible for a Massachusetts resident who has just filed for bankruptcy protection. She wanted to sign a reaffirmation agreement on a leased car. Why is that such a no-no if you live in Mass? First, some terminology: a reaffirmation agreement is […]
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Bankruptcy creditor blamed for arrest warrant
If a creditor is suing you in small claims court, and you file a bankruptcy case to put an end to the problem (which it should), and the creditor does nothing further to collect on the debt (which is proper), the creditor still can end up in hot water if bad things happen to you […]
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TelexFree owner on the run?
As a followup to yesterday’s piece on the TelexFree bankruptcy case, Boston Globe reporter Beth Healy writes today that one of the embattled company’s owners may have left the company for Brazil. Because criminal charges have not been brought in the case, there is nothing to stop that. TelexFree filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection […]
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TelexFree bankruptcy case headed to Massachusetts
It looks like the TelexFree bankruptcy case is headed to Boston. According to a story by Beth Healy in the Boston Globe, a judge in Las Vegas has decided that the controversial company’s bankruptcy would be better off being heard in their home state of Massachusetts. TelexFree is a purveyor of free Internet telephone service, […]
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Unemployment overpayment might survive bankruptcy
Debtors who have been notified by a state unemployment agency that they have been overpaid — and also that the state would like to be re-paid, pronto — might be able to discharge such a debt with a bankruptcy case. Or they might not be able to. It really depends — on the particular facts […]
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Fancy eyeglasses cause trouble at bankruptcy hearing
On the bankruptcy questionnaire I give to prospective clients, the very first thing I ask them to value is their jewelry. There’s a reason for that: it’s not that jewelry is subject to forfeiture in bankruptcy (in fact, there are generous allotments for debtors to keep jewels), but that it’s something that they are likely […]
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Wells Fargo in hot water over foreclosure manual
The New York Post reports that one of Wells Fargo’s own foreclosure manuals could be used against the bank in a bankruptcy trial. Or as the Post puts it more bluntly, “Wells Fargo is in a federal judge’s hot seat.” On March 12, The Post broke the news of a bankruptcy lawyer’s allegations in court […]
Posted in Bankruptcy News, Foreclosure
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