Archives for January 2016

The co-debtor stay applies in chapter 13 of the United States Bankruptcy Code and goes into effect immediately upon the filing of the case. The co-debtor stay will prohibit any action or continued action to collect on a consumer debt from an individual who secured such debt or who is liable on such debt with the debtor with the exception being if the co-debtor became liable on such debt in the ordinary course of business. The co-debtor stay will apply provided the following legal requirements are met: 1) The primary debtor must have filed the petition for relief under chapter 13. 2) The debt involved must be a consumer debt which is a debt incurred by an individual primarily for + Read More

Gas Prices Drop As gas prices continue to drop, the yearly benefit to the average consumer can approach $750.00 or more per year.  This precipitous drop in prices may help many that are on the fence about filing for bankruptcy.  For a married couple, the savings can approach $1,500.00 or more.  Here are the details: Six months ago, the average gas price was approximately $2.82 per gallon.  If figure the consumer drove 1000 miles per month with an average mile per gallon of 19, the total cost per year for gas would be $1,781.00.  Now that gas prices are averaging $1.82 per gallon, the total cost per year drops to $1,067.00.  This equates to an average savings of $714.00 which could vary + Read More

Below is a partial transcript of David M. Siegel as he talks bankruptcy law for the Legal Action television show which airs on Comcast Cable throughout Chicago and its suburbs: Interviewer: Let me ask you this.  I work at a bank so is my employer going to find out if I do a bankruptcy? David Siegel: Your employer’s typically not going to know about your bankruptcy unless he or she needed to be notified.  For example, if a client is being currently garnished and they come in for a Chapter 7 or a Chapter 13 and they want to stop that garnishment. We’re going to have to send proof of the bankruptcy filing over to the payroll department; so in that limited circumstance your job is going to + Read More

Bankruptcy Form Changes On December 1, 2015, almost all of the bankruptcy forms and schedules were amended. Many clients who had already signed earlier versions of the forms and were awaiting filing, had their filings delayed because they had to re-sign and reread new forms. In certain circumstances, the forms had to be emailed or faxed to expedite an emergency filing. Now as we come to the conclusion of several cases, the official form 423 regarding certification about a financial management course has to be newly signed as well. The court granted a 30 day grace period after the forms were changed to utilize the earlier version of forms. Since we have now exceeded the 30 day grace period, + Read More