Credit Card Usage
Wednesday, August 27th, 2008Am I able to use a credit card that has been issued to me as a supplementary card by a friend on his account during my bankruptcy?
Posted from: Ontario
Archive for August, 2008
Jefferson County Alabama Prepares for a Possible Bankruptcy
Wednesday, August 27th, 2008The Jefferson County Commission in Alabama has told its attorneys to prepare a bankruptcy filing in case it cannot reach an agreement on how to escape from the county’s over $3 billion of bond debt.
The county, which includes Alabama’s largest city, Birmingham, is prepared to file Chapter 9 Bankruptcy if it cannot reach an agreement with its creditors in order to seek relief from the debt it incurred to build a sewer system.
County officials issued the bonds with interest rates that reset frequently during a time when borrowing money was cheap. The strategy intended to keep costs down as interest rates were declining, but with the credit crunch, interest rates on Jefferson County’s debt has risen to as high as 10% in some cases.
The county has attempted, unsuccessfully, to refinance the debt, according to reports. It recently replaced bankers and advisors with a new law firm to handle the negotiations with its creditors led by JP Morgan Chase.
Bettye Fine Collins, Jefferson County Commission president, recently told reporters that Alabama Governor Bob Riley has also agreed to help the county negotiate with Wall Street on a deal to avert a bankruptcy filing.
No timetable was set for the filing, but an agreement with creditors that provided the county time to work toward a solution expires this week.
If the county reneges on the debt, it would be the largest municipal bond default ever in the United States. It would surpass the Washington Public Power Supply System’s $2.25 billion default in 1983 of revenue bonds sold for nuclear plants.
Picks of the Month: Required Bankruptcy Reading for November 2007
Wednesday, August 27th, 2008
Here are the picks of the month for November 2007, a month when we Americans reflected on all there is to be thankful for. The book to the right, The Moment of Truth in Iraq: How a New "Greatest Generation" of American Soldiers is Turning Defeat and Disaster into Victory and Hope, contains a remarkable set of essays by a very brave freelance journalist, Michael Yon, and reminds us of all we have to be thankful for. Michael has been embedded with the US troops in Iraq and Afghanistan for several years now and his searing daily narratives of events in Iraq and Afghanistan provide a unique and important perspective to the advances, setbacks, and challenges faced in these conflicts. This book is required reading whether you're for, against, indifferent, or ambivalent about America's present wars.
Here's a link to the 108 customer reviews on Amazon.com, 94 of whom gave it 5 stars. General David Petraeus said this about Michael's book:
He's fearless ... provides a candid, soldier's-eye view ... from the very unique perspective of being there with them for weeks and months at a time ... delv[ing] deep into the human component.
Michael's blog (now an "online magazine") has long been listed at the end of my blogroll. Please take the time to read Michael's blog posts and to lend support to his ventures, for which you are guaranteed he'll be most thankful.
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Rod S. Berman and Thomas M. Geher, WHEN PERPETUAL DOESN'T MEAN FOREVER -- TRADEMARK LICENSES IN BANKRUPTCY, 29 Cal. Bankr. J. 1
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C.R. "Chip" Bowles Jr. and Richard C. Porter, WHO, WHAT, WHERE? THREE RECENT CASES ON ENVIRONMENTAL LIABILITIES IN BANKRUPTCY, 26-NOV Am. Bankr. Inst. J. 36
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Michael Busenkell, DOES SECTION 502(b)(6) CAP REPAIR AND MAINTENANCE DAMAGES?, 26-NOV Am. Bankr. Inst. J. 34
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Shirley S. Cho, THE INTERSECTION OF CRITICAL VENDOR ORDERS AND BANKRUPTCY CODE § 503(b)(9), 29 Cal. Bankr. J. 7
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Mark D. Collins, THE LONG AND TUMULTUOUS ROAD TO REFORM, 24-WTR Del. Law. 24
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Peter A. Davidson, THE IRS IS YOUR FRIEND: HOW TRUSTEES CAN USE TAX LIENS TO WEAVE STRAW INTO GOLD, 29 Cal. Bankr. J. 191
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Helen Ryan Frazer, Laurel R. Zaeske, and Lynda T. Bui, FRAUDULENT TRANSFER: LITIGATION UNDER THE BANKRUPTCY CODE AND STATE LAW, 29 Cal. Bankr. J. 255
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Cynthia Futter and Anne E. Wells, WHAT TO EXPECT FROM HEDGE FUNDS TODAY AND IN THE FUTURE: AN OVERVIEW AND INSOLVENCY PERSPECTIVE, 29 Cal. Bankr. J. 213
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Lisa S. Gretchko, THERE'S A PREFERENCE DEFENSE HIDING IN PLAIN VIEW, 26-NOV Am. Bankr. Inst. J. 16
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Gina Gutzeit, DON'T OVERLOOK SOURCE DOCUMENTS IN THIS AGE OF INSTANTANEOUS INFORMATION, 26-NOV Am. Bankr. Inst. J. 44
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Steven L. Harris, CHOOSING THE LAW GOVERNING SECURITY INTERESTS IN INTERNATIONAL BANKRUPTCIES, 32 Brook. J. Int'l L. 905
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Patrick A. Jackson, THIRD CIRCUIT CONFIRMS COURT'S POWER TO MODIFY EXECUTORY CONTRACTS, CLARIFIES JOSHUA SLOCUM , 26-NOV Am. Bankr. Inst. J. 32
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Lance Jurich, Gregory Schwed, and Christina M. Moore, DEEPENING INSOLVENCY: A DOCTRINE IN DECLINE?, 29 Cal. Bankr. J. 199
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Stuart Larsen, FEDERAL CIRCUIT "ALMOST" DOESN'T COUNT WHEN IT COMES TO PATENT INFRINGEMENT CLAIMS, 26-NOV Am. Bankr. Inst. J. 26
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Adam J. Levitin, FINDING NEMO: REDISCOVERING THE VIRTUES OF NEGOTIABILITY IN THE WAKE OF ENRON, 2007 Colum. Bus. L. Rev. 83
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Walt Manning and Michelle Campbell, DIGITAL FORENSICS 101: WHERE TO FIND CRITICAL EVIDENCE, 26-NOV Am. Bankr. Inst. J. 42
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Francis E. McGovern, FILINGS BY COMPANIES WITH ASBESTOS LIABILITIES, 24-WTR Del. Law. 18
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William McGrane, THE ERRONEOUS APPLICATION OF THE DEFENSE OF IN PARI DELICTO TO BANKRUPTCY TRUSTEES, 29 Cal. Bankr. J. 275
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Derek F. Meek and Marc P. Solomon, A "DISCRIMINATING" LOOK AT TWO SECTION 525(b) ISSUES, 26-NOV Am. Bankr. Inst. J. 1
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James L. Patton Jr., Robert S. Brady, and Ian S. Fredericks, A MODERN HISTORY OF BANKRUPTCY IN DELAWARE, 24-WTR Del. Law. 12
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Uzzi O. Raanan, UNDERSTANDING CHAPTER 11 TRUSTEE ELECTIONS, 29 Cal. Bankr. J. 15
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Robert K. Rasmussen, EMPIRICALLY BANKRUPT, 2007 Colum. Bus. L. Rev. 179
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Robert K. Rasmussen, WHERE ARE ALL THE TRANSNATIONAL BANKRUPTCIES? THE PUZZLING CASE FOR UNIVERSALISM, 32 Brook. J. Int'l L. 983
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Patricia A. Redmond and Jessica D. Gabel, TIP OF THE ICEBERG: WHAT LIES BENEATH FOR HOMEBUILDERS IN THE WAKE OF UNITED AIRLINES, 26-NOV Am. Bankr. Inst. J. 20
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Seymour Roberts Jr. and Joseph J. Wielebinski, THE WILD WEST IS NOT IN TEXAS: ORDER CURBS ABUSIVE CHAPTER 5 LITIGATION, 26-NOV Am. Bankr. Inst. J. 40
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Paul A. Rogers, LIMITATIONS ON A TRUSTEES AVOIDANCE POWERS UNDER SECTION 546(A), 26-NOV Am. Bankr. Inst. J. 18
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Nick Segal, THE EFFECT OF REORGANIZATION PROCEEDINGS ON SECURITY INTERESTS: THE POSITION UNDER ENGLISH AND U.S. LAW, 32 Brook. J. Int'l L. 927
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George H. Singer, THE YEAR IN REVIEW: CASE LAW DEVELOPMENTS UNDER THE BANKRUPTCY ABUSE PREVENTION AND CONSUMER PROTECTION ACT OF 2005, 29 Cal. Bankr. J. 37
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David B. Stratton and Evelyn J. Meltzer, DISGORGEMENT OF CRITICAL VENDOR PAYMENTS, 26-NOV Am. Bankr. Inst. J. 24
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Deborah L. Thorne and John T. Gregg, A PARTIAL SOLUTION TO "PREFERENCE LITIGATION RUN AMOK", 26-NOV Am. Bankr. Inst. J. 22
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Frank Volk, WHAT DO SCANDAL AND DEFAMATION HAVE TO DO WITH THE CODE? SEALING ORDERS UNDER 11 U.S.C. SECTION 107, 26-NOV Am. Bankr. Inst. J. 12
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Jay Lawrence Westbrook, LOCATING THE EYE OF THE FINANCIAL STORM, 32 Brook. J. Int'l L. 1019
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Kathy L. Yeatter, JUDICIAL VAGARIES AND THEIR POTENTIAL IMPACT ON THE VALUATION OF DISTRESSED DEBT, 26-NOV Am. Bankr. Inst. J. 50
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How does the garnishment of wages work?
Tuesday, August 26th, 2008My husband is considering filing bankruptcy however we are still unclear about the garnishing of wages. Strangely, our trustee did not advise us that this was a factor in claiming bankruptcy and I learned about it through this website. My husband has a fluctuating income since he does seasonal work normally and the income depends on the contract therefore he can have a “surplus of income“ from month to month. Our goal would be to save that money to help him reastablish his credit however I wonder if it would have to be surrendered if considered a surplus? Our trustee lead us to believe (and this is a licensed trustee) that we would have to pay a fee to him (less than $2000) over the span of 9 months prior to discharge. Can you please clarify?
Posted from: Quebec
Creditors do not have an automatic right to accelerate debts
Tuesday, August 26th, 2008Pursuant to the U.S. Bankruptcy code, subsequent to a debtor filing a chapter 7 or 13 bankruptcy, they are unable to obtain another discharge of unsecured debt for 8 years. As such, many debtors believe they have no way out of new debt incurred. This could not be further from the truth. There is substantial statutory and case law that suggests a right to negotiate in good faith with creditors. Moreover, creditors must partake in the interactive process.It has long been held that if a creditor has no agreement for acceleration of an entire obligation upon default, the creditor may not accelerate a debt unless the debtor’s default rises to the status of an anticipatory repudiation. See, e.g., Sheet Metal Workers Local No. 76 Credit Union v. Hufnagle, 295 N.W.2d 259, 29 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. 1087 (Minn. 1980).
The Uniform Commercial Code (“UCC”) § 1-309 provides that a term allowing an acceleration of payment or performance or additional collateral at will, or when the creditor or the creditor’s successor in interest deems himself insecure, and language of similar import, will be construed to mean that the creditor has the power to do so only if he in good faith believes that the prospect of payment or performance is impaired. Section 1 - 309 has been increasingly applied to real estate transactions. See generally Greenwald v. Columbus Bank & Trust Co., 228 Ga. App. 527, 492 S.E.2d 248, 34 U.C.C. Rep. Serv. 2d 547 (1997) (good faith itself does not give rise to an action).
Section 201 of the Bankruptcy Reform Act can be construed as a model to require creditor’s to negotiate in good faith with debtor’s prior to filing any legal action to collect the debt. It would have amended Section 201 proposes to allow a bankruptcy judge to reduce a creditor’s claim by up to 20% if the creditor had “unreasonably refused to negotiate a reasonable alternative repayment schedule.
Perhaps the most relevant and significant factor pointing to a strong suggestion if not requirement for creditor’s negotiating with debtors stems from litigation itself. At a clerk or magistrate’s session in small claims court prior to appearing before a judge, the magistrate will almost always offer free mediation services provided by the court, and in many cases go so far as to require the Plaintiff and Defendant to attend a non-binding mediation session prior to appearing before the District Court Judge.
The gist of the forgoing would seem to indicate that a debtor is not without recourse even if they have filed for bankruptcy and obtained a discharge on unsecured debt within the past eight (8) years. In many case, it may be a good idea to still speak with a bankruptcy attorney or credit counselor to garner assistance in proposing a workout plan with one’s creditors.
Common law
Tuesday, August 26th, 2008if i were to file for bankruptcy; would my common law husband (who is a sole propietor of a small business) have to file also? Are we 2 seperate entities?
Posted from: Ontario
mortgage
Tuesday, August 26th, 2008my mortgage is due in about 4 years will a consumer proposal affect my renewal at that time? staying with the same mortgage lender.(assuming the proposal is approx. 4 years.)
Posted from: Ontario
used car
Tuesday, August 26th, 2008My wife and I just traded in our brand new car which we owned for a couple of months for something to try and save on the monthly payments, my question is how will this loan be affected by the fact that we still may file a consumer proposal? we haven`t made a payment yet
Posted from: Ontario
What Does Filing Bankruptcy Do to Your Banking Options
Tuesday, August 26th, 2008 Once you have filed bankruptcy you will probably have a hard time finding a bank that will grant you the use of their checking accounts. If you do get one to agree, they will probably set more stringent guidelines on your account. You also should let the banker know that you have filed bankruptcy. If you receive an account, be extra careful to avoid overdrawing the account as it would be considered an insult after the bank opened an account for you with your record of a bankruptcy.When is Declaring Bankruptcy Your Best Option?
Tuesday, August 26th, 2008 Declaring bankruptcy is not a game and should not be considered your only option. In fact, it should be your option of last resort. You almost certainly have other options without the long term negative impact that bankruptcy will have on you.Credit After Bankruptcy? It’s Possible!
Tuesday, August 26th, 2008 I am frequently asked, and rightfully so, how long will a bankruptcy be on my credit report and will I ever be able to get credit again?The issue is whether, at the time you apply for future credit, you will meet the factors necessary to qualify. Whether you have filed bankruptcy or not, the most important factor a lender is going to consider is your income.after bankruptcy
Monday, August 25th, 2008I declared bankruptcy 12 years ago, and I have rebuilt my credit. I am going to apply for a mortgage. If I go back to the financial institution that I used before my bankruptcy could this affect my application.
Posted from: Nova Scotia
Are credit cards allowed during bankrupcy?
Monday, August 25th, 2008As a undischarged bankrupt am I allowed to get a secured credit card? I need it to cover travel expenses for my job.
Posted from: Ontario
The Sting of Foreclosure: Fish to Rescue
Monday, August 25th, 2008 Foreclosed homes result in abandoned swimming pools, which create a mosquito-breeding nightmare. One fish is working hard to combat the problem.7th Circuit Nixes Attempts to Hold Investment Bankers Responsible for Matters Beyond Their Engagement Agreements
Monday, August 25th, 2008.jpg)
Often, the only unencumbered assets left after a company goes bankrupt are potential causes of action against deep-pocketed professionals that witnessed or contributed to the debtor’s demise. Of course, it’s one thing to allege misconduct; proving it (as noted here) is a horse of a different color. A trilogy of recent decisions from the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, however, demonstrates the increasing impatience of courts with plaintiffs who, as the 7th Circuit’s Chief Judge Frank Easterbrook recently put it in one these cases, “attempt to find a deep pocket to reimburse investors for the costs of managers’ blunders.” HA2003 Liquidating Trust v. Credit Suisse Secs. (USA) LLC, 517 F.3d 454 (7th Cir. 2008) (pdf)
The latest failed effort is found in a decision authored by Judge Diane P. WoodBeing a Starving Graphic Artist Sucks, as compassionate and fair a judge as you’ll find, in Joyce v. Morgan Stanley & Co., Inc., 2008 WL 3844111 (7th Cir. 8/19/08) (pdf). In this case, Morgan Stanley, once the advisor to RCN, was engaged by 21st Century Telecom Group in late 1999, just before the telecom industry busted, to serve as 21st Century’s financial advisor in an ill-fated stock-for-stock merger with RCN. As part of its engagement, Morgan Stanley delivered a “fairness opinion” to 21st Century’s board. Between the 12/12/1999 date of the merger agreement and the 4/28/2000 effective date of the merger, RCN’s stock price plummeted and 21st Century’s stockholders ended up left holding the bag.
Nobody, however, leaves Ed Joyce–a famed Chicago commercial litigator–holding the bag and gets away with it, at least not without a good fight. The problem for Ed, however, was finding a deep pocket to compensate him and his fellow stockholders for their losses, not an easy task particularly since they first filed suit more than six years after the merger’s effective date. In their one-count complaint, which alleged “constructive fraud” on the part of Morgan Stanley, Ed and his fellow plaintiffs argued that Morgan Stanley had a duty to advise 21st Century’s shareholders about how to minimize their exposure to a potential drop in RCN’s stock price following execution of the merger agreement. Morgan Stanley didn’t, they alleged, because that would likely have caused RCN’s stock price to decline. Further, they alleged, Morgan Stanley didn’t want that to happen because of its conflict-of-interest stemming from the fact that it had served as RCN’s financial advisor before the merger.
Judge Wood, together with Judges William J. Bauer and Terence T. Evans, agreed that Ed and the other shareholders had standing to sue because their claims were direct, not derivative. That’s all they agreed with, however. While everyone recognized that in order to tag Morgan Stanley with liability, Morgan Stanley had to owe the 21st Century shareholders a fiduciary duty, here’s where the wheels fell off the bus because the 7th Circuit would not agree that Morgan Stanley owed the 21st Century shareholders a duty of full and fair disclosure. To the 7th Circuit, the duties of Morgan Stanley were rooted in its engagement agreement, and no extra-contractual fiduciary duty existed to require Morgan Stanley to advise the 21st Century shareholders about hedging strategies that might minimize their exposure to fluctuations in the value of RCN stock. Judge Wood wrote:
The exhibits leave no doubt that Morgan Stanley did not accept any such responsibility, and so no fiduciary duty toward the Shareholders ever arose. The engagement letter, which defines the advising relationship, explicitly noted that Morgan Stanley was working only for the corporation: “Morgan Stanley will act under this letter agreement as an independent contractor with duties solely to 21st Century.” (Emphasis [in opinion]). “We have acted as financial advisor to the Company in connection with this transaction....” (Emphasis [in opinion]). The fairness opinion also disclaimed a duty to the Shareholders:
It is understood that this letter is for the information of the Board of Directors of the Company, except that this opinion may be included in its entirety in any filing required to be made by the Company in respect of the Merger. Morgan Stanley expresses no opinion as to the relative valuations of each of the voting and non-voting 21st Century Common Stock and the 21st Century Preferred Stock. In addition, this opinion does not in any manner address the prices at which the RCN Common Stock will trade following announcement or consummation of the proposed Merger, and Morgan Stanley expresses no opinion or recommendation as to how the holders of the 21st Century Common Stock should vote at the shareholders' meetings held in connection with the Merger. (Emphasis [in opinion]).
Thus, Morgan Stanley never owed any contractual nor extra-contractual duty to the Shareholders. We rejected a similar claim in HA2003 Liquidating Trust v. Credit Suisse Secs. (USA) LLC, 517 F.3d 454 (7th Cir. 2008) (pdf), where we observed that investment banks' responsibilities are set by contract; the fact that someone wishes that a different contract had been written is not a basis for liability. Id. at 458-59. (Emphasis added in this post).
In addition to the explicit disclaimers we have highlighted, the conflict waiver clauses reinforce the fact that Morgan Stanley did not accept a duty toward the Shareholders. It required 21st Century to waive all claims based on conflict of interest but made no mention of the Shareholders: “21st Century agrees that it will not assert any damage, conflict of interest, or other claim against us, our affiliates or such other party arising out of our relationship with RCN on the basis of a conflict of interest or otherwise.” “[B]oth RCN and 21st Century have waived any potential conflict of interest.”
Despite all these explicit disclaimers of a duty to anyone but 21st Century, the Shareholders argue that Morgan Stanley's unsuccessful attempt to negotiate a price protection feature into the stock-for-stock sale of 21st Century to RCN demonstrates that it had voluntarily accepted a fiduciary duty to look out for the stockholders' interests. This is not enough; we are not aware of any authority to support the proposition that an attempt to facilitate an outcome that would benefit a party automatically makes the attempter a fiduciary of that party.
Judge Wood’s citing of Chief Judge Easterbrook’s opinion in the HA2003 case is important. In that case, the post-confirmation liquidating trust for the HA-LO Industries, once the world’s greatest maker of promotional “chatchkies,” sued Credit Suisse First Boston (CSFB), HA-LO’s investment banker, for gross negligence in failing (i) to reject the HA-LO board’s wildly inflated projections of a “dot.com” target in a $240 million acquisition and (ii) to withdraw or modify (i.e., “bring-down”) its opinion to the May 2000 merger effective date following the bursting of the “dot.com” bubble in April 2000.
Chief Judge Easterbrook wrote that it was not clearly erroneous for the district court to have “found it impossible to label as ‘grossly negligent’ CSFB's decision to do what the contract required it to do: use the figures and projections furnished by its client.” HA2003, 517 F.3d at 456 (emphasis in original). Like Judge Wood in Joyce, Chief Judge Easterbrook pointed to the primacy of contract in these types of cases, writing:
CSFB followed the norm in this business-more to the point, it followed the rules in its contract with HA-LO-and relied on management's numbers. It told HA-LO to hire someone to check those numbers. Separating number-creation from number-evaluation is not illegal and may make business sense. The division of labor between number verifiers (Ernst & Young) and number crunchers (CSFB) is not to be sneezed at; the division of labor has large benefits for an economy, as it allows specialists to do what they are best at.
After Ernst & Young told HA-LO that its expectations about the Starbelly.com technology and prospects were wildly excessive, HA-LO stuck to its guns. It can't blame that on CSFB. This suit is nothing but an attempt to find a deep pocket to reimburse investors for the costs of managers' blunders. Cf. Fehribach v. Ernst & Young LLP, 493 F.3d 905 (7th Cir. 2007) (pdf),[discussed in this post]. But CSFB did not write an insurance policy against managers' errors of business judgment. Compelling investment banks to provide business-risks insurance as part of a fairness opinion would just make investors worse off, as that would increase the price of each opinion. Investors would pay ex ante for any benefit received ex post-and the bar would pocket a substantial portion of the transfer payments. Insurance is cheaper (free, really) when achieved via the stock market. Investors can diversify their holdings; then when acquir ing firms, such as HA-LO, overpay in an acquisition, investors gain in their role as shareholders of the acquir ed firms. Diversification protects investors without the costs of insurance and litigation….
And, to repeat, CSFB undertook to deliver an opinion as of one date. Updates require extra work, which must be paid for. HA-LO's managers not only did not offer to pay CSFB for an updated opinion but also, as the parties stipulated, decided not to request such an opinion even if CSFB had been willing to render one for free.
In the end, the Trust wants us to throw out the detailed contract that HA-LO and CSFB had negotiated and to make up a set of duties as if this were tort litigation. That would be a mistake, one very costly for investors at other firms who would have to pay a risk premium to investment bankers in the future. Intelligent adults can set their own standards of performance, and courts must enforce the deal they have struck. See Wallace v. 600 Partners Co., 86 N.Y.2d 543, 634 N.Y.S.2d 669, 658 N.E.2d 715 (N.Y. 1995). The engagement contract says that CSFB has no duty to double-check the predictions about Starbelly.com's future revenues and no duty to update its opinion. CSFB did what it was hired to do. The Trust's belief that CSFB should have been hired to do something different is not a basis of liability.
HA2003, 517 F.3d at 457-59.
The 7th Circuit’s recent trilogy of cases (Joyce, HA2003, and Fehribach) all absolve a client’s professionals from any duties not specified in their engagement agreements, and are required reading for those “attempt[ing] to find a deep pocket to reimburse investors for the costs of managers’ blunders.” HA2003, 517 F.3d at 457 (citing Fehribach). The plaintiffs' attorneys in Joyce should at least be thankful that Judge Wood didn’t take the next step, as Judge Richard A. Posner did earlier this year (in an opinion joined by Judge Wood and Chief Judge Easterbrook) in Maxwell v. KPMG LLP, 520 F.3d 713 (7th Cir. 2008) (pdf), when he encouraged KPMG’s counsel to file a Rule 11 motion (which it threatened, to the tune of $4.3 million) after having scolded the bankruptcy trustee for initiating a frivolous suit seeking an astronomical $626 million in damages. The fact that the Joyce plaintiffs weren’t litigation trustees (who, Judge Posner wrote, “ha[ve] little to do besides filing claims that if resisted he may decide to sue to enforce”) may have saved them from a similar fate. Id. at 718.
So, here we are, in 2008, finally resolving claims that arose from the bursting dot.com bubble of 2000. Apply that same resolution rate to unresolved contests arising from today’s bursting housing and credit bubbles, and we just might see some finality by the opening ceremonies for the 2016 Olympic games (in Chicago, we hope!).
Thanks for reading.
Personal Bankruptcy Information and Laws
Monday, August 25th, 2008 Personal bankruptcy is meant for individuals that need a way to reduce their debt and stop collections and garnishments. If you have any amount of debt in access of $10,000, you should talk with a counselor about consolidating all your bills and making payments or talk to a bankruptcy lawyer about what type of bankruptcy you can file. Your secured debt and you income is a factor in what chapter bankruptcy you should file. If you have secured debt that you want to keep such as a house and you owe two months back mortgage payments, you will want to file chapter 13 to save the house.Understanding Bankruptcy in Business
Monday, August 25th, 2008 When a business files bankruptcy it can be for one of two reasons. One, they actually mean to liquidate and close their doors or two, they are buying themselves more time with their creditors to be able to pay off existing debts.Bankruptcy For Individuals - Types of Personal Bankruptcy
Monday, August 25th, 2008 If you find yourself so far in debt with no means to pay the debts and still maintain your life's regular expenses, maybe it is time to consider Bankruptcy. But Which kind of bankruptcy is right for you and how do you go about it are probably the questions on your mind. Relax, take a deep breath and read on. That is exactly what we are talking about.Credit Card that had a zero balance
Monday, August 25th, 2008If I filed a consumer proposal and then realized that there were some `old` credit card accounts which I had been inactive, yet never officially cancelled (and forgotten about, therefore not disclosed on the CP) can I `reactivate` the account and use it while still under consumer proposal? I`m wondering if it is allowed or should I just cancel them.
Posted from: Ontario
Criminal Charges and Divorce
Sunday, August 24th, 2008My friend`s husband has been found guilty of theft and will likely end up in prison. She is divorcing him but he wants a divorce without settling the assets.
She wants to know what will happen to her share of the marital assets if a restitution judgment is entered against him, and what will then happen to her share if he subsequently files for bankruptcy, either before or after a settlement.
Posted from: Alberta
income
Sunday, August 24th, 2008how much monthly earnings is a single guy allowed to keep each month to live on. and if i own a moble home can i keep it to live in
Posted from: Ontario
how does bankruptcy work
Sunday, August 24th, 2008during 2008 husband sold off assests to pay gambling debts, has a dui and is incurring legal debts is since unemployed and getting 1600 per month i earn 2200 per month and we have a total debt of 220 000 with no assests except for the house which is valued at less than what the morgage is ie 162 000 morgage mpac value 138 000 credit rating is excellent for now but have for the past month not been able to make any payments on the debt so falling into arreas can we file for bankruptcy and if so do we file seperate or together
Posted from: Ontario
Credit cards
Sunday, August 24th, 2008I forgot to tell my trustee about one of my credit cards, how does that work? Does it automatical get filed with the rest or do I need to contact them to tell them about it? Can the credit card company come after me to pay it?
Posted from: Ontario
Transferring Mortgage during a Consumer Proposal
Saturday, August 23rd, 2008I was wondering if it was possible to `transfer` my current mortgage to a new home while under a consumer proposal. Actually, I would be able to pay off the consumer proposal from the sale of the house and was wondering if I bought a cheaper house. I`m just afraid to contact my mortgage company and ask, because I don`t want to `stir the pot` and let them see my credit bureau report. I am up for renewal next spring. Thanks.
Posted from: Ontario
mrs
Saturday, August 23rd, 2008revenue put a legal mortage on our house. if i file bankruptcy, would they take it out? what happens to my debt with revenue? thank you.
Posted from: Quebec
