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How Does Filing Bankruptcy in the U.S. Affect My Foreign Debt?

By Ryan C. Wood

In today’s world traveling and living in different countries is not very difficult.  It is no surprise that people may owe debts in different countries as well since credit can be obtained easily.  What do you do when you owe debts in different countries and you need to file bankruptcy with our bankruptcy lawyers in Union City?

First of all, if you live in the United States, it would be difficult for a foreign creditor to enforce their debts against you.  Different states have different rules about whether or not a foreign creditor can collect or enforce a judgment of a foreign debt.  In order for a debt to be recognized and enforceable, the foreign creditor would need to “domesticate” their debts.  Different states have different rules regarding domestication of debt.  In some states a foreign creditor can enforce their debts against you if they meet the requirements of the Uniform Foreign Money Judgments Recognition Act (“UFMJRA”).  In addition to meeting the requirements of UFMJRA the foreign creditor must have had personal jurisdiction over you or subject matter jurisdiction over the matter.  The in most states courts have a lot of discretion over whether to allow enforcement of these debts even if the foreign creditor met all the requirements.  Therefore, a lot of foreign creditors may not go through all these steps to try to enforce their judgment against you unless it is was worth their effort to do so.

Regardless of whether or not a foreign creditor domesticates their debt, all creditors are subject to the automatic stay that is in place when you file for bankruptcy in the United States with a bankruptcy attorneys in Fremont.  It does not matter if the debt is from the United States or from another country.  This means that if the foreign creditors try to collect from you or file a lawsuit against you after you have filed for bankruptcy protection they are subject to sanctions as applicable under the Bankruptcy Code.

This does not mean you are home free however.  Filing for bankruptcy protection in the U.S. only protects you from the collection of the debt while you are in the U.S.  As soon as you return to the foreign country the foreign creditors may still pursue the collection of the debt.  For example, if you lived in Canada and moved to the U.S. and filed for bankruptcy protection in the U.S., the Canadian creditor cannot collect from you in the U.S., but if you return to Canada, the Canadian creditor can still pursue you for the Canadian debt unless you file for bankruptcy protection in Canada.

Bankruptcy Filing Fees Increase as of November 1, 2011

By Ryan C. Wood

The cost of living continually increases over and over again.  When this was originally written the Court filing fees were increasing and since unfortunately increased again.  The Court filing fee to file a chapter 7 bankruptcy case is now $335 and chapter 13 bankruptcy $310.  No doubt due to COVID-19 the federal government will use it to increase the court filing fees again.  These increases became effective December 1, 2016.

The percentage increase of the Court filing fees over the years are far higher than the cost-of-living for average people though.  Ask your bankruptcy attorney more about how their attorney fees and expenses have changed over the years at a lesser increase than the court filing fees. 

Court Filing Fee 2011 Increases  

Starting November 1, 2011, a lot of the fees related to filing documents in your bankruptcy case will be increasing.   The most important ones that are relevant to you are the fees to file your Chapter 7 bankruptcy case or Chapter 13 bankruptcy case.  The Judicial Conference of the United States adopted new court fee schedules.  On November 1, 2011, your Chapter 7 bankruptcy court filing fees will increase from $299 to $306.  Your Chapter 13 bankruptcy court filing fees will increase from $274 to $281.  This means that if you wanted to file a bankruptcy case, it may be more beneficial for you to file on or before October 31, 2011 before the price increases.  Although it is only a seven dollar ($7) increase, every penny counts.   A mere $7 could buy you a satisfying meal.

If you already retained an attorney to represent you in your Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy case it would be advisable to pay your fees in full or provide them with the necessary paperwork to file your case as soon as possible so that you do not have to pay more money for the court filing fees.  

For those of you who have already filed your bankruptcy case, this price increase does not affect you, as it is for people that file new bankruptcy cases after November 1, 2011.

Additionally, people whom seek to file fee waivers for their bankruptcy filing fee are still subject to the same rules prior to the fee increase.  Whether or not you qualify for a fee waiver always depends on the circumstances.  A judge will not grant a fee waiver unless your income is less than 150% of the poverty level and you cannot afford to pay the fee in installments.  Even if you do not qualify for the fee waiver, the judge may potentially grant your application to pay the increased filing fee in installments.

Besides filing fees for Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 bankruptcy cases another fee increase that may be relevant to you is the fees for filing an amendment to your Schedules D, E, F and Creditor Matrix in your bankruptcy case.  The fees have increased from $26 to $30.  Hopefully your bankruptcy lawyer and you reviewed the petition carefully before filing it so no amendments need be made.   

Chapter 13 No Look Fees Increased Northern District of California

The no look chapter 13 bankruptcy attorney fees in the Northern District of California finally increased and become consistent between all divisions.  A district wide model chapter 13 plan was approved and along with that plan new increased no look fees.  The no look fees are presumptively deemed reasonable for the various things listed.  No fee application is supposed to be filed itemizing time spent and why when requesting no look fees. 

Foreclosure and What are the Tax Consequences, Do You Have to File For Bankruptcy?

By Ryan C. Wood

These past couple years have been very hard on homeowners.  Homes are being foreclosed on left and right.  If you have been caught in this crisis as well you may need to know what your options are after your home is foreclosed and whether one of those options includes bankruptcy.

Many bankruptcy attorneys ran into all kinds of scenarios regarding foreclosure and potential resulting debts during the mortgage meltdown.  For many homeowners the foreclosure was not their only problem with debts and credit card debts were also a major problem.  Luckily there is the Bankruptcy Code that provides a legal discharge of personal liability for all debts incurred prior to filing.  

If your residential property was foreclosed and you only had one mortgage on the property then you may not need to file for bankruptcy since the creditors cannot go after you for any deficiencies due to the One Action Rule.  However, under normal circumstances, even if the creditors do not go after you for the deficiency you may still owe a hefty chunk to the taxing authorities, the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) and California’s Franchise Tax Board (“FTB”).  That is because the taxing authorities could treat the cancellation of debt as a taxable event since you did not have to pay the deficiency to the mortgage creditor, and thus the money you did not have to pay them is considered income in the form of a 1099-C.  This is a harsh double whammy for homeowners who have lost their home and now they have a hefty bill they need to pay the taxing authorities.  Hopefully if your CPA did not identify your tax debt is related to your foreclosure the bankruptcy attorney you consult with will.  Not all 1099-C income is a taxable event that must be added to income.

Since the foreclosure rates have been so high in the most recent years the federal and state governments have created temporary laws that would help ease the financial hardship of homeowners who have lost their homes.  IRS created the Mortgage Forgiveness Act of 2007 which forgives up to $1 million in debt for the deficiencies related to the foreclosure of a primary home for a single or married filing separate taxpayer and up to $2 million for a married couple.  The debt has to be related to the house, either building, improving or maintaining it.  There could be multiple mortgages on the house, and as long as they were all used for the property, you would not have to pay taxes on the cancellation of that debt.  The trouble that a lot of homeowners run into is the fact that sometimes the second mortgages are taken out to pay off their credit card debt or buy new cars which have nothing to do with the house.  If that is the case the deficiencies on that debt are still a taxable event to the IRS.

California has a similar program that protects homeowners who have lost their homes in a foreclosure.  They exclude up to $250,000 of debt for deficiencies related to foreclosure of a primary residential property for a single or married filing separate taxpayer and up to $500,000 for a married couple.

Since both the federal and state governments are protecting only primary residences, if you have a rental property, or business property, or even second mortgages that were taken out to pay off debt that is not related to your home, the cancellation of such debt are still considered taxable events.  Be sure to seek the consultation from an  experienced bankruptcy attorney and not an attorney just jumping on the band wagon when the economy turns sour.