Debtor also has one collection lawsuit for $10K THE client is 48 and has just been sued for $10,000 by American Express. He recently received the summons and complaint. He…

I’VE recently gotten a couple of clients who have been on debt consolidation and are now ready to jump into Chapter 7 or Chapter 13. First, let’s distinguish debt consolidation…

FIRST client is 34. She is recently married and now has a one-year old son. She used to be employed making a gross of $50K yearly. At the same time,…

IF you’re traveling east on the 10 freeway from Los Angeles, eventually you will end up somewhere in Florida. It’s a long drive to cover about 2,800 miles, but that’s…

OVER the last 35 years, many clients have always asked me “Attorney, should I file for bankruptcy?” This question is asked after they have told me what their problem is….

THIS is what I call a borderline Chapter 7 case with asset. Therefore, it is the better part of caution not to file Chapter 7 because the asset may be…

MANY self-employed individuals have relied on the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and other federal pandemic loans to rescue their businesses from going under. If you notice, many restaurants that we…

CHAPTER 13 is a reorganization of your financial affairs where you pay a portion of your debts over 36 months or 60 months depending on where your household income is….

IS there such a thing as “good” debt? Sure there is. Debt can get you a higher education and get you a profession. By higher education, I mean college and…

WHAT’S in store for us for 2022? I was just thinking that this is the year we beat the pandemic permanently and the coronavirus decides to mutate into something that’s…

CLIENTS are seniors and they have a house in Los Angeles County where the homestead exemption is $600,000. The exemption amount refers to the equity in their house. Equity means…

CHAPTER 13 is a reorganization of your financial affairs where you pay a portion of your debts over 36 months or 60 months depending on where your household income is….

THIS is what I call a borderline Chapter 7 case with asset. Therefore, it is the better part of caution not to file Chapter 7 because the asset may be…

Bankruptcy law has two basic purposes for individuals (as opposed to a business entity). The first is from the perspective of creditors. Bankruptcy law gives creditors a common venue to…

THE client is 72. He still works his normal job and makes about $3K a month. He also receives social security of $1K. So, his total income right now is…

THE first client is a senior who still earns $120K a year as a registered nurse but owes $130K of credit cards. The second client is also a senior who…

WHEN I say client is young, I mean client is young, in her twenties. She is married and has a son, a toddler. Before becoming a mother, she was working…

CLIENTS are husband and wife in their fifties. Their combined household income is a gross of $140,000 annually. They own a house with equity of $300,000 in LA. They have…

THIS is what I call a borderline Chapter 7 case with asset. Therefore, it is the better part of caution not to file Chapter 7 because the asset may be…

I recently finished attending the telephonic bankruptcy hearing with my client and am reminded of his bankruptcy saga over the last 12 years. The client is married and 82 years…

THE client is 72. He still works his normal job and makes about $3K a month. He also receives social security of $1K. So, his total income right now is…

AS you probably are aware, an individual can file either Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 under the bankruptcy code when he or she needs relief from accumulated debt. In Chapter…

THE client is 66. He says he is now old all of a sudden. He migrated here in 2004 so that’s 15 years ago. When he deplaned at LAX, he…

SENIOR no. 1 and senior no. 2 are in the same boat. They each have car repossession deficiencies of over $100,000 and business credit card debt of $50,000. Just by…

PAY debt off completely There are, of course, different ways of getting rid of debt. The most obvious is just pay it off. Let’s say you owe $50,000 of credit…

THE client is 45, married with two sons, 16 and 12. He used to own and operate, together with his wife, a small business, which started in 2014. They sold…

THE client owns a restaurant that survived the pandemic with take-outs. The commercial lease for the restaurant is in the name of the client. The client is the sole proprietor…

Once in a while, there will be a prospective client who will come to see me to argue against himself. I say client argues against himself because he has decided…

WHAT about the homestead exemption? Let’s use the exact words of the law as to what is considered a homestead in California. Section 704.710 (c) of the California Code of…

THE honest debtor is the only debtor who can get a discharge in bankruptcy. But who is an honest debtor? If we go by layman’s definition just to get an…