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Written by Charleston Bankruptcy Lawyer, Russell A. DeMott Mortgage modification in bankruptcy is a confusing topic. Some say you can. Some say you can’t. As with most bankruptcy issues, the answer is: “It depends.” However, it’s clear that if you have a wholly unsecured mortgage, you can “strip off” or “value” the mortgage…
Written by Charleston Bankruptcy Lawyer, Russell A. DeMott Filing bankruptcy when you’re married usually means both spouses filing together, but not always. The Bankruptcy Code is clear that even when a married couple files together, there are–almost always–two, separate bankruptcy “estates.” That means the husband’s estate is one estate, and the wife’s is another.…
Written by Charleston Bankruptcy Lawyer, Russell A. DeMott Mortgage modification is a hot topic lately. And most commentators have rendered a verdict: Mortgage modification programs like HAMP and HAFA (Home Affordable Modification Program and Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives) have been a colossal failure. Still, some homeowners have achieved the impossible to obtain modification…
Written by Charleston Bankruptcy Lawyer, Russell A. DeMott Here’s a chart I came across that illustrates the spread of collateralized debt obligations (CDOs for short). Basically, banks and other mortgage lenders sold these CDOs and Wall Street bought them without regard to the quality of the underlying obligations contained in these securities. Simply put,…
Guest Post written by Atlanta Bankruptcy Lawyer, Bryce Angell We’ve all been there before. The holidays come and it’s spend, spend, spend. Family and friends receive their gifts and are glowing with cheer, love and thankfulness. Somehow, we manage to scrape up the extra money–with just a little help from credit cards and overtime. January…
Written by Charleston Bankruptcy Lawyer, Russell A. DeMott I frequently get questions about judgments. Some of the questions I’m asked are: Must I file bankruptcy prior to being sued? Must I file bankruptcy prior to the judgment being filed? Is it true that I can’t discharge the debt once there’s a judgment entered? Once…
Guest post written by Philadelphia Bankruptcy Lawyer, Dan Mueller When I first started taking bankruptcy cases in the 1990s, I rarely had a senior citizen as a client. Today, it is not unusual to see people in their 70s and older in desperate financial straits. (My oldest client is 90.) Most of us assume…
Written by Charleston Bankruptcy Lawyer, Russell A. DeMott South Carolina bankruptcy filers will now have to face the reality of lower median income figures starting November 1. “Median” means the 50th percentile–that is, half people in that group are above that point and half below. The Bankruptcy Code’s means test is a key component…
Written by Summerville Bankruptcy Lawyer, Russell A. DeMott Avoiding bankruptcy is a topic I regularly visit with clients. None of my clients want to file bankruptcy if there’s some other viable alternative. And I agree with that approach: explore non-bankruptcy alternatives first, then explore bankruptcy options. One way to avoid bankruptcy is to…