Bankruptcy Blogs

Stripping a second mortgage

08/15/12

Due to the decline in home values over the last few years, many people now find themselves with mortgage balances on their homes that exceed the value of their home. Many homeowners are underwater on their homes because of a second mortgage. Bankruptcy can provide relief to those people by stripping second mortgages provided certain [...]

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Oil, Canvas and a Lawsuit

08/15/12

Inner City Broadcasting Corp. says it’s the victim of a scheme to steal the art right off its walls and is fingering its own bankrupt subsidiary and a group of its senior lenders as the culprits.

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Small Biz Holds the Key to Widespread Mobile Adoption

08/15/12

No digital wallet can reach ubiquity if it is limited to big-box stores. Mobile solutions have to percolate down at the local coffee shop as well, where they can become part of the customer's daily grind.

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Tribal Bankruptcy

08/15/12

The Wall Street Journal reported last week about a challenge to a bankruptcy filing by the Santa Ysabel Resort and Casino. The casino, located on a reservation outside San Diego, filed a chapter 11 case, listing debts of about $40 million. The bankruptcy filing is being contested by the debtor's lender on the grounds that Native American tribes are sovereign nations and they are cannot use chapter 11.

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Credit Card Data

08/15/12

The CFPB released a beta version of its complaint database on June 19th. Right now, one can only search credit card complaints, which the CFPB began taking on the first birthday of its creation, July 21, 2011. My takeaway is that this is major step forward for the disclosure of complaint data but that the "beta" in the website is well-deserved. You can see some neat graphics and and best of all you can download the raw data.

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Massive Fine Is a Cautionary Tale in Sanctions Compliance

08/15/12

ING Bank's $1.67 billion settlement with the Office of Foreign Assets Control is a textbook example of the decision-making process such regulators follow in handling violations.

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Judge Rules Against Borders Gift-Card Holders

08/15/12

A bankruptcy judge said Borders doesn’t owe anything to the gift-card holders who didn’t use their cards before the retailer closed for good and who failed to file claims for the card balances by last year’s deadline.

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Game On in Stockton, CA Chapter 9 Case - Bond Insurer Sets Focus on Calpers

08/15/12

The Olympics may be over, but a potential clash of titans is gearing up in the Chapter 9 bankruptcy case of Stockton, California. Municipal bond insurer National Public Finance Guarantee Corporation (“National”) has challenged Stockton’s eligibility to be a debtor under Chapter 9 of the Bankruptcy Code, and is focusing expressly on the city’s alleged failure to seek concessions of its pension l

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Why Do Smart People Make Big Financial Mistakes?

08/15/12

We learn lessons after every financial crisis. But it doesn't stop the next one from happening.

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