Bankruptcy Law
July 11th, 2009 at 02:52pm
Under Bankruptcy Law
Bankruptcy Laws
The passage of the tough new bankruptcy laws in 2005 was supposed to benefit consumers in the form of reducing losses to lenders by making it harder to file bankruptcy. But two new reports released this week show that the new laws not only cost consumers more in terms of credit card debt, but may actually be encouraging greater losses to banks due to increased foreclosures.
According to new research, after the 2005 bankruptcy reform went into effect, both personal bankruptcy filings and credit card company losses sharply declined.
At the same time, while upfront annual fees on credit cards have been all but eliminated, fees have been climbing and becoming less transparent over the years, and there is no evidence that the 2005 bankruptcy reform reversed this trend…over-limit fees and late fees have been climbing since well before bankruptcy reform, and that this trend continued after the 2005 bankruptcy reform.
Industry consolidation in the credit card market enabled the top card issuers to avoid losses from “price wars” by reducing rates to attract new customers.
The credit card industry might also be able to avoid price competition because of complex, multi-tiered pricing that can make it difficult for customers to comparison shop. These fees and interest rates—complex in their own right—are presented in a form that is difficult to understand. Customers faced with such complex pricing systematically miscalculate and underestimate the cost of credit card debt.
A 2006 report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) that found not only that bank fees and penalties are continuing to rise for card holders, but that credit card disclosures and explanations of fees are deliberately written in manners that make them hard to understand. The GAO also recommended in a separate report that credit card issuers use existing technology to customize card disclosures to individual cardholders, particularly those with high balances or frequent late payments.
The fact that after bankruptcy reform, interest rates and fees continued to rise and grace periods continued to fall, even though credit card companies reaped tremendous gains from declining bankruptcy losses demonstrates that the credit card market is not price-competitive. This lack of price competition explains why the benefits of bankruptcy reform accrued exclusively to credit card lenders and were not shared with the average American family, and why…bankruptcy reform was a failure.
Negative Impact
Another effect of the bankruptcy laws is the increase in foreclosures and defaults by mortgage holders who can’t afford to make payments on their homes. The more stringent bankruptcy code, by restricting financial relief available under the bankruptcy code and by increased the costs of filing bankruptcy, appears to have increased the number of individuals walking away from their homes, their mortgages, and their other financial obligations without seeking the protection of the bankruptcy court.
Under the new law, most individual filers would not qualify for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, which allows for the liquidation and erasure of most debt. Instead, they would be forced to file under Chapter 13, which requires regular payments of at least some of their debt to creditors.
The more stringent requirements of the new laws may be causing homeowners to “walk away” and let their homes go into foreclosure rather than attempt to file for bankruptcy. The restrictions on bankruptcy filings and subsequent increase in foreclosures puts downward price pressures on neighborhoods where many homes are in default or foreclosed upon.
One of the great lessons and ironies associated with [the new bankruptcy law] is that the new law by increasing the dollar value of assets susceptible to default has weakened many of the financial companies that sought the more stringent bankruptcy code.
John is a DJ and radio producer by trade who has performed in the U.S., Russia, Turkey, Macedonia, Serbia & Kosovo. Through a strange twist of fate he found himself working in the debt consolidation and debt settlement field in Chicago. John has a great interest in charity work as well.
His other interests include fitness, science & technology, modern medicine, poltics, world events and pop culture.
By Law Article
July 11th, 2009 at 08:53am
Under Bankruptcy Law
Bankruptcy is provided by Federal Law and all the cases related to bankruptcy are handled in Federal Court. Basically it is a legally declared by the court in which any individual or the organization is unable to pay their debts, expenses, bills to their creditors. Those who are bankrupt can file bankruptcy in a way to stop their creditor to collect debt from them. Chapter 7: Liquidation Bankruptcy & the changes under the new lawIt would be very harder for some people to file bankruptcy now. Especially with higher income level category they are now no longer allowed to use chapter 7. They need to pay partial amount of their debt under chapter 13. Before filing a bankruptcy case all the debtors have to undergo for the credit counseling, budgeting and the debt management. This law imposes on the lawyers too so it is very difficult to find an attorney to represent the bankruptcy case. Following are the changes in the Bankruptcy Law – • Under the old law many filers can choose the type of bankruptcy. Most of them were choosing Liquidation (Chapter 7 – Bankruptcy) over Repayment (Chapter 13 – Bankruptcy) because they proved beneficial for most of them. But under the new law, it would not be the case for the higher income group filers, the new law has prohibited from using chapter 7 bankruptcy for them. • Now the question arises about how you will define your income is high for filing under the bankruptcy. Under the new rules, the first step is to figure out your monthly income against the median income for a household for your size in your state to file in the chapter 7 bankruptcies. If it is less than that then you can file under chapter 7 and if it is not then you have to pass the means test. Another clause or the law in order to file for chapter 7. • The means test is to be done to calculate your disposable income and to see whether you have enough disposable income after deducting your expenses, debts, payments under chapter 13. If your income is high up to a certain limit after deducting your expenses, debts and all then you are not eligible for chapter 7 and if it is less than the certain amount then you can file under chapter 7 bankruptcy. • Now the next step is the counseling from the approved agencies by the United States Trustee’s Office about the credit & debt counseling. Purpose behind this counseling is to see and give an idea about your need to file for bankruptcy. Counseling is required even if it’s a repayment plan or for the debts that you are facing and you do not want to pay. If the agency come up with a repayment plan the agency proposes and you agree on that propose then you can submit it to the court along with the papers that you have completed the counseling process. Towards the end of your bankruptcy case, you will have to attend the last counseling session to learn about the personal financial management. After submitting the proof to the court you fulfilled this requirement. These are the new changes in the bankruptcy law. There are other changes that can affect bankruptcy filers negatively. In short, debtors are at more risk of having their property taken and sold by the trustee or the authenticated person.
By Law Article
July 11th, 2009 at 02:53am
Under Bankruptcy Law
Bankruptcy law is a federal statutory law contained in title 11 of the United States codes. Congress passed the Bankruptcy Code under its Constitutional grant of the authority to establish a uniform law on the subject of bankruptcy throughout United States. States may not regulate bankruptcy though they may pass the laws that govern other aspects of the debtor-creditor relationship.
Bankruptcy allows a debtor, who is unable to pay his creditors to resolve his debts through the division of his assets among his creditors. Certain bankruptcy proceedings allow a debtor to stay in business and use the revenue generated to resolve his or her debts. A United States Bankruptcy court supervises bankruptcy proceedings and is where bankruptcy is litigated. Proceedings in bankruptcy courts are governed by the Bankruptcy Rules which were promulgated by the Supreme Court under the authority of Congress.
How Do Bankruptcy Proceedings Work?
Informally called “straight bankruptcy,” The most common type of bankruptcy proceedings liquidation involves the appointment of a trustee who collects the non-exempts property of the debtor, sells it and distributes the proceeds to the creditors.
Chapter 11 is reorganization. In this chapter the debtors are allowed to continue its operations while paying their debts. The debtor can either enter the bankruptcy proceedings or it can be initiated by the creditors. The creditors may not seek to collect their debts outside the proceedings at the most part, after the bankruptcy proceedings is filed. The latest revisions of the bankruptcy law are now in effect. Before the debtor can file a bankruptcy case, they should undergo credit counseling, budgeting and debt managements before the debt is wiped out.
Bankruptcy Attorney – Choosing the Right One
Bankruptcy attorneys explain the applications of bankruptcy laws and its applications. If the debtors or their lawyers set off the bankruptcy it is called a voluntary bankruptcy. If the courts initiate the bankruptcy it is called an involuntary bankruptcy. A good bankruptcy attorney will take all the problems away from the bankrupt person or company and deal with every aspect of the bankruptcy.
6 Helpful Tips and Considerations For Finding the Best Bankruptcy Attorney
1. Find a bankruptcy lawyer at the circle of your acquaintances. Keep in mind that bankruptcy law is a specialty, so if your lawyer offers to handle the case as part of your usual retainer, make sure he knows his way around a bankruptcy court.
2. Attorneys must be certified by the American Bankruptcy Institute.
3. Spend a day at a bankruptcy court.
4. What time frame do you have for this bankruptcy?
5. How much access will I have to an attorney during my bankruptcy filing?
6. Because bankruptcy law is a volume business, the time you’ll actually be working with a specific attorney may be small. Don’t hire the cheapest lawyer.
By Law Article
July 10th, 2009 at 08:52pm
Under Bankruptcy Law
If you are considering bankruptcy, you need to be aware of the recent drastic changes in the bankruptcy laws. It used to be that a person could file bankruptcy almost on a whim, simply to get out from under a huge burden of financial obligations. Then that person would start over, and a couple years later file bankruptcy again. This type of scenario is no longer possible for the most part due to the new bankruptcy law.
The bankruptcy laws still vary from state to state but much of the common foundation within the bankruptcy law is still there in all states. The variations and changes that are state specific are, for the most part, fairly minor points. In addition, one of the effects of the new laws are that if you are going to file bankruptcy, you must do it in the state in which you are a resident, and you cannot go to another state to file bankruptcy just because they may have more lenient laws in some areas.
With the new bankruptcy laws, the person who is considering filing must go through a process known as a means test. The means test can be very complex and the results of that test could mean the difference between filing bankruptcy and even not be allowed to file bankruptcy.
What this means to you is that the court looks at your financial situation with a very fine tooth comb. The court can determine that you do not need to file bankruptcy based on your level of income and that you can indeed pay your financial obligations, which still being able to maintain your reasonable and necessary living expenses. This is where things really get sticky, because while a consumer may consider “reasonable and necessary” to be that beach front condo in Miami, it is highly unlikely that the court would agree with your definition of “reasonable and necessary”.
Another change in the bankruptcy laws is that the consumer who plans to file bankruptcy is now required in almost all states to attend credit counseling sessions. To a certain extent, this does not make sense since the underlying reason that a consumer may be considering bankruptcy would not be financial mismanagement, but could be host of other financial difficulties, like a job layoff, extensive medical debts, an ugly divorce case, and other things that are totally unrelated to financial mismanagement, and in fact, the consumer may be the sharpest person in the world in terms of finances. But that person still needs to attend the credit counseling sessions, this is mandatory.
Because of the many changes in the bankruptcy law, consumers who may have wanted to file under Chapter 7 bankruptcy may now need to file under Chapter 13 or even Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Much of this determines how much of your personal assets can be retained, or perhaps sold out to satisfy your debtors.
One thing that has become clear with the new bankruptcy laws is that bankruptcy is no longer a “do it yourself” process. One mistake in filling out the mountain of forms can cause your bankruptcy application to be dismissed. You should work with a good bankruptcy lawyer who understands the bankruptcy law and also the variations in your state so that you can file correctly with the least amount of personal damage.
For more insights and additional information about <a href="
http://www.bankruptcy-data.com” rel=”nofollow”>Bankruptcy Law Bankruptcy Advice as well as getting a free no-obligation bankruptcy evaluation from a bankruptcy lawyer local to you, please visit our web site at
http://www.bankruptcy-data.com
By Law Article
July 10th, 2009 at 02:52pm
Under Bankruptcy Law
The US congress passed a set of uniform laws to govern how bankruptcy is dealt with. In these bankruptcy laws, or the bankruptcy code, there are ways to protect the debtor from being harassed while they are trying to pay off their loans. The different methods that can be used are set out in certain chapters of the bankruptcy code.
These bankruptcy chapters such as chapter 11, chapter 9, and chapter 13 are recognized by the judicial courts to be bankruptcy laws that each state must work with. While the main body of these bankruptcy laws can’t be changed there are various amendments that can be done. These amendments in turn become part of the bankruptcy laws.
From time to time Congress will change the various sections in the bankruptcy code to account for the trends and occurrences in today’s business environment. To make sure that you understand what these new bankruptcy laws are and how they affect you it is best to consult with a lawyer.
You should make sure that you are looking at these bankruptcy laws only if you have no other recourse for getting out of financial difficulties. As bankruptcy is a very complicated process you should use this measure only as a last resort.
Since congress can change the bankruptcy laws to reflect our varied lifestyle expenditure you will find that these laws can make it difficult for you to declare bankruptcy even if you are in non-solvent position to pay off your creditors.
One of the other effects that can be found in the changes that have been made to the chapter 7 bankruptcy laws is that all debtors must have credit counseling. This counseling will help the debtor understand what they can do to avoid getting into debt again. In the counseling sessions you will be given alternative routes to take with regard paying off your debts.
This credit counseling must be gone through before you can file for bankruptcy. To have this credit counseling you can only use agents that have been approved by the government. Of course you should have received a certificate that states that you have gone through with a credit counseling session.
During the credit counseling you may be presented with a plan to pay off your creditors. Whether you agree with this plan or not you will need to present this plan to the bankruptcy courts.
According to the bankruptcy laws you will need to visit this center when your bankruptcy case has been filed. This counseling session will be for you to learn about personal finance management. You must present a certificate from this session of counseling to have your debts discharged fully.
While bankruptcy laws can help protect the person who is in debt trouble, there are instances where the bankruptcy laws can cause more financial hassles than they were intended for. Therefore bankruptcy should be a last resort only.
Muna wa Wanjiru is a web administrator and has been researching and reporting on internet marketing for years. For more information on bankruptcy laws, visit his site at
BANKRUPTCY LAWS
By Law Article
July 10th, 2009 at 08:53am
Under Bankruptcy Law
It is better to realize as early as possible that going through a bankruptcy claim is not easy. People generally opt for it as their first remedy. You must know the bankruptcy laws well in order to decide.
The bankruptcy law has been crafted in a way to promote provisions that are a part of filling bankruptcy claims. It contains systematized laws that help the debtor to rid himself of any financial obligations that he has to undergo. The Chapter 7 bankruptcy law is in other words called straight bankruptcy. This law deals with the liquidation process. According to this, the one who is filing for bankruptcy has to surrender all his assets except those that are unaccredited or exempted to the lawyer or the trustee in bankruptcy.
The court must appoint a trustee in bankruptcy and he will be given charge of selling the assets or converting them into cash. Once the assets have been converted to cash the creditors are paid with these funds. Under the Chapter 7 bankruptcy law you are discharged from any obligation after a period of four months.
When can you apply the Chapter 7 bankruptcy law? It is applied when the debtor is left with no property to give up or lose. This is one of the most common bankruptcies that are filed in the United States by either individuals or business corporations. You could personally file bankruptcy by abiding with the Chapter 7 bankruptcy law or the court may impose it.
The Chapter 7 bankruptcy law will prompt a business man to sell all his assets and pay what he owes the creditors and finally close down his business. The procedures are very similar for individuals who have been forced to file under the Chapter 7 bankruptcy law, the only difference here is the individual will have no business to close down.
The advantages of filing a claim under the Chapter 7 bankruptcy law first and foremost are that any amount of debt may be cleared and as soon as you get out of the trouble you are in, you get a clean chit. The other advantage is that there is no particular amount of debt to qualify you for filing under the Chapter 7 bankruptcy law. As there is a protection that is granted by this law, the creditors cannot exert any authority over you. It is processed very quickly and you can be discharged from any debts in a short period, say in about four to six months.
The disadvantage of the Chapter 7 bankruptcy law is that you have to give up your whole property. Debts like taxes, child support, housing mortgages, studentsâ loans and car loans are not discharged under the Chapter 7 bankruptcy law. Along with you the co-signers will also be pulled in and asked to pay for your home loan. This law may be only availed once in every six years.
It becomes difficult to avail other loans because your credit rating gets damaged. Once you have filed for the Chapter 7 bankruptcy law, it cannot be withdrawn.
Tread cautiously if you are considering filing under the provisions that are based on the Chapter 7 bankruptcy law. All you need is to be protected and not end up with added problems.
By Law Article
July 9th, 2009 at 08:52pm
Under Bankruptcy Law
The New Bankruptcy Laws – Truth about the unconstitutional new BK law changes. On April 20, 2005, George Bush signed the new “Bankruptcy Abuse and Consumer Protection Act” into law.
Bankruptcy Abuse? Do you know anyone personally who has abused the Bankruptcy laws, and are consumers really protected? Or, should this new bankruptcy bill be called the “Abuse the Consumer and Protect the Fraudulent Banks Act”?
We’ll soon see…
In order to understand these unfair new bankruptcy laws, and to help you see that you must avoid bankruptcy, lets cover the original purpose of the BK laws.
According to U.S. Bankruptcy Courts, the primary purpose of the old bankruptcy Chapter 7, bankruptcy Chapter 11 and bankruptcy Chapter 13 laws were: 1) to give an honest debtor a “fresh start” in life by relieving the debtor of most debts, and 2) to repay banks and creditors in an orderly manner to the extent that the debtor has property available for payment.
Apparently the primary purpose of the new credit card bank BK laws is: 1) to repay banks and creditors in an orderly manner to the extent that the debtor has property available for payment.
However, with the new BK laws, giving an honest debtor a “fresh start” in life by relieving the debtor of most debts has been done away with.
The finance companies and credit card banks all blame the necessity of the bankruptcy changes on the .003% of abusers of the old bankruptcy laws.
Sponsors of the bill claim that most bankruptcy personal cases involve irresponsible spenders who have shopped or gambled their money away and now do not wish to pay their creditors so the new BK legislation, will eliminate “filing bankruptcy for convenience”.
There is NOTHING further from the truth then these claims alleged by the credit card banks and finance companies. And, as you dig deeper into these pages, you’ll see who’s really abusing who in America’s credit, finance and banking game.
They claim that bankruptcy costs the credit card banks billions of dollars each year and that those costs are passed on to customers in the form of higher interest rates.
That of course would be true if the credit card banks were actually lending any of their own money, or their customer’s deposited money. For more details, read our page a history of money and banking secrets that banks don’t want published.
And, by making bankruptcy filings harder for those with financial trouble, legislators say that more people will pay their bills, the credit card companies will save billions of dollars, and the resulting savings will be passed on to consumers in the form of lower interest rates.
We’ve never ever heard of a credit card company lowering interest rates voluntarily, and we know they never will.
New Bankruptcy Law Highlights
The key highlights of the credit card banks new bankruptcy laws are:
The new bankruptcy laws apply a means test for people filing bankruptcy. If a debtor has at least $100 per month left over after an IRS determined monthly expense plan, (can you picture that?) the debtor will be forced to file Chapter 13 and pay for five years.
Just imagine life after bankruptcy now.
They will not be able to file Chapter 7 of the Federal bankruptcy code, which would have eliminated all of their unsecured debt.
There are no provisions in the bankruptcy law for debt problems caused by job loss, illness or other traumatic events, despite studies that show that these are the cause of most bankruptcy cases.
Can you say Debt Slave?
With these new, credit card BK laws, attorneys are now responsible for the accuracy of paperwork filed by their clients. So in other words, your attorney must now search your dresser drawers for those hidden family heirlooms.
This will no doubt result in fewer bankruptcy attorneys, with the remaining ones raising their fees in order to cover this additional liability.
With the new bankruptcy laws most consumers are now completely unprotected from losing a job or having medical problems. They can no longer start over by filing for bankruptcy Chapter 7.
They will have less affordable help from capable BK attorneys due to the new bankruptcy law liability stipulation.
Giving an honest debtor a “fresh start” in life by relieving the debtor of most debts has been done away with completely thanks to the new bankruptcy laws.
However an amazing discovery has been made that you cannot miss learning about. Now that you must avoid bk as there is no PROTECTION for consumers provided by the new Bankruptcy Abuse and Consumer Protection Act if filing bankruptcy under the new bankruptcy laws.
Mark A. Cella, Founder of the Federal Debt Relief System.
You must read this article today.
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