When Chapter 13 Makes Sense There are certain circumstances where chapter 13 makes perfect sense even though there may not be a lot of debt being repaid. A perfect example of this would be if a person’s driver’s license is suspended due to failure to pay parking tickets to the City of Chicago. Let’s say […]
Chance For Dismissal This is a question that comes up on nearly every chapter 13 bankruptcy case that is filed. It is almost impossible to make it through the chapter 13 filing process without some sort of difficulty. The difficulty might stem from the trustee, a creditor, the regulations, or the debtor himself. There are […]
Invest Wisely I have to share with you a cautionary tale of a prior client who had an investment in a real estate property on the South side of Chicago. The neighborhood in which he invested was not great. In fact, it’s one of the two or three neighborhoods in Chicago that has not seen […]
It’s amazing to me that people are worried about getting credit before they even completed a bankruptcy case. This is due in fact based upon Americans desire and obsession for credit. After all, credit is what more than likely got the person into financial problems to begin with. Now there are other causes of bankruptcy […]
Problems Getting Paid In The Past Over the past 20 years, I have been searching for the reason or reasons why bankruptcy judges make it so difficult for bankruptcy attorneys to get paid in Chapter 13 consumer bankruptcy cases. This goes all the way back to the early 1990’s when some judges would simply not […]
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 […]
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: […]
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 […]
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 […]
Consistency Lacking If you are looking for consistency among the bankruptcy judges and the bankruptcy trustees in the Northern District of Illinois, you will be hard pressed to find it. Let’s start by examining the bankruptcy judges in Chicago. Each bankruptcy judge comes from a different background, has a different viewpoint with regard to debtors […]