The mission statement of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Maryland is to “promote social and economic order by reconciling the opportunity of debtors to a fresh start with the right of creditors to be paid.” A Google search of “fresh start bankruptcy” turned up about 2,560,000 results. A search of bankruptcy […]
When David Strumpf filed bankruptcy in January 1991 he probably thought that his bank account was safe. The automatic stay of Bankruptcy Code Section 362 protects debtors from their creditors, so he (and his lawyer) probably thought there was nothing to worry about from his bank. Although he owed the bank over $5,000, and was […]
When George W. Bush signed the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act (“BAPCPA”) into law in April, 2005 panic beset the bankruptcy community. Many bankruptcy lawyers feared that BAPCPA would severely limit the rights of debtors under the Bankruptcy Code. Even worse, nobody knew what impact many of BAPCPA’s new restrictive features would have on […]
Daniel Martinez Galan and his wife, Janice Blackmore struggled to keep their heads above water as their dreams of building a stable of investment properties shattered when the real estate bubble burst in 2008. They exhausted their cash reserves even as the incomes from their properties plummeted. Shortages from their investment homes were as much […]
Courts around the country continue to refuse Chapter 13 debtors the right to make payroll contributions into their 401(k) plans at the expense of creditors.Two recent cases have continued this trend:In re Parks, No. 11-1366 (B.A.P. 9th Cir. August 6, 2012), and In re Jenkins, No. 11-16960 (Bankr. E.D. Tenn. July 5, 2012). The rationale behind these decisions (notwithstanding a […]
Coupons, discounts and two-for-the-price-of-one deals assault consumers in print, over the airwaves and on the web. Almost every business will offer a new customer special value to bring them in the door. Bankruptcy lawyers are no strangers to this reality: nearly every bankruptcy lawyer I know offers a free initial consult to prospective clients. Even a […]
Howrey LLP was a global law firm that practiced antitrust, international litigation and intellectual property law. According to Wikipedia, at its peak Howrey had more than 500 attorneys in 16 locations worldwide. About 60 attorneys departed from Howrey in the year before January 2011, crippling the firm and prompting its creditors to force it into involuntary bankruptcy. Those partners took client work […]
Chapter 11 cases are frequently struggles between a debtor and its creditors over the fate of the debtor’s operations and its assets. At the center of this struggle is time: debtors want more time under bankruptcy protection to settle or restructure their affairs, while creditors want their money now. The Bankruptcy Code builds in early […]
Real estate agents and brokers may believe that they don’t truly earn their commissions until settlement, but that’s not the controlling law in Maryland and many other states. Maryland Real Property Article Section 14-105 states that in the absence of a special agreement to the contrary, a listing agent earns their commission when a binding agreement […]
Since 1935, when the U.S. passed its first Social Security Act, protection of the elderly has been a national priority. By 2009, according to this Wikipedia article, the U.S. Social Security plan became the largest government program in the world and the single greatest expenditure in the federal budget, with 20.8% for Social Security, compared […]
