Private student loans do not often make the news, primarily because the vast majority of student loans are made by or guaranteed by the federal government, and comparatively few people take them out these days. Currently only $108 billion out of the $1.34 trillion in student loans are originated by private lenders with no connection …
NYT: ‘Robo-Signing’ Strikes Private-Student-Loan Debtors Read More »
Tax debts can bedevil debtors. They are not easily discharged in a chapter 7 New York bankruptcy, and they are priority claims that must be paid in full without interest in chapter 13. Unsurprisingly, the IRS’s collection efforts will cause more anxiety to debtors than mere credit-card-debt collectors. However, a recent New York Times article …
Talk to a Bankruptcy Lawyer Before Negotiating With an IRS Debt Collector Read More »
The majority of consumer New York bankruptcy cases are filed in chapter 7 rather than chapter 13, usually for understandable reasons. Debtors choosing chapter 7 probably have few assets, low incomes, and they are mostly looking to discharge unsecured debts. Although chapter 13 might not appear right for many, it does discharge some unsecured debts …
7 Debts That Are Dischargeable in Chapter 13 But Not Chapter 7 Read More »
In the last few years you may have heard something in the news that has not happened for a while: The Federal Reserve is gently raising its target interest rate, the effective “federal funds rate.” The Fed held this rate at about zero from late 2007 until the end of 2015, but fearing an overheating …
How Do Fed Rate Hikes Affect Debtors and Bankruptcy Filings? Read More »
In May I wrote about how debt collectors were adopting new technologies to target borrowers, specifically noting a new technique called, “ringless voice mails.” The New York Times recently ran a full article on the topic, and along with the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling that debt buyers are exempt from the Fair Debt Collections …
NYT: ‘Ringless Voice Mail’ a Plague That May Descend on Debtors Read More »
With a new presidential administration comes new priorities, and for the Trump government’s Department of Education that means revising recently instituted rules that were ostensibly designed to benefit student-loan debtors. If these rules are repealed, then debtors will need to explore either bankruptcy or non-bankruptcy options to resolve their financial problems. According to The New …
Education Department to Reconsider Rules Benefiting Student-Loan Debtors Read More »
A few months ago I alerted readers to a case before the U.S. Supreme Court addressing whether the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) applies to buyers of defaulted debts. The FDCPA offers debtors legal options for resolving disputes with debt collectors. In Henson v. Santander, the Court unanimously sided with the debt-buyers, closing off …
U.S. Supreme Court: Bad-Debt Buyers Are Not Debt Collectors Under the FDCPA Read More »
Although there’s plenty of good evidence that the ACA reduced medical bankruptcy, it doesn’t necessarily answer another question debtors might have: whether they can be denied treatment for filing bankruptcy. The short answer for emergency room visits is no, which I’ll discuss, but in other cases the answer might be yes. For emergency care, debtors …
Can a Hospital Deny Treatment to Bankrupt Patients? Read More »
The New York Times Dealbook blog reported that household debt has reached what appears to be an ominous milestone: As of the first quarter of 2017, American households now owe about $12.7 trillion, equal to what they owed in the third quarter of 2008—the previous peak before panic gripped the financial sector. So should New …
Household Debt Returns to Prerecession Levels! … So What? Read More »
Debtors operating sole proprietorships can encounter disadvantages in a chapter 7 New York business bankruptcy as compared to more common no-asset, low-income, non-business debtors in the same chapter. They both face chapter 7’s income thresholds, yet non-business debtors need not worry whether a trustee will put a stop to their incomes or sell the assets …
Two Reasons to Incorporate Before a Business Bankruptcy Read More »
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