A close relative in my family completed a week-long hospital stay in November, 2008. It is now mid-February, and just about every day, a bill arrives from the hospital, a doctor’s group associated with the hospital, or a vendor that provided some product or service. In addition, both Medicare and the private health insurance company [...]
February 2009
The Bankruptcy Law Network welcomes new Massachusetts Bankruptcy Judge Frank J. Bailey. Judge Bailey is a former commercial litigator with the firm of Sherin and Lodgen LLP in Boston and was appointed in October 2008 (link requires PDF Reader) to fill the spot vacated by Judge Somma. Judge Bailey recently began his work and issued [...]
A couple of months ago, a retired woman contacted me about her home loan. It seems she had been hood-winked into getting a refinance to pay some unsecured bills that left her unable to reasonably make her monthly mortgage payments. Â I told her to get me the documents so I could determine the best course [...]
With the flood of foreclosures hitting the state, especially in San Diego County, debtors receiving notices of default and notices of trustee sales are scratching their heads, not only trying to understand the intricacies of the upcoming foreclosure and eviction proceedings, but also wondering whether they will be exposed to any deficiency judgment and tax liabilities. Chances are, [...]
Smartmoney.com had another story about credit card issuers cancelling cards that were inactive or little used, regardless of the credit history. The card companies clothed their actions as a benefit to card holders, reducing the risk of id theft or credit fraud; the article’s author pointed out that it actually limited financial exposure of the [...]
On December 8, 2008, the 8th Circuit Bankruptcy Appellate Panel upheld Judge Berry’s decision, In re Wilmoth. Judge Berry held and the Bankruptcy Appellate Panel agreed that without extrinsic evidence of fraud the mere fact that paying approximately $140,000 towards the debtors’ primary mortgage within weeks of filing bankruptcy was not intentional to delay, hinder [...]
