In what can only be described as frustrating for Bankruptcy Judges, the Ninth Circuit recently expanded the limitations on bankruptcy judge’s ability to enter final judgments in certain situations. Taking their cue from the Supreme Court’s decision in Stern v. Marshall, which held that bankruptcy courts lack certain Constitutional authority to make a final decision…

For many people who end up filing for bankruptcy, living off of credit cards had become a necessary way of life. In order to make ends meet, keep a roof over their heads, and feed their families, many would-be bankruptcy filers use credit to meet their daily needs. After living like this for years and…

Many Credit Reports Contain Costly Errors One of the most common effects of living with the constant stress of too much debt is the eventual inability to even deal with one’s financial situation. As a bankruptcy attorney, I have talked to and counseled countless clients who have told me that after a certain point they…

Every day there is more and more talk about how the economy is on the path to recovery. The recession is over and good times are ahead. This is great news, except that for the typical American worker, the future is not so bright. The truth is that while the DOW is at an all-time…

The American dream can be expensive. Often times this dream is portrayed as homeownership with a couple of cars in the driveway. How one goes about obtaining the American dream in today’s reality is another story. Chasing the American dream has led people to run up huge consumer credit card debt and take mortgages they…

As an Oakland bankruptcy attorney, I know how difficult the thought of filing bankruptcy can be. For many of my clients, the decision to file bankruptcy comes after years of struggling to repay creditors with money they don’t have. Every month they are forced to rob Peter to pay Paul and are never able to…

In an effort to curb abusive bankruptcy filings, Congress in 2005 passed BAPCA, the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act. BAPCA established what is known by bankruptcy practitioners as the “Means Test.” The means test, through the use of a strict formula that incorporates a debtor’s actual expenses with standard expenses for the area…

The housing crash has left many people wondering what to do with homes that are now so far underwater they may never recover their former equity. To add insult to injury, many of these homeowners cannot afford to pay the mortgage on these underwater homes. This combination of factors has led many people to explore…

A former Mets baseball player, Lenny Dykstra, has plead guilty to bankruptcy fraud, concealment of assets, and money laundering all stemming from a bankruptcy case he filed to get out from under over $31 million in debt. As punishment for these crimes, Mr. Dykstra was facing up 20 years in federal prison but received only…

Once you have decided you are interested in filing bankruptcy your next step should be to research which attorney you are going to hire to represent you. This is no small matter, as over the past couple of years the number of bankruptcy attorneys has increased significantly. This is both good and bad. The good…