When a business becomes unable to meet obligations such as employee salaries, day to day invoices, and bank debt, management may turn to Bankruptcy law to liquidate or reorganize. As a rule, Courts prefer reorganization over liquidation, provided reorganization would be viable, preserve jobs, keep assets productive, and enhance the local economy. To begin with...Read More
This post was prepared by yours truly, with contributions from Phil Bradford, a financial web content writer. Phil graduated from New York University School of Law and recently joined Herald University as a reporter. He has also written for websites such as debtfreeguys.com and disabilitycanhappen.org An now, on with the post… Those who’ve exhausted their financial options or...Read More
The Illinois Supreme Court reversed, noting that just because the Seymours had a legal duty to disclose their suit but failed to do so did not establish intent to deceive or manipulate the Bankruptcy Court. Nor, as the Defendants had asserted, did the Seymours’ 2010 Motion to Modify constitute proof that they were aware of...Read More
In this carefully written Opinion Judge Schmetterer evaluates the arguments in a Motion to Dismiss an Adversary Complaint based on fraudulent behavior. Beyond its examination of Bankruptcy Fraud, this Opinion is notable for its recitation of the ways this former Attorney conned his Client out of money.Read More
As a Bankruptcy lawyer I can't count how many times people have asked why Courts won't reduce their mortgage debt to match the deflated value of their home, or why they should pay anything on that second mortgage, line of credit, or HELOC, when they're underwater. I even discussed these questions and the state of...Read More
The Federal Reserve and Government forecasters agree: the Great Recession is over. But not for millions of Americans whose homes remain underwater thanks to the sub-prime mortgage scandal. Nor is it over for the millions more who lost their jobs and have only been able to secure part-time work with less pay and no benefits.Read More
Priority disputes can be played out in Bankruptcy court. Take the case of In re Jones, in which Chapter 11 Debtors owned several pieces of property encumbered with mortgages cross-collateralized with other property of the Estate. That's when the trouble started...Read More
Yes Virginia, it is possible to both discharge unsecured debts forever (Chapter 7) and strip down secondary mortgages (Chapter 13). But why would a Debtor file two cases when it's hard enough to put themselves through one? Read on and find out.Read More
Your customer or borrower has been paying like clockwork and you, the creditor or vendor, have been dispensing goods and services as promised. Then your customer starts to pay a little later, then later still. Why not? Times are tough. So you do the decent thing and take their payments without complaining. Next thing you...Read More
What happens when the property taxes of a Chapter 13 Debtor, protected by the Automatic Stay, are sold at auction? Here the Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division, had to decide whether a Chapter 13 Plan of Reorganization affects the deadline for the Debtor to redeem sold taxes. The answer is,...Read More