Recent News
We stay abreast of current legal developments. The law is always evolving.
Warning: These Posts Does Not Constitute Legal Advice; Please Consult An Attorney
FAIR LENDING FIGHT: Battling Redlining
During the years of the Financial Crash (2007-2012), one could read in the press about something called "predatory lending," or "lending discrimination," or "disparate treatment," or "disparate impact." These concepts and legal doctrines were important because they...
IN TRUSTS WE TRUST: Comments Protect the Loan
When representing clients, attorneys rely on the words of the law (a “statute”) and ask the court to implement the plain, obvious meaning of its words. When it comes to federal statutes, however, it is easy to overlook the “comments” by Congressional committees that...
STUDENT LOANS: Massive Relief Granted in the Bankruptcy Court
The conventional wisdom is that “student loans cannot be discharged in bankruptcy.” But the “conventional wisdom” is WRONG. There is a high evidentiary bar for a debtor to discharge (cancel) her or his student loans, but discharge is possible. In a recent case, the...
BANKRUPTCY LAW (Procedure for Adversary Proceeding)
Where trustee failed to file the adversary proceeding within the time required by law, he could not undo the error by claiming that he had timely filed an adversary complaint in the wrong case. The facts of the InterWorks bankruptcy had nothing to do with the improper...
BANKRUPTCY LAW: Where Action is Filed
A debtor may file a bankruptcy case where the debtor resides, is domiciled, or has its principal place of business or principal assets. But a debtor can claim exemptions only under the law of the debtor’s domiciliary state. 28 U.S.C. § 1408; In re Larsen, Case No. BAP...
BANKRUPTCY LAW: Trustee May Recover Transferred Assets
BANKRUPTCY LAW: Trustee May Recover Transferred Assets The filing of a voluntary bankruptcy petition by an individual, couple, or company (“the debtor” or “debtors”) triggers several important legal events. Among the most important are 1) the assignment of an...
BANKRUPTCY LAW: Denial of Discharge for Failure to Maintain Books and Records
A debtor who seeks discharge, for himself or for a business, must maintain adequate financial books records to allow the bankruptcy Court to determine the debtor's true financial condition. For example, pursuant to 11 USC §727(a)(3), the debtor is not entitled to a...
BANKRUPTCY LAW: Finding of Fraud in State Court Prevented Discharge of the Associated Debt
Where Debtor had a judgment entered against him by California state court for fraud and elder abuse, this judgment was not discharged (cancelled) by his Chapter 7 bankruptcy discharge. Debtor's and Debtor's counsel's strategic absence from court at the time of the...
SCOTUS: Violating Bankruptcy Discharge Serves Up Creditor for Contempt
The primary purpose of the bankruptcy stay [11 USC Sec. 362] is to protect the debtor. (In re Fuel Oil Supply and Terminaling, Inc., 30 BR 360, 362 (Bankr.N.D.Tex.1983), cited in In re Globe Investment & Loan Co., Inc., 867 F.2d 556 (1989)). By stopping all...
