When a consumer files bankruptcy, the bankruptcy court warns creditors they may face a lawsuit awarding damages and attorney’s fees unless all debt collection stops. The technical term for failing to do so is violating the “automatic stay.’ As it sounds, this protection takes effect automatically. It is intended to provide some ‘breathing space’ from...
With student loan debt going back years, if not decades, having to disprove a billing error can be a daunting task. Old payments on older student loans can become important only after assignment to a new servicer when a problem first comes to light. Even if a borrower finds old canceled checks, how those payments...
Student loan borrowers won a significant battle when the federal first circuit found ECMC, a student loan monitor, abused the bankruptcy system in its collection of student loan debt. Hann v. ECMC, 711 F.3d 235 (1st Cir. 2013). Finding that Hann owed nothing, both a bankruptcy judge panel and the First Circuit Court of Appeals...
Chapter 13 can provide a glimmer of hope to homeowners struggling to make 2nd mortgage payments. Getting rid of a second mortgage mortgage in a chapter 13 bankruptcy has become routine in many jurisdictions like New Hampshire and Massachusetts. As a bankruptcy lawyer who has filed a couple of dozen of chapter 13s to strip...
Bankruptcy has a bad rap. It's true. Working in bankruptcy, we see so many of the harsh realities our clients are facing each day. Outside the bankruptcy circle (including bankruptcy attorneys, financial advisors and even the courts), bankruptcy has a bad image. "Bankruptcy is great for people who rack up enormous debt and then can't...
This article was originally posted on Huffington Post on Monday, June 11, 2012 and reprinted here with permission. Given the bailout the banks enjoyed at taxpayer expense, it's ironic how difficult it has become for the 'little guy' to take advantage of the only bailout he's ever going to see -- the fresh start promised by filing...
[caption id="attachment_273" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="Natural disasters often leave homeowners holding the bag on mortgages, property taxes and more."][/caption] We’ve all seen the devastating television footage of Mother Nature’s fury. From out of control wildfires in the Southwest to historic flooding and the ravages of hurricanes in the Northeast, it seems that no one is immune...
The college graduating class of 2012 is scheduled to start tossing caps in the air in just a few short weeks. But the celebrating may be more subdued because recent news has also given them the distinction as being the Most Indebited Graduating Class in U.S. history owing more than $1 trillion dollars in student loan...
They promise ‘hassle-free cash’ and short term money to help you through a rough patch and a fast answer to all of your personal cashflow issues. What these predatory payday lenders don’t tell you is that they take advantage of low and low-to-middle income individuals by luring them with easy access to cash packaged with...
[caption id="attachment_298" align="alignleft" width="150"] The CARD Act's hidden dirty little secrets[/caption] While most consumers celebrated the new changes brought about by the CARD Act beware of two loopholes that can catch unknowing credit card users in a costly mistake. Banks vehmently opposed to the CARD Act put their collective heads together and devised ways to...