Leon D Bayer's Answers

Chapter 7. Can a CA lawyer take a referral fee from another lawyer for a bankruptcy referral? Yes? No? Why?

This is a great question. It is true that referral fees are not allowed in bankruptcy. However, to understand the reason you have to back track through quite a few different sections of the Bankruptcy Code in order to find the answer. (If traffic signs were as confusing as the rules governing this question, I'm afraid that very few people would ever find their way to any destination.) However, it is kind of fun, so here we go: Bankruptcy Code Section 504 (Sharing of Compensation), very...

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"Exempted personal injury settlement money"

If the settlement has been properly disclosed and your claim of exemption has been allowed, then the money belongs to you and you can do what ever you want with it. If you were my client, I would advise you to save it, and spend it only on some unanticapated future emergency; I strongly urge you not to loan it to anyone, and not to spend any of it to help anyone else. It is very hard to survive financially all the way to completion of a Chapter 13 case. Keep all of it for yourself.

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Judge in Relief of Stay granted motion, despite equity - question on how equity is calculated and appeals

The legal standard is whether YOU have any equity in the propery. Although the other liens are subordinate, the courts will look at the total of all the encumbrances. This is because if you sell the property yourself, your property is subject to all three mortgages.

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Being harrassed by creditors over a car that I sold

Check with the city that issued the parking violation. Normally, when the impounded vehicle is sold by the tow company that ends the matter. The city may be able to help you straighten this out, because they are the party who contracts with the tow company. The tow company might be in violation of the city contract by trying to collect from you. The city parking authority should be able to tell you. If that does no good, then continue your efforts to give the DMV what it needs.

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Is body damage to a car lease that was discharged through BK enforceable to the lessee upon return?

As a practical matter, damage is not going to be charged directly to you, (unless it can be proven that it occured after the date you filed your bankruptcy case), however the the lessor may choose to file a claim to have it repaired under your auto insurance, (I am assuming that you did not assume or reaffirm the lease).

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Auto lease in chapter 7. Said I would "Assume" but never filled out the papers. Continued to pay & drive. Liable for mile,etc?

You are quite right! With a reaffirmation or lease assumption, you have no further personal liability. The only exception I can see is if there was any damage to the vehicle occuring after the date you filed bankruptcy. Your case is the perfect textbook example of why experienced lawyers hate reaffirmations!

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I am a private lien holder, 2nd position and was notified by owner's 1st of foreclosure, or relief from stay motion

If the proposed sale will get you paid, you should consider advancing enough money to the 1st TD to cure the default. That may assure that the proposed sale by your son has enough time to be completed. Warning:The bankruptcy filing does not stay the running of time on the Notice of Default. Hence, your son may be running out of time to get the sale completed. You may benefit a great deal by consulting with a lawyer to review you legal and practical options. I hope you will get paid.

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Foreclosure after Chapter 7 BK was discharged in Feb 2012 on a reaffirmed mortgage?

Almost all single family home foreclosures in California are conducted as a 'non judicial trustee's sale.' The advantage in this for lenders is that the foreclosure process is relatively quick and less expensive than using a foreclosure proceedure that would allow the lender to seek a post foreclosure deficiancy against you. In exchange for this advantage, the lender who conducts the 'non judicial foreclosure' is not allowed to seek a deficiancy. If you have just the one mortgage, you should...

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How can a Creditor put a lien on a House?

You can have a judgment lien by recording a document called Abstract of Judgment. The small claims court advisor will give you guidance on how to do this correctly. If the defendant files for bankruptcy, the defendant may be able to remove the lien. If the defendant's trust is a revocable living trust, a recorded judgment lien should still be effective.

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Can I discharge student loans in bankruptcy

I am really sorry that you are stuck with such a difficult problem. Let me see if I can give you some direction. Most Federally insured student loans are eligible for a government program called income Contingent Repayment, which puts the borrower on a sliding scale payment schedule based on ability to pay. You can get more information about that from this web site: http://loanconsolidation.ed.gov/borrower/borrower.shtml You are right to think your credit cards and the court system will...

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