clawson's blog

When you reaffirm a debt, you are signing a contractual agreement to not discharge a debt.  That agreement is also signed by the creditor and usually your bankruptcy attorney.  The agreement is then filed with the Bankruptcy Court.  The filed reaffirmation agreement keeps that p

Yes, if you filing a bankruptcy or currently in a chapter 13 bankruptcy, you must disclose in your schedules that you have a personal injury claim or lawsuit or you may be prohibited from bring your personal injury lawsuit in state court.   Judicial Estoppel is a discretionary equitable legal doctrine that was develo

A press release on June 2, 2014 by Experian shows that long term loans for vehicles averaged 66 months for the first time.  The trend appears to be for vehicle loans to lengthen with analysis showing almost 25% of all new vehicle loans in the first quarter of 2013 are 73-84 months.  The Experian article indicates the reason for the extension

The Judicial Conference of the United States approved two amendments to the Miscellaneous Fee Schedule in its March 2014 session that impact bankruptcy filings.  The filing fee for a chapter 7 bankruptcy will increase from $306.00 to $335.00 and the filing fee for a

The Federal Rules Committee has proposed a National Chapter 13 Plan at Rule 3015(c) of the Bankruptcy Rules that, if approved, would go into effect on December 1, 2015.   The national plan is intended to standardize consumer cases and make it easier for pro se debtors as it comes with an instruction booklet.  The national plan will also make it easier for large creditor firms to quickly look over plans as it standardize

A cross collateralized loan is when one item of collateral stands as collateral for all loans with that bank or credit union.  This means that a vehicle can be collateral on both the vehicle loan and a signature loan.  In order to obtain your title back on your vehicle, you must pay both loans.

Best Interest is one of the factors that must be met in order to have a chapter 13 plan confirmed or approved by the Bankruptcy Judge.  Best Interest test or liquidity test is found at 11 U.S.C.

Myth #1: I can never get credit again

If you have a high rate of interest on loans, a Chapter 13 Bankruptcy can reduce the interest rate resulting in a much lower monthly payment.  This is called a “cramdown.”  The interest rate unsecured creditors such as credit cards, finance company loans,

An auto shut off device is a device installed on a vehicle by a car dealer that is usually a buy here, pay here type auto dealer.  If you do not make your payments to the dealership timely, the device will be activated and it disables the vehicle until a payment is made and the buyer obtains a new code.  If a payment is not made, this shut off device allows t