Skip to main content
Help Center
banner

ABI Blog Exchange

article-exchange

Insolvency Service “reframes” view of creditor – IPs can apply their discretion (UK)

Read Article

Maximize financial aid by filling out FAFSA

Score the most financial aid by knowing what assets count against you on the FAFSA form.

When does old debt fall off your credit report?

Checking your credit reports is the best way to see if old debts are still lingering.

Real estate investing during shaky times

Is now a good time to invest in commercial or residential real estate?

Private college students: Tackle the CSS Profile

Filling out the CSS Profile may result in a lucrative award for private college students.

An article in

An article in today’s New York Times at contains a discussion of a recent study which strongly suggests that bankruptcy attorneys have been disproportionately channelling their African American clients into Chapter 13 Bankruptcies rather than Chapter

Race and Choice of Chapter 7 Verses Chapter 13 Bankruptcy

An important new study, entitled "Race, Attorney Influence, and Bankruptcy Chapter Choice," undertaken by University of Illinois Law Profession Bob Lawless, along with colleagues Jean Braucher, of University of Arizona and Dov Cohen, also a professor

Race and Choice of Chapter 7 Verses Chapter 13 Bankruptcy

An important new study, entitled "Race, Attorney Influence, and Bankruptcy Chapter Choice," undertaken by University of Illinois Law Profession Bob Lawless, along with colleagues Jean Braucher, of University of Arizona and Dov Cohen, also a professor

How to Address Apparent Racial Disparity in the Consumer Bankruptcy System

The article discussed in the N.Y. Times story today is heavily empirical. It is also deliberately light on the prescriptive. Bob Lawless, Dov Cohen and I did make two modest proposals: (1) that a question about race of the debtor should be included

Extreme couponing: The pros do it & you can, too

Are you amazed by extreme couponing on TV? Use the same techniques to save big bucks.

Despite fix, does cracked slab distract buyers?

A crack in the foundation was repaired. But will anyone want to buy the house?

Washington Bankruptcy Court Weather Closures

Given the horrible weather confronting bankruptcy clients in the Seattle area, I thought it might be a good time to mention that if weather resuls in the closing of court facilities, a weather Notice will always be posted on the court’s website at

Some thoughts about Earnouts

We were speaking with some of our advisory board members recently about earnouts. An earnout is a provision within a purchase agreement which conditions a portion of the consideration being paid to the seller on the business being acquired meeting

Great article about SIPA and Bankruptcy Trustees suing Ponzi Scheme Victims for Preferences and Fraudulent Transfers

If you are invested money with Madoff or in another Ponzi scheme, you may want to read an article that apeared in the Summer, 2009 eition of Insigths, an in-house pubication of a Chicago-based firm, Willamette Management Associates. The article

Race and Chapter 13

As Adam noted in his kind post, the New York Times today featured our study, "Race, Attorney Influence, and Bankruptcy Chapter Choice." My co-authors are Credit Slips blogger Jean Braucher, a law professor at the University of Arizona, and Dov Cohen

Kudos to Jean Braucher and Bob Lawless!

A new study by Credit Slips own Jean Braucher and Bob Lawless (with Dov Cohen) on race and bankruptcy filings received very prominent and well-deserved page A1 coverage in the New York Times. It's a fabulous study, and it's wonderful to see it

How Long After Filing Bankruptcy Can You Buy A Home?

Buy a home after bankruptcy? Seems like a stretch for all but those who win the lottery once the discharge is issued. But play your cards right and you could be worrying about scheduling a closing date sooner than you ever thought possible. After

Yet Another Hanging Paragraph Creates a Taxing Situation

Print Page A pair of new opinions suggests that dischargeability of taxes is even more complicated subsequent to BAPCPA. In Matter of McCoy, No. 11-60146 (5th Cir. 1/4/12), which can be found here, the Fifth Circuit found that, under Missisippi law

Leon Bayer on KALW Radio Talks Bankruptcy

About 39% of all Chapter 7 cases filed without a lawyer end in failure, (even for those who use self-help services from a bankruptcy petition preparer). Leon Bayer and Jeffrey Wishman of the Los Angeles bankruptcy firm Bayer, Wishman & Leotta, are

Mortgage Modification and Quiet Title Strategies

Newell v. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., 2012 WL 27783 (N.D.Cal 2012) The Debtors sought to set aside the foreclosure on their home and quiet title to their mortgage. Both the bankruptcy court and the federal district court ruled against the Debtors. The

Bankruptcy Basics: How to Avoid a Credit Card Dispute

Under the bankruptcy laws enacted in 2005, bankruptcy petitioners need to be more cautious about their credit card use than ever before. It’s not just because bankruptcy courts can dismiss bankruptcy petitions over what they deem to be overtly