NACBA aggregates bankruptcy related articles from around the web. Many of the articles listed below are from attorneys that practice bankruptcy law.
Friday, April 16th, 2010 - National Bankruptcy Forum
A bankruptcy filing will show up on your credit score for 10 years . In fact, damage to credit and a perceived inability to access it post-filing is one of the biggest reasons people shy away from filing for bankruptcy. Give it some thought and this might be prove to be a mistake, especially if
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Friday, April 16th, 2010 - National Bankruptcy Forum
As discussed in John Colwell’s recent contribution here, housing – which seems to be at the center of the current economic downturn – is a long way from a rebound, and foreclosures may actually increase in the coming months. After reading Mr. Colwell’s article, I decided to learn a
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Thursday, April 15th, 2010 - National Bankruptcy Forum
While the markets and the general press make positive extrapolations from the small upticks in corporate profits as a sign of economic recovery, the truth remains, it appears, that it’s the housing market that will ultimately drive whether the economic recovery succeeds or fails. It is clear that these times will pass, and that things
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Thursday, April 15th, 2010 - Credit Slips
As the financial reform legislation moves forward, central clearing of derivatives has become a key topic of interest, along with the related, but distinct issue of exchange trading of derivatives. Central clearing refers to having a party that acts as...
Wednesday, April 14th, 2010 - Bankruptcy & Your Passage Into & Out of Debt
Have you had some of your considerable student loans forgiven? Have you recently reached a debt settlement with your credit card company? Have you had a car loan settled or the debt forgiven? Well, what might have been great news then means tough economic times this time of year as that amount is now considered income by the IRS. And if you're not declaring bankruptcy or if your personal liabilities do not outweigh your assets, then you will have to pay taxes on the amount of debt that was forgiven.
Wednesday, April 14th, 2010 - Bankruptcy Law Network
Bankruptcy lawyers always tell people to use cash whenever possible. We tell you that to help you save money — and to make it harder to overspend. Cash feels precious to us while credit cards or even debit cards do not.
It turns out that cash also makes you feel good. Yes, I know, this is [...]
Tuesday, April 13th, 2010 - Bankruptcy Law Network
An alternative to bankruptcy tops every debtor’s wish list. “Don’t file bankruptcy”, warn debt settlement companies on the radio, feeding that desire. Instead, they want you to pay your money to them. They say they will help you save up a big pot of money and then settle your debts for pennies on the dollar [...]
Tuesday, April 13th, 2010 - Bankruptcy Law Network
Chapter 13 bankruptcy requires you to make monthly payments to your creditors for up to five years. In contrast, chapter 7 bankruptcy lets you get out of paying almost all of your debts after just 4 months. Why would anyone want to file bankruptcy under chapter 13? Sometimes, chapter 13 bankruptcy is required. Congress [...]
Tuesday, April 13th, 2010 - Bankruptcy Law Network
You may not need to file for bankruptcy if you’re facing a mortgage foreclosure.
Sometimes debts can take care of themselves. In many states, the mortgage company can’t sue you for the difference between your mortgage and the value of the property. This is called the deficiency. So if you can’t get sued for the deficiency, [...]
Tuesday, April 13th, 2010 - Bankruptcy Law Network
Should I try a short sale, file bankruptcy, or both? That is the question. Do short sales and bankruptcy make sense together? The answer is, not usually.
Often when people are in the eye of a financial storm they address problems piecemeal. They may try credit counseling for credit card debt, an [...]
Tuesday, April 13th, 2010 - Bankruptcy Law Network
What is one of the most important things you probably want to tell your bankruptcy lawyer? That you are not a bad person and you never imagined you’d ever have to talk to us.
But if you feel like you can look down on others who file bankruptcy (whether you need to or not), you should [...]
Tuesday, April 13th, 2010 - Credit Slips
One of the arguments I've been seeing a lot of lately is that industry X needs an exemption from the financial reform legislation, because the new requirements that most swaps be collateralized -- that is, backed up with collateral to...
Tuesday, April 13th, 2010 - Credit Slips
Despite the increased proportion of Americans who are behind on their mortgages or have lost their houses to foreclosure, the practice of doing credit checks on prospective employees continues to climb sharply in popularity. The Society of Human Resources Management’s...
Tuesday, April 13th, 2010 - Bankruptcy Law Network
In bankruptcy, an Individual Retirement Account (IRA) is usually protected from creditors. But a controversy has been brewing over protection for an IRA when it is inherited from another person.
This should not be controversial and the 8th Circuit’s Bankruptcy Appellate Panel (BAP) doesn’t think it’s that complicated either. When you establish an IRA, you [...]
Monday, April 12th, 2010 - Consumer Law & Policy
by Deepak Gupta A new study, The Preemption Effect: The Impact of Federal Preemption of State Anti-Predatory Lending Laws on the Foreclosure Crisis (PDF), conducted by UNC-Chapel Hill's Center for Community Capital, concludes that federal action to exempt large national...
Monday, April 12th, 2010 - Consumer Law & Policy
by Richard Alderman Paul Krugman's editorial in the New York Times today compares the results of the financial crisis in Georgia with Texas, noting that Texas did not face similar problems. He states, "Why didn’t the same thing happen in...
Monday, April 12th, 2010 - Bankruptcy Law Network
The amount that you pay each month for your Chapter 13 Plan payment may fluctuate during the lifetime of your Plan. It is not uncommon for debtors to believe that once a Plan payment is approved by the Court it will never change again.
This occurs regardless of the number of times that attorneys advise the [...]
Sunday, April 11th, 2010 - National Bankruptcy Forum
Every law practice, like any business, has to have a philosophy or vision of how it is run. Each potential client should be able to ask “what can I expect when I come in the door?” and anyone answering that phone should be able to give the same answer each time. With my
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Saturday, April 10th, 2010 - Bankruptcy Law Network
When recently divorced parties have joint debt, is it advisable to file a joint bankruptcy, asked a prospective client.
I was divorced within the past year. While I was married, my ex-husband and I incurred over $50,000 in credit card debt. Some of this debt is joint, some is in his name and a little in [...]
Friday, April 9th, 2010 - Consumer Law & Policy
by Jeff Sovern The rules in question extended the HOEPA loan protections to more subprime loans. The thing is, they were adopted by the Fed in 2000, over objections by the ABA that they would reduce the availability of credit....
Friday, April 9th, 2010 - National Bankruptcy Forum
Much has been written about the means test since it was enacted as part of the 2005 amendments to the Bankruptcy Code (also known as the BAPCPA). (For an excellent explanation of what the means test is, see Lori Patton’s recent contribution here). However, its application is often poorly understood by individuals who are considering
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Friday, April 9th, 2010 - Consumer Law & Policy
by Jon Sheldon This monthly update lists news re new NCLC practice tools, including a consumer attorney fee survey, free webinars, new case summaries, and other aids: A consumer attorney fee survey showing hourly rates and other firm characteristics is...
Friday, April 9th, 2010 - Bankruptcy & Your Passage Into & Out of Debt
According to the latest U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics employment report, more than 40% of the nation's 14.9 million unemployed workers have been out of a job for at least 27 weeks, with an average member of this beleaguered club having been unemployed for 29.7 weeks. For those keeping count, that’s nearly seven months. And with each passing month, it becomes more and more clear that finding new jobs isn’t getting any easier, with leading economists speculating that not only is the nearly 10% unemployment rate not likely to fall anytime soon, but also that the actual number of workers seeking full-time jobs is on par to grow. As Matthew Scott reported for AOL’s DailyFinance.com, “in the worst-case scenario, more than 26 million people could be battling each other for the few available jobs.”
Friday, April 9th, 2010 - Bankruptcy Law Network
To get your Chapter 13 bankruptcy confirmed (approved) you’ll need to show that you’ve proposed a “feasible” plan. If you haven’t, your plan can’t be confirmed, and your case must be dismissed.
Chapter 13, unlike Chapter 7 (straight bankruptcy), is all about your plan. You submit a plan, and the plan must do certain things. We’ll [...]
Thursday, April 8th, 2010 - Bankruptcy & Your Passage Into & Out of Debt
So, what if you’re one of the unfortunate many facing job cuts or recently suffering from unemployment? Here are five easy steps to get you back on track when time is short.
Thursday, April 8th, 2010 - Credit Slips
From both right and left the theme of the recent days has been the need to end too big to fail. The left seems to think this can be done by breaking up financial institutions, the right thinks it will...
Thursday, April 8th, 2010 - Consumer Law & Policy
by Deepak Gupta Last week, I blogged about Rent-a-Center v. Jackson, a very important arbitration case that will be argued before the U.S. Supreme Court on April 26. My post focused on the bottom-side amicus briefs in the case, particularly...
Thursday, April 8th, 2010 - Bankruptcy & Your Passage Into & Out of Debt
And as you may have noticed, they are working really hard to get back into our good graces. And our wallets.
If you remain skeptic and trust your tech-savvy, Web-based banks offer a number of attractive reasons to earn your savings account business.
Wednesday, April 7th, 2010 - Credit Slips
One of the many banes of my existence is FreeCreditReport.com. Not only do their ads play incessantly during any sporting event that I care to watch, but my children also used to walk around the house singing the catchy tunes...
Wednesday, April 7th, 2010 - Consumer Law & Policy
by Jeff Sovern According to the News and Record of Greensboro, North Carolina, here's what one bank president said of the CFPA proposal: The consequences to the consumer will be equal or worse than what they’re trying to legislate away,”...
Wednesday, April 7th, 2010 - Consumer Law & Policy
We reported here last December that Bank of America paid back its $45 billion government bailout. And now General Motors claims that it has positive cash flow, will turn a profit in 2010, and will pay back its federal bailout...
Wednesday, April 7th, 2010 - Consumer Law & Policy
Once upon a time, banks and thrifts served the important function of intermediating savings deposits and home mortgage loans. Those days are gone. My shiny new Mortgage Market Statistical Annual reveals that 86% of all mortgages, first and second, in...
Wednesday, April 7th, 2010 - Credit Slips
According to a story in this morning's BNA Bankruptcy Law Reporter, the Congressional Research Service (CRS) released a study stating the 2005 amendments to the bankruptcy law (the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act or BAPCPA) will not permanently...
Tuesday, April 6th, 2010 - Credit Slips
A few months ago on Credit Slips Bob Lawless described a situation in which a car repo agent in California took a car with a toddler inside. Bob thought it wasn't breach of the peace, but I think Bob was...
Monday, April 5th, 2010 - Credit Slips
In legal circles, "document production" is a term of art usually used to describe the transmission of evidentiary documents from one side to another as part of the discovery process in civil procedure. With the mortgage crisis, it also now...
Monday, April 5th, 2010 - Bankruptcy & Your Passage Into & Out of Debt
While the unemployment rate remained steady at 9.7 percent for the third straight month, in March the nation's economy posted its largest job gain in three years.
Saturday, April 3rd, 2010 - Consumer Law & Policy
By Alan White While the stimulus package and bank bailouts have treated the symptoms of the crisis and saved the banking and mortgage finance systems from collapse, the foreclosure crisis itself is about as bad as ever. As the foreclosure...
Friday, April 2nd, 2010 - Credit Slips
Media outlets are reporting that bankruptcy filings climbed sharply in March (see, for example, Duff Wilson's report in the New York Times or the Reuters wire story). Those reports are not wrong, but they don't tell the whole story. As...
Friday, April 2nd, 2010 - National Bankruptcy Forum
Although our firm practices bankruptcy law in Michigan’s Eastern District (which has courthouses in Detroit, Bay City, and Flint), we frequently receive calls from prospective clients located throughout the state. In many cases, these individuals are surprised to learn that their case would have to be filed in Michigan’s Western District (which has courthouses
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Friday, April 2nd, 2010 - Consumer Law & Policy
Ann Graham of Texas Tech has written The Consumer Financial Protection Agency: Love It or Hate It, U.S. Financial Regulation Needs It, forthcoming in the Villanova Law Review. Here's the abstract: As the U.S. economy begins a tentative recovery from...
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