Resources to Help You Master Your Money
Required Counseling When Filing for Bankruptcy
BANKRUPTCY COUNSELING There are two required counseling sessions that a person must complete before receiving a discharge of their debts under the bankruptcy code. The first of these counseling sessions must be completed prior to the filing of the bankruptcy case....
Notice of Missing Documents from Bankruptcy Court
YOUR BANKRUPTCY DOCUMENTS There are two required counseling sessions that must be completed by every Debtor prior to receiving a discharge of their debts. We often have clients call us advising that they have received a document from the bankruptcy court titled...
Incurring New Debt in a Chapter 13 Case
New Debt in Chapter 13 Case A Debtor cannot acquire new debt while in an active Chapter 13 case without receiving approval of the Chapter 13 Trustee and/or the Bankruptcy Court. Sometimes circumstances dictate that you must acquire new debt during a pending Chapter...
Post-Petition Mortgage Payments
MORTGAGE PAYMENT If you are in a Chapter 13 bankruptcy and you are making mortgage payments, your plan of reorganization requires that those payments be made in a timely manner. When we use the term "post-petition" mortgage payments we are referring to those...
Credit Reporting and Bankruptcy
WHAT DOES MY CREDIT REPORT LOOK LIKE AFTER BANKRUPTCY? The Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. §1681 et seq.) governs how a creditor can report a debt that has been discharged in bankruptcy. The creditor can report an account that has been discharged in...
Errors in Your Credit Report
MISREPORTING OF CREDIT INFORMATION Creditors will report debts or accounts to the credit reporting agencies, where the liability for the debt has been discharged in a bankruptcy. If you discover the misreporting of such an account in your consumer credit report,...
Taxation of Forgiven Debt
Taxation of forgiven debt is generally taxable to the Debtor. However, one of the most beneficial aspects of bankruptcy is that debt discharged in a bankruptcy is not taxable to the Debtor. All bankruptcy is governed by Title 11 of the United States Code. Section...
Right to Setoff or Offset in Bank Accounts
WHAT HAPPENS TO YOUR BANK ACCOUNT IN A BANKRUPTCY? People contemplating a bankruptcy filing often have bank accounts that may have been pledged as collateral to secure a loan with the bank where the deposited funds are located. If you are in such a situation, then...
Discharge of Income Tax Liability in Bankruptcy
INCOME TAX AND BANKRUPTCY There is not a simple answer to whether or not income tax liability is dischargeable in a bankruptcy. Under the right facts and circumstances income taxes can be discharged. First, if a return was never filed for the taxes prior to filing...
Automatic Debits For Payments After Filing Bankruptcy
PAYING WITH AUTOMATIC DEBITS AFTER FILING FOR BANKRUPTCY If you have car payments or other payments being made to a secured creditor by way of an automatic debit from a bank account, you will need to make arrangements with the creditor to pay them by other means...
