Before beginning the bankruptcy process it might be helpful to get your credit report in order. Your credit report states your home address, how you pay bills, and whether you’ve been sued or arrested, or have filed for bankruptcy. The information in your report is sold to creditors, insurers, employers, and other businesses. They use [...]
The means test is a method used in Chapter 7 bankruptcy to determine if you are able to repay a minimum amount of unsecured debt after you have paid your allowable monthly expenses. It is used in cases where your current monthly income is greater than the state’s median family income.
If the means test demonstrates [...]
In these difficult times you may need to move out of state in pursuit of employment. If you have already begun filing bankruptcy it is permissible to leave the state. Bankruptcy proceedings will not prohibit you from moving. Usually your case will continue via the normal course.
If you are filing Chapter 11 or Chapter 13 [...]
You can file bankruptcy if your only income is Social Security or SSD. But the question is whether or not you should. If you have no plans to go back to work, you may not need to file bankruptcy since you are what is known as “judgment proof.” This means that your creditors may not be [...]
I will be on television Monday, October 26th on the MartinoTV show. MartinoTV airs weekday morning on KDVR FOX 31 from 9 a.m. - 10 a.m., and again on KWGN The Deuce from 11 a.m. - 12 p.m. Tom Martino has been fighting for consumers for more than 30 years on television, radio, newspapers, magazines and the internet. [...]
What is a motion for relief from stay? It is when a creditor or someone seeking to continue an action outside of your bankruptcy case files a motion for relief from stay. Usually, the creditor is seeking to foreclose on your property, sell it and apply the proceeds to the debt you owe them. The [...]
Certain property is allowed to be withheld from the bankruptcy process according to the Bankruptcy Code. This property is referred to as an exempt asset. Your exempt assets are protected by state law from being distributed to your creditors. Examples of exempt assets include vehicles that are up to a certain value, equity in your [...]
The Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009 or the Credit Card Act of 2009 is one of the largest reform measures imposed on the credit card industry. The intent of the act is to increase protection for consumers. The Credit Card Act of 2009 consists of thirty-three pages of complex material that [...]
You may be filing personal bankruptcy and hope to be able to keep one or two of your credit cards that have a low or zero balance. You are required by the Bankruptcy Code to list all of your debts, including all credit cards with debt. The bankruptcy trustee will ask whether you have listed [...]
The Supreme Court will be deciding on three bankruptcy cases during its 2009/2010 term. In an earlier bankruptcy blog, I have already discussed one of the three cases the US Supreme Court plans to hear. Milavetz Gallop v. United States, which addresses the relationship between bankruptcy lawyers and their clients. As you may recall, the [...]
