You’ve seen the commercials and heard them on the radio: “don’t pay your debt, don’t go into bankruptcy, eliminate your debt!”
Eliminate your debt without bankruptcy? Really? What the hell am I advising my clients then?
So I did some poking around… which is big fancy lawyer talk for “legal research.” And I think I was able to put my finger on what some of these companies are actually selling.
If you don’t list all of your property on your bankruptcy schedules, you risk losing it. Let me repeat this again, just in case you think I might be kidding: if you do not list all of your property on your bankruptcy schedules, you will lose it.
I’ve written about this before and I came across a recent decision out of the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia that reminds is that “list it or lose it” is alive and well. (more…)
Once again, the misinformation about bankruptcy permeates the world wide inter-webs like a smelly fart on a school bus in the summery humid weather like we’re having here today in Boston. But since analyzing this “information” is almost like shooting fish in a barrel, I’m able to take some time and again grade this really bad article entitled: “How Do I Qualify for Bankruptcy?”
As I continue to work through (in my mind) the issues raised by the proposed auction at 115 Cottonwood in Fairhaven, I recall attending a seminar where one of the speakers remarked that consumers have become “Blackberried.” Specifically, the speaker mentioned that clients had a tendency to send via Blackberry or email a specific legal question, and then call within 10 minutes or so wondering why no response to the question had been provided. The speaker remarked at how clients wanted information “now” – but lawyers on the other hand, sometimes need time to think and analyze before responding.
The same can be said for certain practice areas. For many years, I thought that consumer bankruptcy practice was just completing forms and filing them. Many, many years ago, before I embarked out on my own an old friend and colleague from law school told me that the only way to practice bankruptcy law successfully was by “volume.” That might have been true (way) back then, before BAPCPA was enacted, but it’s not the case now. And it cannot be.
When I got out of law school, the thought of being a bankruptcy lawyer never entered my mind. In fact, it was the last thing I wanted to do. I viewed it as little more than completing forms. Over time, I learned that I was wrong.
Through Twitter, I came across this article “How to File Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Without a Lawyer.” Since I wrote a book about chapter 13 – where I emphasize the need for competent representation – and, since I am also a lawyer, the title alone intrigued me. So I clicked and read the article. Then, I got steamed because not only was the article excruciatingly inaccurate, in some instances it was flat out wrong. So, I’ve copied and pasted each of the “9 Steps,” and offered my response and I grade each answer.
My joyful descent into holiday weekend relaxation mode was interrupted by a Friday afternoon news story that caught my attention. Harmon Law Offices, a Massachusetts law firm, placed an ad in the New Bedford Standard Times announcing a land sale in Fairhaven.
The advertisement stated that the land “…shall not be sold, leased or rented to any person other than of the Caucasian race or to any entity of which any person other than of said race shall be a member, stockholder, officer or director.”
In a statement issued to FOX25, Harmon Law Offices said: “This notice involves a restriction that a previous owner placed on the property. We do not condone the language and do not believe that it would be enforceable. It is industry practice to include in the notice of sale the exact legal description as set forth in the mortgage. We have removed the language for future legal notices.”
As I mentioned on Twitter, and as I’ve been thinking about on the weekend, this news story raises a number of issues. (more…)
Credit Fueled Drunken Debauchery
Come on, you had to know I was going to write about this: Her no longer royal highness Sarah Ferguson is blaming booze (and her debt) for her lapse in judgment in seeking money in exchange for access to her ex-husband, Prince Andrew. I’m still not entirely clear what “access” really meant… that alone could be another blog, on another website.
Oddly, this reminded me of among the many colorful jobs I had when I was going through school was that of a bartender. In the movie “Cocktail”, Tom Cruise made bartending look sort of cool. And to an extent it is… but for the smells of dirty bar rags that still sometimes haunt me in my dreams. It also helps to have the physical stamina of a 20-something and be able to be cheerful and attentive past midnight. Or 4am.
Then there’s another aspect of being a bartender that isn’t so fun: having to shut someone off. That’s when a bartender has to make the call that a patron has had a wee-too-much and can be served no more alcohol. Any bartender will tell you – this aspect of the job stinks. But I see this emerging attitude about lenders and their reckless credit underwriting standards that resembles the same often righteous indignation I see when I would tell people they were on their last drink of the night.
(more…)
Tags: Commentary - Legal, Credit and Debt, HAFA, HAMP
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