Blog

Jan. 28, 2011

It’s not a great idea to decide to make a major decision in life because “everyone’s doing it.” But that may be a good reason to look more closely at what “everyone” is doing and then decide whether doing it makes sense for you.

Jan. 7, 2011

In our last blog two weeks ago we talked about major mistakes that many of the mortgage lenders made in the past few years in documenting mortgage loans and foreclosures. These lenders cut corners and likely broke the law—sometimes in more than one way.

Dec. 27, 2010

During the last few months, the local and national news has been full of stories about mistakes made by mortgage lenders that have helped millions of homeowners at least buy some time to live in their homes threatened by foreclosure. Some of these homeowners have done better than buy time: they’ve leveraged these creditor mistakes into better terms on their mortgages.

Dec. 10, 2010

In our last blog we talked about keeping your vehicle in a Chapter 7 case through the protection of the vehicle exemption. But we didn’t talk there about what to do if you have problems making the vehicle loan payments.

Nov. 25, 2010

So you’ve heard that in a regular Chapter 7 bankruptcy most people can keep their vehicle, but you are worried about whether you’d be able to keep yours. Here’s how this works.

Nov. 15, 2010

Congress and the courts have over the years generally made it harder and harder for you to write off (“discharge”) student loans in bankruptcy. Most debts, such as credit cards, medical bills, old utilities and back rent, can be written off, or “discharged,” when you file a bankruptcy.

Nov. 2, 2010

In our last blog we covered the new Oregon Job Applicant Fairness Act, which made it illegal for most employers in Oregon to use a job applicant’s credit history in making hiring decisions.

Sept. 30, 2010

On July 1, 2010, Oregon’s Job Applicant Fairness Act went into effect, saving workers from one of the meanest Catch-22s of this Great Recession: after not being able to pay their bills because they don’t have a job, then not being able to get a job because they can’t pay their bills!

Sept. 17, 2010

If a creditor files a lawsuit against you and gets a judgment, that judgment usually attaches to your home as an involuntary lien against your home’s title, a judgment lien.

Sept. 7, 2010

In our last blog we said that Chapter 13 can “sometimes get you out of having to pay your 2nd or 3rd mortgage ever again.” This “junior mortgage lien stripping” is a truly unusual twist in the law that could save you tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars.