There is no end in sight to the increase in bankruptcy filings in New Hampshire. The Nashua Telegraph reports that there were 584 filings in the month of March 2010, 79 cases more than thiose filed in March 2009. All but 13 of the cases were personal bankruptcies.
If you live in New Hampshire, I can handle your bankruptcy case with personal attention and a modest rate. Just send me an email at doug@douglasbeaton.com and get the process started right away.
By Doug Beaton
Just last week I was attending a meeting of creditors with one of my clients on a Massachusetts bankruptcy case, and we were watching the trustee handle a previous case involving a “pro se” debtor — a do-it yourselfer not represented by an attorney.
Well this poor fellow just about got torn apart by the trustee, as he hadn’t filled out any part of the forms correctly. Particularly galling was that he had declared nothing — $0 — for clothing, although he obviously had some, and thankfully had brought enough with him!
Rookie mistakes like these are everyday occurrences with people who file pro-se bankruptcy cases, but this debtor’s problem raises a larger question — how do you make sure you don’t literally lose your shirt when filing for bankruptcy?
Wearing apparel is declared on line six of Schedule B on the official bankruptcy forms. Used clothing doesn’t have to be valued at more than yard sale prices, although items worth several hundred dollars by themselves (a wedding dress or tuxedo, for example) should be listed individually.
Both Massachusetts and New Hampshire provide virtually unlimited exemptions for clothing, so as long as its properly declared, no one needs to lose their shirt going bankrupt. Even if you use the federal list of exemptions, clothing is considered along with other “household goods” and you will be able to declare exempt more than $11,000 in this category per person.
By Doug Beaton
Anyone who files a bankruptcy case has to put a numerical dollar value on all of their assets. For homeowners, their largest asset is usually their house. An accurate value of all real estate held by a debtor is necessary to file, even if the property is “under water” to a large mortgage.
You could have a full appraisal done of your home prior to bankruptcy, but that will typically cost several hundred dollars. If you have had an appraisal done for other reasons within the past six months, the value on that appraisal is what I will use on your bankruptcy schedules.
If you haven’t, however, you may want to try to get a value for your property from one of these internet real estate services before filing: Zillow, Domainia, Homegain, CyberHomes, or the Bank of America web tool.
By Doug Beaton
I am already rethinking my view, stated here earlier this week, that a bankruptcy lawyer’s experience level should not be the most important factor in a client’s decision of whom to hire to work on their case.
While I still wouldn’t rank it as the most important factor, the news that, on the West Coast, bankruptcy trustees are actively targeting inexperienced lawyers in order to make more money for themselves should give both lawyers and clients pause.
As I have written before, honesty is the best policy in bankruptcy law; when a debtor and his attorney both make a conscious effort to ensure that the forms and schedules are filled in accurately, no one will have to worry about any trustee being over-aggressive.
By Doug Beaton
The bankruptcy court in Massachusetts has a new judge, following the retirement of Bankruptcy Judge Joel B. Rosenthal. 
The new judge is Melvin S. Hoffman, perviously a bankruptcy lawyer in private practice. According to the court’s press release, “Mr. Hoffman received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Yeshiva University and a J.D. degree from Syracuse University Law School. Mr. Hoffman is presently a partner in the firm of Looney & Grossman LLP in Boston, where he practices primarily in the areas of bankruptcy and insolvency work. He has a wealth of experience handling all manner of bankruptcy issues including representing commercial lenders and borrowers, serving as debtor’s counsel in Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganizations, appearing in Chapter 7 cases on behalf of trustees, secured and unsecured creditors, and representing consumer debtors in Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 cases.
Following his graduation from law school, Mr. Hoffman clerked for Judge Harold Lavien of the Massachusetts Bankruptcy Court, as the first law clerk ever appointed by a bankruptcy judge in Massachusetts. Mr. Hoffman has been active in the Bankruptcy Section of the Boston Bar Association and has provided pro bono representation to consumers in need of bankruptcy relief under the auspices of the Boston Bar Association. He has published numerous articles in the field of bankruptcy law and has presented many continuing legal education programs.”
The newly minted United States Bankruptcy Judge Melvin Hoffman will primarily hear cases assigned to the court’s Worcester courthouse.
By Doug Beaton
Pete Stolcers isn’t a bankruptcy attorney, or any sort of lawyer for that matter; he is a speculator who trades options on the New York and Chicago exchanges. As such, he keeps a keen eye out for any subtle hints on future economic trends. Here is a snippet from his latest newsletter:
“Foreclosure rates in the United States continue to rise. People are spending money on discretionary items and they are not paying their mortgages. Credit card companies have these records and they confirm that this money is being spent. Homeowners are under water and the do not fear being kicked out of their homes. People are living rent free and that has artificially elevated retail sales.
Taxes on a federal, state and local level will increase. While the government can continue to print money, state and local governments cannot. They are quickly cutting expenses and laying-off workers.”
Stolcers foresees a “stumble” on the way to full economic recovery, probably by this summer. Obviously, people cannot continue to live rent-free while buying consumer goods on a long term basis; when either of these conditions end, a wave of bankruptcies as well as a shudder in the financial markets will be the most likely scenario.
By Doug Beaton
Watch should this video about the state of bankruptcy in America Leave it all behind! by the Dalliance
By Doug Beaton
Besides their asinine jingles, there is now another reason to avoid the odious website known as FreeCreditReport.com — it’s no longer free.
Of course, it never really was free. To get anything of value off the site always required a subscription that cost about $15.
But now it’s really not free; even the worthless basic service costs a buck. The site’s owner, which turns out to be none other than the Experian credit reporting agency, is pledging to give the $1 payments to charity.
The reason Experian is getting so focused is on charity is a Federal Trade Commission crack down on these “free credit report” semi-scams. The New York Times reports that by actually charging a buck, the site can avoid complying with requirements that web sites highlight the source of an actual free credit report.
But not to worry, I’ll give you that info right here — the really free ones can be had at www.annualcreditreport.com.
This quote from the Times article just about says it all “You can love Experian or you can hate Experian,” said John Ulzheimer, president of consumer education for the Web site credit.com, who has twice served as an expert witness for the opposing side in cases involving Experian. “But I don’t think that anyone can argue with the fact that Experian continues to be two steps ahead of the F.T.C.”
By Doug Beaton
You think I’m kidding, right? No one with a big pile of cash needs to file for bankruptcy, right?
Well, not so fast. Just one example is very topical now, around April 15th; some folks are getting big tax refunds. Not big enough to pay off all the debts, mind you, but big enough that they think they could put them to better use than a bankruptcy court trustee.
If you do have a sizable chunk of cash (or money in the bank, which is essentially the same thing), the important thing to know is that you aren’t automatically disqualified from filing a bankruptcy case.
First, for those debtors who are able to use the federal list of bankruptcy exemptions, you may have nearly $12,000 in wild-card exemptions to use, and you can apply this sum to your nest egg if you so desire. In Massachusetts and New Hampshire, the people who are eligible for this releif are typically renters, or homeowners who are definitely “underwater” on a mortgage.
And if you don’t qualify for that exemption (or have a lot more than $12K on hand), California attorney Cathy Moran has put together an idea list of how to spend it on things that will be exempt from attachment if you file a bankruptcy case. Her suggestions include:
* Fund IRA’s
* Obtain cash value life insurance up to exemption limit
* Repay 401(k) loans
* Prepay home or auto insurance
* Catch up on tax under-withholding
* Get needed medical or dental treatment
* Repair the things the client has
* Tune-up car
* Stock pantry & freezer
* Pay down student loans, delinquent support, priority taxes.
And while you’re at it, don’t forget to pay your friendly bankruptcy attorney!
By Doug Beaton
Typically, after consumers with debt problems gather all their bills together (or sometimes before), they will set out to contact a bankruptcy lawyer to help them with the process.
Choosing the right lawyer to handle your bankruptcy case is an important decision, but it shouldn’t be an all-consuming or paralyzing one. There are many good attorneys out there, so spending too much time agonizing over whether a particular firm is the perfect fit is probably a mistake. Of course, if you live in the Lawrence, Andover, or Salem, NH areas, I have a definite suggestion about who you should choose, but much of what is written here will apply to anyone, nationwide.
When talking to your prospective bankruptcy attorney, the most important consideration I would give is to the lawyer’s attitude toward yourself and to bankruptcy cases in general. Above all, you need to find someone who understands at a gut level what it feels like to be in debt, and who understands what it takes to get them out of the situation they are in. The last thing any potential bankruptcy filer needs is an attorney with an imperious attitude. We all know that you should want to pay your bills, and that you should in fact pay them. But consumer bankruptcy cases are not morality plays; they are simply a mechanism for debtors to be able to try again with a clean slate. Having an attorney who understands this is a tremendous advantage.
Close behind attitude I would rank accessability. If you can’t get in touch with your lawyer, he or she really isn’t going to be much use to you. All lawyers sleep and go on vacation, so it is unrealistic to expect 24/7 access, but by the same token, waiting weeks for simple answers or updates or –gasp! — an initial consultation, is unacceptable. As soon as you find yourself being routed toward dealing with a paralegal or secretary, take it as a warning sign and find another firm.
A word about experience; while it is certainly useful for a lawyer to have some, I don’t believe it is the be-all and end-all in bankruptcy law. A lawyer with 20 years experience is not twice as good as a lawyer with “only” ten; quality is simply not distributed that way. My first client back in 1994 got her discharge just fine in the same amount of time as my clients do today; while I certainly have learned a lot in the ensuing years (and will give the benefit of that knowledge to the people who hire me), attitude and enthusiasm are the real keys to an effective bankruptcy practice.
Finally, a word about price. This is obviously a sensitive topic, as you wouldn’t be thinking about filing bankruptcy if money grew on trees. While there is no need to assume that the highest priced lawyer is the “best” by virtue of his enormous fees, there is definitely an element of “you get what you pay for” at work in the bankruptcy field. As tempting as it may be, try to stay away from firms offering the very lowest rates. The reason is that you may find yourself buying in to someone else’s problems instead of fixing your own; law is a stressful life, and every published study I have ever seen shows that lawyers suffer from drug addiction, depression, alcoholism, gambling problems, and the like at about twice the rate of the general population. A low teaser rate that lets a lawyer get his hands on your money for the sole purpose of tending to his own problems is a headache you don’t need.
Anyone with questions about bankruptcy or choosing a bankruptcy lawyer is welcome to call me at (978) 975 – 2608.
By Doug Beaton