http://fellowsfinance.com Find The Equity Hidden In Your Financial Well Being Thu, 17 Sep 2009 15:47:33 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en http://fellowsfinance.com/2009/recession-survival-guide/ Mortgage loan modifications are dropping, according to a July 5, 2009 article in the New York Times, Alan M. White, an assistant professor at the Valparaiso University law school in Indiana, analyzed data on 3.5 million mortgages written in 2005 through 2007. These mortgages are serviced by five of the nation’s ... http://fellowsfinance.com/2009/mortgage-loan-modifications-dropping/ A recent Minnesota bankruptcy court ruling makes it easier for persons with roommates to claim a two-person household, while simultaneously excluding the roommate’s income from use in the means test.  This is important because in some cases, this can result in the debtor’s income being below the state’s median income for a ... http://fellowsfinance.com/2009/debtor-with-unrelated-roommate-lived-in-%e2%80%9ctwo-person-household%e2%80%9d-roommate%e2%80%99s-income-not-counted-in-means-test/ According to a July 2, 2009 Bloomberg report, there were 675,351 consumer bankruptcy filings in the first half of 2009, a 36.5 percent increase over 2008 numbers. June consumer filings totaled 116,365, up 40.6 percent from the same period in 2008. The monthly rate of consumer filings slowed, however, declining ... http://fellowsfinance.com/2009/2009-bankruptcy-filings-up/ Clients arrive in my office hoping that I can explain  the secret alternative which will solve their debt problems outside of bankruptcy. Why not?  Ads for debt settlement companies and do it yourself books always promise to reveal  the tricks ( known only to someone who wants to sell you ... http://fellowsfinance.com/2009/most-alternatives-to-bankruptcy-involve-wishful-thinking/ The client owes a fistful of taxes from years ago and has spent another fistful of dollars with widely advertised outfits that solve your tax problems.  None of these tax professionals told him that old income taxes can be eliminated in bankruptcy.! The client first hired J K Harris, with no ... http://fellowsfinance.com/2009/keeping-mum-about-discharging-taxes-in-bankruptcy/ Several years ago, the Chapter 13 trustees and the bankruptcy judges in the Northern District of Georgia added a new administrative burden to lawyers who file Chapter 13 cases in the Atlanta area.  Under this local rule, within 30 days after the “bar date” for creditors to file claims, lawyers ... http://fellowsfinance.com/2009/today-i-am-reviewing-the-claims-file-from-my-client%e2%80%99s-chapter-13/ “The US health care financing system is broken, and not only for the poor and uninsured”  According to a recent study in The American Journal of Medicine, middle-class families are collapsing under the strain of “a health care system that treats physical wounds, but often inflicts fiscal ones”. The study, (http://pnhp.org/new_bankruptcy_study/Bankruptcy-2009.pdf) claims that ... http://fellowsfinance.com/2009/us-health-care-financing-system-is-broken-most-bankruptcies-due-to-medical-debt/ “I don’t want to file bankruptcy on my house!”  “I don’t want to file bankruptcy on my car!”  “I owe my mom some money but I don’t want to file bankruptcy on her!” Every bankruptcy attorney practicing in this country has heard these phrases or variations of them.  The client wants ... http://fellowsfinance.com/2009/%e2%80%9ci%e2%80%99m-not-filing-bankruptcy-on-%e2%80%9c-and-other-misconceptions/ Although filing Chapter 7 bankruptcy usually wipes the slate clean as far as most of your debts are concerned, there are some debts that may not be discharged.  Certain debts, such as most taxes, child or spousal support, and student loans usually survive the Chapter 7 discharge.  Debts incurred through fraud, may also ... http://fellowsfinance.com/2009/are-there-any-reasons-not-to-file-chapter-7-bankruptcy-part-2-you-may-not-discharge-all-your-debt/