A recent Wisconsin case allowed a chapter 7 bankruptcy debtor to receive a discharge, even though she “failed” the means test, and even though she presented no special circumstances to rebut the presumption of abuse under section 707(b). Instead, the court made the unusual ruling that section 707(b) states only that the court “may” dismiss [...]
January 2009
The 2008 numbers are out. Bankruptcy Filings in 2008 are up over 30% from 2007. In total, almost 1.1 million bankruptcies were filed. That is almost 100,000 cases per month. In 2007, there were approximately 827,000 bankruptcy filings. I anticipated that bankruptcy filings would go up; however, I could not have anticipated how band things [...]
Bloomberg reporter Jody Shenn’s recent article suggests that mortgage modifications in Chapter 13 bankruptcy – the subject of the proposed bankruptcy amendment – may not stem the tide of foreclosures in this country. Well, Duh. The new bankruptcy amendment allowing mortgage “cramdown” requires that the debtor be in imminent threat of foreclosure. In other words, [...]
Everyone knows what a mortgage is–it’s the document giving a bank collateral for the loan used to buy your home and letting it foreclose if you don’t pay. But here in Maryland (and a number of other states, like California), we don’t see mortgages very often. Instead, lenders use something called a “Deed of Trust”. [...]
Don’t fall victim to mortgage rescue scammers. Use a HUD approved, free, mortgage counselor. And if you get legal papers, don’t wait a second. Get competent legal advice.
In this last part of my four-part series on what I believe will be a very bad 2009 economy, I want to talk about problems in consumer credit. As is the case with mortgages and car loans, virtually all consumer credit is securitized. This means that your MasterCard and Visa, your store department cards, furniture [...]
