Monthly Archives: December 2012

Do You Need A San Jose Bankruptcy Lawyer?

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If you do need a San Jose bankruptcy lawyer you have come to the right place. We offer free consultations with experienced attorneys. You will not be meeting with an inexperienced paralegal or legal assistant that should not be giving out legal advice. At West Coast Bankruptcy Attorneys we are committed to providing you with the best bankruptcy experience for a reasonable fee. Ryan C. Wood and Kitty J. Lin are bankruptcy lawyers that have filed close to a thousand bankruptcy cases in California and discharged millions of dollars of debt. If you are behind on your mortgage payments, behind on car payments or are having problems paying your credit card bills each month give us a call and schedule a free consultation to find out if bankruptcy can help you.

Personal Service

One of the most common compliments receive is that we respond quickly to emails and phone messages. You will always be able to email us directly to our personal email addresses and we answer our phone personally like in the old days. You will not be transferred to one person, the another person only to wonder if you will ever receive a call back or who can help you. We will return your call the same day or within 24 hours. We answer email questions extremely quickly. As long as we are in the office and available then email are answered as they are received.

Low Cost Required Courses

Another benefit of retaining our services is not paying more for the two required courses than necessary. The first course, credit counseling, must be completed before the case is filed. We use the least expensive provider of this course, $5.00. Other attorneys not only use providers that charge $30 for the exact same thing, but they add on processing fees to pad their pockets without telling you. The second course, debtor education, must be completed after the case if filed to be eligible for a discharge of your debts. The provider we use charges $7.95. Again, other attorneys not only use providers that charge $30 for the exact same thing, but they add on processing fees to pad their pockets without telling you. Both of the courses are on the internet and can be completed from the comfort of your home.

Reasonable Attorney Fees

Just like with the required courses we do what is possible to make sure we only charge reasonable attorney fees for the work your case requires. The more work that is required the higher the fee, or the less work that is required the lower the fee. We have noticed that some bankruptcy attorneys will charge clients $2,000 for each and every Chapter 7 they file. How can that be when different amounts of work are required or different cases and circumstances? You can rest assured that our reasonable attorney fees are based upon your circumstances and the amount of work your case needs.

What Is An Objection to Confirmation of Chapter 13 Plan?

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An objection to confirmation of a chapter 13 plan is how a creditor or the trustee assigned to administer the plan communicates to the court and the party proposing the plan that they believe the plan does not meet the requirements for confirmation or approval pursuant to section 1325 of the bankruptcy code. A chapter 13 plan is confirmed or approved by the bankruptcy court if it satisfies the requirements of section 1325.

Trustee Objection

The most common party that objects to the confirmation of a chapter 13 plan is the trustee assigned to administer the plan. Every jurisdiction has a standing trustee to administer all of the chapter 13 cases filed in their jurisdiction. In the Northern District of California there are three different standing trustees. Each trustee at some point will hopefully recommend the plan for confirmation if they believe the plan meets the requirements listed in section 1325 of the bankruptcy code. A plan can be confirmed or approved by the bankruptcy judge assigned to your case also and the trustee’ objection will have to be overruled by the court. The most common reason a trustee will object confirmation is because a creditor files a proof of claim for an amount owed that is different than what is scheduled in the bankruptcy petition and provided for in the plan. Your bankruptcy lawyer will have to file an amended plan to fix the problem.

Car Loan Company Objections to Confirmation

Car loan companies will regularly object to confirmation of chapter 13 plans because they disagree with the valuation of a car that is being paid in the plan. If the car was purchased 910 days prior to the filing of the bankruptcy case the plan only has to pay back the fair market value of vehicle and not was is owed on the loan. This can be a significant savings if the value of the vehicle is far less than what is owed. The percentage rate can be lowered as well. The car loan company naturally wants the value of the vehicle to higher and the bankruptcy filer wants the value of the vehicle to be lower. If your bankruptcy lawyer and the car loan company cannot agree to a value then there may have to be an evidentiary hearing before the court. The court will decide the value of the vehicle.

Mortgage Company Objections to Confirmation

The most common reason why a mortgage company objects to confirmation of a plan is because of missed mortgage payments and the dollar amount of missed mortgage payments in the proof of claim they file is more than what is listed in the chapter 13 plan. When mortgage payments are missed various late fees are added and if quite a few mortgage payments are missed then the mortgage company will set up an escrow account to pay the property taxes and insurance for the property. The amount owed in the escrow account seems to always be a point of contention in many cases.

How Can Private Disability Insurance Payment Be Garnished?

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If you were served with a summons and complaint the clock is ticking. If you want to answer the complaint and defend yourself seek the counsel of a civil litigation attorney in your area. If you just want it to go away and you have other debts as well that you cannot pay it is probably time to sit down with an experienced bankruptcy lawyer in your area. The credit card company or creditor who sued you will most likely obtain a judgment against you eventually. Once they have a judgment against you they can enforce the judgment.

Wage Garnishment

The most common and convenient way for a judgment creditor to get paid or enforce the judgment is to try and garnish your wages. Of course you must be employed for your wages to be garnished.
Can Private Disability Insurance be Garnished?

In California our California Code of Civil Procedure Section 704.130 provides that disability benefits are exempt from garnishment. See below. But what about the income once it is deposited into a bank account. Well, the insurance money is then commingled with other money. It is then possible for the insurance money to be garnished. The best course of action is to have separate bank accounts so that you can always trace your private disability insurance to one account and there is no question about the source of the funds.
California Civil Procedure Code Section 704.130
(a)Before payment, benefits from a disability or health insurance policy or program are exempt without making a claim. After payment, the benefits are exempt.
(b)Subdivision (a) does not apply to benefits that are paid or payable to cover the cost of health care if the judgment creditor is a provider of health care whose claim is the basis on which the benefits are paid or payable.
(c)During the payment of disability benefits described in subdivision (a) to a judgment debtor under a support judgment, the judgment creditor or local child support agency may seek to apply the benefit payments to satisfy the judgment by an earnings assignment order for support, as defined in Section 706.011, or any other applicable enforcement procedure, but the amount to be withheld pursuant to the earnings assignment order or other procedure shall not exceed the amount permitted to be withheld on an earnings assignment order for support under Section 706.052.

How Can Private Disability Insurance be Garnished?

Like everything there are limitations to protections. If you are paid money to pay for health costs and choose not to pay the health costs, then the health provider you owe money to can obtain and judgment and garnish your private insurance benefits. Your benefits can also be garnished if you have children you must pay court ordered support to. Generally any court ordered payment can be taken out of benefits. For more information about your specific situation consult a bankruptcy attorney in your jurisdiction or state.

What is the Basis for the Bankruptcy Court’s Authority?

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The single most powerful part of filing for bankruptcy protection is the automatic stay. The automatic stay is effective as soon as a petition for bankruptcy is filed with the court. The stay stops any and all collection activity making the bankruptcy court the single point of contact for creditors to seek payment or relief.

One of the most common reasons why people seek the counsel of a bankruptcy lawyer is because of a pending lawsuit, garnishment, repossession or home foreclosure. If you have been served with a summons and complaint for an unpaid debt it will most likely be just a matter of time before the credit card company obtains a judgment against you. Filing for bankruptcy protection will stop the lawsuit because of the automatic stay and in most cases discharge the underlying debt you are being sued for.

Once a judgment is obtained it can be enforced. The judgment creditor may conduct what is called a judgment debtors examination for force the judgment debtor to disclose where they work and bank account information. The most common way to enforce a judgment is to garnish wages. Filing bankruptcy will stop the garnishment and even allow you to get some of the garnished wages back depending upon the circumstances.
If you are one or more payments behind on your vehicle loan repossession of the vehicle is something to worry about.

The stay will prevent repossession of your vehicle and depending upon your circumstances filing a Chapter 13 bankruptcy can even lower what you pay for the vehicle and the percentage rate of the loan. You generally will have to had purchase your vehicle 910 days prior to filing your bankruptcy case and your vehicle is worth less than what you still owe on the vehicle loan.

Unfortunately the last four or five years has led to many bankruptcy cases being filed because of pending home foreclosures. Filing a Chapter 13 case will allow you to continue to make the normal mortgage payments and catch up on the missed mortgage payments in the Chapter 13 plan. You may also be able to get rid an underwater second mortgage, third mortgage or equity line of credit. A motion to value or adversary proceeding to value the house must be filed along with the Chapter 13 case.

There are many reasons to seek the protection of the bankruptcy court and the automatic stay. For more information about the power of bankruptcy contact a bankruptcy lawyer in your jurisdiction for more information.