Bankruptcy Blogs

Decision in Point Blank Solutions Helps Define "Core" and "Non-Core"

05/24/11

Summary

In an opinion published May 20, 2011, Judge Walsh held that a settlement agreement which is rejected in a bankruptcy proceeding is “Core” and will be decided by the Bankruptcy Court, even when it contains a jurisdictional clause that requires the agreement to be interpreted according to the laws of New York. Judge Walsh’s opinion is available here (the “Opinion”).

Background

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Another Minor Fix to a Previous Opinion - New Century TRS Holdings, Inc.

05/24/11

Judge Carey released an order amending his Memorandum Opinion dated May 10, 2011 in the New Century TRS Holdings, Inc. bankruptcy. His previous opinion had misstated the amount of a settlement between the two parties in the adversary proceeding which gave rise to the opinion.

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Banned From Bankruptcy Court: Judge Tells KEL Lawyers To Get Lost

05/23/11

Kaufman, Englett and Lynd, PLLC (“KEL”) is a law firm that advertises mortgage foreclosure defense work, among other things. KEL decided to get into the bankruptcy business and is one of the largest volume filers of bankruptcy petitions in the Middle District of Florida. I assume that many of KEL’s clients who could not pay their mortgage are also good candidates for bankruptcy to both protect themselves from deficiency judgments and wipe out other debts related to their financial hardship.

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State Bankruptcy

05/23/11

Steven Schwarcz, law professor at Duke, has an article forthcoming in the May 2012 issue of the UCLA Law Review discussing the issue of state "bankruptcy." He argues that the bankruptcy of a state cannot fit appropriately into the present...

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Interest Free Credit Cards? Remember P.T. Barnum!

05/23/11

Credit Card companies have a new pitch - "0% Interest on Balance Purchases & Transfers Until XX/1/2012".

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LA Real Estate Mogul Convicted Of $21m Fraud

05/22/11

"A bankrupt Los Angeles real estate developer has been convicted of stealing some $21 million through a tax shelter scheme. Ezri Namvar was found guilty Thursday of four counts of wire fraud along with a second defendant, 63-year-old Hamid Tabatabai....

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Improving Means Test Results By Incurring Car Debt

05/19/11

When a debtor calculates a Chapter 7 means test analysis he is entitled to deduct from income transportation expenses associated with ownership of a car. All Florida debtors can deduct from income a general transportation expense which is approximately $250. There is another deduction associated with the expense of owning a car known as the “ownership expense.” The ownership expense is calculated using the debtor’s car payment and a fixed allowance of about $500.

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