Atlanta Bankruptcy Attorneys
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By Jonathan on
The United States Trustee has released the new median income table for Georgia debtors, applicable to cases filed February 1, 2008 and thereafter:
| 1 person household | 2 person household | 3 person household | 4 person household |
| $39,171 | $51,425 | $58,885 | $68,611 |
By Jonathan on
No matter how much your lawyer tries to reassure you, there is a good chance that you will be nervous and anxious at your 341 hearing. Even though the consumer bankruptcy process is generally not very adversarial, no one likes to be in the witness chair.
My colleague, Kansas bankruptcy attorney Jill Michaux, recently published a very helpful blog post on her Kansas bankruptcy blog in which she sets out the questions you will likely face at your 341 hearing. Although our Atlanta area Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 trustees don’t always ask this exact set of question, I think that Jill’s post will be of great help to a nervous debtor.
You can read Jill Michaux’ post entitled What Will They Ask Me at My Bankruptcy Hearing by clicking on the link.
By Jonathan on
I received a call this morning from a colleague who tells me that she was contacted by a French television producer who is working on a news story about the real estate market in Atlanta. They are looking to interview someone who is facing a foreclosure. If you have any interest in being interviewed for a program that will air in France, you can contact the producer, J.B. Faby by email.
If you decide to do this, please let me know – I would like to hear about your experiences.
By Jonathan on
Last week’s edition of the Atlanta Business Chronicle includes a series of articles entitled "Falling into Recession." One of these articles focuses on the high number of bankruptcy filings in the Atlanta area. Judge Joyce Bihary, the chief judge in for the Northern District of Georgia Bankruptcy Court is quoted extensively in this article. Judge Bihary asserts that the poor mortgage choices by homeowners has resulted in high default rates and record numbers of bankruptcy filings. The judge calls for improved financial literacy to help homeowners better understand mortgage products on the market and to avoid taking on more mortgage debt than they can afford.
Judge Bihary eloquently summarizes the role of the mortgage industry and lowered lending standards in her explanation of the current bankruptcy climate in Atlanta. In my view, however, there are other factors that have also lead to our current status as one of the busiest bankruptcy filing districts in the country:
The Atlanta Business Chronicle does not address how the BAPCPA changes to the bankruptcy laws have made debt relief much more complicated and expensive, with relief that is often incomplete.
I am pleased that a respected business newspaper like the Atlanta Business Chronicle is beginning to consider the impact of high bankruptcy filing rates on the region’s economy in general – it would be nice, however, if they would look a little more deeply into more of the issues that impact our financially troubled community.
By Jonathan on
My question is if someone comes to you to file BK individually, but she is due a tax refund that is in her name as well as her husband’s, could the bank trustee only take 1/2 of the refund since the other 1/2 is considered an asset of her husband who is not filing?
–Jennifer
Jonathan Ginsberg responds: Jennifer, you did not say where you live, but I will answer based on my experiences here in the Northern District of Georgia.
When this situation has come up, I show the tax refund as 50% property of the debtor, with the other 50% not part of the bankruptcy estate. In 20 years, I have never had a trustee attempt to go after the non-filing spouse’s 50%.
If the trustee was to try to go after this money, I would think that we could look at the source of the refund kind of like the way a Superior Court judge would evaluate assets in a domestic relations (divorce) case. Georgia is an "equitable division" State, meaning that the judge has the power to decide what is fair.
In your case, if your husband earned 95% of the income, the trustee might argue that more than 50% of the refund is his property. In my view, that argument would not go very far.
I also think it matters how much money is at stake. Usually tax refunds are less than $10,000. I question whether a trustee would engage in litigation over $5,000 or less.
One other point – in most cases, you get a refund because your withholdings were higher than they needed to be. In effect, you are using the U.S. Treasury as a (no interest) savings account. I think that the U.S. trustee could look at your withholding pattern and make an argument that you have more disposable income than what is shown on the petition, if you adjust your withholdings to minimize your refund.
By Jonathan on
As of this past November, 2007, all three credit bureaus will permit you to impose a “credit freeze” on your credit report so that you can stop or limit the damage caused by identity theft. There is no charge to victims of identity theft and a $10 charge for those who want to place or remove a credit freeze.
When a credit security freeze is in place at all three major credit bureaus, an identity thief cannot open a new account because the potential creditor or seller of services will not be able to check the credit file. When the consumer is applying for credit, he or she can lift the freeze temporarily using a PIN so legitimate applications for credit or services can be processed.
An excellent article on the Georgia watch web site sets out exactly how to request a credit freeze in Georgia.
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