You’ve heard it before. A bankruptcy case can help you end creditor harassment, stop foreclosures and prevent repossessions. How can a bankruptcy case have that much power? A set of federal laws called the bankruptcy code governs how we conduct bankruptcy cases in the United States. It  controls where the cases are filed,…

  For many, the stress of managing high credit balances and collection demands before a bankruptcy case is enough to cause them to swear off credit after the bankruptcy case is over. Other clients want to know how soon after the bankruptcy case they will qualify for credit. Creditors can grant new credit to a…

Do you feel overwhelmed by your debt? Is it hard to stay on top of your financial obligations? Are you stressed out by the task of keeping track of your creditors? Facing the difficulty of high debt can be exhausting, to say the least. Besides the practical worries of making ends meet, you may also…

On March 4, 2014, Justice Antonin Scalia delivered the Supreme Court’s opinion in Law v. Siegel, originally a bankruptcy case from the Central District of California. The Supreme Court’s decision unanimously reversed the decision of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. This case is particularly interesting because it involves issues of fraud and property exemptions…

On January 14th, 2014, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Executive Benefits Insurance Agency v. Arkison. Because it is being appealed out of the Ninth Circuit, this case is being closely watched by Bay Area Bankruptcy Attorneys, and the Court’s decision could significantly change the role of Bankruptcy Courts. Executive Benefits follows the…

The California bankruptcy law governing exemptions is different from that in other jurisdictions. One of the benefits of filing for bankruptcy is that it allows you to keep some property and use other property to pay off creditors. In previous posts on this blog, we have discussed how different types of bankruptcy can be used…

A recent decision by the Bankruptcy Appellate Panel for the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals holds that foreclosure on property after the bankruptcy trustee has abandoned it will violate the automatic stay provisions of the bankruptcy code. In previous posts, we have discussed how automatic stays under Chapter 13 Bankruptcy can help stave off an…

A recent 9th Circuit decision provides a noteworthy warning to homeowners considering bankruptcy. While bankruptcy may provide troubled homeowners with relief from losing their homes through foreclosure in certain situations, the bankruptcy courts are not an automatic shield. The court’s ruling in In re Alakozai demonstrates this, concluding that debtors could not use a series…

Earlier this summer, the 4th Circuit joined an increasing list of federal appeals courts to confirm that debtors need not include Social Security income in their Chapter 13 plan filings. In In re Mort Ranta, the 4th Circuit agreed with the 9th Circuit and others in highlighting that the 2005 bankruptcy reforms passed by Congress…

In a noteworthy departure from the rulings of other federal circuit courts, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals gave a county employee the green light to sue her employer for discrimination, even though she originally failed to disclose the lawsuit in her Chapter 7 bankruptcy filing. The court concluded that, in situations where a debtor…