Bankruptcy Videos? Well, Yeah, I Have a Few Bankruptcy Videos!

Feel free to go on over to my other site that's full of bankruptcy videos!

The First Meeting of Creditors in Your Bankruptcy Case is Scary, but It Doesn't Really Need to Be.

If you know what's going to happen at your First Meeting of Creditors, then it doesn't have to be all that scary, right?

Mind you, there are additional questions in a Chapter 13 First Meeting, or a Chapter 11 or Chapter 12 Bankruptcy in Arizona. And you don't ever have to worry about a Chapter 9 Bankruptcy.

So watch and enjoy, and I hope your blood pressure goes down a bit.

  

Why Is it a Good Idea to Pass the Means Test?

And there is a reason to pass the means test, in living color!

Passing the means test isn't always easy; in fact, just calculating the means test analysis is a little like doing your taxes!

But it gives you useful information!

   

Before You File a Chapter 13 Bankruptcy in Arizona, Don't You think You Ought To Have a Reason to File?

There are still a few good reasons to file a Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Case after the 2005 Amendments to the Bankruptcy Code.

But there are only a few.

No Superdischarge, right? And you won't be modifying the first mortgage, right?

And you'll be paying through the nose for up to five years, right?

Now, I've filed either hundreds or thousands of Chapter 13 Cases, back when they were a good idea (hey, we used to have $1.00 total payment Chapter 13 Plans in the Good Old Days!), but these days, you'll need to explain to me in words of few syllables why you think you need a Chapter 13 Case instead of a Chapter 7 Case.

And don't get me wrong; a Chapter 13 is a perfectly good solution.

But only in a very few circumstances.

Yes, You List Even Charged Off Debts. Because Charged Off Doesn't Mean that the Debt Has Vanished.

Sometimes when I talk to people about bankruptcy, they tell me that they wonder if they really need to list a particular debt, because the entire six hundred thousand dollars in debt shows on their credit report as "Charged Off".

Whether it's six thousand, or six million dollars in debt, the analysis is the same: Charged Off doesn't mean very much at all to you or your bankruptcy.

It is an internal bank accounting term, and means a good deal to the bank as to how much it can lend.

But it means very little to you!

Sometimes You Feel Like a Chapter 13 Bankruptcy, and Sometimes You Don't!

While I've filed either hundreds or thousands of Chapter 13 Cases for my clients in Arizona (it's hard to keep track after thirty years), I don't love them nearly as much as I used to love them.

Why?

Well, Chapter 13 Cases don't have a "Superdischarge" anymore.

And that makes me sad.

And the amount of dough squeezed out of folks over the life of the Chapter 13 Plan seems far too large to me, these days.

But the "big advantage" of a Chapter 13, that it permits stripdowns of second and third mortgages, doesn't seem like a very big advantage to me.

That's because this year, instead of the usual 100,000 mortgage foreclosures and trustee's sales we usually have in the United States, we'll have more like 1.4 million.

That means (in my humble opinion) that when I strip down liens for a Chapter 13 Client, I may not be doing them any favor at all. Because when the second lien and third mortgage are stripped, finally, FIVE LONG YEARS down the road, the value of the house may well be far lower than the FIRST mortgage.

Get it?

And if I can avoid harming you, I'd rather avoid harming you.

Top Ten EVER Arizona Bankruptcy Lawyer Blogposts!

Have a great weekend!

All Time Most Popular Bankruptcy Posts

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  Your Top Ten Bankruptcy Questions, Answered!

  There are some questions that come up with great frequency. I've posted blog entries to address some of those, and the most frequently asked...
• 
  

  Bankruptcy Arizona: How Do I Fill Out the Bankruptcy Schedules, Bankruptcy Statements, and Bankruptcy Lists: How Do I Fill Out the Forms?

  This is designed to help my clients fill information into their forms. This is not legal advice for somebody in New York, or anybody else, b...
• 
  

  Hey, Give Heidi a Break, Okay? Itemize your Furniture!

  Here's the deal: when you fill out your forms online in our computerized system, there will come a point when you are finished, and you will...
• 
  

  "So How Long is this Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Going to Take, Anyway?"

  Well, that depends. First, you have to sort of understand the process, and fill out the forms, and go over the forms to make sure they're ...
• 
  

  A Timeline for Your Bankruptcy Case; Usual Sequence of Events in A Chapter 7 Bankruptcy in Arizona

  Prior to your bankruptcy, suffer and worry a lot. You will, no matter what, and all that suffering will make you feel better when the overwh...
• 
  

  Play 20 Questions with a Bankruptcy Lawyer!

  I built a list a lot like this 30 years ago, so when I came back from a gigantic lunch I wouldn't forget to ask about important stuff. See...
• I Swiped a Post from a New Blog I'm Building to Help My Small Business Clients AVOID Bankruptcy!

  This is a post from a new blog I've started. It has one purpose in mind: it's designed to help folks who have small businesses bring in more...
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  What happens in a First Meeting of Creditors in a Consumer Chapter 7 Bankruptcy in the District of Arizona Bankruptcy Court?

  The first meeting of creditors may be the only hearing in a Consumer Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Case. Here's a video that explains it, and after...
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  How Will I Pay for a Bankruptcy if I'm Broke? How Much Will My Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Cost?

  There's an old joke among lawyers: a bankruptcy attorney walks into a cocktail party, and the divorce lawyer asks, "How does a bankruptcy la...

What Happens in a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy if I Own a Business?

There are some small business Chapter 13 Cases, and sometimes those work well, although they take a long time to complete (three to five years).

There are cases in which a small business can be purchased back from the Chapter 7 Trustee; the advantage there is that it's a one-time transaction, and that's pretty fast.

Here I am, discussing the edges of that topic.

This Week's Top Ten Bankruptcy Articles from My Other AZ Bankruptcy Attorney Blog!

Every week, we have new bankruptcy attorney article winners! Here they are for this week!

Top Ten Bankruptcy Articles This Week in my Other Blog!

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  Top Ten Bankruptcy Posts of the Month!

  Top Ten Most Popular Bankruptcy Posts of the Month Bankruptcy Arizona: Do Rising Gas Prices Threaten the Recovery? An article at KTAR.co...
• Fewer Small Business Bankruptcy Cases Because there's Cheap Insurance for Them?

  Small businesses file bankruptcy (or just close the doors, and let the owners file bankruptcy) for a lot of reasons. The most common is un...
• 
  

  Hey, Give Heidi a Break, Okay? Itemize your Furniture!

  Here's the deal: when you fill out your forms online in our computerized system, there will come a point when you are finished, and you will...
• The Arizona Bankruptcy Exemptions, Assembled by the Bankruptcy Court for the District of Arizona

  Has anybody else tried to post a pdf on a blog, whether it's an Arizona Bankruptcy Blog, or anyplace else? For a simple back-country Arizo...
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  Zimbabwe Worried About the U.S. Dollar

  You know Zimbabwe, right? It's the country that printed so much paper money that it became worthless. But Zimbabwe was much more conside...
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  A Website to Try to Get a Mortgage Modification under the Obama Plan

  I don't do mortgage modifications right now, but there's a nifty Nolo's Bankruptcy and Foreclosure Blog that points to a government website...
• The Bankruptcy of Iceland, and Why the Men are so Brave, and the Women so Beautiful

  There is an interesting article about the rise and fall of the Icelandic Economy in the New York Times. While the discussions of bankers g...
• 
  

  A Timeline for Your Bankruptcy Case; Usual Sequence of Events in A Chapter 7 Bankruptcy in Arizona

  Prior to your bankruptcy, suffer and worry a lot. You will, no matter what, and all that suffering will make you feel better when the overwh...
• Atheism Good for Business? Why I Love the United States.

  One thing about people in the United States: even though we're knee-deep in a depression, with bankruptcy cases to the right of us and the l...
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  Bankruptcy Arizona: How Do I Fill Out the Bankruptcy Schedules, Bankruptcy Statements, and Bankruptcy Lists: How Do I Fill Out the Forms?

  This is designed to help my clients fill information into their forms. This is not legal advice for somebody in New York, or anybody else, b...

My Other Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Blog, and My Other Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Blog

It always surprises me when a little orphan blog becomes a star on the internet.

But this little blogspot blog somehow started getting a lot of pageviews recently, and I thought that was interesting, and it also struck me that I ought to give you more to read if you were nice enough to drop over for a chat!

So here's a new Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Blog that Justia built for me, and here's a new Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Blog that Justia also built for me, and here's my old workhorse of a Blogger Bankruptcy Blog, which will be getting a facelift sometime soon.

When I get a Round Tuit.

Have a great day!

  

Top Ten Bankruptcy Articles this week from My OTHER Bankruptcy Blog!

I have more than one bankruptcy blog, because I want to see which approach to explaining a difficult subject works best.

Here are the top ten articles (chosen by reader popularity) from my other bankruptcy blog!

Top Ten Bankruptcy Articles of the Week!

• Bankruptcy Arizona: Do Rising Gas Prices Threaten the Recovery?

  An article at KTAR.com asks the question, do rising gas prices threaten the recovery? It's a very nice article by reporters Sandra Haros ...
• 
  

  Bankruptcy Arizona: How Do I Fill Out the Bankruptcy Schedules, Bankruptcy Statements, and Bankruptcy Lists: How Do I Fill Out the Forms?

  This is designed to help my clients fill information into their forms. This is not legal advice for somebody in New York, or anybody else, b...
• Bankruptcy Fraud is a Bad Thing, and I'm Sure that Becky McCord Agrees.

  There is little sense of humor these days as to bankruptcy fraud. The indictments don't take long. Even if you're a former County Offici...
• The Greatest Entry Level Job EVER - and No Worry About Student Loans!

  You won't believe this. I know a lot of poor, starving lawyers who are going to go back to school to learn this job !
• Will the Feds Force the City into Bankruptcy?

  It's one thing when a bank sends you a letter that says it's going to "charge-off" your debt (note: you'll still get sued for it, eventually...
• The Arizona Bankruptcy Exemptions, Assembled by the Bankruptcy Court for the District of Arizona

  Has anybody else tried to post a pdf on a blog, whether it's an Arizona Bankruptcy Blog, or anyplace else? For a simple back-country Arizo...
• 
  

  Airline Bankruptcy Cases Flying Down the Runway?

  I've seen Airline Chapter 11 Cases, up close and personal. They tend to be very large, and they're fairly high-impact cases, because they'...
• A Hundred and Thirty-Five Bankruptcy Videos for Your Entertainment!

  If you go to THELAW.TV , you get to watch a lot of bankruptcy videos. And they have this to recommend them: they're short!
• Should You Lose Custody of a Child If You File a Bankruptcy?

  I was recently shocked by an implication in an article in the West Virginia Record. The lead sentence was "Though wanting custody of her ...
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  Pamela Yip: "Take steps to avoid entering retirement with credit card debt"

  Good advice from Pamela Yip . My favorite line from the article? "The ideal situation for retirement is to enter it debt-free." And eas...