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Matt Leichter

CFPB to Propose Rules to End ‘Death-Trap’ Payday Loans

New York bankruptcy is much safer than taking out a payday loan to get by, but that doesn’t stop people from using them. Some regulators have taken efforts to curb the worst practices, as New York State is doing, but now it appears the federal government is getting involved. Specifically, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau …

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Study Finds Economic Recovery ‘Bypassing’ Millions of Americans

The real estate bubble that caused the financial panic may be distant in the rearview mirror, but a recent study by the CFED (founded as the Corporation for Economic Development) has declared that the economic recovery has “bypassed” millions of Americans. Among its most disturbing findings are widespread poverty in American households and frequent use …

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Getting on an Income-Based Repayment Plan Is Easy, But Staying on It…

From the late 1990s until recently, struggling student loan debtors had few options for handling their onerous debts. Because bankruptcy was generally unavailable, most of them placed their loans on hardship deferments until they found paying work. The interest payments would balloon, and they would fall further behind. For some, it would be lifelong debt. …

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Factors Affecting a Chapter 7 New York Bankruptcy Timeline

It’s one of the most common—and important—questions New York bankruptcy debtors ask: How long will a chapter 7 bankruptcy take? The answer is there are really two timelines to be aware of: the one between the bankruptcy case being filed and the discharge, and the one from filing until closure. In most cases, the period …

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NYT Calls for New Authority to Monitor Federal Student Loans

Susan Dynarski’s blog post in The New York Times’ The Upshot blog sheds a lot of light on what we don’t know about federal student loans, which are the vast majority of all student loans. Dynarski’s biggest frustration is the Department of Education’s lack of statistical expertise on monitoring this massive debt program, noting that …

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‘Business Debts’ Might Keep Debtors in Chapter 7

Debtors considering chapter 7 New York bankruptcy often learn that if their incomes are above their state’s median family income, they must take the means test. The consequence of failing it would be converting their cases to chapter 13 (or, less commonly, chapter 11). This isn’t true for all debtors, notably business debtors, and some …

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Removing a Bankruptcy Filing From a Credit Report

It’s surprisingly common for people exiting New York bankruptcy to see their credit scores improve. This phenomenon is generally attributed to the fact that debtors have taken the responsible course of action with their debts, rather than letting them spiral into default. Alternatively, creditors may be interested in taking advantage of former debtors’ inability to …

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How Much Do You Need to Be Able to Pay in Chapter 13?

It’s one of the most important questions debtors can ask, particularly if their incomes are above the median for their state and they don’t expect to pass the means test. There are three tests the Bankruptcy Code applies to debtors’ repayment plans before they can be confirmed. A plan must pass all three tests and …

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New York Attorney General Announces Settlement With Credit Reporting Bureaus

Late last year I wrote about the federal government’s investigations into zombie debts that were persisting on people’s credit reports after they filed New York bankruptcy. Uncorrected errors on credit reports like these can cause serious consequences for those trying to obtain new credit, especially those who’ve exited bankruptcy. The good news on this front …

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