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2009 Bankruptcy Filings Up »

According to a July 2, 2009 Bloomberg report, there were 675,351 consumer bankruptcy filings in the first half of 2009, a 36.5 percent increase over 2008 numbers. June consumer filings totaled 116,365, up 40.6 percent from the same period in 2008. The monthly rate of consumer filings slowed, however, declining by 6.8 percent from May [...]

Statement of Financial Affairs: Question 6 »

This is the sixth in a series of blogs about the Statement of Financial Affairs and the questions it asks.
Question 6 of the Statement of Financial Affairs is a two-parter. The first part asks about “Assignments for the Benefit of Creditors,” and the second part asks about receiverships.
What is an “Assignment for the Benefit of [...]

Statement of Financial Affairs: Question 5 »

This is the fifth in a series of blogs about the Statement of Financial Affairs and the questions it asks.
Question 5 of the Statement of Financial Affairs asks for information about repossessions, foreclosures and returns. What needs to be listed here?

Statement of Financial Affairs: Question 4 »

This is the fourth in a series of blogs about the Statement of Financial Affairs and the questions it asks.
Question 4 of the Statement of Financial Affairs asks for information about suits and administrative proceedings, executions, garnishments and attachments. What sort of things need to go here?

Statement of Financial Affairs: Question 3 »

This is the third in a series of blogs about the Statement of Financial Affairs and the questions it asks.
Question 3 is broken down into three parts, (a), (b) and (c). Part (a) requires the listing of certain payments made to creditors within the 90 days before the case is filed if your debts are [...]

Why Did Cramdown Fail? Insurance and Principal. »

On April 30, the US Senate voted against S. 61, a bill that would let judges modify home mortgages in bankruptcy. Karen Oakes wrote an excellent article, “Congress Votes Against Consumers Modifying Home Mortgages In Bankruptcy” discussing the vote.
But some might wonder why the banking industry would fight so hard, and spend so much money, [...]

Statement of Financial Affairs: Questions 1 and 2 »

This is the second in a series of blogs about the Statement of Financial Affairs and the questions it asks.
The first two questions in the Statement of Financial Affairs (SoFA) ask about income. Question 1 asks about income from employment or the operation of a business, and Question 2 asks about income other than from [...]

Statement of Financial Affairs Information »

The Statement of Financial Affairs, a detailed financial history that must be filed in all bankruptcy cases, is long and complex. Accordingly, my series about this document consists of many parts. This blog will serve as a “Table of Contents” with links to all of the articles, and will be updated as articles are posted.
Statement [...]

Statement of Financial Affairs: What Is It? »

This is the first in a series of blogs about the Statement of Financial Affairs and the questions it asks.
The Statement of Financial Affairs (SoFA) is a rather long document that is filed in every bankruptcy case. It consists of 18 questions if you don’t have a business, and 25 if you do.
This series of [...]

How Much Is a Trillion? »

President Obama’s proposed budget calls for a deficit of over One Trillion Dollars. How much is a trillion?
One Trillion Dollars can pay the rent for every renter in the US for three years…
One Trillion Dollars can pay the mortgages for every homeowner in the US for 14 months…
One Trillion Dollars can buy all the homes [...]