Archive for the ‘Consumer Rights’ Category
Tuesday, August 17th, 2010
Some Massachusetts homeowners have this peculiar belief that a homestead declaration is the legal equivalent of a real Chinese fire wall (i.e., with flames). That it keeps creditors at bay, allowing you to live in bliss in your home until you die or get sick of it and want to move on to a greener patch of grass. That’s not entirely the case. Not all debts are covered and not all creditors can be kept at bay. If you’re up to your eyeballs in debt, relying on the Homestead Declaration and only on the Homestead Declaration to keep your home from creditors will lead you to an unhappy and mythical place I call the Valley of Disappointment.
I came up with the Valley of Disappointment because I thought it seemed like a humourous metaphor But then, just to be safe, I did a websearch and just want to caution my readers not to confuse my mythical and metaphorical Valley of Disappointment, with Disappointment Valley which is: (1) a real valley located in Colorado; as well as (2) a documentary which according to IMDb “examines the plight of America’s wild horses and the rapidly deteriorating condition of our wild Public Lands.” Any similarity between my imaginary Valley and the real thing or the movie is totally unintentional and accidental…and kind of scary.
I envision the Valley of Disappointment as a place where none of the stores are open when you need them to be, and those that are all have the products you don’t want at prices you can afford, and products you need at prices that shock the conscience. I envision it as a place where the traffic lights stay green for only three seconds before they jump to red, where they stay for 3 minutes. It’s a place where things just don’t go your way, and you feel pretty powerless to do anything about it. It’s generally always cloudy or rainy. The street signs are all confusing, and it can be tough to navigate your way through it or out of it. Sometimes you just don’t know how you got there. Other times you do, and that knowledge can sometimes make it all worse. But enough about what I envision about the Valley of Disappoitment… I was talking about Homestead rights:
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Tags: Discharge of Debts, Homes, homesteads and real estate, Lien Stripping, modification, Modifications and Workouts, Pre Bankruptcy Planning and Strategy, taxes, Valley of Disappointment
Posted in Bankruptcy, Chapter 13, Consumer Rights, Foreclosures and Real Estate | No Comments »
Wednesday, June 16th, 2010
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.
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Tags: Consumer Scams, debt elimination, Discharge of Debts, FDCPA
Posted in Bankruptcy, Consumer Rights, Creditors Rights, Debt Settlement or Consolidation, Fair Debt Collection Practices | No Comments »
Friday, April 23rd, 2010
I came across this interesting order issued on Tuesday, April 20th by the US Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. The Administrative Order caps the maximum allowable fee charged by a bankruptcy petition preparer in any case to just $100.
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Tags: attorneys, Petition Preparers and Fees
Posted in Bankruptcy, Consumer Rights | No Comments »
Tuesday, April 6th, 2010
I’ve been doing a lot of research lately on attorney malpractice… specifically, bankruptcy attorney malpractice. More and more attorneys are popping into bankruptcy practice because they think it’s the new growth area. And sadly, some are doing a god-awful job at it – and in some cases, they are hurting debtors. So in my research, I came across this case that came down last Friday out of the Northern District of California.
What caught my eye about it was the opening sentence: “[t]he schedules filed in this Chapter 7 case by [debtors’] attorney …contained horrific omissions, including a furniture store filled with furniture, a $13,000.00 bank account, a 2008 Mercedes automobile, and real property.” [emphasis added]. As I read the decision, I learned that the term “horrific” was justified, and then I wondered to myself…’how many other lawyers are out there doing the exact same thing as this guy?’
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Tags: attorney, attorneys, bankruptcy attorney, Bankruptcy Fraud, bankruptcy lawyer, Chapter 7 Trustee, For Attorneys, Joint Debtors, US Trustee
Posted in Bankruptcy, Consumer Rights | No Comments »
Thursday, March 4th, 2010
This first appeared on May 27, 2008. Unfortunately even today, there are people looking to scam those who can least afford it. If you’re facing foreclosure or know someone who is, this is an important read.
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Tags: Consumer Scams
Posted in Bankruptcy, Consumer Rights, Foreclosures and Real Estate | No Comments »
Friday, February 19th, 2010
As more and more people try anything to avoid losing their homes, more and more people are getting scammed.
Here are two links with important information for homeowners contemplating modifications:
This from The Christian Science Monitor:
TransUnion, a credit reporting company, released its own numbers on Tuesday. At the end of the fourth quarter last year, it said, 6.89 percent of all US mortgage payments were at least 60 days past due. That was an all-time high.
Enter unscrupulous loan-modification companies. They advertise on late night-television or radio shows and sound as if they are linked to the Obama program.
“Many of them have the word ‘hope’ in their phone number,” says Jonathan Mintz, commissioner of the Consumer Affairs Department in New York. “But it’s a false hope.”
And here’s a link mentioned in the same article that describes, among other things, 6 Facts You Should Know About Loan Modification Scams.
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Tags: Consumer Protection, Consumer Scams, foreclosure, foreclosure prevention, Housing News, modification, Modifications and Workouts, Mortgage Rescue Schemes, Mortgages and Foreclosures
Posted in Consumer Rights, Foreclosures and Real Estate | No Comments »
Tuesday, December 1st, 2009
Over the holiday weekend, there were a number of press reports about a discussion paper, Under Water and Not Walking Away: Shame, Fear and the Social Management of the Housing Crisis. Reportedly Brent T. White, an Associate Professor at the University of Arizona’s James E. Rogers College of Law advocates that homeowners who are underwater (meaning, the outstanding mortgage balance[s] is more than the value of the home…is now, or in some cases, will ever be) should simply walk away from their obligations and not look back without feeling a bit of guilt. Obviously this all got my attention, but before I took to this here blog and declared “You Have Got to be Kidding Me!” (which at first glance seemed like the most expedient way to address it), I opted to read the discussion paper (rather than just the abstract). Before you click the link below, pour yourself a fresh cup of tea.
Here’s my take:
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Tags: Cram Downs, Credit and Debt, debt, Homes, homesteads and real estate, Housing News, In the News, Modifications and Workouts, Mortgage and Foreclosure, Walking Away
Posted in Bankruptcy, Consumer Rights | No Comments »
Wednesday, November 25th, 2009
The relationship is over, but there are still lingering issues that hold you together. Perhaps it’s child support, health care, property distribution or other matters. If your ex files bankruptcy, it is very important you understand your rights and your responsibilities – as well as your options.
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Tags: Automatic Stay, Creditors, Divorce, Domestic Support Obligations
Posted in Bankruptcy, Chapter 11, Chapter 13, Chapter 7, Consumer Rights | No Comments »
Birds flying high, You know how I feel
Back in September, I blogged about the conflict that exists with the rights of married same gender spouses to file a joint bankruptcy petition, and the conflict posted by what I have no problem calling the politically and legislatively ill-conceived Defense of Marriage Act. I felt then that it was – to get a bit personal here - another betrayal by the Clinton Administration (the first being “Don’t Ask/Don’t Tell”).
And just a few weeks ago, I met with a debtor contemplating bankruptcy who wanted to file a joint bankruptcy petition with his same-sex spouse. I advised him that he had two choices: one, is that he could focus on getting the relief from the debt that he had and work towards getting his discharge and getting on with his life. That meant separate petitions, separate cases, separate docket numbers.
Or the other: he and his husband could hunker down, prepare for a long (and not an altogether inexpensive) legal battle that may – or may not – end up at the U.S. Supreme Court – and he could revel in proving a point (although I can think of few bankruptcy debtors who by the time they arrive at the steps of any US Bankruptcy Court actually feel that they need to prove a point… other than the one that is rather obvious). Ultimately, same sex married couples have not enjoyed the benefit of filing a joint bankruptcy petition because the Defense of Marriage Act precluded such joint filings by same sex spouses.
But today, I’m feeling good. (more…)
Tags: Commentary - Legal, Consumer Rights, Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), Joint Debtors
Posted in Bankruptcy, Chapter 11, Chapter 13, Chapter 7, Consumer Rights | 1 Comment »