Raymond M. Schimmel Bankruptcy Law Blog

California has three separate statutory provisions that prohibit a lender from obtaining a deficiency judgment after foreclosure.  These provision are found at Cal. Civ. Proc. § 580b, Cal. Civ. Proc. § 580d in conjunction with Cal. Civ. Proc. § 726(a), and after July 15th, 2011, Cal. Civ. Proc. § 580e.  A deficiency is simply the loss that a lender sustains after the property is foreclosed.  The deficiency is measured by the difference between... Read More

DIVORCE & BANKRUPTCY UNTIL DEBT DO US PART!

Most experts agree that financial difficulties rate highly among the leading causes for divorce.  Not surprisingly, when couples are dissolving their marriage they will often seek my advice regarding bankruptcy.  I often hear from clients who are referred by a family law attorney.  I also sometimes see clients after a family court judge has advised them to seek counsel from a bankruptcy attorney.... Read More

The answer to whether or not unemployment benefits are dischargeable in bankruptcy hinges on the following:  1) whether the state receives adequate notice of the bankruptcy filing; 2) whether the state upon proper notice brings a timely complaint (adversarial proceeding) in the bankruptcy court, and 3) whether the state wins its complaint and proves that the debtor... Read More

Bankruptcy mills are high volume law practices that advertise aggressively
and provide poor quality legal services. Typical attributes of a bankruptcy
mill are as follows:

a) rely heavily on poorly supervised non-attorney staff; b) lack adequate
controls over workflow (correspondence to 3rd parties & clients)
and court deadlines; c) cut corners both ethically and substantively; d)
minimal attorney involvement; e) routinely fail... Read More

A new Chapter 13 controversy is brewing over whether a debtor can take an additional $200 “Old Car” operating allowance on the means test for paid-off vehicles that are more than six (6) model years old and that have more than 75,000 miles.  While the... Read More

California allows a debtor to pick between two different sets of bankruptcy exemptions, and the chosen set of exemptions must be used exclusively.  One set of exemptions protects debtors against judgment creditors.  This is referred to as the “regular exemptions” and is found in Cal. Code Civ. Proc. §§ 703.010 to 704.995, excluding §703.140(b).  The other set of exemptions resembles the federal bankruptcy exemptions and is found at Cal. Code Civ.... Read More

For those who have never before heard of them before a short explanation about ChexSystems is in order.  ChexSystems is a credit reporting agency like Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion.  While Experian, Equifax and TransUnion report information to subscribers about your credit and payment history,  ChexSystems reports information about how you have handled your bank checking accounts.  Approximately 80% of all banks and credit unions subscribe to the ChexSystems... Read More

When I interview clients regarding their budget, I find that they often overlook many everyday expenses.  This creates a problem for both Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 clients.  In a Chapter 7 context missing expenses may mean that a false conclusion is reached that you don’t qualify for this type of relief.  Simply put the law requires you to pay back valid debts... Read More

by Raymond M. Schimmel on August 20, 2011

The bankruptcy law allows Chapter 7 debtors various options when they owe money on their car loan. The first option is quite simple you give back or "surrender the vehicle" to the lender, and upon your bankruptcy discharge you will no longer owe the lender any more money for the car.

This is in contrast to what happens to you if you voluntarily give your car back to the lender where you have not filed bankruptcy. In... Read More