Bankruptcy/Debt - California

Unsecured personal property tax chapter 13

1Ernie — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 16:23:10 GMT

We are planning on filing chapter 13 and are curious how the Unsecured Personal Poperty Taxes are delt with. The taxes would become due during our filing. The property tax involves equipment. Also, due to the economy the equipment value is quit less and what revaluation options may be available? Thank you

Collection Agency won't provide info by mail

witticizm — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 21:18:17 GMT

Hi,

I have a car that is listed as a charge-off. I still get statements from the credit union that financed it which states that I owe around $1800. The collection agency that has been assigned to this case tells me I owe somewhere in the neighborhood of $4500. The difference, they say, comes from fees and interest. When I ask them to send me a breakdown of these fees in writing by mail, they flat out refuse. They say they do not do business that way. Huh? My car isn't even worth that much. If I were to just pay the credit union directly, can the collection agency still come after me for the fees they've tacked on? At this point, I'd rather they just repo it, sell it at auction, and be billed for the balance that the credit union says I owe.

Btw, yes, the payments I've made to the collection agency are listed in the statements from the credit union.

CA Law Firm withholding my BK deposit...

Slim31 — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 20:00:24 GMT

I was wondering if anyone knows what rights I have against an atty withholding a refund? I was trying to qualify for a Ch7 BK. The Law Firm wanted payment in full before they would work on my case. By the time I paid the almost $4K they charge they now state I don't qualify for the BK (to much income over last 6 months). I need to wait and file at a later date but the law firm is telling me I will only get a $300 refund. They literally spent an hour with me total. Would prefer not to go through a long battle, not looking for full refund either as I know they put some time into my case but keeping that much of the money I paid is absurd. Please advise if you know what I can do to fight them and get a fair partial refund back. Thank you!

Upsidedown and Broke

SoCalFuelman — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 16:39:07 GMT

We are located in Southern California. We saw our home property value go from 400k to about 170k. Like many Americans we have over spent and our finances got out of control. We have been trying to make a change for the last couple of years. We put 82k of credit card balances into a debt settlement company and in the end got a 60k loan from father inlaw to settle rest of cards after being sued by a c.c. company. We are paying father inlaw back 1600.00 a month. We now have 2 - 500.00 credit cards we use mainly for internet purchases. We have a 275k first @ 7.35 fixed for 30 which we are into about 4 years(in wife's name only) then a 120k secured second adjustable currently @ 8.35 we pay interest only on(in both our names).

So you total it all up/ 275k first + 120k second + 60k father inlaw + 8k used car loan + 19k school loans =482k. We are in our late 40's and our future looks pretty bleak if we continue on the current path. Inflation will push the second up to 14% and increase the payment 600, still interest only, and eventually have to pay principle also. Gas prices will go back to 4.50 gallon in SoCal.

The problem we seem to keep running into is our income. Last year was 150k gross, this year will be about 130k gross. Wife got hit with furlow days so income is down and also due to health problems cannot work those extra jobs that have helped us stay afloat. Now the normal person looking at this income might say "whats your problem" but the person saying this needs to realize with this income you get the privelge of paying out the you know what for taxes. Last year 21k in fed taxes and 8k in state taxes.

So on a mothly basis we gross almost 11k but only net 7200.00. Our bills add up 7200.00 a month so we are on the edge every month. One major mishap and we go into the red.

So that is the picture. We consulted a BK attorney 6 months ago and he said we don'nt qualify for BK. Partly because of the large loan to father inlaw that is off the books. We do have a legal contract with him. Have tried the loan mod thing with no success(make too much money). Attorney actually told us to go purchase two expensive cars???.We did end up having to purchase a car after my 20 year old car blew up, but after the credit card thing our credit ratings dropped to 550 so we could only buy a used car at 20%.

We will consult an attorney again and probably throw a divorce into the mix just to really screw things up.

Am really looking for your take on this senario and of course realize this is not hard pat legal advise.

Thanks in advance for your time and consideration,

signed, Standing on the Cliff

PS, how does a millionare pass the means test???

Judgement

SCWA — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 19:49:53 GMT

If there is a Judgement granted against me for Credit Cards. How long does it take for them to garnish you're wages. It was my understanding there was a process of back to court etc. Also, can they come after you're bank account?

Thanks in advance

Bankruptcy from overseas

steveczech — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 13:28:51 GMT

I am in the Czech Republic.

As it would be expensive to travel to the U.S., I'd like to know if there is an alternative to my attending the 341 meeting in person.

It looks like I can do everything else over the internet or by mail.

Any thoughts!

steveczech

Impact of Bankruptcy on Cayman Island & Swiss Companies

SamChan — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 21:24:09 GMT

I am considering suing my old boss who has hinted at bankruptcy. He is a CA resident but he owns a company in Cayman Islands which generates almost $5M a year in NI. He has a lot of real estate that is upside down in CA and he is planning on walking away from all of them (they are in LLCs - some have recourse debt).

Can he do that? Take a chapter and run away? Or are there bankruptcy treaties between the US and Cayman which would allow creditors (there are many) force him to liquidiate his Cayman Island Company? Also he has stocks in a GmbH company (swiss). Are there treaties with Switzerland also?

These companies have sent money to his US companies so directly rather than through him, so it may show they are related. In other words, if he was being careful and saw them as separate, he would withdraw funds in from one company and put it in his personal account and then take money from his personal account and put it in another. Instead, he just transfers between these "separate" companies. Don't know if this point matters.

It seems unfair that he can try and run away like that from his creditors.

Thanks.

Wage Garnishment / Debtor suing beyond statue of limitations

Soopafly — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 21:06:47 GMT

So I'm new to the site. I've read my post so here's a quick nutshell on my case:

1. Creditor won a default judgment against me over a hearing I did not know about. Paperwork was never delivered by a peace officer nor by official USPS mail. I found it the open papers in my mailbox days after the hearing date.

2. I did nothing until a month ago where my employer issued me the wage garnishment notice and handed me ERO papers. The credit never mailed me a copy.

3. I filed an exemption and financial statements with the levying officer.

4. They objected to my exemption and a court date was set. The creditor sent me this notice along with a notice of change of legal representation.

5. I receive a notice 2 days ago that they changed the hearing date.

So my question are:

1. can I have the hearing date changed to something sooner?

2. I cannot continue the 25% they're witholding. I work for the state, so I have taken an 8% cut along with 21 unpaid furlough days. How would I demonstrate this to the court (that this will hurt me financially)?

3. The credit is challenging the following: I support my 34 year old sister. She recently relocated and has had a difficult time finding work. Creditor says that without a disability, my support is invalid. I support her food/transportation/co... costs. I also support my mother with bills since her time was cut from 12 months to 10 months, 8 hours daily to 6 hours daily.

4. How do I demonstrate the court about non-monthly bills? I have car registration, repairs, and medical work pending that so far combine exceed $1000. How would I demonstrate that the 25% is basically fringing on whatever little money I do have and would put me in jeopardy to meet all my obligations or any emergencies?

5. They contested personal care, clothing, and entertainment (@$30,$20,$10 respectively). The care is detrimental as it's a health issue, clothing is for work purposes; entertainment is stricly that. I was just being honest; i don't have enough to be a party-goer.

6. My last question is the most important; it's about the statue of limitations. This all stemmed from an original loan that was charged off. According to the creditor's documentation that have my original signature. Under the "Cause of Action - Breach of Contract" section of his summons, it is written that:

the plaintiff alleges that on or about 9-13-03 / 10-22-04 this second date was a signed for a loan modification, a written agreement was made b/w the plaintiff's assignor and defendants. On about 3-31-05 defendant breached the agreement by failure to pay the account balance due. Plaintiff suffered damages legally caused by defedant's breach of the agreement as follows: $9935.86 plus 10% interested from the date of charge off by the loan company, 3-31-05. Plaintiff is entitled to attorney fees by an agree of a statute of $686.15 and 1. cost of suit 2. for other and further relief the court deems proper.

Now according to creditor that picked up the debt, my debt with their interest went up to $15800. How is this possible?

The ero states TOTAL AMOUNT DUE $15638.03 PLUS 3.86 INTEREST PER DAY. At $500+ monthly, it'll take me forever to get out of this debt. It seems more like they're making money off me than collecting the charge off debt.

My last question is given the charge off date, isn't California's statute of limitations effective since this was filed on 4-16-2008?

If so, what can I do?

If not, what can I do?

Thank you for all your help. My court date is in a few weeks, but I would like to speed this up given that the WG is really affecting my finances.

Case Management Meeting

SCWA — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 13:30:33 GMT

I've got a case Management meeting in Orangecounty California. I've filed all of the proper responses and forms etc leading up to the meeting. If I do not show, will I get an automatic decision against me or ? Is there any other way to get an extension or ? Thanks for you're help!

Offer of Settlement of Purportedly Nondischaragable Debt

rk-creditor — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 07:49:18 GMT

To avoid the slight time and expense of filing an adversary pursuant to Section 523(a)(2) how can I make a settlement binding without the filing of an adversary?

I ask because I have always seen creditor's attorney send a letter offering terms before they file the adversary.

Also where can I get the boilerplate disclaimer language that will make my letter with the offer of settlement sanction proof? Or can someone send it to me?

If I file the 523 action I will get a default judgement and stip guaranteed.

RESPONSE TO MOTION TO DISMISS

ilanam — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 21:27:33 GMT

I filed a chp. 13 as a pro per and I did not do a good job on the strip away portion of the documentation. I also was late with my paycheck stubs. The trustee told me I needed to file a stand alone motion for the strip away, and shortly after that I got a Motion To Dismiss in the mail. What is the proper responsive document for the Motion To Dismiss?

Student loans...what can I do

mlrd — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 17:02:21 GMT

How can I get past my student loan? I have four children and they are wanting 200-300 a month. My husband and I cant do that. What can I do?

Default judgement resulted from none-service

endles — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 04:52:47 GMT

I found out a default judgement against me through credit report recently. The default judgement was obtained by CA in 2006 and I was never served. The address listed on the proof of service was an address of my mother's house foreclosed in 2003 and I have all documents to prove my residency being else where at that time. This debt in question was not be time barred at that time.

I believe I have 180 days to file motion to set aside the judgement from the date I found out about this judgement. My question is: What is the likelyhood for me to get this judgement vacated and then case dismissed solely based on the fact that there was never a proper serve?

bankruptcy and loan modification

sunnyday44 — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 15:28:37 GMT

recently applied for a loan mod through mortgage com recently talk to negotiator told she recd all documents waiting to get approval from courts on loan modification, is t his normal i thought my attorney would do that and what are chances of courts denying loan mod been in bk for 3 yrs

Need information on what is exempt in CA BK Chaper 7

1needadvice — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 01:39:55 GMT

I have several simple questions

I'd like to know if my home would be exempt under chapter 7. My name is on the deed along with my brother and his wife. I don't pay for any of the mortage payments because my brother took out a loan against the house to consolidate his credit card bills. So he pays for the mortage payments. Myself, my brother, his wife and adult son all live in this house. I pay for the water, garbage and a third of the property taxes and some groceries. I don't know how much he pays for the mortage or how much equity is in the property. How does this effect the exemption for my home.

What is the maximum I can have in a checking acct.?
Can I take the excess out and put it in a IRA or 401 so it will be exempt.

I have no income. I was on workers comp until June and returned to work so they stopped my payments, but I'm still under doctor's care. I ended up quitting because my job was making my condition worse. I can't receive unemployment, I quit. My doctor has my work status as totally disabled now because my blood test came back showing a high level of rheumatoid arthritis. He's trying to get an approval for a specialist. Workers comp is going to decide next month if I'm permanent and stationary. I assumed I can't apply for state disability until my case is closed with workers comp.

I'm using the money in my bank acct to pay my bills until my workers comp case is determined. I can't apply for a job because my work status is totally disabled.

I own stocks, would they be exempt? If not, can I put it in a IRA or 401? It was meant for my retirement any dividends are reinvested.

to include the spouse or not

authorizeduser_questioner — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 06:42:42 GMT

I plan on filing Chapter 7 soon. Last option for me to decide upon, including my wife or not as she is only an authorized user on my accounts, though she has used some of the cards. I'd rather preserve her credit but am fearing the risk might not be worth it.

Two camps: (A) do so or else a creditor will come back and sue her or (B) leave her off as "she didn't sign anything" so she's not liable

The link below forwards to 3 worthwhile links I found while researching this for those interested in the topic.

Any feedback appreciated.

Specifically, I'm curious how often creditors do sue in this situation.

BTW, my debts range from $5K-$13K among Citi, BofA/FIA, and Capital One.

http://linkbun.ch/cdbi

I need to move, but my home is under

ialonso — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 21:06:36 GMT

I own a home in Fremont California. I purchased it at the height of the market at the end of 2005. Recently we had a new baby and our home has become too small for us.

I feel that I have the following options:

1. Short-sale (assuming it were approved)

2. Foreclosure

3. Refinance so that my mortgage paymen is low enough so that I can rent it to someone else.

Which option would you suggest? What type of attorney would best help me?

Thank you,

Ivan

chapter7 or chapter13

antco — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 21:45:28 GMT

I've recently lost my job and have two mortgages the 1st is secured for 190,000 and the 2nd is unsecured for 65,000. I paid 255,000 for my house and it's now worth about 96,000 in Bakersfield,Ca. I have credit cards and two unsecured loans, and two vehicles. My wife works but without that 2nd income we don't make even close enough to make our ends meet. I've applied for a modification on my 1st and was accepted under a trial period of 90 days, and was currently rejected. after making two payments on time under the trial agreement. Now my lender wants to adjust my mortgage to even higher than i originally was paying. My first question is can i file bankruptcy? and if so, can i get rid of my 2nd lien and any if all of my unsecured debt?

BANKRUPTCY-OHIO deed not tranferred

H Newman — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 01:19:20 GMT

We surrendered our house and was discharged Oct. 2008. We received a notice from an attornies office saying that we need to mow the property or be subjected to fines. I called their office today and told them we no longer own the property, that we filed bankruptcy and it went back to the bank. They proceeded to tell me that they had researched it and that the deed was never transfered over, so we are still responsible for the property and taxes. What do we do? Someone dropped the ball somewhere! Why should we have to pay the price for someones mistake! Further more, what do we do if the property is still ours?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

THANKS!

Received the summons 30 days AFTER it was filed

AramO — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 01:25:42 GMT

The title says it all.

I found an envelope addressed to me on top of my apartment mailbox today (July 29) and within opening it I saw the summons papers. The matter is over a credit card debt, which I own and do not contest. The problem is the date of filing is June 29th and it clearly states I have 30 days to respond. I understand the details, with the Notice of Appearance and other paperwork that needs to be filed, and was more than willing to do so, however....

As I mentioned, the summons appeared on (not in, ON) my mailbox EXACTLY 30 days after it was filed. My assumption is a default decision has been passed already, but I would like to know what my next logical step would be. Having done some online searching through websites (here and elsewhere), it's clear to me that the summons being late doesn't mean anything, that this is a tactic a lot of creditors use, and there is no way for me to prove the summons was late.

I would appreciate any answers.

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In the middle of bankruptcy and fauther passes away.

Michelle04 — Tue, 05 May 2009 15:47:17 GMT

What happens if your in the middle of bankuptcy and your fauther passes away and your the only child?

Conversion from ch 13 to ch 7

mamamommymom — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 17:13:34 GMT

I have been under a ch 13 repayment plan for 12 months, but have not been able to make the payments the last two months (since the primary wage-earner was laid off). I still have my job but it does not even cover the payment, let alone basic living expenses for our family. Our ch 13 plan is scheduled for dismissal. I want to file for a conversion to ch 7, but was advised by the attorney's staff (whose services I can no longer afford) that I should let it be dismissed and refile a ch 7 (of course, letting them handle it).

What does come with filing a notice of conversion to ch 7?

Thank you for your insight.

Received CMC Statement afer Chapter 7 has been filed...

FatChance — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 18:56:24 GMT

I filed for bankruptcy back in March 2009 (on my own), I had my creditors meeting in May 2009 (no creditors showed up) and now I am awaiting the decision on my bankruptcy. Today (July 2009), I received a case management conference statement/summons from one of my creditors. There is a meeting date and time to meet with them in August.

I'm not sure if
1.) I should have received this or need to go since the courts and I informed them that I filed for Chapter 7

2.) What rights do I have since the BK court hasn't given me any decisions yet on my case.

Would appreciate any suggestions or comments.

Mortgage debt

spolly2009 — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 11:04:52 GMT

Should one file for bankruptcy if the only big debt they have is mortgage?