On Saturday, March 27, 2021 President Biden signed the COVID-19 Bankruptcy Relief Extension Act of 2021 into law. This bill extends for one year all of the bankruptcy-related provisions that were included in the CARES Act passed on March 27, 2020. These provisions will now expire on March 27, 2022. Importantly, this includes the ability of a chapter 13 debtor to modify and extend […]
The Department of Justice recently did its semiannual adjustments of the median income figures, which are effective in bankruptcy cases filed after April 1, 2021. The median income is an important figure, as debtors below that figure are almost always assured a chapter 7 discharge. For chapter 13 debtors, being under the median is helpful as […]
The short answer is yes, the new federal stimulus is almost certainly protected from creditors outside of bankruptcy, or inside of bankruptcy. The reason I can only say “almost” certainly, has to do with a more complicated analysis of federal law versus state law, the way that Congress has denominated the various stimuli, including whether they are property of […]
When you file Chapter 7 bankruptcy, you need to declare your intentions on your secured debt, which is essentially that you are going to give it back, or keep it. If you are going to keep it, most people just continue making the payments, referred to as the retain & pay option, or some people will reaffirm the debt. If creditors choose to report […]
The Governor recently rescinded the Order made last May, which had precluded wage garnishment and bank levies. Garnishment of wages and levy of bank accounts may now take place in Minnesota, as long as the judgment was entered prior to May 4, 2020. The state moratorium on evictions, and federal suspensions of foreclosures of most […]
You need to wait eight years from the filing date of a prior Chapter 7, in order to file another Chapter 7 and get a discharge. If it’s been less than eight years, but at least four years, you can file a chapter 13, and get a discharge. My “over/under,” where I advise people with […]
With record shattering unemployment due to the pandemic, a lot of people are surprised that 2020 bankruptcy filings to-date are down 30% from 2019; that figure includes commercial filings, and for individual bankruptcies, the numbers have decreased by at least 40%. For most of the 2010’s, bankruptcy filings have been around 750,000, and will likely […]
The Department of Justice recently did its semiannual adjustments of the median income figures, which are effective in bankruptcy cases filed after November 1, 2020. The median income is an important figure, as debtors below that figure are almost always assured a chapter 7 discharge. For chapter 13 debtors, being under the median is helpful as […]
A recent article in the Washington Post pointed out that Joe Biden was one of the Democrats to cross party lines and help pass the Bankruptcy Reform Act in 2005. He now regrets that, and supports Elizabeth Warren’s plan to revise the bankruptcy system. I would just like to reality check, from my perspective, some of the claims. The […]
Thirty years ago yesterday, having just passed the bar (on the first try), upon motion by my Aunt Veronica, I was admitted to practice of law by the MN Supreme Court. It’s been my privilege and honor to help Minnesotans every since then.
