On March 3, 2015, Attorney Steven Zaleski appeared before the Wisconsin Supreme Court. The appearance was Attorney Zaleski's fourth case before the Supreme Court. It is anticipated that the Supreme Court will render a decision in the next 90-120 days.
In addition to representing people in basic chapter 7 and chapter 13 bankruptcy cases, the Zaleski Law Firm represents clients in adversary proceedings. What is an adversary proceeding? It is a legal action filed against the debtor in a bankruptcy case which challenges the discharge of the debt for a particular reason. Not all bankruptcy [...]
In earlier posts, we've discussed the the local case that has made its way up to the United States Supreme Court. "In Re Clark," or "Clark v. Rameker," deals with the question of whether an inherited IRA is considered exempt under Section 522(b)(3)(c) of the Bankruptcy Code, or more simply put, whether an inherited IRA [...]
As a bankruptcy attorney at the Zaleski Law Firm, I get a lot of phone calls from people who are trying to get a loan modification. Quite often, at the same time the people are in the loan modification process, the bank is actively foreclosing on their house. People are oftentimes lulled into thinking that [...]
One of my earlier posts dealt with an "inherited IRA." If you recall, we discussed that typically IRAs, like other retirement accounts, are "exempt" or statutorily protected under the Bankruptcy Code. Under current law, there is arguably an exception if the IRA is inherited rather than created and funded as usual. We discussed the case [...]
If the person you are dealing with exhibits any of the following behavior, you should be extremely careful: 1)Demands fees in advance prior to any work or services being done; 2)Makes unsolicited offers to you about saving your home; 3)Recommends that you stop communicating with the lender directly; 4)Recommends that you stop making mortgage payments; [...]
In this scam, the scammer makes representations or promises about what he or she can do to help you avoid foreclosure. Of course, the so-called "help" will require an outrageous fee on your part. Of course, once you pay the fee, the scammer will disappear along with your money. At best, these scammers may make [...]
The next foreclosure scam I'd like to discuss pertains to refinancing. This scam is similar to the one we earlier discussed. Although there are legitimate lenders out there who offer legitimate refinancing options, unfortunately there are also many scammers who pose as mortgage brokers or lenders. These scammers offer to refinance your home as a [...]
In my next few posts, I think I'll address what has unfortunately become somewhat common: foreclosure rescue scams. These scams prey upon people who are so desperate to save their homes that they sign up for programs that are "too good to be true," only to lose their homes and a lot more. Let's take [...]
In an earlier post, I listed a number of government entities, cities and counties that have filed for bankruptcy protection. While these types of filings are relatively rare, unfortunately for the workers of these cities and counties, this often times means that such cities and counties have been able to restructure their debt obligations to [...]