Auld Lang Syne has been sung, the noisemakers put away, but its still time for the bankruptcy court administrators to take a look back at 2009. The verdict? A massive 31.9% increase in bankruptcy filings. Thinking of filing under Chapter 7? If you had done it last year, you would have had more than a […]
Author Archives: doug
New wave of foreclosures may hit Massachusetts
A second wave of foreclosures is ready to hit Massachusetts, and banks dump the properties they own in to an already weak market. There are at least 33,000 homes in Massachusetts behind at least 90 days in payments, 4, 077 homes already owned by lenders, and more than 26,000 in foreclosure. A recent surge in […]
Posted in Foreclosure
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Polly wants a lawyer!
One side effect form the fallout from Bank of America’s announcement earlier this week concerning the demise of overdraft charges is a renewed spotlight on a Pennsylvania woman who came home from work to find her house padlocked, wrongfully foreclosed on by BOA, and her pet parrot (actually named Luke instead of Polly) taken away […]
Posted in Credit cards
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What papers do you need to file for bankruptcy?
The mailbox is stuffed with bills. Your desk is overflowing. The deputy sheriff is knocking on the door with a fresh stack of litigation. You have thought about declaring bankruptcy, and are ready to call a lawyer for help. But how do you start organizing this stuff? For a simple Chapter 7 case, (the most […]
Posted in Practical tips
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A good review of the new bank overdraft regulations
By this time, most people are getting enough change notices from banks and credit card companies to make their head spin. And now comes the news that new regulations on bank overdraft fees are in the works. To lessen the confusion, the Federal Reserve has a good overview of the overdraft regulations, in simple everyday […]
Posted in Bankruptcy News
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Tackling the foreclosure crisis with faith based activism
Faith-based activism is becoming more prominent in the battle against the foreclosure crisis. As one example, Jenifer B. Kim reports in the Boston Globe that Brockton, Massachusetts housing actvist Katie Sandford met yesterday with Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke to discuss how a rash or foreclosures are affecting her city. Sandford is a leader of […]
Posted in Bankruptcy News, Foreclosure
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Bank of America will no longer allow debit overdrafts
The Bank of America has announced that it will soon stop permitting its customers to make overdrafts on their debit cards. The new policy will be phased in over the summer of 2010. The move comes on the heels of new federal regulations that limit bank fees on overdrafts. The new regulations require a bank […]
Posted in Bankruptcy News, Chapter 7
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Bankruptcy can help reduce the foreclosure rate
With most of the government efforts to stem forclosures having failed miserably, bankruptcy law has probably prevented a crisis on the scale of the Great Depression or worse. Congress should embrace the power of the bankruptcy law if it really wants to get a handle on the problem. Here are some of the ways that […]
Posted in Chapter 13
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More trouble at the races — Hoosier Park files for bankruptcy
Right on the heels of the news about the bankruptcy of one thoroughbred racing’s most prominent horse owners, comes the news that an entire racetrack has sought bankruptcy protection. Matt Hegarty of the Daily Racing Form reported that the parent company of Hoosier Park filed a Chapter 11 case this morning, after failing to make […]
Posted in Bankruptcy News
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What is the bankruptcy exemption for an automobile?
Many persons contemplating bankruptcy wonder about the effect of filing a bankruptcy case on the car (or cars) that they own. Starting April 1st, the federal bankruptcy exemption for equity in an automobile will be raised to $3400. (Until then, it is slightly less). Please remember that this exemption only applies to your equity interest […]
Posted in Secured loans, The Bankruptcy Code
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