Author Archives: doug

Will Park Seed grow again?

By doug | Published: August 26, 2010

The Park Seed Company, whose ubiquitous catalogs light up our winter evenings with dreams of summer gardens, has been sold at a bankruptcy auction. According to an article in Greenhouse Grower magazine, the South Carolina mail order seed company was purchased by a venture capital firm in Maryland. The purchase price was $13 million. In […]

Posted in Bankruptcy News | Comments closed

You can’t buy groceries with your house anymore

By doug | Published: August 25, 2010

Nationwide, credit card debt has fallen to the lowest level in the past eight years, according to an AP article by Eileen Connolly. The highest levels of credit card debt are in Alaska, and people in Alabama have been paying off their cards the most. Massachusetts and new Hampshire are about in the middle as […]

Posted in Credit cards | Comments closed

Reasons why a bankruptcy case might get dismissed

By doug | Published: August 24, 2010

If you do file a bankruptcy case, generally you don’t want the court to dismiss it out from under you! Generally, dismissals look bad on your record — if you file another case right after the dismissal, you might have to “beg” a bankruptcy judge to let you file again. Forth Worth bankruptcy attorney Reed […]

Posted in The Bankruptcy Code | Comments closed

Mortgage relief program falling short of goals

By doug | Published: August 21, 2010

The New York Times is reporting that the federal “Making Homes Affordable Program” can only help one-sixth of the people it was intended to. The program, which encourages lenders to give trial loan modifications to embattled homeowners, flunked out 96,000 homeowners just in the month of July. Those numbers are leading some housing specialists to […]

Posted in Bankruptcy News, Foreclosure | Comments closed

More people tapping into retirement accounts

By doug | Published: August 21, 2010

Fidelity Investments is reporting that more Americans are raiding their retirement savings to stave off eviction or foreclosure, pay for college, or buy a home. Early withdrawals from retirement savings jumped 38 percent in the second quarter, according to the Boston Globe. And the number of people borrowing money against 401(k) accounts is at a […]

Posted in Bankruptcy News | Comments closed

Why you need to list all your property when you file for bankruptcy

By doug | Published: August 18, 2010

It’s no exaggeration to say that the bankruptcy laws require every person and corporation to give a full and complete list of their property when they file a bankruptcy case. Real estate is listed on Schedule A of the bankruptcy forms, and “personal property” (that is to say, everything else besides real estate) is listed […]

Posted in Practical tips | Comments closed

“Will I qualify for bankruptcy?”

By doug | Published: August 17, 2010

“Will I qualify for bankruptcy?” This common question can usually be answered “yes,” although it is not always possible to determine what Chapter of the bankruptcy code should be used until consulting with a bankruptcy attorney. Horror stories, rumours, and just plain wrong information abounds out there. It is rare that someone wouldn’t qualify for […]

Posted in Practical tips | Comments closed

We are not on the short list for foreclosure relief

By doug | Published: August 6, 2010

The Obama administration announced the second round of states that will be receiving foreclosure relief aid, and neither Massachusetts nor New Hampshire is on the list. Instead, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Rhode Island, and South Carolina will divvy up $600M in aid. The first round of states receiving aid, which were announced in June, were […]

Posted in Chapter 13, Foreclosure | Comments closed

“How many of those crazy fees can they really tack on?”

By doug | Published: August 4, 2010

Here’s a bankruptcy situation that is all too common: The debtors, a married couple called the Shepards, filed a Chapter 13 case in Boston in part because they were behind on their mortgage. On their bankruptcy petition, they listed the debt to the mortgage company as $227,000. The mortgage company responded by filing a secured […]

Posted in Chapter 13, Practical tips | Comments closed

What is all this talk about the “automatic stay,” and what does it do for me?

By doug | Published: August 3, 2010

You can’t talk to a bankruptcy lawyer for very long before the phrase “automatic stay” pops out of his mouth. And that’s a very good thing, because the automatic stay is one of the most powerful concepts in the bankruptcy code, and one of the most important from the debtor’s point of view. But “automatic […]