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Get Your Taxes Prepared Free

Posted on January 22, 2010 Written by

(Topeka) — Starting Monday, January 25, free E-File income tax preparation is available on the first floor of the Docking State Office Building, 915 SW Harrison Street, Room 158, Topeka. The assistance site is a partnership of the Kansas Department of Revenue and the Internal Revenue Service’s VITA (Volunteer Income Tax Assistance) Program.

The site is staffed with community IRS certified and trained volunteers who will provide assistance for completing E-File Federal and State individual income tax returns, and limited Kansas Homestead Claims & Property Tax Relief Claims. The VITA Program offers tax help for low to moderate income (generally $49,000 and below) people who cannot prepare their own tax returns.

Hours of operation are Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. The site will be open from January 25th through the April 15th filing deadline. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Bankruptcy News

Bankruptcy Mastery Site Launched for New Lawyers

Posted on January 10, 2010 Written by
Cathy Moran

Cathy Moran

Cathy Moran, my friend and blogging colleague on the Bankruptcy Law Network, has launched Bankruptcy Mastery, a website to train new consumer bankruptcy lawyers.

With 30 years of experience, Cathy is well-qualified to teach and mentor lawyers new to the consumer bankruptcy field.  She is speaks on bankruptcy law topics on the national stage and is the author of Bankruptcy in Brief, the very popular website on consumer bankruptcy law information, and On the Bankruptcy Soapbox blog.  She has a very busy practice in the San Francisco Bay area representing consumer and small business debtors in chapters 7, 11 and 13 bankruptcy.

Cathy collaborates with Jay Fleischman on Consumer Ledger and Family Debt Guide.

Filed Under: Bankruptcy News Tagged: , , , , , ,

Cram Down Value Used for Means Test in Wichita Bankruptcies

Posted on January 5, 2010 Written by

A DEBTOR MUST USE THE STRIPPED/CRAMMED DOWN AMOUNT FOR
PURPOSES OF CURRENT MONTHLY INCOME (CMI) ON LINE 47 OF B22C
In re Hoss, Case No. 08-10365
In re Arroyo, Case No. 07-12779
August 2008, Judge Nugent
In above median income (AMI) cases, debtors sought to deduct contract payments, rather than the stripped off/crammed down amounts. The Court sustained the Chapter 13 Trustee’s objection to confirmation. This is a good analysis of the status of the law, as of the date of the issuance of the opinion. Judge Nugent applied the reasoning of Lanning, but on the expense side, rather than the income side, of the equation. He also disagreed with Judge Karlin’s decision in Allen, which would have reached an opposite result.

Filed Under: Bankruptcy News, Chapter 13, Court Rulings, Means Test, Mortgages Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

U.S. Supreme Court Takes Topeka Bankruptcy Case

Posted on January 3, 2010 Written by

A Topeka, Kansas, consumer bankruptcy case is pending in the U.S. Supreme Court. It involves the Topeka chapter 13 trustee objecting to Stephanie Lanning’s bankruptcy plan.

Lanning had taken a buyout and left her job at Payless Shoesource.  She was working at Joann’s Fabrics for less money when her bankruptcy was filed.

When Lanning took the bankruptcy means test, the Payless buyout caused her income average to be higher than her current income and higher than the median for a single person in Kansas.  She would have been required to make a bankruptcy payment she could not afford to make with her lower income. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Bankruptcy News, Chapter 13, Filing Bankruptcy, Means Test Tagged: , , , , , , ,

Local Bankruptcy Rules Changes Proposed

Posted on December 25, 2009 Written by

The U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Kansas is taking written comments on Proposed Local Rules of Practice and Procedure until January 1, 2010.

Interested persons, whether or not members of the bar, may submit comments on the Proposed Local Rules addressed to the Clerk of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Kansas at 401 N. Market, Room 167, Wichita, Kansas 67202.  Proposed Changes to Local Bankruptcy Rules

Filed Under: Bankruptcy News Tagged: , , , , , ,

Bankruptcy Time Counting Rules Changed

Posted on December 25, 2009 Written by
Among the time-computation amendments to the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure that will take effect on December 1, 2009, are changes to 12 rules that will result in a reduction by one day (from 15 to 14 days) of the time to take action. The affected rules are Bankruptcy Rules 1007, 1019, 1020, 2015, 2015.1, 2016, 3015, 4001, 4002, 6004, 6007, and 8009. Please take note of these changes and particularly of the new 14-day deadline for filing schedules, statements, and other documents under Rule 1007(c); for filing a chapter 13 plan under Rule 3015(b); and for filing appellate briefs under Rule 8009(a).  U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Kansas
Filed Under: Bankruptcy News Tagged: , , , , ,

Don’t Be Fooled by False Letter that Says Your Bankruptcy is Dismissed – Your Stay Still in Effect

Posted on December 24, 2009 Written by

A Florida debt adjuster sent letters to Chapter 13 bankruptcy debtors in Kansas falsely telling them that their bankruptcy cases were dismissed and to call right away “to discuss the terms of your dismissal.”  What a scam!

These letters from First American Debt Solutions are absolutely FALSE! The bankruptcy cases are NOT DISMISSED! These letters are outrageous!  They frighten vulnerable consumer debtors and cause panic.  Debtors are tricked into thinking they are no longer protected by the bankruptcy stay against collection.

If you receive one of these outrageous letters, call your bankruptcy attorney right away.  She can assure you the letter is false, your case is active and you are still protected by the automatic stay.  She will want the letter and mailer to save as evidence against this company.  This fraudulent activity have been reported to the Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Trustee, the U.S. Trustee and the Office of the Kansas Bank Commissioner.

Here is part of  one letter two clients got this week: [Read more…]

Filed Under: Bankruptcy News, Chapter 13 Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Kansas Exemptions Not Extra Territorial

Posted on June 9, 2008 Written by

DEBTOR GETS FEDERAL EXEMPTIONS IF MISSOURI RESIDENT IS
ENTITLED TO KANSAS EXEMPTIONS AS OF DATE OF FILING
In re Fabert, Case No. 06-21539
January 2008, Judge Somers
For purposes of 522(b), debtor who was a Missouri resident as of date of filing but was
entitled to Kansas exemptions is entitled to federal exemptions under 522(d). Trustee
argued debtor could not claim federal exemptions because Kansas an opt out state. The
decision hold, also, that Kansas exemptions are not extra territorial.

Filed Under: Bankruptcy News

Filing Bankruptcy in Topeka

Posted on December 25, 2007 Written by

Mark Neis and Jill Michaux file chapter 7 and chapter 13 bankruptcies in Topeka, Kansas, and Kansas City, Kansas.  The cases are filed in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Kansas in the Topeka or Kansas City Divisions.

Filed Under: Bankruptcy News
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