If you wish to file bankruptcy you need to have lived in the United States for at least 6 months. Your immigration status is usually not a factor in filing bankruptcy, but you do need either a social security number or a tax identification number to file for bankruptcy. If you filed for bankruptcy and are looking to apply for a green card or visa, the bankruptcy filing is not relevant, but other factors related to your financial status may…
Bankruptcy filings over the past year in 2023 declined slightly in Connecticut, with a four percent drop in overall filings, yet increased by forty seven percent in the Eastern District of New York, which includes Long Island, Queens and Brooklyn. Bankruptcy filings have increased in the United States by about sixteen percent in 2023 for individuals, but are still well below pre-COVID numbers. Business filings increased by forty percent for 2023. Bankruptcy filings peaked in 2010 and have declined over…
With 531 of its 1,531,332 homes going into foreclosure, Connecticut had the fifth highest foreclosure rate in the USA at one in every 2,884 households. The counties that had the most foreclosures per housing unit were the following: Windham, New Haven, Hartford, Litchfield, and Fairfield. If you are behind in your mortgage payments, or if your bank started a foreclosure case against you, you can stop the foreclosure proceedings with a bankruptcy filing. You also have the right to mediate…
Under Section 523(a)(8) of the Bankruptcy Code student loan debt is dischargeable if it would impose an undue hardship on the debtor and the debtor’s dependents. The Bankruptcy Code does not define “undue hardship,” but the Second Circuit, which includes the State of Connecticut, defined a three-prong test in Brunner v. New York State Higher Educ. Servs. Corp., 831 F.2d 395, 396 (2d Cir. 1987) for determining its existence. The debtor must prove, before the Bankruptcy Judge, by a preponderance of the evidence,…
On July 12, 2021, Governor Ned Lamont signed into law Public Act 21-161 which amended Connecticut’s homestead exemption by repealing the prior version of the statute and increasing the homestead exemption from $75,000 to $250,000, effective October 1, 2021. This means that if you file bankruptcy and your house has less than $250,000 in equity, you will be able to keep your house and still discharge all of your debts in a Chapter 7 bankruptcy filing. If you own your…
Bankruptcy filings were 760,000 back in 2019. In 2022 they are down to 380,000. Filings dropped during the COVID epidemic. Moratoriums preventing landlords from evicting tenants, along with mortgage deferments, mortgage modifications, and COVID relief funds probably were the reason for the drop in bankruptcy filings. Credit cards have also tightened credit, which means less people have large credit card balances. Credit card companies and mortgage lenders have been the main force driving up bankruptcy filings. In other news, the…
Back in 2005, under the Administration of Bill Clinton, major changes in the bankruptcy laws were made that benefited creditors. The 2005 bankruptcy reform bill was signed into law by President George W. Bush. Bush and the Democratic controlled Congress at the time were heavily lobbied by the credit card industry. Senator Joe Biden voted in favor of the 2005 reform bill. Elizabeth Warren was a consumer rights advocate and Harvard Law professor at the time. Warren lobbied against the…
Bankruptcy filings increase during times of high unemployment. This is the first time in history that bankruptcy filings have decreased with the increase in unemployment caused by COVID19. There were 3,200 chapter 7 bankruptcy filings in Connecticut in November, 2020. That figure is 33% less than Chapter 7 cases filed in November of 2019. Arkansas, Alabama, Nevada, and Tennesee have the highest per capita filings, with 3-4 people per 1000 filing for personal bankruptcy. Connecticut, Maine, Alaska, Montana, North Carolina,…
Bankruptcy filing statistics ending in September 2020 show that nationwide filings are down 28% for 2020 as compared to the same period in 2019. Filings in New York and New Jersey are down by 40% while filings in Connecticut are down 32%. Some bankruptcy attorneys expect a surge of new filings once courthouses fully open and creditors start filing eviction cases, collection cases and foreclosure cases. With COVID19 numbers continuing to rise it doesn’t appear that courthouses will open anytime…
On September 1st, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced a temporary eviction moratorium to prevent the further spread of COVID-19. Under the order, landlords and property owners are prohibited from evicting certain tenants impacted by COVID-19, or face high monetary fines. The moratorium applies only to non-payment of rent, and will not apply to residents who engage in criminal activity, threaten the health or safety of other residents, damage the property, or violate their lease, other than…