CreditSlips

NACBA warns of student loan "debt bomb"

02/10/12

At its annual Capitol Hill Day in Washington this week, the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys sounded an alarm about the growing student loan problem, calling it a “debt bomb.” NACBA released a survey of its members indicating that more potential clients these days have unmanageable educational loans and are facing aggressive collection efforts. See http://www.nacba.org/Legislative/StudentLoanDebt.aspx.

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Welcome to Philomila Tsoukala

02/10/12

On behalf of Credit Slips, I wanted to welcome Professor Philo Tsoukala from the Georgetown University Law Center. Professor Tsoukala will be joining as a guest blogger, and she will be commenting especially on the Greek debt situation and how the debt situation is affecting everyday life in Greece. Professor Tsoukala specializes in family law and is the co-author of a forthcoming new edition of a well-respected textbook in the field.

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FHFA's Fake $100 Billion Number

02/10/12

The critical point made in the Democratic Congressmen's letter to FHFA is this:  Director DeMarco's widely reported claim that principal write-downs on Fannie and Freddie mortgages will cost taxpayers $100 billion is simply false.  There are two reasons th

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Quote of the Day

02/09/12

In re Bank of America, N.A, 11-24503 MER, 2011 WL 2493056 (Bankr. D. Colo. June 21, 2011):

Since there is no allegation Bank of America is a railroad ...  the Court accepts Bank of America's representation that it is a “bank” for purposes of § 109(b)(2).

 

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The Servicing Settlement: Banks 1, Public 0

02/09/12

What are we to make of the servicing settlement announced today with much hoopla?  The short answer is not much.  The settlement is the large consumer fraud settlement ever, but it accomplishes remarkably little in terms of either alleviating the foreclosure crisis of holding to account those responsible for the housing bubble and subsequent foreclosure abuses.  As my Texas relatives say, it's “A

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Bankruptcy Implications of AG Settlement

02/09/12

Even though I was up at 4am Pacific this morning, the AG and federal government mortgage settlement was nearly old news by then. But in case you haven't heard, here is your official Credit Slips announcement--there was a $26 billion settlement.While the details are still being released, I am already concerned about how the settlement will affect bankruptcy cases.

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Congressmen raise new questions about FHFA resistance to principal reduction

02/09/12

The heat is cranking up on the seat of Edward DeMarco, acting head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency and a holdover from the last administration who has been standing in the way of a meaningful response to the mortgage crisis. FHFA is conservator of FannieMae and FreddieMac, owners or guarantors of a large percentage of US home mortgages, and thus in a position to direct the mortgage giants to take steps that would save taxpayers money, provide relief to struggling underwater homeowners, and revive the US economy.

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Fixing the "Fixed" Forms

02/08/12

Two weeks ago, I blogged about the Forms Modernization Project's effort to create new forms specifically for consumer bankrupts. The chair of that Project, Judge Elizabeth Perris, offered a lengthy comment that shared some information on the goals and process. I recommend it to you.  She noted that law students were asked to review the forms.

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Payment Protection Plans

02/08/12

We have not talked a lot about payment protection plans, those great deals where the bank agrees to pay your credit card balance in the event of disability or death in exchange for premiums. They are great for the banks.

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The Permanent Foreclosure Crisis and Obama's Refinancing Obsession

02/02/12

For the umpteenth time, President Obama has announced that his solution to the foreclosure crisis is to encourage "responsible" homeowners to refinance at lower interest rates.  Adopting the Tea Party rhetoric and blaming home buyers who got houses in 2006 for their inability to foresee what few economists foresaw, Obama has steadfastly refused to push for principal reductions and payment suspensions for homeowners behind in payments, lest their luckier neighbors who bought at lower prices become resentful.  As a result, he continues to offer help t

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