Category: Consumer Columnists

AT 90 years old, this senior was my oldest client. Everything came crashing down on him during his golden years unfortunately. He had a business, which looked like it never made money but he kept on doing the business just because it gave him something to do every day. So, he had $34,000 in credit…

THE coronavirus has put a lot of strain on people’s ability to pay their debts. With a lot of employees getting laid off in massive numbers, they are staying at home to keep themselves and their families safe. In the meantime, however, the bills still continue and without any income, it is becoming increasingly difficult…

“California law prohibits discrimination based on disability or medical condition. The employer has a duty to provide reasonable accommodation to disabled employees to enable them to work despite their disability.” ALEJANDRO Gonzalez worked as a loader coordinator for Swissport, a company which provides airport ground and cargo handling services. Gonzalez worked at Swissport’s LAX location…

“Now is the time for kindness and our humanity to shine forth, to help each other not get sick, by wearing face masks, gloves and self isolating and helping our society’s most vulnerable, seniors, get the good treatment and protection they need.” IF the commercial lease tenant cannot pay the rent because business is non-existent…

A LOT of people who are burdened with credit card debt often don’t know where to turn for help. They see all the ads on TV, internet, etc. by so-called “debt consolidation” or “debt settlement” companies hoping that this will get them out of debt without filing for bankruptcy. More often than not, however, they…

THE clients are a husband and wife in their sixties. They operate a retail business that provides a service. There is no corporation or LLC. In other words, clients are sole proprietors of the business. The commercial lease for the premises is $5,000/month with three more years to go. Before the coronavirus arrived in Los…

STANLEY Vincent worked as a Patrol Officer for the California Highway Patrol for seven years. The Daily Journal reports that Vincent was fired from his job when he took three weeks of leave so he could look for his missing mentally disabled sister. Vincent sued, alleging that the employer’s failure to grant his requested leave,…

Q: Because of the Stay-at-Home order in California, my employer has sent me home on a “work furlough” without pay. It has been more than a month and I still have not been asked to go back to work. Is a work furlough a termination? What are my rights? A: The COVID-19 pandemic threatens, not…

THE client is 50 and has two grandchildren living with her who are teenagers still in high school. She is married but separated. She is not divorced from her husband. They still live in the same house but they no longer treat each other as husband and wife. She takes care of her two grandchildren…

LAST week, CNN reported that 10 nurses from Providence Saint John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, California were placed on administrative leave for demanding N95 masks while treating COVID-19 patients. The nurses were suspended with pay for refusing to enter COVID-19 patient rooms without N95 masks. The hospital told the nurses that there were no…

WHEN the virus makes your income disappear overnight, it can be very frightening to realize that you can’t go very long without it because your bills don’t stop just because your income did. No one ever wants to file bankruptcy. But if you are one of the millions laid off and don’t even know whether…

FILING a bankruptcy case creates a “bankruptcy estate.” The estate becomes the legal owner of all of the debtor’s property while the bankruptcy is going on. What does the estate consist of? It consists of all legal or equitable interests of the debtor in property as of the commencement of the case. This includes property…

FIVE of the country’s largest banks announced recently that they have agreed to temporarily suspend mortgage payments for homeowners affected by the virus. California has indeed suffered an unexpected economic devastation from the virus with more than 1 million Californians applying for unemployment benefits since March 13. So far, Wells Fargo, U.S. Bank, Citi, JP…

AS of this writing, the new coronavirus (COVID-19) has infected over two million people globally, and more than 145,000 have died. The outbreak has understandably created worldwide anxiety since the first cases were reported in Wuhan, China in late 2019. But aside from the panic created, the pandemic has also exposed a deep-seated xenophobia, the symptom…

UNEMPLOYMENT claims nationwide have significantly spiked due to the lockdown which has resulted in the shutdown of the U.S. economy. Millions of people have lost their jobs because small businesses are not operating. The restaurant and travel industries, which are the two major employers provided by small business, have been knocked down by the virus….

THE dangerous coronavirus has brought the economy to a screeching halt. With no work and no paychecks, millions of homeowners are now wondering how they’re going to be able to keep their homes. It’s beginning to feel like 2008 all over again. If there’s any comfort in all this madness, everyone is in the same…

INSTACART is one of the largest grocery delivery services in the United States. Instacart allows its customers to shop their local grocery using a mobile app or the website. The virtual shopping cart is filled out by an Instacart worker, called a “personal shopper,” who goes out to buy the groceries at the grocery store…

BOTH Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 trustees are now implementing the new procedure required by the U.S. Trustee for social distancing to avoid spreading the virus. The lockdown and social distancing certainly make a lot of sense. Wearing face masks also makes a lot of sense. I now ask clients to wear a mask and…

THESE are challenging times for California small businesses. Restaurants, retail stores, and other services sustained (and continue to sustain) coronavirus-related losses. Their damages resulted from severe business interruption, event cancellation, loss of supply chains, and loss of customers among other damages. However, business owners may seek to obtain payments for losses if their business insurance…

A LOT of people in debt often already know what they need to do once they realize that bankruptcy is their only way out. But they usually delay the decision to file because they try their best to avoid it if at all possible and will only rush to act when they face an immediate…

THE U.S. Trustee has recently instructed bankruptcy trustees to conduct debtor hearings telephonically to comply with social distancing guidelines to fight the coronavirus. The Chapter 13 trustee in Riverside, California has just informed counsel about how that will be implemented in his jurisdiction. Appearances will be done telephonically and/or with video for hearings starting mid-April….