Virginia Bankruptcy Lawyer Robert Weed gets Martindale Satisfaction Award

Posted by Robert Weed / in Weekly Posts /

Got an email this week from Martindale-Hubbell, publishers of the famous Martindale Hubbell lawyer directory and also Lawyers.com.

They told me my clients rated me in the top one percent in client satisfaction.   “Less than 1% of the 900,000+ attorneys listed on martindale.com and lawyers.com have been accorded this Martindale-Hubbell honor of distinction.”

They also wanted to sell me “this commemorative wall plaque.”  

Welcome to the “Reader Top Rated” Bankruptcy Blog

Posted by Robert Weed / in Uncategorized / No comments yet

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.

Do people get sued by the second mortgage after a short sale?

Posted by Robert Weed / in Before Bankruptcy, Chapter 7, The 2005 Bankruptcy Law / No comments yet

Saw three couples this month who needed to file bankruptcy, because they were getting sued–garnished in one case–by the second mortgage after a short sale.

It was surprising that they were surprised.   At the peak of the crisis, four or five years ago, second mortgages would take what they could get at a short sale and let the rest of it go.  But they don’t often do that anymore.  (At least not without intense negotiation.  I’ve seen it once in the last year.)

And usually they make you sign that you KNOW that you still owe the money.  So, where’s the surprise?

After Bankruptcy: Bank of America Can’t Stop Themselves

Posted by Robert Weed / in After Bankruptcy, Chapter 13 Bankruptcy / 7 comments

This is a story about how Bank of America violated the bankruptcy discharge, hacking off Gus and Nikoleta, and me.  (I’ve changed the names of Gus and Nikoleta–all the rest of this is true.)  And then hit Gus and Nikki for a “foreclosure fee” while they were current.  And then did it again.

Gus and Nikoleta came to see me in 2009.

Gus and Nikki had been through tough times and they were behind on the mortgages.  They had a first and a second, both with Bank of America.  They were fifteen thousand behind on their first mortgage and Bank of American was about to foreclose.

Can they put a lien on the house I bought after the bankruptcy?

Posted by Robert Weed / in Virginia Bankruptcy / No comments yet

Did you put off filing bankruptcy until after somebody got a judgment against you?

Pre-bankruptcy judgments are liens on property you own before the bankruptcy.  (Sometimes they can be removed;  sometimes they can’t.)   But they do NOT become a lien on property you buy after the bankruptcy.

At least, not legally.

Filing Bankruptcy and self employed? You need a "Profit and Loss"

Posted by Robert Weed / in The 2005 Bankruptcy Law / No comments yet

If you file bankruptcy, you need to send in proof of your income.  For most people, that means your pay stubs.   Section 521 of the Bankruptcy Code requires people to send in at least two month of their “payment advices“–meaning pay stubs–received from your “employer.”

What if you are self employed?   You don’t get a pay stubs and don’t have en employer.  Do you dodge that requirement?