06 Feb 2011

Holiday Season and Tax Refund Time

It is the first week of February and the phones at the Maryland Bankruptcy Center have been ringing off the hook.   I am a Maryland Bankruptcy lawyer.   I earn my living helping Maryland residents file Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 bankruptcy.   February is the busiest time of the year for bankruptcy filings.  Why?  Good question.  […]

06 Jan 2011

Bankruptcy Filings Highest In Five Years

Personal bankruptcy filings in 2010 reached their highest levels in five years and will continue to rise in the new year, according to the American Bankruptcy Institute. Consumer bankruptcies reached roughly 1.53 million for the 2010 calendar year ended Dec. 31, numbers compiled by National Bankruptcy Research Center for ABI concluded. The figure represents a […]

01 Jan 2011

Eliminate Debt While Saving Your Home

Recently the Maryland legislature passed a new law that increases a homeowners chance of keeping their home even after filing Chapter 7 bankruptcy, which eliminates almost all of their debts.  A terrific website called legalconsumer.com recently posted an article about the new Maryland Homestead law, and in part, it provides as follows: Almost every state […]

10 Dec 2010

The Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Process

I want to give you all an idea of the bankruptcy process. I’ll try to keep this simple and cover only the “normal” case and not cases involving objections from creditors and other complications. Once you’ve chosen a Maryland bankruptcy attorney, provided all of the documentation requested, and paid the required fees, it’s time to […]

09 Dec 2010

Bankruptcy Statistics

News Flash! November 8, 2010 —Bankruptcy cases filed in federal courts for fiscal year 2010, the 12-month period ending September 30, totaled 1,596,355, up 13.8 percent over total FY 2009 bankruptcy filings of 1,402,816, according to statistics released today by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. While non-business bankruptcy filings continued to rise in […]

09 Dec 2010

Ten Bad Habits

I was searching the web today and I came across a very interesting and informative article which relates to bankruptcy.  It was called Ten Bad Habits That Lead to Bankruptcy.   Many consumers in Maryland with high credit card debt could have taken steps to prevent it.  At the Maryland Bankruptcy Center we will not only […]

25 Nov 2010

Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Statistics

November 08, 2010 October Filings Hold Steady   2007          2008         2009         %         2010        % Jan 55,200 70,300 89,000 27% 102,600 15% Feb 58,800 79,500 102,000 28% 117,800 15% March 73,100 90,400 131,000 45% 159,200 22% April 67,800 93,200 128,700 38% 146,200 14% May 69,900 89,700 120,400 34% 133,500 11% June 67,300 […]

25 Nov 2010

Thankful for Bankruptcy Laws

Hey folks.  I just wanted to take this opportunity to wish anyone who might be reading this blog a Happy Thanksgiving.   In two days it will be Black Friday, yes, the most popular day to run up credit cards of the year.    I will actully be working in my office on Black Friday meeting new […]

17 Nov 2010

Foreclosures in Maryland

Maryland’s courts adopted a rule to make it easier for homeowners in foreclosure proceedings to challenge lenders’ documents that they believe are fraudulent. The rule, approved by the Court of Appeals of Maryland today, can shift from homeowners to lenders the burden of proving documents are legitimate. Hundreds of inaccurate or fraudulent affidavits have turned […]