No Chicken Little, the sky is not falling. But a whole bunch of other stuff is. Moody’s, Standard & Poor’s and Fitch rating services dropped recommendations on over $5 Billion worth of subprime mortgage backed securities. As bond ratings fell, so did the value of the bonds, resulting in losses as much as 50 percent. [...]
July 2007
The Bankruptcy Code treats vehicle loan claims differently, depending on how long ago you purchased your vehicle. Specifically, if you purchased your vehicle less than 910 days ago, you will end up paying the full balance due, with interest, in your Chapter 13. If you purchased your vehicle more than 910 days from the date [...]
BAPCPA changes now require the filing of missing tax returns. For debtors without adequate records, this can be a problem. The IRS retains income reporting documentation and federal withholding records on their computer system for six years and can provide transcripts to an authorized representative through its practitioner priority service. The IRS does not keep [...]
Why do we at BLN talk about the stock market? After all, this is a consumer bankruptcy blog. Quite simply, America’s working poor has money in this stock market for retirement, and we look out for the working poor. I lost my shirt in in March of 2000 when all of those really cool dot-coms [...]
Rising mortgage defaults have triggered Congressional interest and efforts by lenders to offer borrowers alternatives to foreclosure. Chapter 13 is a bankruptcy option that allows borrowers to catch up on mortgage arrears and save their homes. But too few are asking: should this home be saved? I see families that are economically crippled by mortgage [...]
A House Committee has fired a shot across the bow of the government’s bankruptcy enforcer. The problem? Excessive zeal in pursuing anti-consumer provisions of BAPCPA. The target? Every government official’s first love: Their budget. The committee recommended the Justice Department’s U.S. Trustee Program budget be cut by $34 million (about 15%) from last year and [...]
