CreditSlips

What Would Effective Counseling for At Risk Student Loan Borrowers Look LIke?

11/24/15

As the CFPB and Department of Education and others struggle with how best to provide effective help to at risk student loan borrowers, here is one example of a program that provided these services. For full disclosure I am the chair of the advisory committee of the organization that oversaw and funded the project.

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Making the ABA Journal's Blawg 100

11/23/15

The ABA Journal has named Credit Slips to its annual Blawg 100. Thanks for the recognition! We really appreciate it. It is a list of great blogs, and we are honored to be included on it. And, thanks to our readers and commenters who help to make this little part of the Internet a great community.

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The Future of Bankruptcy Work for Lawyers

11/20/15

As expected, as the number of consumers filing bankruptcy has continued to decrease, the revenue of the consumer bankruptcy debtor and creditor bar has been hit hard. Over the past several years billable hours of business bankruptcy (including insolvency, workout or reorganization) lawyers have been dropping and many mid-level partners at large firms are looking for work in related or unrelated specialties. 

We would expect consumer bankruptcy work to increase when:

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A Different and Better Type of Financial Counseling For Low and Moderate Income Consumers May be on the Horizon

11/19/15

After many years of lingering between mediocrity and dishonesty there may be early signs of improvement in the industry that provides financial counseling or coaching for low and moderate income consumers in financial difficulty. Sparks started by Single Stop/Robin Hood Foundation in the NYC area and Cities for Financial Empowerment in NYC and several other cities may have the potential to provide much needed help.

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Servicers Serve the Interests of the Lender, NOT the Student Loan Borrower

11/18/15

I have enormous respect and appreciation for the CFPB and the wonderful and talented and committed folks who work there. Thus I am mystified that in their efforts to improve servicing of student loans and directing of student loan at-risk borrowers to the window that would help them, they continue to misunderstand the basic nature of capitalism and its profit motive and the borrower-lender relationship.

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Indiana Adds Some Bankruptcy to Its Bar Exam

11/16/15

Bernie Trujillo emailed me from Valparaiso University with the news that the Indiana bar examiners have added some bankruptcy law to the state bar exam.

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Welcoming Back David Lander

11/16/15

Frequent readers of the blog will know that David Lander has guest blogged for us several times. When he was last with us, David left with four topics he wanted to discuss further. When David wrote and said he had the time to turn back to these topics, we were delighted to welcome him back. David combines extensive big law firm experience with a background in consumer and individual representations.

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Longest Running Catholic Archdiocese Chapter 11 Case Finally Ends

11/10/15

The Archdiocese of Milwaukee filed its chapter 11 petition on January 4, 2011. Yesterday, four years and ten months later, Bankruptcy Judge Susan Kelley confirmed the dioceses' reorganization plan. During those four plus years, the most contentious issue regarded a $55 million trust fund established rather suspiciously prior to filing to care for a cemetery.

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The Ibanez Property Ring

11/09/15

There’s an interesting new article out on the celebrated Massachusetts U.S. Bank v. Ibanez case that suggests that the defendant, Antonio Ibanez, was at the center of a property fraud ring. It's not clear to me that there was anything illegal about Ibanez's activities, but even if there were, I don't think it much matters.  

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Doubts About the Future

11/09/15

Over at Dealb%k, I express my doubts about the future of chapter 11.

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