Bankruptcy Indiana

You don't need to be a bankruptcy attorney in Indiana to know that a few bad apples can spoil things for a whole bushel of others.  And, while plenty of bankruptcy filers were pushed over the financial edge because they were victims of identity theft or foreclosure scans, unfortunately, sometimes fraud goes the other way.

When bankruptcy fraud is committed by a debtor, it usually means assets were concealed from the court.  Either the debtor left assets off the list on the paperwork turned into the bankruptcy court, or ownership was secretly transferred to family members or to friends.  Sometimes debtors conceal part of their income in order to qualify to file bankruptcy in Indiana.

Bankruptcy fraud is a felony carrying a fine of up to $500,000 and/or a five year prison sentence.  However, according to Bloomberg News, even though bankruptcy filings rose last year, very few fraud cases were prosecuted.  That's because, as the FBI stated, the emphasis was on securities and mortgage fraud.

One of my goals in offering Indiana bankruptcy information in my blog is to make clear how important a role the bankruptcy process plays in our society, and how important it is for all parties - both debtors and creditors - to be treated fairly.  The system can function well only when there is full and honest disclosure of assets and liabilities.

One of the most important parts of the work I've been doing as a debt consolidation lawyer and Indianapolis bankruptcy attorney is helping debtors prepare the paperwork that needs to be turned into the bankruptcy court.  And one of the things I've learned in almost twenty five years of doing just that is that most debtors have no intention of committing fraud - they just need help getting their numbers together.  Often, as their financial problems mounted, debtors didn't keep the best of records.

That's why I'm so proud of the trust I've been able to earn in the bankruptcy courts.  When a client is represented by a board certified consumer bankruptcy specialist (there are only a dozen of us in the whole state of Indiana, court officials can rely on the information, knowing there are no "bad apples" or "bad information" involved!