One way New York bankruptcy benefits debtors over debt settlement or other non-bankruptcy options is that debtors do not need to pay income taxes on cancelled debts. Normally, cancelled debts are considered income, so when lenders forgive debts greater than or equal to $600, they are obligated to send debtors IRS Form 1099-C, which leads …
Debtors to No Longer Receive IRS Form 1099-C for ‘Non-Cancelled’ Debts Read More »
A couple years ago, I wrote about four ways identity theft could lead to New York bankruptcy. The notable candidates were theft of Social Security and credit card information. Now The New York Times has thought of a new type of identity theft: cell phone numbers. According to the article, landlines are rapidly going the …
The upfront short answer is: not a whole lot. A while ago I posed the question of what happens to homeowners or condominium fees in New York bankruptcy. This post is sort of a sequel. Many New Yorkers live in common-interest housing that charge either homeowner association (HOA) or condominium association (COA) fees. These fees …
How Does Association Foreclosure Differ From Typical Mortgage Foreclosure? Read More »
Stolen passwords and PINs can easily result in unauthorized purchases or fraudulent credit accounts. Debtors unable to undo the damage might face serious consequences, including New York bankruptcy. The issue of password security is also salient because stories of Democratic Party officials’ hacked emails made the news before the November election. It’s a good opportunity …
Use Secure Passwords to Protect Personal Information Read More »
New York bankruptcy helps homeowners most when they are nearing foreclosure, not afterwards. The primary reason is that the automatic stay protects homeowners from debt collection and foreclosure efforts. Chapter 7 can buy debtors substantial time to sell their homes on their terms, like a short sale, or exempt its equity from the bankruptcy estate …
What Happens to ‘Abandoned’ Personal Property After Foreclosure? Read More »
One might think that The New York Times‘ “Your Money” article on a company that offers to swap student debt for mortgage debt is an advertisement, but it’s an alternative to New York bankruptcy worth considering. SoFi, a nonbank lender, with the help of the government mortgage entity Fannie Mae promises student debtors the opportunity …
NYT Discusses Program for Swapping Student Debt for Mortgage Debt Read More »
Back in February, I discussed the surge in student debt “borrower defense” discharge claims. Student debtors discovered an obscure 1995 rule that permitted them to administratively discharge—that is, outside the bankruptcy process—their student loans if they could show that their schools somehow defrauded them. The development occurred just as the for-profit Corinthian Colleges shuttered its …
Education Department Publishes Regulations for ‘Borrower Defense’ Claims Read More »
Creditors sometimes characterize debtors as “judgment proof,” but what does this mean and why does it matter for debtors considering New York bankruptcy? As an answer to the first question, “judgment proof” isn’t a legal term; it’s made up by lenders. It means that even though the creditor has a judgment against a debtor, the …
I’ve written about how debtors can avoid liens in New York bankruptcy when they impair their exemptions, but trustees can avoid liens against debtors’ assets too, thanks to section 544 of the Bankruptcy Code. Of particular value to some debtors is the trustee’s power to avoid liens that creditors improperly recorded—also described as “unperfected.” It …
Unperfected Liens: Clear Advantage in Chapter 11, Tougher in Chapter 13 Read More »
That’s a question a New York bankruptcy lawyer should ask whenever a debtor seeks to strip a lien off an (allegedly) underwater junior mortgage in a chapter 13 bankruptcy. I’ve discussed this before, but as a quick review, debtors who owe multiple mortgages can strip the liens off junior mortgages that have no equity in …
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