In a Bucks County bankruptcy, a debtor has numerous obligations with the court. Your lawyer should have advised you about the paperwork requirements and your duty to disclose all of your assets.
There's an even more loose requirement -- 11 U.S.C. 521(a)(3) requires the debtor to cooperate with the Trustee to the extent necessary to enable the Trustee to perform his or her duties and the debtor, per 11 U.S.C. 727 (a)(6), (d)(3), must comply with all lawful orders of the bankruptcy court.
Thus, it is incumbent upon a debtor to stay in touch with their Bucks County Chapter 7 and 13 lawyer to discuss any additional obligations they may have.
Wednesday, November 27, 2013
Tuesday, November 12, 2013
Social media, being smart, and looking for fraud in Bucks County bankruptcy
Posted by
Paul
at
2:41 PM
I went to the 18th Annual Bankruptcy Institute in Philadelphia. It is the main conference bankruptcy practitioners go to every year. Yes, it is perhaps the most boring conference possible for 99% of the population.
But, I love the conference. This year, the ethics panel discussed social media. One particular item of interest was how social media can "catch" fraud and false pretense. One of the U.S. Trustees told a story about how MySpace (back when it was popular) showed a debtor had a side business that was not listed on their petition. At the 341 hearing, the debtor lied under oath when directly asked about additional businesses. The Trustee informed the crowd that the person served jail over the fraud.
I recently have begun to use Google and Facebook to double check certain issues with clients. So far, it has afforded me the opportunity to turn down a Bucks County bankruptcy client based upon issues I found online. Obviously, I'm keeping the reasons vague for attorney-client confidentiality.
Could the bankruptcy have gone smoothly? Possibly. But, I was reluctant to believe the potential client based upon the voluminous information I discovered.
It wasn't worth it for me as an attorney. It could have been a major problem and one that possibly could have tarnished my reputation.
But, I love the conference. This year, the ethics panel discussed social media. One particular item of interest was how social media can "catch" fraud and false pretense. One of the U.S. Trustees told a story about how MySpace (back when it was popular) showed a debtor had a side business that was not listed on their petition. At the 341 hearing, the debtor lied under oath when directly asked about additional businesses. The Trustee informed the crowd that the person served jail over the fraud.
I recently have begun to use Google and Facebook to double check certain issues with clients. So far, it has afforded me the opportunity to turn down a Bucks County bankruptcy client based upon issues I found online. Obviously, I'm keeping the reasons vague for attorney-client confidentiality.
Could the bankruptcy have gone smoothly? Possibly. But, I was reluctant to believe the potential client based upon the voluminous information I discovered.
It wasn't worth it for me as an attorney. It could have been a major problem and one that possibly could have tarnished my reputation.
Sunday, November 3, 2013
Sub-Prime Mortgages
Posted by
Paul
at
12:07 PM
My good friend who is also a bankruptcy lawyer in Burlington, NJ, sent me this pathetically funny video on the housing crisis and how we got to where we are. The video is funny (watch out from some bad words) and uses stick figures to explain the least funny part of this economy -- people losing their homes. When you have 6 minutes to spare, check it out.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
