Arizona Bankruptcy Attorney Blog

I just read a post from a lawyer who says that some debt collection agencies are setting up shop on Indian Reservations to avoid regulation. 

That just seems wrong to me!

Nope!

He made some improvements to a common piece of lab equipment, and gained immortality as the creator of the "bunsen burner".

And will your friends know that you filed a bankruptcy? Well, they might, although they probably won't.

But your bankruptcy is a matter of public record, so it's entirely possible that people will find out.

But I've talked about whether people will find out about your bankruptcy, and you're more than welcome to listen to me talk; don't try it when you're driving, because I am the world's most boring human being, and I don't want to inadvertently induce narcolepsy.

One of the pitfalls of being a bankruptcy lawyer in Arizona is that a bankruptcy attorney during a depression in AZ is somewhat, sometimes, and in some ways cut off from the ordinary activity of the world, because he or she trying like crazy to help somebody who is struggling with the bankruptcy means test. Or Arizona Exemptions. Or the box of tissues on the desk.

I have made a reference to that small, occasional feeling of being slightly isolated from other folks in my post "Werewolves, Bankruptcy Lawyers and the Full, Full Moon".

And sure, I was goofing around when I wrote that.

But then "insider monkey" exposed the secret that caused David Sokol to resign, instead of becoming the next Warren Buffet: he was going to run away to South America with Lindsey Lohan.

To which I could only respond: "Cady would never do that!"

Kristina Peterson reports on stocks in WSJ.com, and discusses the effects of jobless claims and reports that largely meet expectations.

But if you read the fact-laden article, you'll may what I think I see.

We may have had the best first quarter in a decade on Wall Street, but those numbers have not trickled down to Main Street. And we also see, in her article, some stuff moving in a good direction, some in a bad direction, and nothing moving in large sweeps. Sort of the middle book of a trilogy.

And nowhere in her lovely article is this sentence: "Investors all breathed a sigh of relief that things are now back to normal, and they have decided to leave all their money in place forever."

Instead, the well-informed Ms. Peterson is reporting to an audience that is listening with the ears of a cat for any possible danger, at which point the feet of a deer will carry their investment money away to less scary places. Like inside a box, which is inside a bigger box, which is buried in concrete.

Except, of course, that box-inside-bigger-box technique doesn't protect against inflation; and unless stocks start producing as they have seldom produced before, it will take Vegas Quality Luck to beat inflation in earnings.

Putting it another way, investments are going to need to run very, very fast to stay in the same place when inflation shows itself clearly.

And that last bit is my set of fears; it was not an opinion of Kristina Peterson at WSJ.com.

Although, for all I know, it could be.

She's very smart.

Washington has built a gigantic load of debt that seems to worry some people, and apparently Washington wants to keep spending, and adding to the that debt. That also causes some people to worry.

I can't see why; if our primary friendly neighborhood banker is Communist China, what could possibly go wrong?

Marco Rubio makes his argument for cutting the spending of the Federal Government; myself, I'm not so worried.

Because if the United States doesn't voluntarily cut its spending, our lenders will gently and compassionately and with the best interests of all Americans find a way to help us cut our spending.

And besides, if there's a lot more regulation coming out of Washington, and a lot of additional taxes, the only people who could possibly benefit are...Bankruptcy Lawyers!

Robert Frank has written a remarkable article in the Wall Street Journal. 

He points out that a state like California, which has a strongly progressive tax rate, received almost half its tax revenues from the top 1% of earners in that lovely state.

Why?

Well, because they had the money, and it seemed like a good idea at the time.

And nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition, and nobody expects a Depression, either.

Turns out that during a Depression, the top 1% of money earners take a bigger and more brutal hit than ordinary Joes. By the way, I've never been fond of that term.

But what happens when a state is funded to a very large extent by people making a lot of money, and those people stop making a lot of money?

Yeah, that's right.

Here's what surprised me about the article: I didn't realize that folks in the top 1% of income earners in the population had such volatile situations.

But it makes sense; when economic conditions worsen, a business owner may decide to let the expensive employees go. And a small business owner may make a lot of money during the good times, but it's hard to run a small business during a good time, and when times are bad, it's much harder.

Long story short: states with flat taxes have less volatile cash flow issues during hard economic times.

Secondary take-away lesson: the depression hits the Big Dogs and the Chihuahuas among us.

p.s. Do you suppose that any of the folks in the top tax bracket in California moved to states with lower state taxes, or no state taxes? Do you think that was bad, in the long run, for the California economy? Just sayin'!

Well, sometimes.

But you might have better odds of a successful result in Vegas.

In general, I hear the following things from my clients when they come to visit: the mortgage company lost my paperwork three times, the process took a full year before they turned me down (or approved me), and I was a success in my mortgage modification but they raised the payment by $40 dollars a month.

And even if you get the mortgage payments modified under whatever cockamamie scheme the mortgage company has cooked up, one question is what the future holds.

Since some people have predicted that home values will drop another 25% before they hit bottom (and I believe that), I don't see a lot of existing home/mortgage combos as lasting for a very long time.

Now, even if a mortgage holder walks away from a mortgage, there's some chance that they won't have to file a bankruptcy if they're protected from a deficiency and a tax consequence by some statute or another. Unless, of course, there's a second mortgage, because second mortgages don't have much of a sense of humor.

A lot of the folks who are chased into my office are chased in by a lawsuit from the formerly Friendly Mortgage Company, which is now a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Unfriendly Collection Company.

Oh, well.

Someday the depression will be over.

And someday we will have jobs again, for decent pay, here in the United States.

But not just yet.

Normally, I put bankruptcy jokes in this blog when I find them. 

But this one surprised me when I made it to the end of the joke, and I figured that if there was a penniless, homeless guy in the joke (as a plot contingency; there's nothing funny about being homeless, by the way), I could pass it off as sort of an insolvency-related joke. 


But the real story is that I thought it was a funny gag, and most folks considering bankruptcy in Arizona could use a laugh. So here it is:

                                                                                                                                                       A Homeless Man's Funeral

As a bagpiper, I play many gigs. Recently I was asked by a funeral director
to play at a graveside service for a homeless man.  He had no family or
friends, so the service was to be at a pauper's cemetery in the  Kentucky back country.

As I was not familiar with the backwoods, I got lost and, being a typical
man, I didn't stop for directions.

I finally arrived an hour late and saw the funeral guy had evidently gone
and the hearse was nowhere in sight.  There were only the diggers and crew
left and they were eating lunch.

I felt badly and apologized to the men for being late. I went to the side of
the grave and looked down and the vault lid was already in place. I didn't know what else to do, so I started to play.

The workers put down their lunches and began to gather around. I played out
my heart and soul for this man with no family and friends.
I played like I've never played before for this homeless man.

And as I played 'Amazing Grace,' the workers began to weep. They wept, I
wept, we all wept together. When I finished I packed up my bagpipes and
started for my car. Though my head hung low, my heart was full.

As I opened the door to my car, I heard one of the workers say, "I never
seen nothin' like that before and I've been putting in septic tanks for
twenty years."

Well, I can. But I won't!

Because in virtually all bankruptcy cases in Arizona, there's no reason in the world to reaffirm on an unsecured debt.

"But I owe the money to Mom, my Doctor, my Priest, my Pusher, my Guru, my Chiro....."

Great!

List them on your bankruptcy schedules, as you must.

Then, after you get your bankruptcy discharge, send them money as your conscience requires.

But it's clearly not in your best interests to reaffirm on an unsecured debt, unless it's to Vinnie the Kneecapper. And he'll walk right through that automatic stay and put you in intensive care anyway, so the same rule applies, right?

Is there ever a reason to reaffirm on an unsecured debt?

Maybe.

For instance, if you intentionally and with a sense of humor ran up $25,000 in credit card debt the day before you filed a bankruptcy, and the credit card company filed a Complaint to Determine Dischargeability of Debt, maybe the only way to keep you sort of intact is going to be to stipulate to the reaffirmation of that unsecured debt.

But you wouldn't do that, would you?

I didn't think so.

Let's give this only a moment of thought.

In an ordinary year, the United States will see about 100,000 mortgage foreclosures and trustee's sales.

Last year, we saw more than a million, and this year we're on track for about 1.4 million.

That means we'll see a bunch of houses owned by banks, and a bunch of empty houses, and a bunch of people who can't buy a new house for a couple of years because they filed a bankruptcy.

So are prices of houses going to drop? Uh, yeah.

And how about new home sales?

Well, why would you buy a new home, assuming that you can buy a foreclosed-upon house for far less? Or pick up a short-sale for a lot less?

So this associated press article in Bloomberg is certainly accurate; we will see houses selling for less for a long time.

And remember: we haven't even seen the start of the commercial real estate disaster, which will show up as well.

What effect will that have on bankruptcy cases in Arizona, whether they're in Scottsdale, Phoenix, Mesa or Chandler?

Well, that will mean that the overwhelming majority of houses listed as homesteads in bankruptcy cases in Arizona will have no "excess equity" for the estate, and therefore will be of no interest to the Bankruptcy Trustee appointed in the Chapter 7 Case.

It also means that there will be few houses that need a special finesse: when house prices were rising like helium-filled balloons, smart bankruptcy lawyers in Arizona who represented a debtor with a house with nearly 150,000 dollars in equity would file to have the house abandoned from the bankruptcy estate. Or $125,000, if the federal homestead "cap" applied.

And that way, if the house went up in value, as houses did for an extended period all over Arizona, the increase in equity would belong to the debtor, not the bankruptcy estate.

Understand that filing to have a house abandoned from the estate is not a standard action for a debtor in a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy in Arizona. Normally, an abandonment pleading comes from a bankruptcy trustee, who wants to avoid being burdened with an asset that's worthless to the bankruptcy estate.

p.s. Oh, yeah. The Associated Press article I linked above points out that the stock of home-builder corporations has been dropping like a rock; to which I can only say, do you think?

 

There's a nice MarketWatch article by Johnathan Burton, and it discusses the easiest, most predictable way to become a millionare.

Of course, it works best if you start when you're 25, because then your temporal lever is the longest you can make it.

On the other hand, if somebody has hair that's the correct color, there's a 50/50 chance that their earning potential is at it's highest; there's also a 50/50 chance that they have a walker and an oxygen bottle, but that's a story for a different blog.

And the other issue that can postpone saving at any point in a lifetime is excess debt, especially unsecured debt.

And that's why I suggest that people who are contemplating bankruptcy in Arizona and are unable to make up their mind go track down a free, online, credit card payoff calculator to see how long it will take to pay off the debts at your current rate.

I just talked to a very intelligent young man of about 25; he and his wife had two very young kids, and both work long, hard hours.

And why do I say he's intelligent? Well, he'd already used a credit card payoff calculator to figure out that at their current rate, it will be 20 years until they can pay off their credit card debt. And at the interest rate that they're charging, will cost a total of...a fortune!

So he wanted to talk to an AZ Bankruptcy Attorney to understand his options; fortunately, he'd also looked at a bunch of my bankruptcy videos, so he already understood most of the process pretty well.

I really like smart clients!

 

There's a nice article in the Wall Street Journal about new proposed mortgage lending rules.

Do you think they'll do any good?

I don't.

I'm old enough (my hair is finally the right color, you know?) that I've now seen it all, twice.

Once I saw land prices in Arizona drop into the basement when the tax laws in the United States were changed without a grandfather clause; a few decades ago.

One of the stupidest things Washington ever did, and the effects were interesting.

Aside from sending a lot of business to Arizona Bankruptcy Attorneys, one side-effect was that bankers all became incompetent and dishonest overnight, because Congress couldn't accept the fact the it had caused that real-estate disaster by fiddling with the tax laws in monumentally stupid ways.

And a roving gang of prosecutors scoured the country for bankers who were in failed banks, which failed because of the tax changes, so they could prosecute 'em and thereby get some poster children for the premise that it wasn't the fault of the tax law changes. 

That last bit, the business with the random criminal prosecutions of bankers (who were among the most conservative and honest citizens you could ever meet) meant that for years and years and years, lending in the United States was very, very careful.

And then somebody who was new on the job got a promotion for loosey-goosey lending, and a new cycle began.

When somebody builds an economic system without risk, it will also be an economic system without reward.

It will look a lot like Moscow used to look.

And I kinda like the idea that here in the United States we have choices when we go to the store.

 

A lot of people who filed bankruptcy cases over the last five years in Arizona were previously business owners.

They owned mortgage companies, they owned construction companies, they owned restaurants, and they owned hotels.

And when a depression hits, people don't spend money on anything upon which they can defer spending.

Do I think that medical marijuana dispensaries will make money for people who previously ran businesses?

Well, it'll make money for somebody.

But the first folks in Arizona to set up shop selling medical marijuana will be pioneers.

Do you know how you can tell a pioneer?

They're lying face down with arrows in their back!

But seriously, folks, being at the forefront of any sort of business is as risky as possible.

And remember, it's not as though the new mostly-legal marijuana products will be selling at the lowest possible price; those prices will be charged by the currently existing marijuana suppliers.

The unlicensed providers, you know?

Reaffirmations are probably the single most confusing area in consumer bankruptcy law; and that's because the best technique for the debtor, if the debtor wants to keep a car that has a lien, is to check the box in your schedules that says you want to reaffirm, sign the reaffirmation agreement, and ship it back to the lender, and then the debtor appears in Court and hopes that the Judge DOES NOT approve the reaffirmation agreement.

Note that if the debtor's attorney signs the reaffirmation agreement, the Bankruptcy Judge will usually approve the reaffirmation without a hearing, and then if the debtor hits a rough patch and can't pay, the finance company will repossess the car and bang the debtor for a deficiency judgment, which will become a judgment lien on their house if they have one, and permit the creditor to garnish their wages when they have them.

And that's why consumer debtor attorneys who like their clients don't sign off on their automobile reaffirmation agreements. 

On the other hand, if the Judge does not approve the reaffirmation agreement, and the debtor subsequently defaults, there will be no deficiency judgment after a repossession.

In general, going through the motions of a reaffirmation agreement which is not approved by the Court gives you a result just like the pre-2005 "ridethrough". Nolo's Bankruptcy & Foreclosure Blog discusses the issues, and so do I in several previous posts.

And most of the Bankruptcy Judges in Arizona tend to simply vacate the reaffirmation hearings, so you can keep the car without being liable if you ultimately lose your job and are unable to make payments. 

And when I realized that was what was going on, I wrote an article about reaffirmations in Arizona that discussed the "unexpected compassion".

Now, being a Bankruptcy Judge gives you vast discretion, and any of the Judges in Arizona can decide to do anything with a reaffirmation agreement that he or she wants to do.

So results may vary.

If you don't care in the slightest whether you'll be subject to a deficiency judgment if you have bad luck in the future, go ahead and tell your lawyer to sign off on the reaffirmation agreement; it'll save you a trip to Court. So you'll gain a little in convenience.

And by saving that trip to the Court, you'll be risking a deficiency judgment in the future.

p.s. I also wrote about this in my other, other, other bankruptcy blog!

p.p.s. Watch this video by experienced Arizona Bankruptcy Judge Eileen Hollowell. Do you get the idea that she likes approving reaffirmation agreements?

p.p.p.s. There is a slightly different approach to pro se  reaffirmations taken by all of the Arizona Bankruptcy Judges. Some vacate, some have forms, some have forms followed by hearings. I'm going to see about scanning the form used by Bankruptcy Judge Curley and Bankruptcy Judge Haines and posting that here, and I am also going to get a transcript of the educational address that is made by Judge Nielsen before he determines whether a reaffirmation is a hardship. In fact, I'll plug the precise discussions of each of the U.S. Bankruptcy Judges prior to reaffirmation hearings here, or on my other, other Arizona Bankruptcy Blog as soon as I get a...Round Tuit!

Harry and David, which sells gift baskets of fruits and nuts, will be filing a Chapter 11.

Gifting suffers during a Depression.

Okay, there's been a discussion of the reasons that businesses aren't hiring in Arizona on KTAR. And uncertainty caused by government regulation is high on that list, which doesn't surprise me much.

What may surprise you is that when a Tsunami of new jobs hits Arizona, which will happen in two to six years, there will be a corresponding increase in the number of consumer bankruptcy filings.

Why, you ask?

And I admit that it's counter-intuitive if you aren't an experienced bankruptcy lawyer in Arizona.

But here's the skivvy: people do not, as a general rule, file a bankruptcy when they lose a job. They file when they find a job.

This was true before the BARF Act, and I learned it from Chief Judge Caldwell when we were discussing the copper towns that had just shut down; I said we'd have a lot of bankruptcy from those. He said that we'd have a lot of bankruptcy cases, but not until the copper mines opened up again.

Because then they had something to lose.

And besides, when somebody loses a great job, it will probably be a few months before they pass the Means Test!

Well, no.

We don't have a salesman. I'm not just old, I'm old-fashioned. And I don't think a salesman has any place in a law office.

I know perfectly well that the large bankruptcy mills and the small offshoots of the largest bankruptcy mills all use salesmen, and until the salesman works to "close" you, you don't get to talk to a bankruptcy attorney.

In some law firms, the pressure on a potential client to make a decision today is astonishing, and a lot of folks are simply not prepared for the range of closing techniques that the sales guy is willing to use on them, including taking their driver's license and debit card on some fake premise and not giving it back until you sign the retainer agreement.

I didn't believe that could happen at a law office. Until I heard the same story the third time from a refugee who had escaped from The Bankruptcy Mill of Doom (da-da-da-dummmmmmmmm!).

Here's where it gets complicated: a bankruptcy lawyer has to look at the totality of the circumstances presented by the potential bankruptcy client.

And if the case shouldn't be a bankruptcy case, he needs to tell the clients exactly that, even if the firm loses a fee because of it.

And I am delighted to send a potential client out the door if bankruptcy is the wrong decision for them because, frankly, I have plenty of folks banging on the doors because I'm been a bankruptcy attorney in Arizona for a very long time, and now it's almost like Ghostbusters: "Who Ya Gonna Call?"

And do I really turn clients away if they ought not file? Well, yeah!

Sometimes there are collateral costs of filing bankruptcy that make the process a bad business decision. Recently I turned away a lovely couple who wanted me to file a bankruptcy for them because I could have gotten them to pass the Means Test notwithstanding their high income, but they only had about 25% as much unsecured debt as their yearly income.

I could still have filed for them, of course, if there were special circumstances, but the balance tipping fact for me was discovering that they had a substantial personal injury cause of action which they would have lost if they had filed.

So I discussed ways to negotiate their debt down, noting that they needed to consult their CPA about probable tax forgiveness consequences, and pointed out that they might be able to benefit from a short sale, or even a walkaway, because they only had the one mortgage on their principal residence, and the Arizona Anti-Deficiency Statute might well protect them.

Lovely people; but the first thing about being a lawyer is remembering to think like a doctor, who in the Hippocratic Oath swears first, to do no harm.
And I found a pretty version of the Hippocratic Oath on Wikipedia, so enjoy! 

  

I get a kick out of it when I see any politicians spin things, and spinning is apparently what all politicians do.

Today I was just laughing; if private businesses operated according to the same standards that political entities do, we'd all be starving.

A private business can't say, "GREAT Year! We only lost $59,000,000!"

And that's because the banks and investors for the business would pull the plug in a heartbeat, because they can operate a pocket calculator.

Same thing with ordinary people; if a family said that it had a great year because it only spent twenty million more than it took in...well, they'd need an Arizona Bankruptcy Lawyer, right?


  

You have to wonder about a bunch of evil creditors who'd take away a guy's last Super Bowl Ring, just because he defaulted on a loan and filed a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy. But such brutal lenders exist.

And I was at first inclined to say that they were too intense in their collection efforts against Charlie Bach, but then I read somewhere that Super Bowl Rings were worth twenty thousand dollars or more!

Then I read an article suggesting that Super Bowl Rings were worth more like five thousand dollars, and it was a very well informed article.

But that was a different design of Super Bowl Ring, apparently. Which still leaves me a little confused about their actual value.

And I find my humor where I can these days, because the United States is still in a depression. But for some reason I find it ironic that it's easier to get a good value on a Beanie Baby Collection than a diamond wedding ring or a Super Bowl Ring.

Bear in mind that a Super Bowl Ring is not exempt in Arizona, but even if it there were an Arizona Exemption Statute for Super Bowl Rings, it would still be lost to Charlie; an exemption does not protect property against a properly perfected security interest.

Now, you may wonder what a Super Bowl Ring looks like. I certainly did, after all the excitement about them. So here's a picture of a Super Bowl Ring; actually, it's a picture of TWENTY-SEVEN Super Bowl Rings, and according to The Boston Globe, they were stolen. I'm left with this question: who would buy 'em?


(Saugus Police Department Photo)

  

The 2005 Amendments to the Bankruptcy Code were a pain in the tuckus. And everyplace else, by the way.

Today's bankruptcy topic is very, very simple: what's the easiest way to go through all the pain of assembling information, filing a bankruptcy case, attending the first meeting of creditors, and then NOT getting a discharge?

Well, that would be failing to take your mandatory second waste-of-time consumer education class.

The statute that makes it mandatory shows up as an amendment to 11 USC 727, and says in relevant part that the Court shall grant you a discharge unless:

(11) after filing the petition, the debtor failed to complete an instructional course concerning personal financial management described in section 111, except that this paragraph shall not apply with respect to a debtor who is a person described in section 109 (h)(4) or who resides in a district for which the United States trustee (or the bankruptcy administrator, if any) determines that the approved instructional courses are not adequate to service the additional individuals who would otherwise be required to complete such instructional courses under this section (The United States trustee (or the bankruptcy administrator, if any) who makes a determination described in this paragraph shall review such determination not later than 1 year after the date of such determination, and not less frequently than annually thereafter.);

  

A bank recently sent one of my prospective clients something kinky.

A lien release, and forgiveness of the debt.

Roughly a hundred thousand dollars in debt on a second mortgage.

It was a second mortgage which was completely underwater, and the client is going to be filing a bankruptcy in any case, because of a lot of additional unsecured debt.

But she was unsettled by the Bank's remarkably generous gesture, because she knew that the bank wasn't in the Santa Claus business.

And this is the first of these that crossing my desk.

I wonder if it's the beginning of a trend.


  

Don't you wish you could get a 500 million dollar loan by asking nicely?

In a large Chapter 11 Case, the Debtor and Debtor-in-Possession have to play "Mother May I" to get almost anything done at first.

In fact, there are seminars for lawyers on subjects as narrow and specific as "First Day Orders" in a Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Case.

And as you can tell from this article in Bloomberg, some days in Bankruptcy Court are not as brutal as others.

On the other hand, in Bankruptcy Court, as in life, some days you're the windshield.

And some days you're the bug.


  

There's a construction company called MyddletonParker Builders LLC which just recently filed bankruptcy; you know it because of the pretty house remodel done on the television show "Extreme Makeover."

According to one news article, there are personal bankruptcy filings involved, which doesn't surprise me a bit.

Most folks who run a small business need to file a personal bankruptcy when the business files, because of the personal guarantees of the business debt.

 

This week is interesting; most of my readers are going for the oldies and goodies.

And that's a good thing, because the most valuable fundamental bankruptcy information is probably here:

Ten Top Arizona Bankruptcy Information Posts!

• Your Top Ten Bankruptcy Questions, Answered!

  There are some questions that come up with great frequency. I've posted blog entries to address some of those, and the most frequently asked...
• Bankruptcy Arizona: How Do I Fill Out the Bankruptcy Schedules, Bankruptcy Statements, and Bankruptcy Lists: How Do I Fill Out the Forms?

  This is designed to help my clients fill information into their forms. This is not legal advice for somebody in New York, or anybody else, b...
• Hey, Give Heidi a Break, Okay? Itemize your Furniture!

  Here's the deal: when you fill out your forms online in our computerized system, there will come a point when you are finished, and you will...
• "So How Long is this Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Going to Take, Anyway?"

  Well, that depends. First, you have to sort of understand the process, and fill out the forms, and go over the forms to make sure they're ...
• Play 20 Questions with a Bankruptcy Lawyer!

  I built a list a lot like this 30 years ago, so when I came back from a gigantic lunch I wouldn't forget to ask about important stuff. See...
• What happens in a First Meeting of Creditors in a Consumer Chapter 7 Bankruptcy in the District of Arizona Bankruptcy Court?

  The first meeting of creditors may be the only hearing in a Consumer Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Case. Here's a video that explains it, and after ...
• How Will I Pay for a Bankruptcy if I'm Broke? How Much Will My Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Cost?

  There's an old joke among lawyers: a bankruptcy attorney walks into a cocktail party, and the divorce lawyer asks, "How does a bankruptcy la...
• I Swiped a Post from a New Blog I'm Building to Help My Small Business Clients AVOID Bankruptcy!

  This is a post from a new blog I've started. It has one purpose in mind: it's designed to help folks who have small businesses bring in more...
• A Timeline for Your Bankruptcy Case; Usual Sequence of Events in A Chapter 7 Bankruptcy in Arizona

  Prior to your bankruptcy, suffer and worry a lot. You will, no matter what, and all that suffering will make you feel better when the overwh...
  
  
  

Some days we get a few calls and emails from people who are considering filing a bankruptcy in Arizona.

Some days we get a lot of calls.

Some days my poor phone guy is hanging on by his fingernails, trying desperately to get to all the folks who called to talk to a Phoenix, AZ Bankruptcy Attorney.

Today is one of those days when the phone never stops ringing with potential debtors on the line, needing help filing their bankruptcy in Arizona. 

And I'd heard that the moon was going to be very close to the earth soon, and I thought that maybe that was the reason for the deluge of bankruptcy calls.

And then I heard the real reason: it's Spring Break!

I would have expected that they'd party more, but apparently both teachers and students are getting their bankruptcy planning out of the way!

And, of course, we are happy to help them.

The economy of Ireland is near bankruptcy, so the number of good-will ambassadors traveling around the world to promote Ireland on St. Patrick's Day has been curtailed. Ireland is, as always, drenched in rain, but more drenched in debt, leading to a modern diaspora for the Irish seeking jobs.

What could be good about this?

Nothing.

But on the other hand, a large part of our national character in the United States was born during the potato famine in Ireland (also known as "the starvation", because food was being grown and exported from Ireland during the famine; it just wasn't being eaten by the Irish themselves!).

And immigration from Ireland gave us lots of bodies on both sides during our American Civil War, and the Irish have always been good soldiers. And cops.

And a few, of course, became bankruptcy attorneys in Phoenix as well.

And I would be remiss if I didn't remind you of a wonderful book, written by a brilliant author, on this St. Paddy's Day: How the Irish Saved Civilization, by Thomas Cahill. Foine, foine book!

Happy Saint Patrick's Day to you all, and may your bankruptcy be a happy one!

Everybody gets it that a Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Trustee in Arizona works for the life of the case; he supports or objects to the confirmation of the Chapter 13 Plan, he reviews the terms of the plan to determine whether it meets the requirements of the Code, and monitors the payments during the (usually) five years of the Plan.

A smart client of mine recently asked me what a Chapter 7 Trustee does during the four or five years that the case is open for administrative purposes, and how much involvement the debtor would have in the Chapter 7 during that period of time.

And I thought that was a pretty good question!

Here's the answer: it's almost like a probate case. First the bankruptcy estate comes into existence pursuant to 11 USC 541, and simultaneously the automatic stay comes into existence pursuant to 11 USC 362, to protect both the debtor and the estate, so that neither property of the estate or the debtor is dismembered in the creditor's race of diligence.

And the trustee will review the file and decide whether the case is a "no-asset" case or an asset case, which will determine whether the case gets administered or stamped "no asset" and tossed on the huge pile of no-asset cases.

And if there are assets, the Chapter 7 Trustee will typically hire a lawyer to help, and they will see that notices go out to creditors to file Proofs of Claim by a bar date.

Then they "work the claims", which simply means that they object to the claims that appear goofy, and don't object to the claims that appear legit.

That starts what amounts to a bundle of little (or big) lawsuits in the Bankruptcy Court, as the Trustee's Lawyer and the Creditor's Lawyer go toe to toe in front of the Judge to determine whether the claim will be allowed.

More likely a deal will be cut and some smaller amount than the face amount on the Proof of Claim will be allowed for purposes of distribution out of the estate.

In addition, the trustee will file suits to collect preferences or fraudulent transfers, and to increase the size of the estate and the distribution to creditors by that means.

Eventually, when all the dust has settled in four or five years, the distributions get made, and a final report!

The Honolulu Symphony Orchestra is the oldest symphony orchestra west of the Rocky Mountains.

And that's sort of a big deal.

The cultural heritage that we own, as part of our inheritance from Western Europe, is a wonderful thing. Whether it's a reminder that the Irish saved civilization, or the way that Italy produced the most beautiful paintings that the world has ever seen. In two successive waves! Or even the democratic principles that Athens and its Golden Age gave the world. 

Our cultural heritage is a wonderful thing.

But not always a profitable thing.

I understand that a depression hits everybody pretty hard.

Everybody who runs any sort of business gets hurt. I know that because of the doctors and lawyers and CPAs and restaurants that drop in for a chat because they're contemplating a bankruptcy (and yes, I am a bankruptcy lawyer in Phoenix, Arizona, for these long thirty years).

In general, businesses get hurt the worst during a depression if they have goods or services such that their purchase can be delayed, or deferred, or eliminated from a budget.

So if you have a shop that repairs motors when they stop turning over, you might be hurt less by the depression than somebody who paints pretty pictures on vehicles, because making a vehicle run in Arizona is just plain necessary, and immediate; making a vehicle pretty, not so much.

And even serious classical music lovers can put off going to the symphony when they are concentrating on watching their business do a "Titanic" imitation.

So I was saddened, but not surprised, to read that the Honolulu Symphony Orchestra had converted its Chapter 11 Bankruptcy to a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy. 

And I hope that the civic groups trying to breathe life into that Orchestra have the luck of the Irish! 

And heeeeeeeeeere they are! Enjoy!

• Your Top Ten Bankruptcy Questions, Answered!

  There are some questions that come up with great frequency. I've posted blog entries to address some of those, and the most frequently asked...
• Bankruptcy Arizona: How Do I Fill Out the Bankruptcy Schedules, Bankruptcy Statements, and Bankruptcy Lists: How Do I Fill Out the Forms?

  This is designed to help my clients fill information into their forms. This is not legal advice for somebody in New York, or anybody else, b...
• Hey, Give Heidi a Break, Okay? Itemize your Furniture!

  Here's the deal: when you fill out your forms online in our computerized system, there will come a point when you are finished, and you will...
• "So How Long is this Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Going to Take, Anyway?"

  Well, that depends. First, you have to sort of understand the process, and fill out the forms, and go over the forms to make sure they're ...
• Play 20 Questions with a Bankruptcy Lawyer!

  I built a list a lot like this 30 years ago, so when I came back from a gigantic lunch I wouldn't forget to ask about important stuff. See...
• What happens in a First Meeting of Creditors in a Consumer Chapter 7 Bankruptcy in the District of Arizona Bankruptcy Court?

  The first meeting of creditors may be the only hearing in a Consumer Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Case. Here's a video that explains it, and after ...
• I Swiped a Post from a New Blog I'm Building to Help My Small Business Clients AVOID Bankruptcy!

  This is a post from a new blog I've started. It has one purpose in mind: it's designed to help folks who have small businesses bring in more...
• How Will I Pay for a Bankruptcy if I'm Broke? How Much Will My Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Cost?

  There's an old joke among lawyers: a bankruptcy attorney walks into a cocktail party, and the divorce lawyer asks, "How does a bankruptcy la...
• A Timeline for Your Bankruptcy Case; Usual Sequence of Events in A Chapter 7 Bankruptcy in Arizona

  Prior to your bankruptcy, suffer and worry a lot. You will, no matter what, and all that suffering will make you feel better when the overwh...
  
  
    

Chapter 11 cases are the glamor pusses of the bankruptcy world.

Here's the ugly news: they often fail.

They often fail prior to confirmation, and then a lot of 'em fail after confirmation.

For instance, if you wanted to go to Christy's Pub for St. Patrick's, you will be sadly disappointed.

That doesn't mean that a Chapter 11 isn't useful, sometimes, but they sure are expensive. And there is no certainty of a great result.


  

I've been talking to a lot of folks recently who I've seen before.

Previously, they'd considered bankruptcy, or contemplated bankruptcy, or planned to file bankruptcy, or thought about bankruptcy.

And now they've reached threshold. They've suffered enough.

So now they're filing bankruptcy!

I don't know whether it's a phase of the moon, or one of my new Arizona Bankruptcy Blogs, or another new Arizona Bankruptcy Blog; maybe the original, maybe extra-crispy, but whatever it is, I'm seeing a lot of old friends who are now new clients.

I'm also seeing increasing numbers of people who are the subjects of bad actions by mortgage companies and banks, and generally they simply want to get on with their lives.

But more and more, I get to see people who thought they had a deal with banks to extend out the date of the trustee sales, and amazingly, the bank forgot! So the sale happens, and the bank says, Oooops!

But the bank doesn't generally volunteer to put things back the way they were.

It will be interesting to watch the Tsunami. Not the one that got Japan and Northern California last night, but the Tsunami of lawsuits against the banks that keep doing bad things to mortgage holders who are trying desperately to get mortgage modifications.

On the other hand, when the banks wanted to make bankruptcy a colder, more complex, more dangerous and more expensive proposition, they knew how to do it.

They talked to Congress.

And I've heard that money talks.


  

No, you absotively do not have to list all your assets!

Nosiree!

Of course, the consequences will involve pajamas. With stripes.

p.s. this is called irony, and sometimes it's call "I'm a smart alec."

OF COURSE, YOU HAVE TO LIST ALL YOUR ASSETS!

AND DO NOT ASK THE QUESTION, "HOW WILL THEY KNOW I HAVE THIS ASSET?"

It leads you to unproductive thought patterns.


  

The Arizona Homestead Exemption is a useful exemption for pre-bankruptcy planning in Arizona.

But you have to qualify for the exemption before pre-bankruptcy planning even becomes an issue, right?

So that means you have to qualify for the use of the Arizona Bankruptcy Exemptions, right?

So you'll want to read this article by the Arizona State Senate about the homestead law in Az.That article is useful because it discusses the federal "cap" on state homestead laws, which applies sometimes in Arizona; and sometimes doesn't.

And you'll want to read the text of the statute that provides for the existence of the homestead in Arizona, yes?

Hint: that statute is ARS 33-1101. There are related statutes right around it that you should also study, of course, because nothing is ever simple in bankruptcy law in Arizona.

It's an interesting exemption statute, because it tries to neutralize the line of cases discussing the ability to "double-dip" exemptions under 11 USC 522 (m); the other exemptions in Arizona are two to a couple, one to a singleton, but the Arizona Homestead Exemption is one to a customer, whether single or coupled!

Now, the case law says that exemptions shall be liberally construed in favor of the debtor; but you shouldn't count on that; color inside the lines of the homestead exemption, because it's too painful if you don't. 

How will the Trustee in your bankruptcy case in Arizona value your homestead? Well, a lot of 'em use Zillow.com, because it's FREE!


 

This is a nice, impassioned article about the rotten, illegal, unethical and fattening practices in mortgage modification these days.

I like it when other people let their blood pressure go up, so I don't have to!

I see a lot of mortgage foreclosures these days, because a lot of folks realize that their houses are no longer homes: they're just vacuum cleaners for their wallets.

And they also realize that their homes are no longer good retirement plans, because they'll be in their graves before there's equity in their houses.

Sometimes they just walk away, hoping that an anti-deficiency statute may protect them from a deficiency judgment. Or they try to short-sell their house. But a short-sale is ultimately going to be under the control of the mortgage holders, and often, the second-mortgage holder won't agree to forgo chasing the homeowner for a deficiency.

And that's where I come in.

I'm a bankruptcy lawyer in Arizona.

There's an investigation ongoing into the Unemployed Need Not Apply notations.

How long do you think it will take until that bears fruit?

I figure that if no action is taken on that issue for another two to six years, unemployment won't be a problem anymore!


 

Okay, Wall Street reacts badly to oil news.

And this is surprising in what way?

Now, here's the shocker: we'll have more bankruptcy in Phoenix, and Mesa, and Tempe, and Chandler Gilbert because of gas prices.

And that's for two different reasons, of course. For one thing, insolvency flows downhill; when you have to pay more for gas, you pay less at restaurants. Which means higher gas prices mean more restaurant bankruptcy filings.

Second, when you're up against the wall with your credit cards, and you have a choice between filling the tank and making a current payment on your credit cards online, you tend to fill the tank because you need to get to work, so you can buy future groceries and fill the tank.

And when you fill the tank, and you're one minute late making the online credit card payments, your interest rate goes up from 8% to 35%.

Honestly, it's as though stupid credit card companies were pushing people into filing bankruptcy cases in Arizona.

Should I send the credit card companies a case of Scotch? Maybe a box of cigars?

After all, I don't want to seem ungrateful for all the clients they send me, because I'm an Arizona Bankruptcy Attorney. 

p.s. Arizona is really full of wide open spaces, and it's somewhere between impossible and out of the question to try to live here without a car; Arizona is not Manhattan.

You heard it here first.

p.p.s. If you're a legislator, listen up: the automobile exemption in Arizona has not kept pace with inflation; raise it!

p.p.p.s. Actually, you need to raise the limits on the complete list of bankruptcy exemptions in Arizona!

At this time of year, people may be getting a tax refund, which is a good thing if you owe a lot of debt.

On the other hand, if you owe a lot of debt, you may be considering filing a bankruptcy sometime soon.

When you contemplate a bankruptcy filing, a lot of questions may well pass through your mind, including what do I get to keep, and what debts will be discharged, and how do I fill out the bankruptcy forms, and what happens at a first meeting of creditors?

Many people forget this question: what happens to my tax refund if I have not received it and spent it on food and mortgage or rent and medicine and legal fees prior to filing my bankruptcy?

In this little educational bankruptcy video, I talk about that, and I also make reference to the "secret bankruptcy exemption", which is almost like a mini-wild-card exemption in Arizona; the secret is simple economics.

It costs a bankruptcy trustee something to administer a case, and if the total amount of non-exempt assets in the case appears to be less than about eight hundred or a thousand dollars, there's a good chance that the trustee will stamp the file "no asset", and move on to the next.

Here's the video:

Back in the good old days, the patrician English settlers on the East Coast of our fair land didn't much like the invasion of the Irish, because they were dirty, dishonest, lazy, diseased, and drunken.

Well, at least they had us pegged correctly, right?

Now there is a simply crazy new trend showing up: if you're unemployed, don't bother asking for a job.

Do I get that? Absolutely not.

After all, it's not as though they're...Irish!


 

When I was a kid, we heard in school that after a nuclear war, we could be sure of one thing: the cockroaches would survive. And that's because no matter whether the weather is very hot, or full of sulfur, or full of germs, or full of kryptonite, cockroaches can take a beating and keep on eating.

Now, a properly perfected lien is about as persistent as a cockroach, except in the incorporeal sphere of bankruptcy law in Arizona.

So what is a lien? Well, it's simply a constitutionally-protected property right owned by a creditor in a specific piece of collateral. For instance, if it's not paid in full on the date of filing, the bank will have a lien on your car.

And there are other liens; a mortgage on your house, for instance, survives the bankruptcy discharge.

So what good is a bankruptcy discharge if it doesn't get rid of liens?

Plenty good!

A bankruptcy discharge scrapes off your personal liability for debts, so that after the discharge the creditor can't sue you, or garnish you, in connection with a dischargeable debt.

On the other hand, after the bankruptcy discharge order has been entered, part of the automatic stay vanishes like the morning dew.

And at that point, if you haven't made peace with a secured creditor, the secured creditor can repo your car, or grab back the furniture that you bought on time, or maybe the jewelry that you purchased but didn't finish paying for at the time of the discharge.

In addition, a judgment against a debtor which was properly recorded pre-petition will survive the bankruptcy process as a judgment lien on real property; that requires special treatment if you want to sell your house without having to pay it in full after your bankruptcy.

There is a phrase sometimes used to address the issue of pre-bankruptcy planning in Arizona, and it always made me a little cranky because it was flippant, and it provided no guidelines whatsoever for an Arizona Bankruptcy Attorney trying to make decisions about a bankruptcy in Phoenix, or Chandler, or Mesa, or Gilbert, or anyplace else in Arizona.

The bad phrase?

"Pigs get fat, and hogs get slaughtered."

That would seem to suggest that the amounts of non-exempt property being converted into exempt property is the single most important guideline for the propriety of pre-bankruptcy planning.

And that would be wrong, insolvency breath!

The critical element in most of the better written cases, like In re Crater, is subjective intent.

That is, did the debtor who sold the non-exempt vehicle and used the $40,000 in proceeds to pay down her mortgage have bad intent (to delay, hinder OR defraud the creditor), or did the debtor have good intent (a desire to care for her children by assuring that they would have a roof over their heads).

You wouldn't think that there would be any real issues in this area, because the legislative history to 11 USC 522 of the Bankruptcy Code was very clear:

As under current law, the debtor will be permitted to convert nonexempt property into exempt property before filing of the bankruptcy petition. This practice is not fraudulent as to creditors, and permits the debtor to make full use of the exemptions to which he is entitled under the law. (Emphasis in original).
H.R. REP. 95-595, at 361 (1977), reprinted in, 1978 U.S.C.C.A.N. 5963, 6317; S. REP. No. 95-989 at 76 (1978), reprinted in 1978 U.S.C.C.A.N. 5787, 5862

But the minds of cranky creditors are nothing if not creative, and so many cases have arisen on this point.

And a lot of the bad case law on this issue came from jurisdictions that had "no upper limit" exemptions, and I can see why a Judge might not want to reward a debtor who had shoved five million dollars into a homestead in, say, Texas.

But this isn't Texas; this is Arizona.

And the Arizona Homestead Exemption is $150,000, unless it's subject to the Federal Exemption Cap, which is a topic for a different day.

And I've discussed this issue in my new Arizona Chapter 7 Blog, with a few more citations to authority!


 

I wonder why the IRS believes that people can live on these amounts while they try to raise a family.

This week, these are the posts which have gotten the most attention; and while there are some oldies but goodies, there are some new winners this week!

• The Arizona Bankruptcy Exemptions, Assembled by the Bankruptcy Court for the District of Arizona

  Has anybody else tried to post a pdf on a blog, whether it's an Arizona Bankruptcy Blog, or anyplace else? For a simple back-country Arizon...
• Bankruptcy Arizona: How Do I Fill Out the Bankruptcy Schedules, Bankruptcy Statements, and Bankruptcy Lists: How Do I Fill Out the Forms?

  This is designed to help my clients fill information into their forms. This is not legal advice for somebody in New York, or anybody else, b...
• Bankruptcy News That Matters: Updated Means Test Numbers

  New means test numbers have been released. Read about it here!
• Hey, Give Heidi a Break, Okay? Itemize your Furniture!

  Here's the deal: when you fill out your forms online in our computerized system, there will come a point when you are finished, and you will...
• Banks Get Beat On for a Change! Wells Fargo and Bank of America Report Fines, Lawsuits

  Willie Sutton was said to have been asked why he robbed banks, and his answer was "That's where the money is!" Maybe true, maybe not, but e...
• Nicolina Kovacevic Speaks About Bankruptcy

  Nicolina Kovacevic, my brilliant bankruptcy lawyer associate, talks about bankruptcy, and she's always worth a listen. Even if she's semi-te...
• Nancy Rapoport Has Bankruptcy Jokes!

  You already know that I love Nancy Rapoport's Blog. Now I love it even more, because it has a list of jokes, including a few bankruptcy jok...
• More Bankruptcy, Because Oil Prices Higher; Crude Hits 21/2 Year High

  I like being right, except when I hate being right. My previous post about oil continuing up, with occasional dips to make people bored so ...
• It's ALIVE!!!!!!

  You've all seen that old Frankenstein Movie Scene, where the Mad Scientist gets to say, "It's Alive!!!" Well, that's kind of the way I fee...
• A Timeline for Your Bankruptcy Case; Usual Sequence of Events in A Chapter 7 Bankruptcy in Arizona

  Prior to your bankruptcy, suffer and worry a lot. You will, no matter what, and all that suffering will make you feel better when the overwh...
  
  
   

Do you feel rich yet?

The Wall Street Journal has recently reported that some statistics for February show that unemployment is dropping and that some jobs, although not a lot, are being created.

I am reminded of the Great Depression: the Government announced on approximately 30 separate occasions that the Depression was over and that it was safe to go back to buying. And it was wrong, on about 29 of those occasions.

In fact, it took World War II to pull the United States out of the Great Depression, and that war found us entirely unready.

Now, will the current increase in jobs result in a reduction in bankruptcy filings in Arizona and the rest of the United States?

Probably not.

Low-paying jobs that replace high-paying jobs result in bankruptcy filings, whether they're Chapter 7 Cases, or 13s or 11s. And the reasons for that are obvious.

But what will happen next is simple, in any case; the other shoes will drop sometime soon, and people will act as though no one could possibly have anticipated that commercial real estate will tank because businesses can't afford last year's rates with this year's income.

And as inflation, initially driven by ever-increasing gasoline prices, continues into the stratosphere, we will see a continued economic meltdown.

And it doesn't need to be this way, and I wish it weren't this way, but I don't see any real light on the horizon. Until we have real and serious manufacturing in the United States again, which is what ultimately pulled us out of the Great Depression, the economy in the United States will continue to circle the drain.

And sometimes I want to be wrong, and this is one of them; but watch this space for developments. My current predictions are simple: no major improvements in the economy, more announcements that everything is better now, and a crash in commercial real estate, followed by high to hyper-inflation.

And sure, I have a worm's eye view of the economy, because I'm a bankruptcy lawyer in Phoenix, Arizona, but I don't see an improvement anytime soon.

p.s. probably the easiest short-term economic fix for the United States would be drilling for oil and digging for coal, while every other form of energy production is pursued like the Holy Grail, including nuclear power plants like those in Japan. And I'm certainly not opposed to solar or windmills or tide power, but getting those on line in a meaningful way in this lifetime is not so easy, apparently.

And the reason that starting to drill and dig is such a good idea is simple: the simple announcement of drilling and digging has the effect of dropping the prices of oil and gas, which is very, very good for people who need to drive to work. 

You've all seen that old Frankenstein Movie Scene, where the Mad Scientist gets to say, "It's Alive!!!"

Well, that's kind of the way I feel about my new bankruptcy blog!

It's built on a different platform from this blog (this is blogger, and that is movable type).

And that wouldn't have meant anything to me a year ago, either.

But I'm trying to build the new blog in a way so that it's easier to navigate; this blog has a lot of nifty information, but not everybody tells me how easy it is to find things, and even I sometimes have to try a few different search approaches to find things that I know are in this bankruptcy blog!

So enjoy the new blog; I'll keep posting here, but I'm going to build a fairly systematic explanation of Chapter 7 in my new blog, and of Chapter 13 in my new, new blog!


  

It always makes me happy when I can tell that a client has done the Bankruptcy Homework and understands that it's absolutely necessary to list all their debts, whether the debt is dischargeable, non-dischargeable, disputed, unliquidated, contingent, or from Neptune.

Recently a client of mine, who will soon be filing an Arizona Bankruptcy, asked me if she needed to list a debt that was old.

I said yes.

She asked if it mattered whether she disputed the debt.

I said list it; the disputed debts are the ones that will bite you for certain!

She asked if it mattered that she had argued with the creditor.

I said that money talks, and creditors file lawsuits! So list the debt.

She said, does it make a difference if I have a Satisfaction of Judgment and Release of Lien?

And I said, YES!

Under that circumstance, you no longer have a debt; if a creditor gives you a satisfaction of judgment and release of lien, that means that the creditor sued you, obtained a judgment against you, filed that judgment in the Country Recorder's Office, obtained a judgment lien against your house, and THEN you paid the creditor, and the creditor agreed that it had been paid, and released the lien (which a creditor will never do until he's been paid in full, or according to whatever deal you've cut with the creditor).

So under that limited circumstance, you don't need to list them as a creditor, because they are no longer a creditor!

But if you paid 'em recently, make sure you list that as a transfer (the payment of x to that creditor), because the Chapter 7 Trustee may decide to sue that creditor for receipt of a preference if you paid them within 90 days of the Chapter 7 Bankruptcy filing!

If you have a business with a 47-year track record of success, and you have your own airplane, and you have several million in assets, you think you're on top of the world, right?

Well.

It turns out that longevity doesn't ensure business success, because markets change, and during a depression, the ability and willingness of the public to pay money for anything changes. And it doesn't help to have several million in assets if you have more debts than assets.

Which brings us to the sad tale of the Nomads, a 47-year old travel club, and the last remaining travel club with a plane.


Reading the Detroit Free Press article about the Nomads makes me sad, as to most Chapter 7 Bankruptcy cases where a long-time winner gets laid to rest.

On the other hand, I have a suggestion for a business that knows it's sliding into the zone of insolvency with blinding speed; it's probably a good idea NOT to keep taking money if you know you can't provide the goods, you know?

There's also this issue: why bother with a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy for a business? Generally, nobody who has a personal guarantee of the business debt is going to get a benefit, so why bother?

Well, there is this: it will make the phone stop ringing to a fairly substantial extent.

And there's also this: sometimes, if the debtor has a buddy with some dough, they can buy back the critical assets of the business from the bankruptcy trustee, and start over with the critical assets, but without all that irritating debt!

But that didn't seem to be the motivation of the Nomads Chapter 7 Bankruptcy.

New means test numbers have been released.

Read about it here!

Here's an article where the ABI tells the Wall Street Journal that consumer bankruptcy cases went up last month. 

I'm an Arizona Bankruptcy Lawyer, and I could have told 'em that!

Here's an article about bankruptcy statistics for businesses in Maryland.

What I liked about it was the analysis; business owners are realizing that they can close their business and not bother filing a business bankruptcy.

So don't misinterpret the data; this doesn't mean that the depression is over!

I like rags to riches stories, like this one.

But in reality, I'm seeing more street people of late than I want to see.

After I picked up some gum at a drug store near my house last week, I was panhandled by a nice woman who could have been thirty, and could have been sixty.

It was a little hard to tell her age, because her skin was covered with dirt, and her front six teeth had been knocked out.

So I gave her a twenty, and told her to find any Church, because they tended to have all sorts of programs for the homeless that actually work, as opposed to programs that require twenty pages of paperwork and then deliver little.

We are in a depression, and I want it fixed now.

There's an intelligent article in the New York Times in which Bernanke's testimony that the U.S. Economy is "gaining momentum" is reported.

Frankly, if my car took that long to gain momentum, I'd get a new car.

And by the way, why did we give the right to set monetary policy to the Fed, which isn't even a government agency?

Inquiring minds want to know.

p.s. the masses of unemployed and bankrupt citizens of the United States are very patient. Patience is usually a virtue.