Bankruptcy Blogs

The Durbin Rule May Be Final, But the Polictial Fight Isn't

06/30/11

The payments industry couldn't have asked for a more accommodating implementation of a nasty piece of legislation. So where does the payments industry go from here? Issuers should explicitly brand new fees "Durbin fees."

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Obama appeals gay bankruptcy filing, changes his mind on not defending DOMA

06/29/11

Another sign that President Obama is running for re-election is that he now backed away from recent promises to gay rights activists not to defend DOMA the Defense of Marriage Act which reserves marriage for purposes of federal law to one man and one woman. Recently the Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California [...]

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The Fed Bails Out the Banks...Again

06/29/11

If anyone doubted who set the marching tune for the Federal Reserve Board, it was sure clear today. The Fed announced its final rule under the Durbin Interchange Amendment, and it was quite the handout to the big banks.  

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New Hospital Activists Drop St. Vincent’s Appeal

06/29/11

Even before a district-court judge could hear their case, community activists demanding that a new trauma center be built on Manhattan’s Lower West Side dropped their legal protest to the sale of the former St. Vincent’s Hospital’s main campus, court papers show.

The activists, led by former New York City Council member Alan J. Gerson, had appealed a bankruptcy judge’s ruling approving the $260 million sale to a development company tied to the Rudin family. The prominent developer will mostly build housing on the site.

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The PR Mastermind Who Coined the Term 'Swipe Fees'

06/29/11

Taylor West saw that the Martian-sounding word "interchange" went over the heads of small business owners who could be rallied to a cause. If only bankers grasped the power of language so well.

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Chapter 7 Trustees Attacking Debtors' Right To Stay Put In Their Upside Down Homestead Property

06/29/11

The Florida Supreme Court’s expanded debtor’s $4,000 wildcard exemption earlier this year giving debtors substantially more exemptions to apply to their cars and personal property. Any debtor who does not need to use their homestead exemption can take the wildcard exemption; joint debtors have a combined additional $8,000 of available exemptions.

Chapter 7 bankruptcy trustees get compensated based upon the amount of non-exempt assets they capture and administer in the bankruptcy estate.

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The Daily Docket: Dodgers Win OK To Tap Bankruptcy Loan

06/29/11

The Los Angeles Dodgers received court approval Tuesday to tap part of a $150 million bankruptcy loan from a J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.-owned hedge-fund manager that will fund the team’s operations while owner Frank McCourt scrambles to keep control of the team. Read the Daily Bankruptcy Review story here.

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Is Chapter 13 Becoming The New Debtor’s Prison?

06/29/11

Before I begin my rant on Chapter 13 and the way I see things turning against some debtors ( not all debtors), I would like to start by saying that I honestly believe that Consumer Bankruptcy is Financial Planning for the Future.  Also, I still believe in the concepts of a “Fresh Start” and the [...]

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Credit Card Bankruptcy

06/29/11

It’s no secret that the United States economy has been driven by consumer credit card spending. Credit card companies have spent billions of dollars each year aimed at convincing us to buy on credit. More than a billion credit card offers are mailed out each year in the United States each year. Solicitations often begin [...]

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The Good Faith of the Dodgers

06/28/11

By popular demand -- and only by popular demand -- here is a post on the chapter 11 in the Dodgers case. My beloved Redbirds seem to have found the mid-season swoon that we all knew was coming. I have been in baseball denial, but the Dodgers have dragged me back in.

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