Common Bankruptcy Mistakes That Cost You
Selling assets
It can be tempting to sell some of your belongings or property to obtain income to make payments or simply stay afloat from month to month. While this doesn’t seem like a bad thing, it is very harmful if you do this before filing for bankruptcy. The court may look at this as your attempt to avoid having any nonexempt property liquidated and could be viewed as fraudulent. If you have sold any assets in the months leading up to your filing you must tell your Houston bankruptcy lawyer and list the amount of money received on your filing petition.
Making an inside transfer
Similar to selling assets, it is not acceptable to allow anyone to hold on to property for you or for you to “give” them the item prior to a bankruptcy filing. This is also viewed as your attempt to hide valuable property to avoid the risk of liquidation. Again, if you have done this you must tell your Houston bankruptcy lawyer and list the amount of value of the item on your filing petition.
Hiding information
Your bankruptcy filing petition is extremely detailed and lengthy for a reason, the court needs to have a thorough picture of your financial situation and property details. Leaving out information related to debts, income, property or funds can leave you without a debt discharge and even under suspicion of fraud. Even if you don’t think the information is important you must list anything and everything.