Friday, May 18, 2012

Welcome to the "Reader Top Rated" Bankruptcy Blog

Welcome. I'm Virginia bankruptcy lawyer Robert Weed. Thanks for visiting me.

I started this blog for my bankruptcy clients. When I explain something, I like to give people a written version, too; so they can refer back to it later. When I answer an email, I try to include a link to more information, for people who want to understand more.

My clients tell me that's very helpful. I think it's my job.

I was surprised that people all over the county started reading my blog. Hundreds of people now read something here every day! Someone told me recently that I "explain things very clearly for a lawyer." That made me smile. I'm glad to answer questions from all across the country--as well as I can. (Bankruptcy is a mix of federal and state law, and the only state law I am qualified to talk about is Virginia. Different judges around the country see things differently. I only know the two judges here in Alexandria, Virginia.)

I like explaining the law--it's one of the things lawyers should do. If my explanations are helpful to you, I'm glad.

Virginia bankruptcy attorney robert weed



P.S. To my readers around the country, please keep in mind that I cannot give you legal advice. My answers here on this blog may help you think of things to talk about with YOUR LAWYER. DO NOT TRY TO BE YOUR OWN LAWYER, based on anything you read here. That would be a really bad idea.

Bankruptcy, the automatic stay and debt collector NCO.

Tuesday, I saw a press release from NCO, one of the largest of the debt collection companies.   While many businesses are slow to add jobs in a recession, NCO is hiring 400 more people for its Rockford IL “Customer Management Contact [...]

Read the full article →

Chapter 13 bankruptcy and your credit report

I don’t like Chapter 13 bankruptcy.  One reason is chapter 13 is much worse on your credit. Since you are paying your creditors, at least a little, in Chapter 13, that’s unfair. Five years after filing a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, people [...]

Read the full article →

File bankruptcy? Stop paying? Don’t leave that house!

Here’s a quiz.  You’ve decided to file bankruptcy to get rid of that big mortgage payment.  When is the right time to move out of the house? 1.  When you know you can’t afford it? 2.  When you fall three months behind? [...]

Read the full article →

After bankruptcy: My house payments don’t show on my credit report.

One reason to file bankruptcy is to get back to good credit.  Once your credit has gone bad, bankruptcy, for most people, is the fastest way to fix it. I encourage all my clients to rebuild your credit after bankruptcy. So you [...]

Read the full article →

Before bankruptcy: Do debt collectors tell the truth?

Before I became a bankruptcy lawyer, I thought that successful companies were generally pretty honest.  I would have guessed they were more honest than most people–otherwise why were they so successful.  Or at least, they’d be honest because they had more to [...]

Read the full article →

After bankruptcy. Help! They’re suing my LLC!

Many people who file bankruptcy are small business owners.  Especially owners of one-person small businesses.  People like the freedom of being their own boss, but it can be a tough way to make a living. A lot of those small [...]

Read the full article →

After bankruptcy: shopping for a car loan

If you rebuild your credit, three years after your bankruptcy you can get a car loan at a good interest rate.  But you can also get steered into a bad loan by someone who claims to be doing you a [...]

Read the full article →

Does bankruptcy help with inherited debt?

“Do I need to file bankruptcy on inherited debt?” In my twenty years as a bankruptcy lawyer, I’ve been asked about bankruptcy and inherited debt maybe four or five times. Someone’s mother or father passed away, leaving nothing but credit card and medical bills.  What to do?  Does bankruptcy help?  Most [...]

Read the full article →

Before bankruptcy: Can I go to jail if I ignore this summons?

Around 100,000 people a year get arrested because they owe unpaid bills and ignore a court paper.  Does this happen in Virginia.  Yes! I’m a Virginia bankruptcy lawyer.  About one-third of my clients don’t come to see me until the sheriff brings court papers to [...]

Read the full article →

Bankruptcy can discharge some old income taxes.

People often ask me if there are any taxes that bankruptcy can help with. Here’s the rule.  You can discharge income taxes if they were due more than three years ago, if you filed them close to on time, and if the tax [...]

Read the full article →

Before bankruptcy: Stopping automatic withdrawals.

While trying to avoid bankruptcy, people sometimes authorize debt collectors to take monthly withdrawals from their bank accounts.   (Or authorize withdrawals by these “debt settlement” scams.  Or credit card companies or bank loans.) When people face the fact that bankruptcy is [...]

Read the full article →

After bankruptcy, back to good credit

Just now got a call from Lester (not his real name) who filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy with me in July 2008. It was discharged in November 2008. He was telling me this weekend, he got approved for a car loan [...]

Read the full article →

After bankruptcy: Debt collector NCC tries a scam

Cindy (not her real name) filed bankruptcy with me back in 2001.   She called last week, upset.  A debt collector, Nationwide Credit Corporation, of Alexandria, VA, called last week wanting $541.00. Cindy, now retired, didn’t have that much money.  She wondered [...]

Read the full article →

Bankruptcy exemptions in Virginia get better July 1.

Bankruptcy exemptions in Virginia will get a little better effective July 1, 2011. HB 1422, sponsored by Del Dave Albo (R-Springfield) increased the exemption for motor vehicles from $2,000 to $6,000.  It also exempts one family firearm valued up to $3,000. Bankruptcy exemptions are important because [...]

Read the full article →

Bankruptcy is better on your job resume than bad debt

A bankruptcy client sent me a wonderful email yesterday.  ”I can finally see light to get on with my life.”  Why?  ”I got the job!” Bad credit was no longer blocking him from getting the job he wanted. My friend [...]

Read the full article →

To get a HAMP modification, does bankruptcy help?

To get a HAMP loan modification, some people need to file bankruptcy first. I’m a Virginia bankruptcy lawyer. Usually, I urge people to try to get a HAMP loan modification before we file their bankruptcy.  We hold the bankruptcy in reserve to stop a foreclosure if [...]

Read the full article →

Bankruptcy discharge or “charge off?” What’s the difference?

Discharge?  Charge-off?  The two words look a lot alike.  Do they mean the same thing? Nope.  Discharge is a magic word.   A legal word, anyway.  At the end of your bankruptcy case, you get a bankruptcy discharge. The bankruptcy discharge is a court order that [...]

Read the full article →

After bankruptcy: worried about your tenants?

Lots of people I see filing bankruptcy are landlords. They’re not people who wanted to be landlords.  I’m talking about people who are renting out a house they cannot sell.  (Because the value has dropped way below what they owe.) They often come to see [...]

Read the full article →

Before bankruptcy: Virginia law is fast track for foreclosure

Many people file bankruptcy right before foreclosure.  Sometimes the timing of the bankruptcy is to get more time to get a loan modification approved.  Sometimes the timing of the bankruptcy is to get more time to move.   Sometimes it’s [...]

Read the full article →

Before bankruptcy: “Can debt collectors call my neighbors?”

I’m a Virginia Bankruptcy Lawyer.   I talk to a lot of people in financial trouble.  I talk to a lot who are harassed by debt collectors. Many people–before they decide to file bankruptcy–don’t know what to tell debt collectors.  Often, they just stop [...]

Read the full article →

Before bankruptcy: Don’t pay off the car!

“In bankruptcy, everything is upside down.  Bad is good; good is bad.”  I tell people that all the time. What does that mean? For the bankruptcy court to approve your bankruptcy, we have to show why you can’t afford to [...]

Read the full article →

Bankruptcy Means Test: “I spent $95 at CVS.”

Yesterday I spent $95 at CVS.  So?  I’m a Virginia bankruptcy lawyer.  Every day I talk about family budgets to three or four people who need to to file bankruptcy. Most of those people estimate their health care expenses way too low. That hurts the [...]

Read the full article →

After bankruptcy discharge: Getting back to good credit

About two months and two weeks after your bankruptcy trustee hearing, you should get your bankruptcy discharge. When you get the discharge, it’s time to go to work on your after bankruptcy good credit. To get back to good credit, [...]

Read the full article →

Chapter 13 bankruptcy: Why it’s picked by only 5% of my clients

Chapter 13 is selected by less than 5% of my Virginia bankruptcy clients.  For other people filing bankruptcy in Northern Virginia, it’s about one in five.  That statistic jumped out from a computer study of cases filed in bankruptcy court for Northern Virginia for [...]

Read the full article →

Right after filing bankruptcy: A Motion for relief from stay.

Before the housing crisis, I warned all my Chapter 7 bankruptcy clients, “make sure you are current on your house the day we file your case.”  If you went into Chapter 7 bankruptcy even one payment behind, the mortgage company [...]

Read the full article →

After your bankruptcy trustee hearing–the goal line is in sight

Thumbnail image for After your bankruptcy trustee hearing–the goal line is in sight

You’re in sight of the goal line.  It’s two months and two weeks ahead. At your bankruptcy trustee hearing–called the section 341 hearing or “meeting of creditors”–two different trustees had a shot at you. The Chapter 7 trustee looked at [...]

Read the full article →