Chapter 7 and 13 Bankruptcy Blog

Issue 03 – November 3, 2010

COMPLIANCE WITH SCHEDULE C EXEMPTIONS

One very confusing fact for attorneys new to bankruptcy is that the debtor(s) need to reside in the state they are filing bankruptcy in for a period of 730 days (2.3 years) in order to be entitled to use that particular state’s exemption allowances on Schedule C.  (Ref: 11 USC Section 522(b))

THE CASE OF JANE DOE

Debtor (who moved from Oregon) had been a resident of Montana for a period of 710 days prior to filing her Chapter 7 bankruptcy petition.  The attorney was under the assumption that as long as Jane resided in Montana for longer than 180 days (as indicated on the Voluntary Petition) that she was eligible to file in that state.

However, this assumption was only partially correct.  Even though the debtor was eligible to file in Montana due to the 180 day venue requirement; the debtor still had to reside in Montana a full 730 days in order to be eligible to be covered under Montana’s exemption allowance on Schedule C.  The debtor was short by only 20 days.

After the 341 Meeting, the Trustee objected to the use of the exemption allowances.  An answer was filed amending Schedule C so that the exemption allowances reflected the exemption allowances for Oregon instead of Montana.

WHAT WOULD HAVE HAPPENED IF?

As you know, exemption allowances are the protection of a debtor(s) assets listed on Schedule A and B.  In the case of Jane Doe, she surrendered her home and car and had nothing but $5,000 in personal property that no one would have wanted anyway.  However, since Jane Doe was desolate, if these assets were not protected by exemption allowances, the court may require her to pay $5,000 out of pocket to the state of Montana.  Unfortunately, this debtor would have been unable to do this financially, which means that her clothing and other assets could have been seized by the court, sold for any dollar amount and the money turned over to the creditors.

DOES YOUR LAW FIRM NEED PARALEGAL ASSISTANCE WITH CASES?

Call Victoria Ring at 719-465-2442 or Sonya Banks at 770-601-4730, or for more information, visit: http://www.virtualpetitions.com

Talk to you next week ….

Victoria Ring Colorado Bankruptcy Training http://www.coloradobankruptcytraining.com

The case review this week is a clear indication of why attorneys need to pre-qualify their debtors before accepting them as clients. Not only do you need to protect yourself from accepting fraudulent cases but also from cases that cost you a great deal of time and money. This is necessary to build a strong law firm that is not only profitable but beneficial to the community it serves. Read the rest of this entry »

Issue 01 – October 20, 2010

This is the first issue of a new publication I plan to publish each week.  The information in this publication is made possible by the Chapter 7 and 13 bankruptcy petition reviews we do for attorneys nationwide.  We felt by sharing this information with other attorneys and law firms, it will help them to pick up specific tips and techniques to help them in their practice.  I hope you enjoy the case review this week that follows.

CRAM AND STRIP DOWNS

Some attorneys make the mistake of assuming that all mortgages are eligible for cram and strip downs.  First, we need to establish the fact that cram and strip downs have not been written into law and it is up to each bankruptcy court as to whether they accept them or not.

But let us suppose that cram and strip downs are permissible in your bankruptcy court.  The next step is to qualify the debtors.  Qualifying the debtors for a cram and strip down on their mortgage could take in a wide range of possible scenarios depending on the situation the debtors are in.  This week we encountered a situation where the debtors were unable to qualify for a cram and strip down so I wanted to share it with you.

THE CASE OF BOB AND SUE

The debtors (let us call them Bob and Sue) had their home appraised for $275,000.  They owed $200,000 on the first mortgage and $150,000 on the second.  The attorney asked us to prepare a Chapter 13 and propose a cram and strip down for the primary residence.

Now although we are paralegals and the final decision is always given to the attorney, we do warn attorneys when possible objections could occur based upon our many years of experience.  The main reason the cram and strip may not work for Bob and Sue is because they have $275,000 of SECURE property.  If the bankruptcy court seized the home and sold it for $275,000, they could completely pay off the first mortgage company and still have $75,000 left over.  This also means that since $75,000 is left over, the second mortgage company would be able to claim that as SECURE also.  The only amount of the mortgage debt that is underwater and UNSECURED is $75,000 of the second mortgage.

We suggested to the attorney to propose paying $275,000 as secure and $75,000 as unsecured, non-priority inside the Chapter 13 Plan.  This still saved Bob and Sue a great deal of money but it was not the $200,000 they had originally anticipated.  (Note: I am still amazed at how people work to push the bankruptcy system in their favor. Many people today appear to not understand what is meant to act in a fair and moral manner; but this is just my personal opinion.)

OTHER REFERENCES

Pre-Qualifying Debtors for a Mortgage Cram Down http://chapter7and13bankruptcyblog.com/archives/710

How Banks are Viewing Cram Downs Proposed in Bankruptcy http://chapter7and13bankruptcyblog.com/archives/18

Mortgage Cram and Strip Down Questions and Answers http://chapter7and13bankruptcyblog.com/archives/24

Recommended Book on Foreclosures from The National Consumer Law Center http://shop.consumerlaw.org/foreclosures.aspx

DO YOU NEED A BANKRUPTCY PETITION REVIEW?

You can save a great deal of money and ensure you have a well-detailed Chapter 7 or 13 bankruptcy petition before filing.  Here is how it works:  You prepare the petition with as much detail as possible. But before filing the petition, email it to us (PDF or Best Case format) and we provide you with a complete petition review.  This review is provided on the telephone and if a visual is needed for training purposes we will provide that at no additional charge. The costs are only $200 for a Chapter 7 and $275 for a Chapter 13.  To schedule your bankruptcy petition review call Victoria Ring at 719-659-0743.

Talk to you next week ….

Victoria Ring My Bankruptcy School http://www.mybankruptcyschool.com

On October 6, 2010, the Department of Veterans Affairs in Denver, Colorado, approved the training provided online at MyBankruptcySchool.Com under Vocational Rehabilitation Chapter 31, Title 38. This opens the door to both retired and disabled veterans; a respected segment of our community consisting of thousands of attorneys with many years of excellent legal experience. Read the rest of this entry »

A new line of training videos is currently under development for both Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 bankruptcy petitions. So far, the following new THIRTY-THREE (33) training videos have been developed and are available for immediate viewing: Read the rest of this entry »

If you are a new bankruptcy attorney you may be familiar with services such as Rapid Import and My Case Info that say they save you time if you pay them $10 per case. But this is NOT TRUE. Watch this 4 minute video and learn why these services do nothing but cause havoc when preparing the bankruptcy petition. Read the rest of this entry »

I had two attorneys this week send us bankruptcy cases where they wanted to propose a Cram Down on the FIRST mortgage and a Strip Down of the SECOND because the house was underwater. Unfortunately, both of the bankruptcy clients were not eligible for a cram down. I had to call both attorneys and let them know. They were shocked and were not aware that pre-qualification was necessary to propose a mortgage cram down and strip. This is when I decided to write this article to help other attorneys and their law firms. Read the rest of this entry »

Enroll at http://www.mybankruptcyschool.com

September 7 – Getting Started and Pre-Qualifying Debtors September 11 – Voluntary Petition, Schedules A and B September 15 – Schedules C, D, E and F September 20 – Schedules G, H, I and J September 24 – Statement of Affairs and Means Test September 28 – Miscellaneous Forms and Finalization Techniques September 30 – Marketing on the Internet

START CLASSES ANYTIME

The schedule above is for LIVE classes.  But when you enroll you gain immediate access to the online school.  Each class module is filled with training materials, videos and audios so you can get started learning right away.

However, during the LIVE classes you will be able to interact with the instructor, Victoria Ring.  You are also encouraged to bring problem petitions to the class so that everyone can learn through real world practice.

STUDENTS ALSO RECEIVE

** 90 days of free access to the online school after the graduation month ** 90 days of free access to future Chapter 7 classes so you can repeat classes if you miss one or need to review the information a second time ** 50 percent discount on private training services during the time you are enrolled as a student

VIDEOS FOR REVIEW

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39Knm0X6TTs http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oInwBLMGvKA http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ojn-TWS6aAA http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bF3G8zCWmY

ENROLL AT http://www.mybankruptcyschool.com

My Bankruptcy School is for both attorneys, paralegals and legal professionals working for attorneys. We have attorneys sign up as individuals because they prepare their own petitions; or we have attorneys sign up with their paralegals.  We also have entire law firms of 5 or more sign up and take the classes together.  Regardless of whether you are a beginning or have experience with petitions, I hope you decide to join us and increase your current petition skills.

INSTRUCTORS

Victoria Ring – http://www.victoria-ring.com Sonya Banks – http://www.virtualpetitions.com

If the video does not automatically appear in the area above, click here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39Knm0X6TTs

MyBankruptcySchool.Com is the first online school developed for bankruptcy attorneys, paralegals and legal professionals to teach Chapter 7 and 13 bankruptcy petition preparation skills. This video walks you through the benefits provided to students who enroll in the online courses.

DO YOU ENJOY MY VIDEOS?

If you enjoy my short videos specifically designed for Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 bankruptcy attorneys, you can subscribe to my YouTube channel at: http://www.youtube.com/user/MsVictoriaRing Click on SUBSCRIBE at the top of page

View changes at:  http://www.mybankruptcyschool.com/

We are now into our third online bankruptcy school class.  Two problems I have found is that (1) some people are unable to attend all the classes for the course they registered for; and (2) with every class, I am developing new training materials and adding it to the course materials.  Since I want to make sure everyone has access to the same tools as future students, I decided to add a method of solving these two problems.

YOU CAN NOW ENROLL AT ANY TIME

Here’s how it works:

There are two components to every Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 bankruptcy course:

Component 1

Once you pay your registration fee you are granted immediate access to the online school where you can watch videos, listen to audios from previous classes, download all the training materials, take the class exercises and online quizzes.  This way, you can learn at your own pace regardless of when the live, instructor-led classes begin.

Component 2

The second component is the LIVE, instructor-led online classes.  We have ongoing Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 classes that are offered every month.  That way, if you miss a class, you can attend any that you missed in future months when the same class is given.

IN FACT . . .

As a registered student you receive THREE MONTHS OF FREE ACCESS after you enroll in our courses.  This means that you can attend all the live classes a total of 4 times if you wish.  Plus, you have access to all new training materials that are developed for future classes since you are able to login and use the system up to ninety (90) days after your enrollment month.

GET STARTED TODAY and learn the skills you need to improve the services you provide to clients and protect the debtor in the best manner possible.  These are important skills that are rarely taught in any other legal course.  Take advantage of the opportunity to get started now.  Visit:

http://www.mybankruptcyschool.com