The other day I was scheduled to attend a continuing education conference with some of the local Arizona bankruptcy trustees. I thought I had given myself plenty of time. I arrived at the parking garage, walked inside, and immediately realized that I was in the wrong building. So I got back in my car and tried to head to the right building. I ran into a problem. The parking garage only took cash and I only had my debit card. I told the attendant that I had only been parking [...]
I recently attended a continuing education course that was presented by a group of Arizona bankruptcy attorneys that I am apart of. The presentation was given by three Phoenix bankruptcy trustees. In every bankruptcy case that is filed there a bankruptcy trustee assigned to review your documents and administer your case. The main point of the presentation was to give us attorneys pointers on how to help our client’s bankruptcy cases proceed more smoothly from the view point of the trustee. Bankruptcy trustees generally have a lot of cases. The information we were [...]
You made “the call”. I realize that by the time my clients actually call me to set up a bankruptcy consultation there has been a lot of internal (and external) debate. Now that you have taken the all important first step of setting up the bankruptcy consultation I thought I would share a few ideas of how you can make this meeting as productive as possible. #1 – Whatever You Tell Me is Confidential When you visit with me in my office about your debt problems those discussions are protected [...]
In a chapter 13 bankruptcy you will be required to pay your disposable income to your creditors over the life of your bankruptcy case. Chapter 13 bankruptcy cases typically are a minimum of three years and a maximum of five years long. In calculating your disposable income we look at your monthly income and subtract all of your monthly expenses – not including payments you are currently making on your debts. Part of this process is disclosing to the bankruptcy court your monthly budget. Your budget is relevant because the [...]
I usually try and come up with some clever title for my articles (rarely do I succeed), but with this article I just want to relay pure information. If you need to file bankruptcy, do it now, don’t wait. Delay will only cause you further grief. Yesterday I met with a handful of families that were looking into filing bankruptcy. In each of there cases it was apparent that they needed to file and in fact all of them had been talking about filing for bankruptcy for quite some time. But the [...]
In January the State Senate in California passed legislation aimed at debt buyers like Midland Funding, LVNV Funding, and Portfolio Recovery who sue people over debts without adequate documentation to prove that they own the debt or that they are even suing the right person. This new legislation would prohibit debt buyers from obtaining a judgment in a debt collection lawsuit unless the debt buyer can prove that they own the debt, what the balance is, the date of default or last payment, the identity of the owners, and the [...]
One of the drawbacks to filing chapter 7 bankruptcy is that you may lose some of your stuff. Chapter 7 bankruptcy is a liquidating bankruptcy – meaning if you have assets that you own free and clear of any liens and that are not protected under one of Arizona’s exemption laws, then in chapter 7 you could lose them. For instance, in Arizona there is no exemption for ATVs. So, if you own a Yamaha Banshee (my favorite ATV), in bankruptcy the trustee could require that you turn the Banshee over, they [...]
In previous articles I have gone over the litigation strategy of debt buying companies like Midland Funding, LVNV, LLC, and Portfolio Recovery. Despite the fact that they have filed a lawsuit against you, they really don’t want to fight you. Their hope is that you will do nothing to defend yourself and that they will get a default judgment against you. So what if you put up a fight? Sometimes they will simply seek to dismiss your case. You receive the Motion to Dismiss and you are thinking that you [...]
When you file for bankruptcy here in Arizona your case will be assigned to a bankruptcy trustee. This person works under the Department of Justice and in a chapter 7 bankruptcy, their job is to review your bankruptcy documents, determine if there are any assets that can be sold, and then distribute the proceeds to your creditors. If your chapter 7 case is typical you will only see your bankruptcy trustee on one occasion – the Meeting of Creditors. However, despite not having much face time with your trustee, your bankruptcy trustee [...]
Should you seek out God’s guidance before filing for bankruptcy? Rev. Billy Graham says yes in a recent article when the question of the morality of bankruptcy was posed to him. After I have explained the nuts and bolts of the bankruptcy process to people I often get asked whether I think it is morally acceptable to file for bankruptcy. In a way it is a funny question to ask a bankruptcy lawyer. Either I feel that it is morally acceptable to file bankruptcy or I am encouraging people to [...]
When it comes to hiring a bankruptcy attorney you have a lot of choices out there. No doubt that prior to finding my website you surfed through various bankruptcy attorney’s websites and have read what they have to say…so why should you hire me?
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We are a Debt Relief Agency. We help people file for bankruptcy relief under the Bankruptcy Code. The services, benefits, or assistance we provide in connection with consumer debts may involve bankruptcy relief under the Bankruptcy Code.