Blog

As the law stands now, it is difficult to get student loans discharged in bankruptcy. For many years, student loan recipients under federal government programs like, Stafford and Perkins loans, have not been able to discharge their loan debt through bankruptcy. A new portion of the law was enacted in 2005, which added the stipulation […]

Can a school withhold school transcripts until tuition is paid? A common scenario: our bankruptcy client owes school tuition and need a transcript from the school. The school was listed on the bankruptcy petition, but is withholding the transcript because of the outstanding balance. Can they do this? Do you have to pay in order […]

Can the trustee really make me turnover documents or property? No, the trustee cannot MAKE you turn them over. However, if you filed bankruptcy to receive a discharge, which most people do, then you will want to turnover items requested by the trustee. Failure to cooperate with the trustee can result in dismissal of your […]

What Is An Automatic Stay in Bankruptcy? In Bankruptcy, an automatic stay protects a debtor from creditors.  The automatic stay prevents a creditor from collecting on debts incurred by the debtor.  The automatic stay is effective immediately upon the filing of the bankruptcy.  As soon as the bankruptcy is filed and a case number is […]

What Are Some Common Exceptions to Discharge in a Bankruptcy? In a bankruptcy, there are some common exceptions to discharge.  This means that there are certain things that are unable to be eliminated through a bankruptcy.  According to the United States Bankruptcy Code, Section 523, Debtors are unable to discharge certain taxes.  If the taxes […]

Often people who file bankruptcy wonder what will happen to their credit score after filing bankruptcy and have concerns about the balances on their accounts. The answer to this is the credit report will not show any balances on the accounts as the creditor can no longer report to the credit bureaus about the debt. […]

Many people turn to bankruptcy due to garnishment or increased collection efforts.  With respect to garnishment, if your wages are not currently being garnished, but you think that you will be subject to a garnishment, filing for bankruptcy will stop any efforts to garnish or collect.  In a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy the debt will be […]

What if I do not know who my creditors are? If you do not know who your creditors are, there are a couple of things you can do:         1.       Run your credit report or have your attorney run it for you (usually a fee)        2.       Start holding onto bills, letters, etc. that you receive in […]

The answer is that it depends.  The short answer is that the more recent the debt is the less likely it is that it will be dischargeable.  The more detailed answer requires analysis of a series of qualifications.  First, to be dischargeable, the tax debt must be at least three tax years prior to the […]

Bankruptcy and divorce often coincide with one another. The divorcing couple will have to decide if they want to file bankruptcy together or apart. There are pros and cons to either decision. Generally a married couple can file bankruptcy together; however the courts do not care if they are living separately. However both people’s income […]