Posts Tagged ‘In the News’
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 »
Tuesday, November 17th, 2009
Yesterday I tweeted about Barney Frank’s idea of giving unemployed homeowners access to low interest loans. The theory is that it help fills a gap in the Obama Administration’s plan to address foreclosures caused by unemployment. I think this is a bad idea (and a bit of mid-term election posturing). And I think there’s a sounder way to help unemployed homeowners. (more…)
Tags: homesteads and real estate, Housing News, In the News
Posted in Foreclosures and Real Estate | No Comments »
Wednesday, September 30th, 2009
There are a growing number of social networking sites out there on the world-wide-interwebs that people are latching onto. In fact, both the firm and I have latched onto Facebook (we just lauched our Fan page this week!). So I was intrigued after recently reading that a growing number of domestic relations attorneys were beginning to scour sites like Facebook in an effort to get information on opposing parties. At first, I found it merely interesting as I once practiced domestic relations law. But the subject gnawed on me for several days. Then, earlier this week, I read that collection agencies are trolling sites like Facebook looking for debtors. Then it dawned on me: if collectors are doing it, and divorce attorneys are doing it, there really is nothing stopping any party in any legal case from looking into Facebook or other social networking sites in an effort to gain a legal advantage of any opposing party. And this rings true in the world of bankruptcy.
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Tags: Bankruptcy Fraud, Discharge of Debts, In the News
Posted in Bankruptcy, Chapter 11, Chapter 13, Chapter 7 | 1 Comment »
Sunday, June 14th, 2009
A fellow bankruptcy attorney shared this article that appeared in last month’s New York Times Magazine. I see in it some of the same difficulties I see in clients. It also makes me question how “half-empty” the glass really is. Although in the interest of full disclosure, the writer has a book coming out. In other news…
ONE FLAG! Six Flags Amusement Parks files for Chapter 11 protection.
Nashua NH Telegraph: Welcome to the New Consumer Economy.
Boston Herald: Consumer spending may never be the same as it was.
South Coast: Home values could take years to recover. We also could be hitting bottom (I’m not being sarcastic, it says the market “could be a reading a valley”). I could also be a ledge (ok, that was sarcastic).
Nantucket foreclosures. I wonder if these homeowners claim their loan was predatory? I also have to question whether it was.
A bad apple is removed from the barrel: Brockton lawyer settles fraud suit with the Massachusetts Attorney General’s office.
Tags: Bankruptcy, Consumer Rights, Economy, In the News, Mortgage and Foreclosure, Mortgages and Foreclosures, Yep. We're in trouble.
Posted in Chapter 11, Chapter 7, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Wednesday, May 13th, 2009
My good friend and my bookkeeper has told me that she has seen the economy declining for a number of years, based on what she has seen with her clients and their vendors. “In fact,” she once told me “I can tell how bad it is really getting by how easy it is to find a parking space on Newbury Street.”
According to a report in today’s Boston Globe, the Pottery Barn is closing its Newbury Street store.
“It’s surprising to see some one like Pottery Barn go. But there’s been so many stores leaving,” said Debbie Greenberg, owner of upscale boutique Louis Boston, which is planning to vacate its landmark Newbury Street space by next spring for another neighborhood. “The rents went up so high, and then only the stores that could afford it came, making it look like the same street in Chicago and Dallas. It’s not original anymore.”
Looks like finding a parking space on Newbury Street just got a little easier. And after Louis Boston moves, it perhaps will get even moreso.
Tags: Economy, In the News, Yep. We're in trouble.
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
Tuesday, May 12th, 2009
I kid you not. According to ABC News:
There is a growing belief among financial experts that the recession is over.
Barry Knapp, a strategist at Barclays Capital, wrote recently that the economy appears “to be in the sweet spot of a recovery” and that the recession may have ended last month, according to Bloomberg News.
Liz Ann Sonders, chief investment strategist at Charles Schwab, said on “Good Morning America” today that she agrees with that conclusion
So far, there are a little over 200 comments to this story. Most of them do not agree with the sentiments in the report. I think it’s fair to count me in with those who do not agree.
Tags: Economy, In the News, Recession and/or Depression
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
Tuesday, May 12th, 2009
In the past, I have written and warned readers here about it. It is simply not all it is cracked up to be. From CBS News/The Early Show:
[C]onsumer advocates warn that a majority of the companies can’t or won’t deliver on their promises to reduce your debt. The National Foundation for Credit Counseling recently explained that, “A settlement company may suggest that you stop paying your creditors and instead begin making deposits into a special third-party account. The settlement company will attempt to negotiate a settlement offer with your creditor once enough money relative to the debt is on deposit. This may take six months or more, although the exact length of time will vary with circumstances. During this time, the balance on your debt can continue to grow if interest and various penalty fees continue to be charged by your creditor. As a result, you may owe more than when you started and your credit may suffer.”
Even worse, there have been many instances where none of this money ever makes it to creditors — the companies simply steal it, Gibbons points out. Plus, a growing number of credit card companies refuse to work with debt settlement groups. Of course, a group probably won’t tell you that until after you’ve paid them.
More here.
Tags: Consumer Scams, Credit and Debt, debt, Debt Settlement or Consolidation, In the News
Posted in Debt Settlement or Consolidation | No Comments »
Thursday, April 30th, 2009
From MSNBC:
A dozen Democrats joined Republicans in the 45-51 vote to scuttle the bill, which Obama had said was important to saving the economy and promised to push through Congress. But facing stiff opposition from banks, Obama did little to pressure lawmakers who worried it would encourage bankruptcy filings and spike interest rates.
More here.
I remind everyone that next year, 2010, is an election year. If you want to know who to blame, here’s the roll call vote.
Tags: Cram Downs, Economy, Homes, homesteads and real estate, In the News, Modifications and Workouts, mortgage, Mortgage and Foreclosure, Mortgages and Foreclosures, Yep. We're in trouble.
Posted in Bankruptcy | No Comments »
Tuesday, April 28th, 2009
From Today’s Washington Post:
Days before an expected vote, Senate leaders yesterday touted their version of a proposal to allow bankruptcy judges to modify mortgages, but have yet to secure the support of the financial services industry and face fierce opposition that could derail the proposal again.
The characterization of the opposition being “fierce” is unfortunate, but it appears to be accurate:
“I hope we can muster the courage and find the votes, although I know it will be hard,” (Senate Majority Whip) Durbin (D-Ill) said on the Senate floor yesterday. Durbin has been pushing the measure for more than two years. “It’s hard to imagine that today the mortgage bankers would have clout in this chamber, but they do.”
More here.
For more on the President’s Foreclosure Prevention Plan, click here.
Tags: Chapter 13, Cram Downs, Homes, homesteads and real estate, In the News, Modifications and Workouts, Mortgage and Foreclosure, Mortgages and Foreclosures
Posted in Bankruptcy | No Comments »
Wednesday, April 22nd, 2009
A report from Housing Wire suggests that the answer may be ‘no’.
“[Senator Richard] Durbin [D-Ill] had a hell of a time coming up with a bill that’d pass the Senate,” said Burt Ely, a banking expert and principal of Ely & Co. “He’s watered it down so much that his proposal now limits the accessibility or intention of the bill. Even if he got it passed, the gulf is so big it wouldn’t even get out of [the House] conference committee to be enacted into law.”
Not surprisingly, consumer advocates are seeing red.
“With Durbin, Dodd and Reid doing the bidding for the banks, this current state of the cramdown bill will have virtually no impact for at-risk borrowers,” says Bruce Marks, CEO of Neighborhood Assistance Corp. of America, a mortgage broker and consumer activist. “The Senate Democrats have made no measurable actions this year to help the housing crisis.”
More here.
Tags: Bankruptcy legislation, Cram Downs, Homes, homesteads and real estate, Housing News, Housing Wire, In the News, Modifications and Workouts, Mortgage and Foreclosure, Mortgages and Foreclosures, Yep. We're in trouble.
Posted in Bankruptcy, Consumer Rights | No Comments »
