 |
Home
Debtor Bankruptcy Services
Creditor Bankruptcy Services
Bankruptcy Law Overview
Debtor Frequently Asked Questions
Creditor Frequently Asked Questions
Common Bankruptcy Questions
2005 Bankruptcy Law Amendments ("BAPCPA")
Bankruptcy Appeals
Lienstripping
Full Qualifications of Former Judge March
Directions
Resource Links
Rapid Import for Clients Only
Articles re: the Economy
Contact Us
Sitemap
  
The Bankruptcy Law Firm10524 W. Pico Blvd.
Suite 212 Los Angeles, CA 90064 Phone: 1-310-559-9224 Fax: 1-310-559-9133 Email: kmarch@BKYLAWFIRM.com Website: www.BKYLAWFIRM.com
Contact Our Law FirmFill In and Submit this form.
An attorney client relationship is not established
by submitting this initial contact information to our office.
 You can contract with The
Bankruptcy Law Firm, PC, with confidence, because The Bankrutpcy Law Firm, PC is a member of the Better Business Bureau, and has met all requirements for being certified by the Better Business Bureau as a reliable business. Click on the BBB logo above to confirm The Bankruptcy Law Firm's certification by the BBB.  
|
 |
Former Los Angeles Bankruptcy JudgeRelated Bankruptcy ArticlesObama Creates Unit With States to Investigate Mortgage Misconduct by BanksJanuary 25, 2012 President Barack Obama’s mortgage investigation unit will probe bank conduct that created the housing bubble and bust, including the packaging of loans into securities, the New York Attorney General said. Click here to read the full article. Time to Consider Mass Mortgage RefinancingsJanuary 17, 2012 Main Street taxpayers have bailed out Wall Street. Now it’s time for Wall Street to return the favor by footing the bill to help millions of honorable Main Street borrowers pay lower interest rates on their mortgages, something that should have happened years ago. Wall Street giving back to Main Street — imagine that! Click here to read the full article. Home Foreclosures Jump in Third QuarterDecember 21, 2011 The number of new home foreclosures jumped by more than 21 percent in the third quarter from the second as banks moved more aggressively after a pause to review how they deal with troubled borrowers, according to a report released by a bank regulator on Wednesday. Click here to read the full article. The Financial Crisis on TrialDecember 21, 2011 The Securities and Exchange Commission's lawsuits against six top executives of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, announced last week, are a seminal event. Click here to read the full article. Fed Strengthens Its Tools for Preventing Collapse of Large Financial FirmsDecember 20, 2011 The Federal Reserve sought to curb the threat of financial turmoil by compelling the biggest banks to follow a tougher standard for risk management and demanding stricter oversight by companies’ boards of directors. Click here to read the full article. Banks, Officials Near Pact on ForeclosuresDecember 13, 2011 Bank representatives and government officials are pushing to put the finishing touches on a broad settlement of most state and federal investigations of alleged foreclosure improprieties that could force five large banks to make concessions worth roughly $19 billion. Click here to read the full article. Federal Reserve Report: Home Flipping Drove Housing Bubble in Nevada, California, Other StatesDecember 12, 2011 A new report by researchers with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York shows that speculative real estate investors played a larger role than originally thought in driving the housing bubble that led to record foreclosures in Nevada, California, Arizona, Florida and other states... Click here to read the full article. American Airlines Workers Face Pension PlightNovember 30, 2011 Millions of Americans remember US Airways pilot Chesley B. "Sully" Sullenberger III. In 2009, he became an instant hero for saving 155 lives by landing on New York City's Hudson River when his aircraft lost power after it was struck by birds shortly after taking off. But few know that - like thousands of other airline employees - Sullenberger was struggling financially at the time because two US Airways bankruptcies had derailed his pension and slashed his salary 40 percent. Click here to read the full article. Too Big to Fail Banks Getting Bigger as Smaller Banks Lay Off Employees: WSJNovember 30, 2011 Small banks are facing some of the largest personnel costs in the banking industry, while large institutions are tepidly adding jobs, an analysis by the Wall Street Journal published Wednesday has found. Click here to read the full article. Debt Collector Abuses on RiseNovember 18, 2011 As consumers struggle to pay their bills, complaints about debt collectors are growing faster than those in any other industry, regulators say. Click here to read the full article. Fed’s Evans Seeks To 'Take New Chances' on Monetary PolicyNovember 15, 2011 The slow-to-recover U.S. economy requires the Federal Reserve to "stretch the boundaries and take new chances” on monetary policy, a key Fed official said Tuesday. Click here to read the full article. The Deleveraging MythNovember 14, 2011 When the government reported, last month, that the U.S. economy grew at an annualized rate of 2.5 per cent in the third quarter, it was a classic good-news, bad-news situation. The good news is that we aren’t falling back into recession (the dreaded "double-dip"), but the bad news is that, two and a half years after the recession ended, the economy is still just limping along. Many analysts casting about for an explanation of why this recovery has been so tepid have concluded that, as Paul Krugman has written, "it was debt what did it." Between 2001 and 2007, Americans went on an incredible borrowing binge, nearly doubling their household debt. Now, the argument goes, consumers are focussed on paying off that debt instead of spending freely, and, as long as this process of "deleveraging" continues, the economy is going to stay stuck in the doldrums. Debt, in the words of The Atlantic, is the recovery’s "silent assassin." Click here to read the full article. Foreclosure Backlogs Could Take Decades To Clear OutNovember 9, 2011 Foreclosure sales are moving so slowly in half the states that at the current pace, it will take more than eight years on average to clear the 2.1 million homes in foreclosure or with seriously delinquent mortgages, new research shows. Click here to read the full article. Generation Jobless: Young Men Suffer Worst as Economy StaggersNovember 7, 2011 PORTLAND, Ore. - Few groups were hit harder by the recession than young men, like Cody Preston and Justin Randol, 25-year-old high-school buddies who didn't go to college. Click here to read the full article. State, Debt Collector Reach $4.3 Million SettlementNovember 2, 2011 The state Office of Consumer Protection has resolved charges a debt collector engaged in unfair business practices with a $4.3 million settlement. Click here to read the full article. U.S. Attorney Alleges Mafia Crime Family Took over FirstPlus FinancialNovember 2, 2011 Thirteen people, including an alleged member and an alleged associate of the Lucchese organized crime family and several attorneys, have been indicted on charges of racketeering and related offenses for the alleged "extortionate takeover" of FirstPlus Financial Group Inc., Dow Jones DBR Small Cap reported today. According to the 25-count indictment unsealed yesterday, the 13 were members and associates of a criminal organization engaged in crimes, including wire fraud, mail fraud, bank fraud, securities fraud, money laundering, extortion, obstruction of justice, and other related offenses. 4 Million Borrowers Eligible For Foreclosure ReviewNovember 1, 2011 More than 4 million borrowers who have faced foreclosure since early 2009 will have the chance to have their cases reviewed for potential wrongdoing, federal regulators and some of the nation’s largest mortgage servicers announced Tuesday. Click here to read the full article. Obama Announces Student Loan ReliefOctober 27, 2011 Millions of borrowers will be eligible to lower their payments under president's plan. Click here to read the full article. Mortgage Refinancing To Get Easier Under Revised U.S. ProgramOctober 25, 2011 The plan could help 1 million to 2 million people get significantly lower monthly payments in hopes of stabilizing the real estate market. Click here to read the full article. Home Lending Revamp PlannedOctober 24, 2011 Federal regulators on Monday plan to unveil a major overhaul of an under-used mortgage-refinance program designed to help millions of Americans whose home values have tumbled. Click here to read the full article. Obama’s Efforts to Aid Homeowners, Boost Housing Market Fall Far Short of GoalsOctober 23, 2011 It was a critical plan to jump-start the economy. Click here to read the full article. Study: Foreclosure Crisis Threatening Americans' HealthOctober 21, 2011 A new study finds that falling behind on your mortgage payments hurts more than just your finances, as the stress and financial strain that come with the struggle can also harm your physical and psychological health. Click here to read the full article. More Americans Falling Behind On MortgagesOctober 20, 2011 Mortgage defaults are rising again after nearly a year of trending downward, raising concerns about homeowners falling behind on their payments and undermining whatever nascent housing recovery may be under way. Click here to read the full article. Changes to California NonJudicial Foreclosure ProceduresOctober 20, 2011 Most lenders with real property security in California foreclose by means of nonjudicial foreclosure trustee’s sales, rather than through court-supervised judicial foreclosures. The first step in the nonjudicial foreclosure process is to record and give a Notice of Default. The next step, after the passage of at least three months, is to record and give a Notice of Sale, giving at least 20 days’ notice of the specified date, time and place of sale. Click here to read the full article. New Proposal Floated in Servicer/AG Settlement TalksOctober 18, 2011 A new plan is on the table in the seemingly endless parade of negotiations aimed at ending the foreclosure crisis and resolving the legal impasses over alleged foreclosure abuses by the big banks. The latest proposal, detailed in today's Wall Street Journal, was presented in a meeting last week between the banks and government negotiators. Click here to read the full article. Analysis: U.S. Gambles With Mortgage RetreatOctober 11, 2011 Three years after virtually nationalizing the U.S. mortgage market, the government has embarked on a pullback to see whether private industry picks up the slack, according to an analysis in yesterday's Wall Street Journal. Some people in the housing industry worry that the government's move will cause fresh pain in many regions where demand has yet to recover amid the sluggish economy. At issue, according to the analysis, are the loan limits that Congress expanded in 2008, allowing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to buy mortgages that exceeded the national cap of $417,000. To stem the fallout in prices, Congress raised the loan caps to as high as $729,750 in markets such as Los Angeles and New York. It then passed a series of one-year extensions to keep the higher limits in place. However, Congress and the Obama administration this year opted against an extension. As a result, the limits in hundreds of counties fell by 10 percent or more on Oct. 1. For loans backed by Fannie and Freddie, the limits declined to between $417,000 and $625,500 in about 200 counties. Click here to read the full article. New Bankruptcy Ripples May Emergency in Tough EconomyOctober 11, 2011 Three years after the collapse of Lehman Brothers touched off a tidal wave of bankruptcy filings, corporate failures may be about to pick up again, with some big-name companies among those struggling for survival, according to a Reuters commentary today. Companies in a range of businesses, including hair salons, restaurants, renewable energy and the paper industry have tumbled into chapter 11 in the past few months. The weak economy, lackluster consumer spending, a shaky junk-bond market and increasingly tight lending practices are also threatening struggling companies in industries as diverse as shipping, tourism, media, energy and real estate, according to the commentary. "It's getting busier for everyone I know," said Jay Goffman, co-head of the Global Restructuring Group at law firm Skadden Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom. "I think 2012 will be a busy year and 2013 and 2014 will be extraordinarily busy years in restructuring." Click here to read the full article. Banks Repay TARP Loans With Money Meant for Small BusinessesOctober 6, 2011 (Wall Street Journal) - More than half of $4 billion in federal funds disbursed this year to spur small business lending by community banks was used to repay bailout funds that the banks received under the government's Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday. Click here to read the full article. Update on "Venue Change" LegislationsOctober 6, 2011 The House Judiciary Committee recently heard testimony on the benefits and pitfalls of proposed legislation that would change bankruptcy venue rules by imposing limitations on where corporations may file for bankruptcy protection. The hearing came in the wake of a statement by Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith, R-Texas, in which he asked how Enron had been able to file its bankruptcy case in Manhattan considering that Enron was based in, and had substantially all of its assets and operations in, Texas. According to remarks made by University of North Carolina law professor Melissa B. Jacoby, approximately 70 percent of the 200 plus large public companies that have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy since 2005 filed their petitions in either Delaware or New York City. Sept. Consumer Spending Nears Lowest Levels of 2011October 5, 2011 Americans' self-reported spending in stores, restaurants, gas stations and online was down an average of $3 a day in September from the month prior, marking the second consecutive period of declines, according to a Gallup poll. Click here to read the full article. Falling Stocks Bring S&P 500 into Bear MarketOctober 4, 2011 After turning in the worst quarter since the financial crisis, U.S. stocks started the new one by approaching the level considered a bear market. Click here to read the full article. Global Manufacturing Shrinks for First Time Since 2009, India Output FallsOctober 4, 2011 Global manufacturing shrank for the first time in over two years in September, reinforcing fears of another recession despite a modest bounce in U.S. factory activity. Against the trend, manufacturing activity in the U.K., U.S. and Canada picked up speed, but slumps in factory output in Europe and Asia raised questions about the sustainability of the rebound. Click here to read the full article. Consumer Spending Keeps DroppingSeptember 28, 2011 As household incomes decline, household spending is also going down for basic items such as food, clothing and housing while the cost of health care is eating up more of the family budget, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Click here to read the full article. Loan Limits Are Falling, But Does It Matter?Sept 27, 2011 For the past three years, the federal government has guaranteed the vast majority of new home loans, working through Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and the Federal Housing Administration. Click here to read the full article. Markets Swoon on Recession FearsSeptember 23, 2011 Global investors dumped everything from stocks to corporate bonds to foreign currencies and fled to the relative safety of U.S. Treasurys on fears of another recession and a Greek debt default. Click here to read the full article. Census: Recession Taking Toll on Young AdultsSeptember 22, 2011 Call it the recession's lost generation. In record-setting numbers, young adults struggling to find work are shunning long-distance moves to live with Mom and Dad, delaying marriage and buying fewer homes, often raising kids out of wedlock. They suffer from the highest unemployment since World War II and risk living in poverty more than others - nearly 1 in 5. Click here to read the full article. 10 Million More Mortgages Set to Default, Expert SaysSeptember 20, 2011 Roughly 10.4 million mortgages, or one in five outstanding home loans in the U.S., will likely default if Congress refuses to implement new policy changes to prevent and sell more foreclosures, according to analyst Laurie Goodman from Amherst Securities Group. Click here to read the full article. GAO Puts Treasury Troubles Under the MicroscopeSeptember 16, 2011 The Government Accountability Office said in a report Friday the Treasury Department is struggling to implement new Making Home Affordable programs and that more transparency is needed. Click here to read the full article. RE Loans Declares Bankruptcy in TexasSeptember 13, 2011 R.E. Loans, LLC commenced chapter 11 proceedings in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Texas, Dallas Division. The case no. is 11-35865-bjh11 and has been assigned to the Honorable Barbara J. Houser. Click here to read the full article. Statement by Peter C. Califano Regarding Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Venue Reform Act of 2011 ("H.R. 2533")September 8, 2011 The Commercial Law League of America (the "CLLA"), has been in favor of venue reform for over 10 years. The CLLA, founded in 1895, is the nation's oldest organization of attorneys and other experts engaged in the field of commercial law, bankruptcy and reorganization. Click here to read the full article. House Judiciary Subcommittee Considers Chapter 11 Venue ReformSeptember 8, 2011 The House Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, Commercial and Administrative Law held a hearing today examining H.R. 2533, the "Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Venue Reform Act of 2011." Click here to read the full article. Senate Bill No. 4September 2011 SB 4, Calderon. Mortgages. Click here to read the full article. U.S. Job Growth Stalls, Fuels Recession FearsSeptember 2, 2011 U.S. employment growth ground to a halt in August, reviving recession fears and piling pressure on both President Barack Obama and the Federal Reserve to provide more stimulus to aid the frail economy. Click here to read the full article. White House Sharply Cuts U.S. Growth ForecastSeptember 2, 2011 President Barack Obama sharply cut estimates on Thursday for U.S. economic growth, underscoring the difficult challenge he faces in spurring a stronger recovery and creating more jobs. Click here to read the full article. White House Forecasts High Unemployment Through 2012September 1, 2011 Reporting from Washington - In a move underscoring the urgency of the nation's economic problems, the White House issued a new assessment that predicted continued high unemployment through 2012. Click here to read the full article. New-home Slump Keeping Door Shut on U.S. RecoverySeptember 1, 2011 Plagued by too many houses and too few buyers, 2011 is shaping up to be the worst year on record for new-home sales. The slump is pushing the key home-building industry into its fifth year of decline and keeping the U.S. economy from a rebound. Click here to read the full article. U.S. Households Save, Economy SputtersAugust 29, 2011 "Delay and pray" is not a viable repair for a domicile sector’s woes. Indeed, it might usually be creation things worse. In a noted change from their borrow-and-spend function during a boom, U.S. households are now by and vast prioritizing saving and debt reduction. On Monday, a Commerce Department is to redeem Jul total expected to uncover a personal saving rate, or suit of after-tax monthly income unspent, in a 5% to 5.5% operation it has confirmed for roughly a past 18 months. Click here to read the full article. Homeowners Need HelpAugust 21, 2011 Neither Congress, nor federal regulators, nor state or federal prosecutors have yet to conduct a thorough investigation into the mortgage bubble and financial bust. We welcomed the news that the Justice Department is investigating allegations that Standard & Poor’s purposely overrated toxic mortgage securities in the years before the bust. We hope the investigative circle will widen. Click here to read the full article. The Economy: Are Consumers Still Calling the Shots?August 21, 2011 RALEIGH, N.C. — Much of the recent economic news has not been good. Unemployment remains above 9 percent, with many forecasts saying it will stay elevated. Loans are difficult to get. Consumer confidence is low, and home sales remain weak. Click here to read the full article. State Sues Lawyers Who, it Says, Defrauded Troubled HomeownersAugust 19, 2011 California Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris has sued four Southern California lawyers and their associates, accusing them of defrauding distressed homeowners at their most vulnerable moment by deceiving them into thinking they would receive relief on their troubled home loans. Click here to read the full article. Threat of a New Recession is Rising in the United States: EconomistsAugust 16, 2011 WASHINGTON: The threat of a new recession is rising in the United States, economists say, as they slash their growth forecasts for the second half of the year. Click here to read the full article. More Student Loans Are Past DueAugust 16, 2011 Student loans are on the rise, but so is the delinquency rate on them. On Monday Real Time Economics noted that since the depths of the recession the only type of credit to notch growth was student loans. Credit to students also stands out when looking at delinquency rates. Click here to read the full article. Recession 'Three Months' Away: ManagerAugust 16, 2011 The next recession could happen within a quarter of a year, one fund manager told CNBC Tuesday, as weak German economic growth figures were announced. Click here to read the full article. Nevada Joins States Balking at Bank Releases in Foreclosure Practices DealAugust 16, 2011 A possible settlement of a 50-state probe of foreclosure practices drew more state scrutiny as Nevada’s attorney general joined three other states in voicing concern about a deal that protects banks from continuing mortgage investigations. Click here to read the full article. National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys Issues Response to Obama Administration Plan to Sell Vacant and Abandoned Properties in ForeclosureAugust 12, 2011 WASHINGTON, D.C.///August 12, 2011/// National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys (NACBA) President William Brewer today issued the following statement in response to the announcement on Wednesday by the Obama Administration that it is looking at developing a plan to sell vacant and abandoned properties owned by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) as rental properties: Click here to read the full article. Housing Plan Gets A Mixed ResponseAugust 11, 2011 The housing industry gave mixed reviews to the Obama administration's proposal to sell tens of thousands of foreclosed properties owned by government-backed entities and then convert them to rentals. Click here to read the full article. Dow Tumbles 634 Points on Recession FearsAugust 9, 2011 Reporting from Washington and Los Angeles - Accelerating fears of a new global recession sent the Dow Jones industrial average plummeting more than 600 points — wiping out $1 trillion in U.S. market value — as the White House scrambled to contain the damage. Click here to read the full article. Second Recession in U.S. Could Be Worse Than FirstAugust 7, 2011 If the economy falls back into recession, as many economists are now warning, the bloodletting could be a lot more painful than the last time around. Given the tumult of the Great Recession, this may be hard to believe. But the economy is much weaker than it was at the outset of the last recession in December 2007, with most major measures of economic health - including jobs, incomes, output and industrial production - worse today than they were back then. And growth has been so weak that almost no ground has been recouped, even though a recovery technically started in June 2009. Click here to read the full article. Data Reinforce Economic MalaiseAugust 2, 2011 U.S. consumers cut their spending in June and saved at a faster rate, signs that reinforced the economy's lack of vigor. Spending decreased 0.2% after rising an upwardly revised 0.1% in May -- the biggest drop since September 2009. Incomes rose 0.1% after increasing 0.2% in May. The data follow a report Monday that showed the U.S. manufacturing sector -- a onetime driver of the economy -- barely expanded in July. The Institute for Supply Management's manufacturing index was at 50.9% -- the lowest level in two years -- down from 55.3% in June. Click here to read the full article. Hitting the Mule on the Head: The "Fighting Fraud in Bankruptcy Act of 2011" and Other RemediesJuly 12, 2011 The story goes that a farmer bought a mule from a salesman who told him that if he were polite to the mule, it would do whatever he wanted. After months of being nice – but with no success in getting the mule to work, the farmer asked the salesman for help. The salesman came over, hit the mule on the head with a 2x4 and explained that you did have to be nice - "but first you had to get the mule’s attention." Click here to read the full article. Bank's Deal Means More Will Lose Their HomesJuly 11, 2011 Tens of thousands of Bank of America's most distressed borrowers could be evicted and lose their homes more quickly as a result of a proposed settlement between the bank and investors in its troubled mortgage securities, the New York Times reported today. For struggling borrowers in better financial shape, the outcome could be more positive: the deal would include incentives for mortgage servicers to help homeowners who have fallen behind on their payments and whose homes are worth less than they borrowed. "The goal is to reinstate as many borrowers in a modification that performs well," said Tony Meola, a servicing executive with Bank of America. "It also is likely to lead to faster resolution in those unfortunate situations where foreclosure is inevitable." While powerful investors stand to benefit from the $8.5 billion settlement over the bank's bundling of shoddy mortgages as securities, the fallout for the nearly 275,000 borrowers who took out those loans depends greatly on how deep they are in the foreclosure process and whether they earn enough money to dig themselves out. Click here to read the full article. Fannie Mae Silence on Taylor Bean Opened Way to $3 Billion FraudJune 30, 2011 The first sign of what would ultimately become a $3 billion fraud surfaced Jan. 11, 2000, when Fannie Mae executive Samuel Smith discovered Taylor, Bean & Whitaker Mortgage Corp. sold him a loan owned by someone else. Fannie Mae, the government-sponsored enterprise which issues almost half of all mortgage-backed securities, determined over the next two years that more than 200 loans acquired from Taylor Bean were bogus, non-performing or lacked critical components such as mortgage insurance. Click here to read the full article. More Money for Struggling HomeownersJune 29, 2011 For the roughly four million homeowners who have fallen behind on their mortgage payments, the federal government is offering yet another remedy: free money to catch up on their loans. The effort, called the Emergency Homeowners Loan Program, is the latest in the federal government's efforts to slow down the flood of foreclosures a necessary step to a meaningful recovery in the housing market, says a Department of Housing and Urban Development official. For people who have lost their jobs, the $1 billion program offers loans of up to $50,000 that don't actually need to be repaid, if applicants meet certain requirements. Click here to read the full article. Report: Troubled Mortgages Still Plague BanksJune 29, 2011 The nation’s banks are holding a much higher rate of defaulted mortgages on their books than mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, according to a report released Wednesday by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, which regulates national banks. The report said that some 19.7% of mortgages held in banks’ portfolios were delinquent at the end of March. By contrast, nearly 6.8% of mortgages backed by mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were nonperforming, and 11.4% of all mortgages that are serviced by banks. Click here to read the full article. Serious Delinquencies, Foreclosures Outnumber FC Sales 50:1June 29, 2011 Serious delinquencies and foreclosures overshadowed the number of foreclosure sales at the end of May by a 50:1 ratio, Lender Processing Services Inc. (LPS) reports. According to LPS' latest Mortgage Monitor report, the combined number of mortgages 90 days or more delinquent or in foreclosure totaled more than 4.08 million. At the end of the month, foreclosure sales totaled 78,676. Click here to read the full article. GSE Reform Slips as Lawmakers Weigh Costs, BenefitsJune 21, 2011 Last year's Dodd-Frank financial reform law did a lot of things, but one major untouched issue was housing finance, CongressDaily reported yesterday. Now, nearly a year since the law took effect, the sense of urgency surrounding government-sponsored enterprise (GSE) reform has waned. There is no consensus in either party, and lawmakers see more to lose than gain by forcing difficult votes on whether and how much the housing market should rely on government support. Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Johnson (D-S.D.) has taken a go-slow approach, holding hearings but not proposing any legislation. In the House, Republicans are fractured as conservatives want to eliminate any government backing, but many doubt mortgages would still be affordable without an emergency federal backstop. Rep. John Campbell (R-Calif.) has introduced a bill that would break up Fannie and Freddie but replace them with another government-backed organization. Rep. Scott Garrett (R-N.J.), the chairman of the House Financial Services Capital Markets Subcommittee, has taken the lead on getting rid of Fannie and Freddie. He is working on legislation that would include a plan for how the private market would provide mortgage credit, without any government guarantee, after the GSEs were shut down. U.S. Bankruptcy cCaims Trading Slows in MayJune 20, 2011 (Reuters) - The volume of U.S. bankruptcy claims traded in May fell from April, but the value of trades remained almost steady, thanks to several large trades involving Mesa Air Group Inc, according to a report on Monday. The total number of claims fell to 701 from 892 in April while the value of claims traded dipped to $2.1 billion from $2.2 billion, according to SecondMarket, which runs a bankruptcy claims trading marketplace. Click here to read the full article. The New Face of Bankruptcy: Public EmployeesJune 7, 2011 WARREN, Mich., June 7, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- State and local governments facing financial pressures have turned to their employees to help balance their budgets. But now a prominent Bankruptcy attorney who is the founder of the website myeasy7.com is warning of an unexpected consequence: more Bankruptcies. Click here to read the full article. Hiring in U.S. Slowed in May With 54,000 Jobs AddedJune 3, 2011 After several months of strong job growth, hiring in the United States slowed sharply in May, suggesting the economy may be running out of steam once again. The Labor Department reported on Friday that the nation added 54,000 nonfarm payroll jobs last month, after an increase of about 220,000 jobs in each of the three previous months. May’s job gain was about a third of what economists had been forecasting. Click here to read the full article. Statement of Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt) On the Introduction of the Fighting Fraud in Bankruptcy Act of 2011 - Senate FloorMay 24, 2011 Today I am pleased to introduce the Fighting Fraud in Bankruptcy Act of 2011. I thank Senator Whitehouse and Senator Blumenthal for joining me as cosponsors of this legislation. This bill will give the Department of Justice and the United States bankruptcy trustee important new tools to combat creditor abuses in the bankruptcy process. The Fighting Fraud in Bankruptcy Act is another step forward in the Judiciary Committee’s important efforts to protect American citizens from fraud. Since the onset of the housing market’s collapse, the bankruptcy courts and the United States trustee have encountered serious problems related to foreclosure documentation submitted by mortgage lenders and servicers in the bankruptcy process. As scrutiny has been brought to bear on foreclosure-related filings by bankruptcy judges, attorneys, and the United States trustee, a pattern of negligent, reckless, or fraudulent conduct on the part of mortgage lenders and servicers has been revealed with a consistency that indicates systemic problems. Under Attorney General Holder’s leadership, the Department of Justice is making a considerable effort to ensure that mortgage lenders and servicers are playing by the rules and treating homeowners fairly and honestly. As part of its efforts to more closely scrutinize foreclosure documentation in bankruptcy cases, the United States trustee’s office reviewed 10,000 proofs of claim filed by mortgage servicers. What was found was far more serious than what mortgage servicing industry officials have been asserting. For example, in testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee in 2008, an industry executive stated that the rate of loan servicing errors in bankruptcy cases adverse to a homeowner was “less than one percent.” In its review, however, the trustee found an error rate based upon blatant, obvious errors more than ten times greater than what was testified to before the Judiciary Committee. And these errors are not harmless. In some cases, they were wildly inaccurate statements of what a homeowner owed to the lender, in others, the claims contained unsupported junk fees that servicers had piled on yet for which they provided no documentation. If left unchallenged, the result would be that a homeowner not only loses a home, but is cheated on what he or she owes on that home. Americans in foreclosure, and the trustee as guardian of the system are right to demand accuracy and truthfulness from creditors’ representations in court. Unfortunately, the major players in the mortgage industry are showing little interest in addressing these problems head-on. Instead, when faced with the trustee’s scrutiny of their claims, some major mortgage servicers have resorted to engaging in litigation challenging the authority of the United States trustee to look behind their claims and provide sanctions where warranted. The United States trustees in districts around the country are now facing hundreds of challenges to their authority to effectively police the system. It is a great disappointment to see some of the very same banking entities that have benefited so much from congressional action and taxpayer funded assistance put up so much resistance to simple demands for accuracy and truthfulness in their representations to the court and those whose homes they are seeking to repossess. There should be no disagreement that someone who is in default on their mortgage obligations may be rightfully foreclosed upon so that a home may be resold. This is important to our economic recovery. What is entirely unacceptable is for homeowners on the precipice of losing their homes to be mistreated by their lenders—whether through unsupported fees, willfully inaccurate or negligent accounting, or a lack of supporting documentation. This conduct only adds to the pain and hardship so many are experiencing. In 2010, over one million Americans lost their homes to foreclosure. This year, housing industry analysts expect the problem to get worse. The magnitude of this problem, and its effect on American families, is difficult to comprehend. As this crisis continues to deepen, the incentives for lenders and servicers to cut corners, inflate profits, rush foreclosures, and hide from their misconduct will only increase. The legislation I introduce today is about ensuring fair treatment for homeowners, preventing a fraud on the bankruptcy courts, and holding wrongdoers accountable. When Congress created the United States trustee program in 1978, it described the trustee’s role as the “watchdog” of the bankruptcy system, and vested the trustee’s office with the power to investigate fraud in the process. This legislation will support and strengthen this important role so that all participants in the bankruptcy system conduct themselves in accordance with the law. My legislation will do four things. First, it clarifies the United States trustee’s inherent power and duty to police all corners of the bankruptcy system. Second, it provides the trustee and the courts with remedies to correct and sanction misconduct and fraud committed by creditors in the bankruptcy process. Third, the legislation empowers the trustee to establish a system of audits to ensure that creditors are complying with the law. These provisions taken together will help make certain that debtors and creditors are held to the same standard in the bankruptcy process. Finally, the legislation addresses a particularly offensive form of mortgage servicer misconduct against men and women serving in our military. The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA) protects active duty military personnel by requiring a stable, manageable interest rate for military homeowners on active duty, and by staying foreclosure actions during their deployment. A Government Accountability Office report released this month found that among just two of 14 major mortgage servicing organizations that provided data to Federal regulators, 50 foreclosure actions were carried out in violation of the SCRA. In response to this finding, and to bolster the SCRA’s protections for the men and women serving in the military, this legislation would require a mortgage lender seeking relief from the automatic stay to certify under penalty of perjury that the foreclosure was in compliance with the SCRA. As Congress looks at ways to mitigate the foreclosure crisis to reduce its impact on homeowners and the economy, I hope all Senators can agree that the foreclosure process for Americans should be a fair one and one in which there is accountability for fraud or other misconduct. And I hope we can all agree that the integrity of our judicial system is something worth protecting. I ask for unanimous consent that a copy of the bill be placed in the Record. Banks Said to Offer $5 Billion to Resolve State, U.S. Foreclosures ProbeMay 11, 2011 Bank of America Corp. (BAC) and JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM), along with three other U.S. mortgage servicers, proposed paying $5 billion to settle a probe of their foreclosure practices by state and federal officials, two people familiar with the matter said. The proposal made by banks yesterday during settlement talks in Washington came after state attorneys general and federal officials offered revised settlement terms and a proposal for banks to fund principal writedowns for homeowners. Click here to read the full article. New Foreclosures Jump 21 PercentMay 2, 2011 Foreclosure activity increased sharply in March, a sign that lenders are coming to grips with the documentation problems that led to the robo-signing scandal last fall. Foreclosures were initiated on more than 217,000 homes in March, a 21 percent increase over February's rate, according to information released today by the HOPE NOW alliance. Nearly 85,000 properties were forfeited through foreclosure sales during the month, a 35 percent increase over February. Click here to read the full article. Economists React: First-Quarter GDP ‘Stutter’ Likely TemporaryApril 28, 2011 Economists and others weigh in on the 1.8% increase in first-quarter gross domestic product at a seasonally adjusted annual rate. –Despite the stutter in the first quarter, we expect the U.S. economic recovery to remain largely on track and expect the pace of growth to accelerate in the coming quarters as the sustained positive momentum in labor market activity continues to provide the supportive backdrop for household spending and business investment. –Millan L. B. Mulraine, TD Securities Click here to read the full article. Bills to Reform Foreclosure ProcessApril 8, 2011 Attorneys general from all 50 states along with federal agencies have been negotiating with more than a dozen major mortgage lenders for months, seeking to create a set of universal foreclosure procedures to minimize shoddy home loan documentation and wrongful foreclosures. Click here to read the full article. Servicers Said to Agree to Revamped ForeclosuresApril 5, 2011 The nation’s top mortgage servicers are expected to sign legal agreements by the end of this week compelling them to change their foreclosure procedures, regulatory officials said Tuesday. The servicers, which violated state and local laws and regulations governing foreclosures, are agreeing to improve their methods in numerous ways. They will be required to have more layers of oversight and proper training of their foreclosure staff. The oversight will extend to third party groups, including the law firms that do much of the actual work of eviction. Click here to read the full article. LA Court Hits Wells Fargo with $3.5 Million Penalty in Discrimination CaseMarch 24, 2011 A Los Angeles Superior Court jury ruled against Wells Fargo Thursday in a mortgage discrimination case, awarding borrowers $3.5 million. The class-action lawsuit alleged the bank knowingly discriminated against borrowers in minority neighborhoods. As a result, borrowers were charged more for their loans than those in predominately white areas of Los Angeles County, the court ruled. Click here to read the full article. Credit-Card Rules Amended by Fed to Avoid Issuance to People Who Can’t PayMarch 18, 2011 The U.S. Federal Reserve approved a rule that would require credit-card issuers to consider consumers’ individual incomes before extending credit. Credit-card applications generally can’t request household income” because that term is too vague for issuers to evaluate whether customers will be able to make the required payments on the accounts, according to a statement from the Fed today. The rule is needed to prevent making credit available to consumers who lack the ability to pay, the Fed said. Click here to read the full article. Warren Defends Consumer AgencyMarch 16, 2011 Elizabeth Warren, who is starting the first federal consumer watchdog agency, took to Capitol Hill on Wednesday to combat criticism from Republicans who say the new agency is exerting too much power in Washington and on Wall Street. In testimony before a House Financial Services subcommittee, Ms. Warren also defended the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau against complaints that the agency lacks transparency. Click here to read the full article. ATM Fees Heading HigherMarch 16, 2011 Some of the nation's biggest banks are imposing a variety of new fees on people who withdraw money from automated-teller machines. The move is the latest example of the burgeoning new fees that banks are imposing on customers accustomed to years of free services. Banks are scrambling to replace billions of dollars in revenue expected to be lost from new federal regulations on overdraft charges and debit cards. Click here to read the full article. Geithner Backs New Financing Approach for MortgagesMarch 15, 2011 WASHINGTON (Reuters) — Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner on Tuesday backed legislative efforts to create a new market for financing mortgages that would help wean the $10.6 trillion United States mortgage market from government support. Click here to read the full article. Consumer Bankruptcy Filings Are Up 9% in 2010, Compared to 2009; in Past 3 Years Consumer Bankruptcy Filings Have Increased Over 30%February 24, 2011 Consumer bankruptcy filings returned to pre-BAPCPA levels in 2010. According to the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, a total of 1,536,799 consumer bankruptcy petitions were filed last year, an increase of 8.8 percent over the 1,412,838 filings recorded during 2009. FDIC Clarifies Orderly Liquidation Authority Under Dodd-FrankFebruary 9, 2011 The Board of Directors of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation approved an interim final rule January 18 to clarify how the agency will treat creditor claims under orderly liquidation authority established by Title II of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (see 76 FR 16, p. 4207). Click here to read the full article. Texas Congressman Hinojosa Files for BankruptcyFebruary 3, 2011 An eight-term congressman who serves on the House Financial Services Committee has quietly declared personal bankruptcy and is blaming his family meat company for his problems. Click here to read the full article. Better off BankruptJanuary 27, 2011 During the 2008 financial crisis, the federal government reacted in a frantic, ad hoc fashion, tapping taxpayers for bailouts galore, running roughshod over the rights of bondholders and catching the American people unaware and unprepared. In contrast, we still have time to prepare for the looming crisis threatening to engulf California, Illinois, New York and other state governments. Click here to read the full article. Home Foreclosures in 2010 Top 1 Million for First TimeJanuary 13, 2011 (Reuters) - Banks seized more than a million U.S. homes in one year for the first time last year, despite a slowdown in the last few months as questions around foreclosure processing arose, a leading firm said on Thursday. Banks foreclosed on 69,847 properties in December, bringing the year's total to 1.05 million, topping the prior record of 918,000 homes seized in 2009, real estate data firm RealtyTrac said. Click here to read the full article. Dead Soul Is a Debt CollectorDecember 31, 2010 Martha Kunkle has come back to life. She died in 1995. Yet her signature later appeared on thousands of affidavits submitted by one of the nation's largest debt collectors, Portfolio Recovery Associates Inc., in lawsuits filed against borrowers. Some regulators complain that the use of Ms. Kunkle's name reflects an epidemic of mass-produced, sloppy and inaccurate documentation in the debt-collection industry. Lawsuits have surged as more borrowers fall behind on payments and collection firms turn to courts to get what they are owed. Click here to read the full article. Mortgage Modifications in U.S. Decline as Fewer People Qualify for ProgramDecember 29, 2010 The number of delinquent borrowers who started U.S. home loan modifications declined in the third quarter as fewer people qualified for easier payment terms, according to the Treasury Department. Loan servicers started 470,321 modification or payment plans in the three months ended Sept. 30, down 17 percent from the previous quarter and 32 percent from a year earlier, the Treasury Department’s Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and Office of Thrift Supervision said in a report today. Click here to read the full article. Wells Fargo Reaches Agreement with California to Modify Risky MortgagesDecember 21, 2010 Wells Fargo & Co. reached an agreement with the state of California to make mortgage modifications valued at as much as $2.4 billion on risky mortgages that let borrowers decide how much they would pay each month. The bank also will pay $32 million to more than 12,000 California borrowers who had such loans and lost their homes to foreclosure, according to the accord, announced Monday with Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown's office. The $32 million works out to an average of about $2,650 for each former homeowner. Click here to read the full article. Total Bankruptcy Filings Up 11 Percent Through First Nine Months of 2010 While Business Filings DecreaseNovember 8, 2010 November 8, 2010 Alexandria, Va.— The 1,222,589 total U.S. bankruptcies filed for the first nine months of 2010 (Jan. 1 – Sept. 30) represented an 11 percent increase over the 1,100,035 cases filed over the same period in 2009, according to data released today by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. Consumer filings totaled 1,179,573 for the first nine months of 2010 representing nearly a 12 percent increase over 1,054,525 filed during the same period in 2009. Bankruptcies have continued to increase since the 2005 amendments to the Bankruptcy Code. Click here to read the full article. Why a Foreclosure Moratorium Is a Bad IdeaOctober 18, 2010 Attorneys general from all 50 states launched a joint investigation last week into allegations that mortgage-servicing companies submitted fraudulent documents and broke laws in foreclosure proceedings. Some lawmakers are calling for a national moratorium on foreclosures. In response, major mortgage servicers—including Ally Bank, Chase, Bank of America and PNC Financial Services—have announced a freeze on all foreclosures until internal investigations are completed. Click here to read the full article. Foreclosure Crisis Slams Into BanksOctober 15, 2010 The mortgage-foreclosure crisis spilled into the financial markets on Thursday, driving down bank stocks and weighing on mortgage bonds as investors took a grim view of the potential costs. Click here to read the full article. It's Official: No Social Security Increase Next YearOctober 15, 2010 More than 58 million retirees and disabled Americans will get no increase in Social Security benefits next year, the second year in a row without a raise. Click here to read the full article. 'Signer' Issue Raised for Wells FargoOctober 15, 2010 NEW YORK—Wells Fargo & Co. may be added to the list of big mortgage companies that used "robo-signers" to execute foreclosures. In a deposition for a lawsuit in Palm Beach County, Fla., an employee in Wells Fargo's sprawling mortgage-servicing business said that she signed "hundreds" of foreclosure affidavits a day without verifying the documents' information, as her signature would imply that she had. Click here to read the full article. GMAC Mortgage Expands Review of Its ForeclosuresOctober 13, 2010 Amid growing inquiries by law enforcement into dubious paperwork by home lenders, one of the nation’s largest, GMAC Mortgage, said Tuesday that it was expanding its review of foreclosures to all 50 states. Click here to read the full article. B of A Halts All Foreclosure SalesOctober 8, 2010 Bank of America Corp. said it is placing a moratorium on all foreclosure sales across the U.S., amid political pressure on U.S. banks to examine foreclosure-documentation problems. The nation's largest bank by assets is the first financial institution to stop all foreclosure sales amid revelations that the banking industry had used "robo signers," people who sign hundreds of documents a day without reviewing their contents, when foreclosing on homes. Bank of America, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. and Ally Financial Inc. (parent of GMAC Mortgage) last week postponed foreclosures in 23 states where a court's approval is required to foreclosure on a home. Click here to read the full article. New Law Gives Calif. Homeowners Deficiency Protection After Short SaleOctober 6, 2010 California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a state bill into law Oct. 1 prohibiting mortgage holders from pursuing deficiencies after a short sale is accepted. Click here to read the full article. Consumer Bankruptcy Filings Up 11 Perecent Through Nine Months of 2010October 4, 2010 Alexandria, Va.— U.S. consumer bankruptcy filings totaled 1,165,172 nationwide during the first nine months of 2010 (Jan. 1-Sept. 30), an 11 percent increase over the 1,046,449 total consumer filings during the same period a year ago, according to the American Bankruptcy Institute (ABI), relying on data from the National Bankruptcy Research Center (NBKRC). The consumer filings for the three-quarters of 2010 represent the highest total since 2005, when Congress enacted the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act (BAPCPA) to try and stem the tide of filings. “While the 2005 bankruptcy overhaul law aimed to reduce filings, overall consumer debt and continued financial stress have led to consumer bankruptcies climbing back to pre-BAPCPA levels,” said ABI Executive Director Samuel J. Gerdano. “We expect that there will be nearly 1.6 million new bankruptcy filings by year end.” The overall September consumer filing total of 130,329 was 4.4 percent more than the 124,790 consumer filings recorded in September 2009. The September total also represented a 3.3 percent increase from the August 2010 total of 127,028 consumer filings. Chapter 13 filings constituted 30 percent of all consumer cases in September, a slight increase from August. Shock Therapy for Wall Street: JPMorgan Suspends 56,000 Foreclosures; GMAC and BOA Many MoreOctober 2, 2010 The hits are coming fast and furiously. It appears major Wall Street mortgage lenders could again be in serious trouble – and looking again for handouts. On September 20th, Ally Financial Inc., which owns GMAC Mortgage, the nation’s 4th largest lender, halted evictions and the resale of repossessed homes in 23 states. This was after a document processor for the company admitted that he had signed off on 10,000 pieces of foreclosure paperwork a month without reading them. The 23 states were all those where foreclosures must be approved by a court, including New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Florida and Illinois. Click here to read the full article. Jobs Still Elusive, 5 States Posted Record Unemployment Rates in JanuaryMarch 10, 2010 Unemployment rose in 30 states in January, the Labor Department said Wednesday, evidence that jobs remain scarce in most regions of the country. Click here to read the full article. Free First Consult to Tell You if We Can Help You Phone Us at 1-310-559-9224; or from Los Angeles and Ventura Counties Only Phone Toll Free 1-866-BKY-ATTY Los Angeles Bankruptcy Lawyer Disclaimer: The information on los angeles bankruptcy law, filing bankruptcy in Los Angeles, Chapter 7 bankruptcy, personal bankruptcy, Chapter 13 bankruptcy, Chapter 11 bankruptcy, credit card bankruptcy, and other bankruptcy legal information presented at this site does not constitute legal advice and does not create any attorney client relationship or contract of any kind with the Bankruptcy Law Firm, PC or Los Angeles bankruptcy attorney Kathleen P. March, Esq. The Bankruptcy Law Firm, PC uses a written contract for each bankrkuptcy client and will only be representing you in your Los Angeles bankruptcy matter if you and the law firm sign a written legal representation contract and you pay Bankruptcy law firm for the bankruptcy legal services it performs for you. Information on this bankruptcy los angeles law firm web site is provided for informational and educational purposes only. You should never make legal hiring decisions solely upon web pages, brochures, advertising or other promotional materials. Please contact a Los Angeles bankruptcy lawyer at The Bankruptcy Law Firm, PC, for your free first consult to find out whether our Los Angeles Bankruptcy Attorneys can represent you. This web site might be characterized as an advertisement under California's State Bar Rules and is not intended to solicit clients for matters outside of the State of California. Always seek the advice of an attorney from your own jurisdiction before relying on information from this site or any web site. Kathleen P. March - Los Angeles Bankruptcy Lawyer, and Former Bankruptcy Judge - claims the copyright (2002-2009) to the content of all pages on www.bkylawfirm.com. All rights reserved. |