Bankruptcy Fraud
A San Francisco Bankruptcy Attorney discusses bankruptcy fraud
Bankruptcy is governed by federal law, Title 11 of the United States Code (U.S.C.). Therefore, any attempt to commit bankruptcy fraud is a federal crime. There are two major types of bankruptcy fraud: concealment of assets and multiple filings. Both types of bankruptcy fraud convictions carry sentences of a fine up to $250,000 and/or up to five years in prison.
Concealment of assets is the most common type of bankruptcy fraud, and caught most often by the courts. Concealing assets is when a debtor either neglects to list certain assets in their possession, or attempts to divest himself of all of his assets by transferring them to family members or offshore accounts. A debtor does this in fear of his assets being liquidated during the bankruptcy.
The other common type of bankruptcy fraud is multiple filings. Since the filings of both Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 bankruptcies has risen so dramatically in the past ten years, it is often times difficult for courts to cross-reference each other to check for conflicts of interest. This allows a debtor to file for bankruptcy protection in two states, thus attempting to hide assets from each state by ‘storing’ part of their wealth in each state.
The 2005 changes to the bankruptcy laws have shown a significant increase in the number of bankruptcy fraud cases. One major change in the laws was the creation of the means test which compares a debtor’s average excess monthly income to that of the state’s median. In an effort to decrease average excess monthly income, debtors are now beginning to increase their average monthly expenditures for the six months prior to filing. This also constitutes bankruptcy fraud and is punishable by a monetary fine and/or prison time.
If you have questions regarding bankruptcy in San Francisco or bankruptcy in the greater Bay Area please contact our San Francisco Bankruptcy Attorneys at (415) 946-8882 for a free consultation or visit www.bkanswers.com and we can connect you with one of our experienced San Francisco Bankruptcy Attorneys. After you have spoken with one of our Bay Area bankruptcy attorneys, we can schedule you for a free face to face appointment in an office location nearest you. Our team of Bankruptcy Lawyers, Bankruptcy Customer Care Specialists and Bankuptcy staff supporting San Francisco and Bay Area consumers in debt can assist you with all aspects of your bankruptcy or bankruptcy litigation case. If you have questions about filing a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, a Chapter 11 bankruptcy, a Chapter 13 bankruptcy, or would like to learn more about bankruptcy litigation, legal debt settlement, mortgage modification, lien stripping, cram down, stopping a foreclosure, wage garnishment, asset protection, discharging a debt, etc. we can help! We have bankruptcy attorneys located throughout California and Oregon who can assist you with all of your debt resolution questions. Please feel free to complete our free online bankruptcy evaluation and we can quickly determine if you are a qualified candidate for bankruptcy. We look forward to hearing from you, San Francisco Bay Area!
