Maryland Bankruptcy Legal Questions

Something doesn't sound right in your facts.  What is it that you need from "Household" (I assume you mean Household Bank or Household Finance Corporation, and not your personal household) for the refinance?  If you received a discharge of debts in your bankruptcy case (you don't disclose whether you did or what chapter you filed), and the problem you're having with refinancing involves debts owed prior to your bankruptcy filing, then the issue is one dealing with your bankruptcy case, and not the creditor.    I'm not sure what your question is. Mark J. Markus, Attorney at LawCertified Bankruptcy Law Specialist--State Bar of CaliforniaHandling exclusively bankruptcy law cases in California since 1991.http://www.bklaw.com/bankruptcy blog: http://www.bklaw.com/bankruptcy-blog/Follow Me on Twitter:  @bklawr  ... Read More

No.  An "estate" is not a "person" as defined in the Bankruptcy Code (11 U.S.C. 101(41)) and cannot file a bankruptcy.  Mark J. Markus, Attorney at LawCertified Bankruptcy Law Specialist--State Bar of CaliforniaHandling exclusively bankruptcy law cases in California since 1991.http://www.bklaw.com/bankruptcy blog: http://www.bklaw.com/bankruptcy-blog/Follow Me on Twitter:  @bklawr... Read More

Yes.  The Automatic Stay in bankruptcy stops any and all collections actions on any debt.  How long it stops for depends on which chapter you file and what you propose to do in the bankruptcy case. Typically a Chapter 13 case is used to catch up on mortgage arrears over time, while staying current with ongoing mortgage payments that come due after the case is filed. Mark J. Markus, Attorney at LawCertified Bankruptcy Law Specialist--State Bar of CaliforniaHandling exclusively bankruptcy law cases in California since 1991.http://www.bklaw.com/bankruptcy blog: http://www.bklaw.com/bankruptcy-blog/Follow Me on Twitter:  @bklawr... Read More

Whether you lose your home or car in a Chapter 7 depends on numerous factors, none of which you have provided.   It depends first of all, of course, on whether you stay current with any payments to creditors secured by those assets. If there is equity in either of them, whether you can retain them depends on what exemptions are available under applicable state or federal law.   Exemptions are "protections" for value you have in certain assets such that they are "exempt" from collections.  Every state has different exemptions amounts available. Exemption laws are based on the state where you resided for the 2 years prior to filing your bankruptcy case or, if you lived in more than 1 state during that period, in the state where you resided for the greater part of the 180 days prior to that 2 year period. You need to consult with a bankruptcy attorney in your area for more details. Mark J. Markus, Attorney at Law Handling exclusively bankruptcy law cases in California since 1991. http://www.bklaw.com/ bankruptcy blog: http://www.bklaw.com/bankruptcy-blog/ Follow Me on Twitter:  @bklawr... Read More

The debtor who filed the Chapter 7 case has no legal authority to sell any assets without the specific approval of the chapter 7 Trustee, or unless the Trustee has formally "abandoned" the property back to the debtor.  When a Chapter 7 case is filed, ownership of ALL assets of the debtor belong to the Trustee until the Trustee either gives the property back to the debtor (abandons it) or the case is closed. Mark J. Markus, Attorney at Law Handling exclusively bankruptcy law cases in California since 1991. http://www.bklaw.com/ bankruptcy blog: http://www.bklaw.com/bankruptcy-blog/ Follow Me on Twitter:  @bklawr... Read More

The answer to your question is yes eight SBA loan can be discharged in either a chapter 7 bankruptcy or a chapter 13 bankruptcy. It is a common misconception that government loans cannot be discharged in a chapter 13 or chapter 7 bankruptcy proceeding, but the exact opposite is actually true. I have responded to your inquiry according to the laws of Massachusetts, where I practice. Laws can vary significantly from state to state and cases tend to be rather fact-specific, so you are best served by consulting with a knowledgeable attorney in weighing your options. Email messages/Online Correspondence are akin to conversations and do not reflect the level of analysis applied to formal legal opinions. Email/Online responses do not form an attorney-client relationship.   Joseph F. Botelho, Esq. BOTELHO & ASSOCIATES, LLCAttorneys At Law www.massachusettslawyeronline.com 126 Shove Street Unit 202 Fall River, MA 02724 Office: 888-269-0688Cell: 508-801-6747FAX: 877-475-8147 Twitter Facebook  ... Read More

Student loan cases are very unusual.  The loan was or was not discharged if repayment would constitute an undue hardship when you filed your bankruptcy.  The discharge is "self-executing."  Think about it this way:  Lets say all loans are discharged if they are colored blue.  You have a loan.  But you don't know what color it is.  If it is blue it was discharged when you filed.  In your case, all student loans that would cause an undue hardship to repay are automatically discharged.  You do not know if making you repay it would be an undue hardship.  So, just like the person with the blue loan. Right now.  You simply do not know if your loan was discharged.  Almost no loans are discharged, as the standard for what is an undue hardship is very high.  So, the assumption is usually made that loans are not included in the bankruptcy discharge.  But that is only a generalization,  You could have brought an action before the bankruptcy court to have the loans found to have been discharged.  The problem is that while they are automatically discharged or not discharged when you file, there is no way, with certitude to know which was the case.  Now to complicate matters, the bankruptcy court is not the only court that can make that finding.  In the present court, you could defend on the basis that your student loans were discharged in bankruptcy.  The civil court will find this all confusing.  But, it is a legitimate defense.  It will require you to prove that repayment would constitute an undue hardship.    ... Read More

A garnishment is a method of collecting on a debt.  It is not the debt itself and has nothing to do with whether or not a debt is dischargeable in bankruptcy.   Whether the debt is dischargeable depends on what the basis of the debt it is and whether it falls under any of the exceptions to discharge in the bankruptcy code (such as debts incurred through fraud, domestic support obligations, most taxes, student loans, etc.) Mark J. Markus, Attorney at Law Handling exclusively bankruptcy law cases in California since 1991. http://www.bklaw.com/ bankruptcy blog: http://bklaw.com/bankruptcy-blog/ Follow Me on Twitter:  @bklawr... Read More

It really depends if you are doing a Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy. Typically, your cars will be paid off within your Chapter 13 bankruptcy. Therefore, you should receive the title. If you do a Chapter 7 then it wouldn't have an impact on your vehicles unless you surrendered them within the bankruptcy. If you surrendered them then you should turn them back in. It also depends if you signed a reaffirmation agreement for the vehicles. If you did, then you are sitll responsible for the automobile payments even after a discharge. Terry DuncanCharlotte Bankruptcy Lawyers... Read More

"How do I file for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy" is a very broad question. In some ways, filing is easy; in other ways it is quite complicated. First, you need to qualify for chapter 7 . We need to determine the proper venue to file in. Usually, this is where you live. Next, we need to look at prior cases (if any). For instance, recent Chapter 7 would disqualify you from filing. Next, we look at your income and assets. You state you've been out of work for some time, so income will likely not be an issue. Part of the income examination is to inquire whether you have a partner or spouse with significant income, however. As for your assets, we look at the value of the stuff you own. Then we have to ask a number of questions about how you've handled your property in the past (have you sold any real estate, given any property away, paid off debts to family members, etc.). Assuming that after the inquiries above there appear to be no barriers to filing a 7, we look at your debts. $15,000.00 in medical bills would likely be dischargeable in a Chapter 7. Then you have to do the paperwork. You have to fill out papers that once you are done are between 30 and 50 pages for most people to present to the court for filing. You will also need to take a credit counseling course and receive a certificate to file with your papers and the $306.00 filing fee. Most people hire an attorney to help then with all these steps. Attorneys' fees range from $800 to $1500. Most attorneys will set you up on a payment plan. If you want to file without an attorney, you will need to devote some time to research on the internet. There are also some books out there that can give you an outline of the process. Finally, paid petition preparers can give you the forms and fill them in for you. Note, these folks are not attorneys and there is no guarantee they will do any better of a job than you would in filing out the papers. The judges in the Eastern District of Wisconsin have recently declared that the most a petition preparer should be able to charge you for its services is $75.00 for just this reason. Note that most bankruptcy attorneys will give you a free consultation to discuss your situation so you should take advantage of that before proceeding.... Read More

The answer is YES, you can list the remainder of the balance of truck after auction on a Chapter 13 Bankruptcy filing, but you will still be paying some or most of it back. If that's your only issue, you may want to consider working a deal with the lender and settling the debt, instead of Bankruptcy being listed on your credit report. If you wanted to discharge the debt (write it off, without paying it off) then you would need to file Chapter 7 Bankruptcy. I have responded to your inquiry according to the laws of Massachusetts, where I practice. Laws can vary significantly from state to state and cases tend to be rather fact-specific, so you are best served by consulting with a knowledgeable attorney in weighing your options. Email messages/Online Correspondence are akin to conversations and do not reflect the level of analysis applied to formal legal opinions. Email/Online responses do not form an attorney-client relationship.   Joseph F. Botelho, Esq. BOTELHO & ASSOCIATES, LLCAttorneys At Law www.massachusettslawyeronline.com 126 Shove Street Unit 202 Fall River, MA 02724 Office: 888-269-0688Cell: 508-801-6747FAX: 877-475-8147 Twitter Facebook      ... Read More

All assets and all debts must be included in any bankruptcy case.  I believe the question you meant to ask was whether certain taxes are dischargeable in a bankruptcy case.   The answer is: Sometimes. Income taxes are dischargeable if all of the following prerequisites are met as of the date your bankruptcy case was filed: (1) it has been more than 3 years since the returns were last DUE (including extensions) to be filed, (2) the returns were timely filed or it has been at least 2 years since the returns were filed, (3) there was no fraud involved or attempts to evade the tax, AND, (4) the taxes were not assessed within the last 240 days. The analysis is actually somewhat more complicated than the above, as there are certain events and situations that can extend some of the above time periods, but those are the basic rules. It is important to hire a bankruptcy attorney who is familiar with tax discharge analysis to be sure if you qualify in your case to have your taxes discharged. Mark J. Markus, Attorney at Law Handling exclusively bankruptcy law cases in California since 1991. http://www.bklaw.com/ bankruptcy blog: http://bklaw.com/bankruptcy-blog/ Follow Me on Twitter:  @bklawr ... Read More

Let's start from the beginning.  Your wife filed for bankruptcy.  That fact happened and will be on her credit report for ten years.  There is no "do over" or "oops, she didn't mean it."  Second, there was a mortgage note secured by a home.  Your wife was discharged from the obligation to pay the mortgage note.  The debt, was not discharged.  Your wife's obligation was discharged.  The note was not paid, and the note was secured by a home.  The mortgage was foreclosed.  That is another fact.  It is not related to her bankruptcy.  These are simple facts.  Your credit bureau report states facts, and they aren't removed because something else happened.  You can supplement or correct the facts that are reported, but in this case the facts are simply a bankruptcy and a foreclosure, and dates on which they occurred.... Read More

It does NOT mean it was reaffirmed.  It doesn't really mean anything at all, to be completely candid.  If you filed a Chapter 7 and received a discharge, then the debts you owed on your house were discharged and, if the property is sold, you are not liable for any deficiency. Mark J. Markus, Attorney at Law Handling exclusively bankruptcy law cases in California since 1991. http://www.bklaw.com/ bankruptcy blog: http://bklaw.com/bankruptcy-blog/ Follow Me on Twitter:  @bklawr ... Read More

The only way that you could contest the claim is if you allege it was caused by fraud, theft, breach of fiduciary obligation, etc., or you suffered an intentional injury, in that case, you had 60 days from the meeting of creditors to bring an adversary proceeding.  (See Bky Code sections 523(a)(2),(4), and (6)).  The 60th day from that meeting, the debtor received a discharge from repaying all dischargeable debts.  If yours was just a simple debt, you were only required to receive the notice of the bankruptcy in time to file a proof of claim, if a deadline for filing claims was set.  Most cases involve no assets, and no deadline is set to file a claim, so your not having received timely notice does not affect the discharge.  If you think you have an objection based on the debt having been incurred through a wrongful act, go see an experienced bankruptcy lawyer to determine if you would have had a case under 523(a)(2),(4), and (6), but did not receive notice in time to bring it.  If that is the case, then the debt would not be discharged for failure to provide you timely notice. ... Read More