Personal Bankruptcy up 37% over Last Year

Personal Bankruptcy Up 37% - Bankruptcy Attorney Earnings Up - 100%

Okay, I don't know that for sure, but one would certainly think an established personal bankruptcy attorney would stand to gain a lot of money during a housing crunch.

JUNE CONSUMER BANKRUPTCY FILINGS INCREASE NEARLY 37 PERCENT OVER PREVIOUS YEAR

July 9, 2007, Alexandria, Va.
U.S. consumer bankruptcy filings increased 37.1 percent nationwide in June from the previous year, according to the American Bankruptcy Institute (ABI). Relying on data from the National Bankruptcy Research Center (NBKRC), overall consumer filings totaled 68,559 in June, nearly a 2 percent decrease from the 69,684 filings in May. Chapter 13 filings constituted 38.3 percent of all consumer cases in June, a slight increase over the previous three months.

"While bankruptcy filings are up more than 30 percent from the same period last year, they are less than half of what they were in 2005," said Samuel J. Gerdano, ABI Executive Director. "However, the underlying concerns of high debt loads are still a constant, pointing to rising filings in the future."...

Twelve Percent Know Someone who has Filed for Bankruptcy in the Past Three Months

Extra Credit?
September 24, 2007
By Mark Dolliver

A cut in interest rates offers little comfort if you don't qualify for credit. And that's the leaky boat in which many consumers find themselves, according to the latest Experian/Gallup Personal Credit Index survey. Eighteen percent of respondents said someone close to them has been turned down for credit within the past three months. Among those with household income under $40,000, the figure climbs to 23 percent (vs. 14 percent in the $75,000-plus bracket). But household income is less of a dividing line than age, as you can gather from the chart here. The same poll asked people whether they know anyone who has filed for bankruptcy or gone into foreclosure in the past three months. Twelve percent said they do.

Bankruptcy Filings Up 60 Percent in Arizona

Arizonans filing for bankruptcy up 60 percent

Russ Wiles
The Arizona Republic
Jul. 16, 2007 04:26 PM

Debt-strapped consumers are filing for bankruptcy protection in rising numbers, with the first-half tally in Arizona up nearly 60 percent.

Credit-card debt, higher mortgage payments, costly medical bills and other factors are driving the trend.

Still, bankruptcy filings are well below the record highs seen before a change in applicable laws made it more restrictive to file.

Some 895 applications were filed in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for Arizona in June, the highest monthly total of 2007.

That raised the first-half filing sum for the state to 4,618 from 2,894 in the first half of 2006.

Filings in the Phoenix metro area rose 51 percent in June and were 55 percent higher for the first half, at 3,109.

"A number of people in subprime loans, with adjustable rate mortgages that are resetting, just can't afford to make the new (higher) payments," said Phoenix attorney Diane L. Drain, a bankruptcy expert and governor of the State Bar.

She also cited relatively new federal rules that require customers to make higher minimum payments on credit-card balances each month.

Yet Mike Sullivan, director of education at Phoenix debt-counseling firm Take Charge America, said he doesn't think the trend toward higher minimum payments has been a significant factor pushing people toward bankruptcy.

Rather, he cited the real estate slump and softer home values for removing a safety valve in the form of home-equity loans, which previously could be tapped to pay other debts.

"I'm alarmed by the number of people who are forced to give up (and apply for bankruptcy) because they have fewer options," he said.

Most bankruptcies involve consumers. Chapter 7 filings, which allow for liquidation of non-exempt assets to pay off debts and start fresh, account for more than half the total, but Chapter 13 filings are rising at a faster clip. They involve debt-repayment plans for people with regular income.

A change in bankruptcy laws in 2005 reduced the scope of protection and required consumers to seek credit counseling....

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Gambling's Ugly Side - Bankruptcy

Bankruptcy comes about due to many different circumstances. It is common knowledge that gamblers are at a higher risk of bankruptcy than non-gamblers. This story from The Kansan, about personal bankruptcy should be posted at the entrance of every casino:

Bankruptcy can be an ugly side of gambling

PUBLISHED: Saturday, June 23, 2007

By Cristina Janney

Newton Kansan

The therapist tried to reason with the man on the other end of the line. It was Friday night; he had taken his life savings out of the bank and was on his way to a Kansas casino.

Somewhere in the hundreds of words that spilled from her mouth as she attempted to get him to think about gambling his life away, she got through. He turned his car around and came home.

“I didn’t stop talking to him until he was back in his driveway, but there is nothing to say he wasn’t back at the casino the next day,” said the Wichita therapist, who did not wish to give her name to protect the identity of herself and her client.

“If you drink or do meth or cocaine, at some point you are going to pass out or die,” she said. “The harm stops, but that never happens with gambling. I know people who have gone 23 hours without stopping and been $25,000 down. When they reach the point they have no money, they find creative ways to find money. They are chasing the money — chasing their losses.”

For the Over-55 Crowd, Bankruptcies Rise Fastest

Bankruptcies Rise Fastest for Over-55 Group

Older Americans Feeling Effects of Inadequate Savings

By Kathleen Day

Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, April 27, 2007; Page D03

Personal bankruptcy filings by people 55 and older are growing faster than those by any other age group, in part because of rising mortgage debt and medical expenses among seniors, a study published yesterday concludes...

...The government researchers compared personal bankruptcy records from 1994 with those in 2002. In that time span, personal filings doubled, to more than 1.5 million. The credit industry used that growth to persuade Congress to pass legislation in 2005 that makes it harder for individuals to wipe out debt through bankruptcy...

There is Homeownership After Bankruptcy!

After bankruptcy, it may seem like you will spend years renting before you will ever be able to buy a home again. Not so with a rent-to-own program Here is a sample rent-to-own house ad on a typical classified ad site. Consider a rent-to-own program if you are serious about owning a home again.

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Bankruptcy Attorneys Use Internet to Help Clients

With new bankruptcy laws in effect, attorneys are depending on the speed and convenience of the internet to help clients. Often, to stop foreclosures, homeowners will use bankruptcy as a temporary means to save their home. Under the new laws they are required to take a credit counseling course first. To meet these deadlines, attorneys are able to use the internet as a resource for their clients.

Here is an article from WTOPnews.com:

Lawyers Cope With Bankruptcy Law Online

April 20, 2007 - 1:52am

WASHINGTON (AP) - Patrick McMahon, a consumer-bankruptcy lawyer in San Francisco, had only a couple of days to help a client file for bankruptcy to prevent foreclosure on his home.

There was just one problem: a new bankruptcy law that took effect in 2005 obligated the client to take a credit counseling class first. McMahon directed the client to a Web site that offered the class online. The client took it "at midnight," McMahon said. The foreclosure was stopped...

Do You Think You May Have Been a Victim of Predatory Lending?

If you have been a victim of predatory lending, you should read this and decide if you might want to take action. This was on the ConsumerAffairs.com website:


Bankruptcy Laws Contributing to Foreclosure Epidemic
Consumer Groups Press Congress to Amend Bankruptcy Code
April 13, 2007

Bankruptcy law changes are needed if hundreds of thousands of American families struggling with abusive subprime mortgages are going to escape foreclosure and the loss of up to $164 billion in home-based wealth, according to a joint call for Congressional action issued by the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys (NACBA), the Consumer Federation of America (CFA) and the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL).

The three consumer groups warned that -- while primarily low-income subprime mortgage borrowers face often insurmountable bankruptcy hurdles to hold onto their homes -- high-income individuals in bankruptcy court get preferential treatment when they seek to save second and third homes.

"The only chance many of these (subprime) borrowers have is through declaring bankruptcy," the groups said. "The problem is that as currently enacted, the Bankruptcy Code favors home mortgage lenders over virtually all other secured and unsecured creditors."
The amendment disfavoring protection of the debtor's principal residence was added at a time -- 1978 -- when home mortgages were nearly all fixed-interest rate instruments with low loan-to-value ratios and were rarely themselves the source of a family's financial distress. As a result, bankruptcy law singled out the home mortgage loan as the major debt for which the bankruptcy court is powerless to provide relief, they said. "Since that time, the mortgage market has shifted considerably. Subprime lending practices of the last six years, which have relied on property appreciation, and in many cases appraisal fraud, have left many borrowers with mortgages larger than the value of their homes. If the borrowers cannot restructure these debts, then they cannot get back on their feet financially."

Philadelphia bankruptcy attorney and NACBA President Henry Sommer said help is urgently needed for hundreds of thousands of American families at risk of losing their homes due to abusive home loans.

"For most of these families, bankruptcy is the only viable option to save their home, and this option will be available only if the Bankruptcy Code is revised to eliminate or limit the provisions that exclude home loans from bankruptcy protection," Sommer said. "This current exclusion is contrary to sound policy, and operates to disadvantage low-wealth and middle-income borrowers as compared to debtors with the wealth to own more than one home."

Allen Fishbein, director of housing and credit policy of the Consumer Federation of America, said two million or more homeowners face foreclosure over the next few years, with many of these resulting from negligent and reckless lending practices by mortgage originators.
"A sizable number of borrowers find themselves in this situation because their mortgages are larger than the current value of their homes. Modifying the bankruptcy laws to permit the write down of certain toxic mortgages would provide a critical life-line for these at-risk families to hang on to their homes. We urge the Congress to act," Fishbein said.
Foreclosure Epidemic
"The purpose of bankruptcy is to give troubled families a chance for a fresh start," said Eric Stein, chief operating officer of Self-Help and senior vice president of the Center for Responsible Lending.

"Today we have an epidemic of homeowners who are in serious financial trouble, and whose houses are worth less than the balance due on their loans because of the irresponsible lending practices of subprime lenders," he said. "To make matters worse, bankruptcy laws will actually prevent these families from recovering. Subprime loans have pushed millions of households under water; unless Congress makes some common-sense changes, our current laws will ensure that they drown."

As 2006 drew to a close, 2.2 million households in the subprime market had either lost their homes to foreclosure or held subprime mortgages that likely will fail over the next several years absent intervention, the groups said.

These foreclosures will cost these families their homes, along with up to $164 billion in lost wealth. For increasing numbers of borrowers, foreclosure is the only option available. Lehman Brothers has estimated that 30 percent of subprime loans originated in 2006 will end in foreclosure.

The joint statement recommends a wide range of specific bankruptcy law changes, including the following:

• End the Bankruptcy Code's special treatment of home mortgage loans.
• Remove time-consuming credit counseling requirements.
• Curb excessive fees during bankruptcy.
• End mandatory arbitration in bankruptcy.
• Create a minimum homestead exemption for the elderly.
• Amend chapter 7 of the Bankruptcy Code.

Report Your Experience
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Emotions Run high in Bankruptcy Case

Are you SURE you want to proceed with bankruptcy? This is not an isollated case, the only thing unusual about it which caught national attention is that it happened in the courtroom. There are other alternatives to bankruptcy.

Dudley Sentenced To Four Years For Assault At Bankruptcy Court
posted April 11, 2007

Judge R. Allan Edgar has sentenced Ernest Wayne Dudley to four years in a federal penitentiary for assaulting a man after a bankruptcy proceeding in the Old Post Office, which now houses the United States Bankruptcy Court, at 31 E. 11th St. in Chattanooga.

The district court judge stressed the need "to keep the federal courts safe, to deter others who might commit violent acts in the courts, and to protect the public from the defendant."

The sentencing guidelines called for a sentence in the range of 27-33 months. In addition, the court imposed the maximum term of supervised release of three years. However, those guidelines are now advisory and the court said a stiffer sentence was necessary and deserved.

The assault occurred on Aug. 11, 2005. The defendant pleaded guilty to aggravated assault before Judge Edgar on Nov. 14, 2006, and was immediately taken into custody.

According to the factual basis, the defendant attacked the victim, whose wife was the defendant’s ex-wife and a creditor in the defendant’s bankruptcy proceedings. He had his then 17-year old son hold the victim from behind in the elevator following a bankruptcy hearing. The defendant then broke the victim’s nose and jaw with his fists.

The defendant was convicted in state court for the assault prior to being charged federally. He received a sentence of probation.

According to United States Attorney James R. Dedrick, the United States Attorney’s office "will not tolerate criminal conduct occurring before or in conjunction with federal court proceedings. Our citizens are entitled to uninhibited access to our courts and we will insure the protection of that right."

The maximum penalty for violation of section 113(a)(6) is 10 years imprisonment and a $250,000 fine.

The case was investigated by the Department of Homeland Security. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Gary Humble.

For 2 Couples, Hiring a Bankruptcy Attorney Became a Nightmare

Here is another reason you might want to consider other alternatives to bankruptcy. Two couples from Pittsburg, PA hired a bankruptcy attorney and compounded their financial problems.

Attorney pleads guilty of embezzling

Wednesday, April 04, 2007

A Pittsburgh bankruptcy attorney pleaded guilty Monday in federal court to embezzling from her clients.

Robin L. Musher, 42, admitted to taking money from two couples she was representing in bankruptcy proceedings.

Ms. Musher was accused of taking $47,420.88 from the sale of a property in Somerset County in December 2003. According to the prosecution, Ms. Musher received payment for the property and deposited the money in her own account to pay business expenses.

In December 2004, she took $104,832 in sale proceeds for another couple in bankruptcy and deposited that in her own account.

Ms. Musher has paid restitution. Sentencing will be June 28.

Welcome to our Bankruptcy Attorney blog

Please be patient as we begin to add information on our blog which will help you determine if you need a bankruptcy attorney. If you are having financial problems, there may be other alternatives for you to consider before hiring a bankruptcy lawyer. It is our goal to help you make the right decision about bankruptcy.