Why Everything Has to be Disclosed when Filing Bankruptcy

Time in federal prison

I recently noticed a familiar name and face in an article in the Star Tribune.  The headline was “Minneapolis Bankruptcy Trustee Smelled a Rat and Got the Goods on Jewelry Store Owner,” an article by reporter Randy Furst.  The article describes a situation  where a gentleman, Daniel Rohricht, apparently closed his jewelry store, went out of business and filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy.  This was about four years ago.  The debts listed in the bankruptcy came to over $250,000.

Mr. Rohricht claimed that all the jewelry was gone, having all been sold.  The bankruptcy seemed to go well.  One of our local bankruptcy trustees, a lawyer named Nauni Manty, was appointed as the trustee handling the case.  Ms. Manty knows a lot about jewelry and the jewelry business, but there was no evidence that anything was being hidden.  It is the trustee’s job to find assets for the creditors.  But after doing what investigation she could, she accepted a settlement of $17,500 from Mr. Rohricht.  The settlement agreement stated, however, that if Ms. Manty became aware of any undisclosed assets, the deal was off and they were back to square one.

Years passed, but Ms. Manty did not forget Mr. Rohricht.  Eventually she got wind that he had purchased a store in Wisconsin and had gone back into business.  She was able to prove that the jewelry and precious stones that he was hauling into the new store were items he had hidden in 2009 prior to filing his bankruptcy.  To make a long story short, he recently pled guilty to concealing assets and is now facing federal prison and a very large fine.

It’s not unusual that I will run into a person who has something he or she doesn’t want to disclose in their bankruptcy case.  They tend to believe firmly that it is something nobody would ever find out about.  That’s what Mr. Rohricht thought too.  I get asked why whatever it is must be disclosed.  Here’s why.  My understanding is that every year in Minnesota on average two or three people are convicted of bankruptcy fraud.  It’s never happened to any client of mine, and I really want to keep it that way.

This post is for general information purposes only, is not legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship.  I am a debt relief agency, helping people file for relief under the federal bankruptcy code.

 

What’s the Difference between a Debt and a Lien in Chapter 7 Bankruptcy?

I recently had a conversation with a person who had just received a discharge in a Chapter 7 bankruptcy.  He had also received what he thought was a very weird item from his mortgage company. The mortgage company had sent him a form for his signature which would give them permission to start sending monthly statements again even though the mortgage debt had been discharged. In the fine print on the back of the discharge there is a court order requiring all creditors – including the mortgage company – to make no attempt of any kind to collect the debt.   This includes mortgages, even if the homeowners want to keep the house.   But most homeowners who have mortgages want to continue paying the mortgage so they can keep their home.  Having a monthly mortgage statement helps a lot in keeping  track of that, but without permission to start sending statements again, the mortgage companies tend to be afraid to do so.

The permission to restart monthly statements form DOES look a little weird.  It usually will start off by saying something like: “Well, we know you’ve been discharged in a bankruptcy and you don’t owe this personally anymore, so don’t take this as attempt to collect a debt.  We were just wondering if maybe, not that you actually owe this anymore, you might still like updates on the status of the mortgage, for information purposes only, in case you might still want to make some payments on a strictly voluntary basis – not that we would really want the money or anything like that.”

This odd language is the result of there being two seemingly contradictory facts for a homeowner with a mortgage following a Chapter 7 bankruptcy discharge.  The first fact is that the personal obligation to pay the debt no longer exists.  The second fact is that the lender still has a mortgage lien on the house, and if you don’t pay the mortgage that lender will foreclose.

In the phone conversation I felt a bit put on the spot.  I was asked repeatedly to explain if the debt has been discharged, how can there still be a lien on the house that carries with it a right to foreclose.  I tired to explain that a mortgage lien is actually a property right  – a form of partial ownership – which the lender has.  The bankruptcy discharge takes away the personal obligation to pay the debt, but it does nothing to the ownership interest.  The discharge only affects personal obligations, not property interests.

So the bottom line is that when it comes to Chapter 7 bankruptcy, if you want to keep your house you better keep paying your mortgage or mortgages.

This was confirmed within the past few days by a decision of the U.S. Supreme Court issued on June 1, 2015.  In the case of Bank of America v. Caulkett, the court ruled that mortgage liens cannot be stripped off in a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy.  Under certain limited circumstances, the situation can be different in a Chapter 13 Bankruptcy.  More about that in my page about keeping your house.

This post is for general information purposes only and is not legal advice.  Interactions here do not create an attorney-client relationship.  Consult your own attorney concerning the details of your case.  I am a debt relief agency, helping people file for relief under the federal bankruptcy code.

Bankruptcy is Legal – But is it Moral?

I usually don’t give much thought to the question of whether filing a bankruptcy is the moral or ethical thing for a person to do.  I decided a long time ago that it  is, at least for my clients in the kind of cases that I accept.  For one thing, I don’t recommend bankruptcy unless it’s the last resort.  In other words, if the client has other alternatives, I recommend against filing bankruptcy and suggest that other avenues be tried first.  I have referred hundreds of people to Lutheran Social Services Financial Counseling and to Family Means financial counseling, my two favorite alternatives to bankruptcy.  Lots of debt settlement companies are operated by crooks, and you really have to watch out for them; but these two are strictly legitimate.

Most of my clients are absolutely overwhelmed and buried in debt.  If they are going to keep paying their unsecured debt, they don’t get to eat – and vice versa.  I believe that a person’s first duty is to himself or herself and his or  her family, and his or her second duty is to the community.  Under both duties, it is your obligation to take care of yourself well enough that you and your family don’t become homeless wards of the state.  If you can at least support yourself, you are saving the community the cost of supporting you. Your duty to continue paying your debts to a bunch of bankers is much lower on the hierarchy of values, and the value of self preservation will trump that every time.  If you need to file a bankruptcy to be able to properly care for yourself and your family, it could even be a moral obligation that you do so.

In biblical times all debts were canceled every seven years. (Deuteronomy 15:1-2) Everyone was given a fresh start at the same time every seven years whether they were current with their debts or not. Even citizens who had sold themselves into slavery were set free in the year of jubilee, which occurred every fifty years. (Leviticus 25: 10-13) Selling oneself or one’s family into slavery was apparently one approach to raising money to pay debt.  We no longer have slavery these days, but sometimes what I see my clients doing prior to filing bankruptcy seems to have similarities to slavery.  Seems like slavery to me if you spend all your time and resources working in the service of Capitol One or Discover.   It also seems to me that the sort of debt forgiveness practiced in Biblical times has similarities to bankruptcy today – except bankruptcy can usually be done only every eight years.

Here in the United States, bankruptcy is provided for in Article 1, Section 8, Clause 4 of the United States Constitution.  This authorizes  Congress to enact “uniform laws on the subject of Bankruptcies throughout the United States.”  Our founding fathers obviously thought that Congress should have the power to provide laws for the kind of safety net that is found in bankruptcy.  Under those laws for most individuals the only way to get your debts canceled is to file a Chapter 7 bankruptcy or Chapter 13 bankruptcy.  Even then some debts (most taxes, child support, alimony, most student loans, etc.) are not dischargeable.  

If things have gotten so bad that the debtor really can’t pay, bankruptcy is a good thing for the debtor and the creditor too, since the creditor is now able to stop wasting resources trying to collect. Large debts can be like quick sand. The harder one tries to get out, the deeper one gets.  Most bankruptcies seen in my office are filed long after they should have been.

This post is for general information purposes only, is not legal advice, and does not create an attorney-client relationship.

Questions Your Bankruptcy Trustee will Ask at the Meeting of Creditors

Hennepin County District Court

In most of my discussions with clients, the focus is on getting the bankruptcy petition filed.  Sometimes I am surprised to be asked by a client whether he or she will have to go to court.  This question always surprises me, because the answer is of course we have to make a court appearance.  I tend to thing everybody knows that, but obviously they don’t know about it if I don’t talk about it.  Filing a Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy petition is not like filing a tax return, where you file it and you’re done.  There’s a lot more to it than that.

After the bankruptcy petition is filed, you will receive a notice from the court of the scheduling of  a hearing called the meeting of creditors. The section of the bankruptcy code that requires it to take place is Section 341, so sometimes you will hear this hearing referred to as “the 341.”  The rules require that it be held no less than 20 and no more then 40 days after the case is filed.  It usually takes place about 30 days after filing.  Here’s a video I posted at YouTube recently where  I discuss what the trustee will be asking at this hearing.

Most attorneys have a handout listing the questions you can expect.  The trouble with such handouts is that every trustee has their own favorite questions and even special interests.  We have one trustee who seems to ask extra questions about whether somebody is going to die and leave you something.  Another trustee is very interested in jewelry and actually is known to carry a jeweler’s eye glass in her purse.  Some trustees always want copies of the car titles, while others don’t seem to care about them.  The questions in a Chapter 7 case will tend to be more focused on assets, while those in a Chapter 13 will have more about income and expenses.

Many of my clients expect that they will be given a chance to explain why they filed a bankruptcy.  They wish they could explain the series of events that led them to need a bankruptcy.  In my experience, the trustee almost never asks anything about that and probably does not what to hear about it.    Some of the questions may include something like the following:

  • Are you still living at the same address that is stated in your petition?
  • Have you read all the papers that you filed with the court?
  • Did you sign them?
  • Are they true and correct?
  • Are you personally familiar with what your papers contain?
  • Do you have any additions or corrections you wish to make at this time?
  • Did you list all your debts?
  • Did you list all your assets?
  • Have you filed for bankruptcy before?  When?  What kind of bankruptcy?  Were you discharged?
  • Do you have a domestic support obligation?
  • Have you sold or given anything away to a close friend or relative in the past six years?  Some trustees may ask for a shorter period of time.  If the answer is yes, there will additional follow-up questions.
  • Have you paid over $600 to any unsecured creditor within the 90 days before you filed your bankruptcy?
  • Have you operated a business any time in the past six years?
  • When did you purchase your home?  What was the purchase price?  How did you set the value of your home?  These are only asked if you own your home.

I start coaching my clients about what questions to expect almost as soon as I get hired. Then as we go through the process of preparing the petition, I can give a better idea as to what to expect based on the details of the case.  If you have a good lawyer, he or she will be making sure that you are prepared for everything that might be asked at this meeting of creditors.  Usually I just call it the “hearing,” because the last thing you are likely to see at the meeting of creditors is a creditor.

This post is for general information purposes only and is not legal advice. It does not create an attorney-client relationship. You need to talk with your own lawyer about this. The questions that one can expect vary from one part of the country to another, even though it’s set up under federal law. I am a debt relief agency. I help people file for relief under the federal bankruptcy code.

Dave Kelly

Kelly Law Office
11900 Wayzata Blvd. #116E
Minnetonka, MN 55305
952-544-6356
http://www.mn-bankruptcy.com

Don’t be Tricked by Misleading Bankruptcy Attorney Fee Advertising

Plan ahead before you sign the marriage license.

A lot of the advertising about attorney fees for bankruptcy is misleading – even tricky. Today I checked on a Google ad and the web page it leads to which says a certain law firm will file a bankruptcy after a payment toward the attorney fee of only $99.  I found this to be not exactly accurate.

The web page says that $99 toward the attorney fee, along with the court filing fee and counseling program fees, would be all one would have to pay prior to filing.  It was a slick web page, obviously done at considerable expense, where I found the following statement:

“You only have to pay the court filing fee of $335 and the credit report / credit course fees of $65 and an attorney fee of $99 to file.”  It also said:  “Only $99 Down, No Co-Signer Needed, File Now/Pay over Time, Affordable Payment Plans” in big blue letters.

I wondered how can these people can be doing this. I could never cover my office rent, malpractice insurance, phone and internet bills and office supplies if I didn’t charge a lot more than that.   So I went to the bankruptcy court web site and ran a search for actual cases they had filed.  This is not free, so I didn’t look very far.  All I did was check the last two cases this law firm filed to see what the attorney fee had been.  Attorney fees have to be disclosed on the bankruptcy petition.  What I found was that for the last two cases they filed, both Chapter 7s, their fee was $990. And the court filings also said they had received all of the $990 before filing the case.   That’s lower than what I would usually charge, but it’s a lot more than $99.

Now one thing you should understand about attorney fees in a Chapter 7 bankruptcy is this. If the attorney does not collect his or her fee prior to filing, any part of the fee that is still owing is just another debt in the bankruptcy case. The attorney is just another creditor.  The attorney, like all the other creditors, is under an immediate court order requiring that he or she do nothing to try to collect.  It is illegal and unethical for the attorney to collect anything from the client once the case is filed.  That’s why you may see references to a co-signer in some advertising.  The lawyer can still try to collect the fee from a co-signer as long as the co-signer is not his bankruptcy client.  This of course puts the bankruptcy lawyer in the position of being a bill collector. I don’t EVER want to be a bill collector.

I went back to the web page thinking it must be referring to Chapter 13 bankruptcy only. When it comes to paying attorney fees after the case is filed, a Chapter 13 bankruptcy is a very different animal from a Chapter 7. If you file a Chapter 13 bankruptcy it is possible to pay part of the attorney fee through the Chapter 13 payment plan.  I hit Control F to search the page and typed “13” into the search box.  No mention of “13” or “Chapter 13” appears anywhere on the page.  The page seems to be talking about Chapter 7.  The only filing fee the page mentions is $335, which is the Chapter 7  court filing fee. The court filing fee for a Chapter 13 is slightly lower.

When I look at their web page I can see that it is very slick, and at the bottom is the name of a web development company that designed the page.  I can remember a few years back when I hired a person to redesign my page.  The person I hired started adding all sorts of new key words and content, which was submitted to me for review.  There was a whole lot of it, and it was hard to keep up with what the designer was doing.  Is it possible that the web designer wrote up this stuff while the law firm was not paying attention?  It could happen.  I’m now back to doing all my own web design work. I found that having my web page in the hands of a professional design and marketing person was scary.

So maybe they just have a busy marketing person who they can’t keep up with.   Maybe it’s not entirely the law firm’s fault.  But I do want to suggest to you that you should be very wary when you see something like this and don’t be taken in by it. If it seems to good to be true, it probably is.

This posting is for general information purposes only and is not legal advice. It does not create an attorney-client relationship.  I am a debt relief agency. I help people file for relief under the federal bankruptcy code.

Dave Kelly, Kelly Law Office, Minnetonka, MN 952-544-6356

Close any Extra Bank Accounts Before you File Personal Bankruptcy

Maybe Nasty Bank

When it comes to what bank accounts you have open at the time of filing a personal bankruptcy, the adage “keep it simple” certainly applies.  In either a Chapter 7 bankruptcy or a Chapter 13 bankruptcy, the trustee is going to want to see a statement for every bank account that you have open on the day the case is filed. The more bank accounts you have, the more complicated that can get.  It seems as if every time I have a case where my client has more than three bank accounts, that client has trouble getting the required statement for at least one of them.

If the bank is also one of the creditors which you have listed in your case, you might find them particularly uncooperative when you try to get a statement. I was making a video on another subject when I made a few parenthetical remarks about how, before filing personal bankruptcy, you should close as many bank accounts as possible.  

There are enough other things that can go wrong in any bankruptcy case, without having to worry about not being able to get a statement from some obscure bank that has no offices nearby and which has shut down your on line access. In this video I explain that prior to filing a bankruptcy case, it is prudent to close as many of your bank accounts as possible. It’s best to go into your bankruptcy case with only has one bank account – a checking account at a bank or credit union which is not a creditor.

Your bankruptcy lawyer should know where the best places to bank are from a bankruptcy perspective. Some banks and some credit unions are more bankruptcy friendly than others. We have one bank in particular in the Twin Cities Minnesota area which will freeze your accounts when they find out you filed a bankruptcy, and they tend to do that whether you owe them money or not. That bank of course is to be avoided. This posting is for general information purposes only and is not legal advice. It does not create an attorney-client relationship.

I am a debt relief agency. I help people file for relief under the federal bankruptcy code.

Dave Kelly, Kelly Law Office, Minnetonka, MN 952-544-6356

Those Troublesome Timeshares

A vacation timeshare can become like a stone around your neck.  I would say if you are thinking of getting one, don’t.

Vacation Timeshares can be like a stone around your neck.
A vacation timeshare can be like a stone around your neck.

A while back I heard from some people  I had done a Chapter 7 bankruptcy for in 2006.  After hearing nothing for years, out of the blue they were being sued for dues and maintenance fees by a timeshare company. The vacation  timeshare was owned at the time of filing the bankruptcy.  My clients were asking me the obvious questions:  Wasn’t that taken care of when we filed the bankruptcy?  How can they be suing us now?

Timeshares are unusual animals and a bankruptcy discharge might not apply to the maintenance fees and ownership association dues which accumulate AFTER the filing of the bankruptcy.  Any fees owing from before the filing of the bankruptcy would, however, ordinarily be discharged.

When it comes to fees which accumulate after the filing, the reason they might not be dischargeable is a provision among those that Congress added to the bankruptcy code in 2005, Section 523 (a) (16).  If you go here you can see it, just scroll down to (16).  This was written mostly to apply to condo and homeowner association fees, but it also says “in a share of a cooperative corporation … for as long as the debtor or the trustee has a legal, equitable, or possessory ownership interest in such unit, such corporation or such lot …”

Some timeshares involve real estate ownership and are a version of a condominium or townhouse setup.  Others are cooperatives that own the property and the customer gets a membership in the coop.  If you have either of these, you are probably liable for the fees which are accumulated AFTER the bankruptcy filing and continue to accumulate until you are no longer an owner.  This is or can be a terrible spot to be in, because many of these places have quit trying to take back the units when they are not being paid for.  Most of them are worth little or nothing and can’t be sold.  A timeshare owner might be stuck with it indefinitely.

However, if you merely have a contract that gives you a license to use the facilities during a certain time, without any sort of ownership of the property, then liability for the fess would probably not continue after the bankruptcy filing.  The bankruptcy should kill it for good.  So exactly how the timeshare is set up makes a big difference.   I have looked over many stacks of timeshare documents, some of them even in foreign countries.  Those papers tend to be very hard to wade through, very hard to figure out.  I can read and write, and I even went to law school, but sometimes it can be hard to figure which category a certain timeshare setup belongs in.

If you have a timeshare of any kind and are considering bankruptcy, be sure to tell your lawyer all about it. If you can sell it before filing the case, you probably should.  Make your best effort to figure out whether it has a market value and what that is.  Provide your lawyer with all the paperwork you may have about it.  Make sure it is properly listed and properly described in your bankruptcy petition, and make sure that whoever is running the organization gets notice of your bankruptcy filing.

Then cross your fingers, hold your breath, or better yet –  pray a lot.  Hope the darn thing goes away.

As with any other financial matter, if you are considering a bankruptcy, don’t make any serious moves without consulting your attorney first.

This post is for general information purposes only and is not legal advice.  It does not create an attorney-client relationship.  If you need legal advice, please consult the attorney of your choice. 

Paying Off Student Loans with Credit Cards – Bad Idea

 

Here’s a link to an interesting article from creditcards.com discussing possible consequences of paying off student loans with credit cards.  I’ve never met anybody who tried it, or at least admitted trying it.  The trouble with replacing old debt with new debt is that any debt you run up right before filing a bankruptcy is very likely to be considered fraud.  The creditor gets to object and can prevent the discharge of that particular debt.
Also watch out for paying tax debt with credit cards.  The 2005 law says that if you transfer a tax debt to a credit card, it remains non-dischargeable.

http://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/paying-off-student-loans-credit-cards-bad-idea-1282.php

Moving to New Location Today

Anyone who has spoken with me over the past few months knows that I have been moaning and complaining about how my landlord was selling out to a developer and the building containing my office is scheduled to be torn down.  My beautiful office being destroyed.  It saddens me.

As of this morning, however, the moving truck is on its way and I hope to be unpacking at my new location as of late this afternoon.  The telephone and internet man is not coming until tomorrow morning, however, so that means that communications via my land line may be disrupted for a while.  If you need me the best bet will be to call  my cell – 612-735-3797.

The new location will be 11900 Wayzata Blvd. #116E, Minnetonka, MN 55305.  This is on the frontage road on the north side of 394 between Hopkins Crossroad and Ridgedale Drive.  It’s about a block east of the Staples store.  The office complex is called Marsh Run.

As many of you know, my old office had a patio and a back yard – something that an office would not ordinarily have.  For an office it was wonderful, and I loved it.  I didn’t think I would ever find any kind of an office space even close when it came to an amenity like that.  But I have managed to find something that has some similarity in that regard.  The new office actually has a deck that overlooks a little pond.  As far as the view goes, it is actually better  than the old office.

I’m going to be pretty distracted with moving and getting unpacked for the next few days; but taking  care of my clients and taking care of business has priority.  Everything that needs immediate attention will be taken care of.  As I said, if you need me just call my cell:  612-735-3797.

Payday Loans – NO NO NO NO NO

I see on my Google Plus page that an outfit called “Get Payday Loans” has added me to their circles – or something.  Usually I would add them back, but I just can’t do it.  From where I sit payday loans are about the most evil thing on the planet.  They are very addictive.  Once a person gets started, they are drawn into debt and will have the devil of a time getting out.

I have never done a study or looked at any statistics on this subject.  However, I have dealt with these in numerous bankruptcy cases, so I have some opinions based on what I  myself have seen – at least what it looks like to me.  For one thing, it looks to me as if the rates they charge are very high.  Another thing I seem to be seeing is that some of the banks seem to like these things – I suspect because they charge a fee to set them up on a customer’s checking account so that when the pay check is deposited, the money automatically disappears to the lender.

I believe that anything which is automatic – happening painlessly behind the scenes without drawing full attention to itself – makes it easier to get deeply in debt.

So no, I’m not adding “Get Payday Loans” back.

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