Bankruptcy Blogs

Debtors Strip Their Second Mortgage Without Having To File Chapter 13 Bankruptcy

04/21/11

Some people with minimal credit card debt file Chapter 13 bankruptcy primarily to strip a second mortgage. You may be able to accomplish the same result without filing bankruptcy now that banks are becoming somewhat more flexible to work out mortgage solutions on upside down property. I’ve heard of cases where a second mortgage company will substantially reduce a second mortgage balance and permit the debtor to pay off the settlement amount in installments. Here is one real example.

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The Solomonic Test of Swipe Fee Reform: Reverse Political Economy

04/21/11

King Solomon's judgment regarding the two women claiming to be the mother of the same child is a familiar story--the King proposed chopping the baby in two and giving each mother half of the child. One mother consents, while the other says that she will forfeit the child. The one who prefers receiving 0 child to .5 child is then awarded the whole baby because the real mother would never consent to the child being harmed.

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The One Asset Trustees Routinely Ignore

04/20/11

Too much debt! Phones ringing off the hook! Debt collectors are hiding out in the shrubbery behind the house. The debtor finally files for bankruptcy. A bankruptcy estate is created. A trustee is appointed with a fiduciary duty to creditors, the trustee must pursue all assets of the bankruptcy estate. The trustee requests a mountain [...]

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Judge Gargotta Writes Sweeping Opinion on Jurisdiction, Reverse Veil-piercing and Cayman Islands Law

04/19/11

In law school, students cope with concepts of subject matter jurisdiction, personal jurisdiction and stating a cause of action in civil procedure class. When they move on to bankruptcy class, they must try to make sense of the constitutionality of delegating jurisdiction to an Article I court when considering the Marathon Pipeline case. These are not easy issues to get your head around.

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Judge Carey Reminds Us: In a Bankruptcy, Following the Proper Procedure Matters

04/18/11

Summary

In a 13 page decision signed, April 11, 2011, Judge Carey of the Delaware Bankruptcy Court granted a motion disallowing a creditor’s late-filed bankruptcy claim, and held that if there is no legal requirement that a party respond to an affidavit, a lack of response does not bind a party to that affidavit nor can it be considered an admission by that party.  Judge Carey’s opinion is available here.

Background

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Bankruptcy Tweets for April 2011 - Part II

04/17/11

More reported bankruptcy decisions now than any time ever.  30-70 decisions a day being reported compared to 10-25 in past years, with probably double or triple the number of commercial decisions coming down than before. 

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Lenny Dykstra Accused of Text Book Bankruptcy Fraud

04/16/11

Baseball Great Lenny Dykstra Accused of Bankruptcy Fraud It’s important to point out that Lenny Dykstra has only been accused of bankruptcy fraud. He has not pled guilty, he has not been convicted. Too often, we hold the criminal accused guilty in the court of public opinion before they have had their day in court. [...]

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It’s Time to Get Back in the Black

04/16/11

Let’s begin with a cliche: the economy is in shambles. Even with an encouraging March jobs report, unemployment is at 8.8 percent and many experts say the rate dropped mainly because people have given up searching for jobs, not because they’ve found work. The lingering recession has caused major financial pain for countless American households, [...]

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Bankruptcy Fraud: Don't Cross that Line!

04/15/11

bankruptcy fraudThe Associated Press reports that former baseball star Lenny &

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Joint Debtors Can Stack Their Chapter 13 Debt Ceilings In Some Cases

04/15/11

Many people who wanted to file Chapter 13 found that they were ineligible because their debts exceeded the Chapter 13 debt limits of approximately $1 million of secured debt or approximately $360,000 of unsecured debt. The debt limits have affected more people in the past few years because inflated real estate values during the boom resulted in many debtors having large mortgages which exceeded the secured debt ceiling.

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