It cannot be done, but I suggest reading Shouldn’t you be able to discharge your student loans in a bankruptcy? that I found through The e-Legal Lawyer Blog. Anyone thinking of taking out a student loan needs to think about this.
The Indianapolis Business Journal reports that Ron White cannot be found to be arrested:
Local law enforcement officials plan to cast a wider net in their quest to track down and arrest Christopher P. White, the founder of defunct developer Premier Properties USA Inc.
The Marion County Prosecutor's Office filed three felony charges against White a week ago. But White hasn't turned himself in, and couldn't be found by law enforcement, including at his Lake Clearwater home.
An attorney for White, 50, told the prosecutor's office that he was in Florida but later said he no longer represents the developer, according to Matthew Symons, a spokesman for the prosecutor's office. Symons would not name the attorney.
As reported by the Indianapolis Business Journal:
The IBJ maintains a web page on this case here.The Marion County Prosecutor's Office today filed three felony charges against Christopher P. White, the founder of bankrupt development firm Premier Properties USA Inc.
The charges include fraud on a financial institution, check fraud and theft-all Class C Felonies stemming from a $500,000 bad check that authorities say White deposited into an account with The National Bank of Indianapolis in January.
The check was drawn on an account at JP Morgan Chase that never had a balance of more than $1,000, the prosecutor's office said.
White, 50, will be arrested and faces an initial hearing later this week, said Matthew Symons, a spokesman for the prosecutor's office.
So I interpret Trustee working to determine Premier assets from The Indianapolis Business Journal:
The auction of chairs, tables and other furniture-most of which has been stored in Premier's former offices in the Echelon building near 86th Street and Allisonville Road-will be handled by Christy's of Indiana Inc. No date has been set.What to make of this case? I know nothing of the company other than the reports in the newspapers and what I make of it is based on those reports and a few assumptions.
U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Basil H. Lorch III reclassified Premier's bankruptcy status to Chapter 7 in late May, clearing the way for the trustee to liquidate remaining assets and eliminating White's hopes of resuscitating the developer of Metropolis mall in Plainfield and several other retail projects across the U.S.
The judge also granted a motion today from the Indianapolis Colts, releasing the team from an agreement with Premier for a suite in Lucas Oil Stadium.
The Indianapolis Business Journal shows some problems with the Premier Chapter 11 Bankruptcy case. With Trustee to intervene in Premier bankruptcy, the story highlights some problems of many Chapter 11 case. Albeit, this case seems an extreme example:
"The U.S. Trustee's office plans to file a motion to intervene in a Chapter 11 bankruptcy case brought by Premier Properties USA Inc. because the development firm is insolvent."
***
Two court hearings last week made it increasingly clear that Premier is in no position to work its way out of bankruptcy: None of its employees have been paid for at least eight weeks, and the firm's operating account balance has fallen to $14.33.
U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Basil H. Lorch III said he will consider Trustee Mark Drummond's request to convert or dismiss the Chapter 11 filing at a hearing May 30. Drummond had not filed the request as of this morning.
Not a lot of good news and the linked article's title pretty much says it all.
Bankruptcy Makes Gift Cards Worthless: "As more retailers file for bankruptcy or go out of business, more than $75 million in gift cards are at risk of becoming worthless pieces of plastic this year."
Before 2005, I had a consumer bankruptcy practice. I learned to dislike the consumer counseling agencies for promising much and delivering on nothing. Which is why I read The New York Times' Debt Relief Can Cause Headaches of Its Own with interest and quote it at length below.
While I no longer practice on the consumer side of bankruptcy law, I give you this advice: if you have the problems discussed below you need to talk to a bankruptcy attorney to get an accurate estimate of your problems and possible solutions and you need to do it now instead of letting the problem fester.
"What can borrowers do to extricate themselves?"If belt-tightening suffices, one option is a debt management repayment plan in which interest rates, but not balances, are reduced.
Ronald J. Mann, a law professor at Columbia University and a credit expert, describes credit industry practices as intended to enslave borrowers in a “sweat box.” He recommends a Chapter 7 bankruptcy that wipes out most credit card debt.
Many consumers, however, are loath to file for bankruptcy protection, said Mark S. Zuckerberg, a bankruptcy lawyer in Indianapolis. And others may find that they cannot qualify for a Chapter 7.
Then there is debt settlement, when a debtor and creditor agree that payment of a negotiated, reduced balance will be payment in full. Debt settlement generally works best when consumers can offer a lump sum, the experts said. But consumers may face taxes on the amount the creditor has forgiven.
“Done correctly, it can absolutely help people,” said Cyndi Geerdes, an associate professor at the University of Illinois law school who also runs a consumer debt clinic.
Consumers can arrange debt settlement themselves, and many Web sites offer advice. Consumers can also hire a lawyer or use debt settlement companies, many of which advertise online and on television. The experts agree, however, that “buyer beware” is the best advice when considering debt settlement companies.
***
Debt settlement companies are regulated by state attorneys general and the Federal Trade Commission, but they are rarely prosecuted. To improve regulation of this interstate business, the Uniform Law Commission, sponsored by state governments and based in Chicago, is promoting a model law that covers credit counseling and debt management companies. It was in force in four states last year, and an estimated five state legislatures will vote on it this year, said Michael Kerr, the commission’s legislative director.
Debtor owning real estate files bankruptcy. Debtor owes property taxes and so real estate put up for a tax sale which freezes out lender. Buyer at tax sale file to quiet title and mortgage company wins at trial level and then at the Indiana Court of Appeals.
Decided on January 31, 2008, ATFH REAL PROPERTY, LLC, v. STEWART (PDF format) has a good description of the process of buying real estate at a tax sale and a warning for buyers of tax sale property.
Exemptions and collections? Exemptions are the things that cannot be taken by a creditor.
For me, asset protection begins with the exemption laws. So if you want to know if a creditor can take your house or personal property or your stocks or your retirement, you need to go to this page.
You will need to know the difference between real property (land), tangible personal property (the shirt on your back, the car in the driveway, the comic book collection and so on), and intangible personal property (stocks, bonds, cash).
You will notice that this a bankruptcy site. These same statutes apply to the bankruptcy trustee as they do to the creditor in a lawsuit.
What makes this bankruptcy different? As reported in The IBJ Daily this is an involuntary bankruptcy.
It looks like the end won't come quietly for Julie Beckner and her now-defunct chain of Corner Care Clinics.The Bankruptcy Code calls them involuntary because - as here - the creditors file the bankruptcy petition instead of the debtor. 11 U.S.C § 303 contains the law on involuntary cases.
In late December, three suppliers forced Beckner and her Indianapolis-based company into bankruptcy court, claiming they are owed at least $112,000. Two of the creditors are from Indianapolis: The Dodson Group Inc., a business purchasing service, and CPPM Inc., a printing and mailing firm. The third creditor is Leventhal Productions, a media buyer in St. Louis.
The suppliers filed their Chapter 11 involuntary bankruptcy petition on Dec. 19 in federal bankruptcy court in Indianapolis. All three firms are represented by Bingham McHale attorney Whitney L. Mosby.
So reports the New York Times and I suggest those with mortgages read this article.
The Countrywide Financial Corporation fabricated documents related to the bankruptcy case of a Pennsylvania homeowner, court records show, raising new questions about the business practices of the giant mortgage lender at the center of the subprime mess.
***The documents were generated in a case involving Sharon Diane Hill, a homeowner in Monroeville, Pa. Ms. Hill filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy protection in March 2001 to try to save her home from foreclosure.
After meeting her mortgage obligations under the 60-month bankruptcy plan, Ms. Hill’s case was discharged and officially closed on March 9, 2007. Countrywide, the servicer on her loan, did not object to the discharge; court records from that date show she was current on her mortgage.
But one month later, Ms. Hill received a notice of intention to foreclose from Countrywide, stating that she was in default and owed the company $4,166.
Court records show that the amount claimed by Countrywide was from the period during which Ms. Hill was making regular payments under the auspices of the bankruptcy court. They included “monthly charges” totaling $3,840 from November 2006 to April 2007, late charges of $128 and other charges of almost $200.
A lawyer representing Ms. Hill in her bankruptcy case, Kenneth Steidl, of Steidl and Steinberg in Pittsburgh, wrote Countrywide a few weeks later stating that Ms. Hill had been deemed current on her mortgage during the period in question. But in May, Countrywide sent Ms. Hill another notice stating that her loan was delinquent and demanding that she pay $4,715.58. Neither Mr. Steidl nor Julia Steidl, who has also represented Ms. Hill, returned phone calls seeking comment.
Remember that on Mondays the Indianapolis Star publishes the week's business bankruptcies.
Chapter 7 (liquidation)
United Mortgage Co. of IN Inc., 407 Amelie Drive, Jeffersonville. D, $158,208; A, none.Zemon Enterprises Inc., 757 E. Lewis & Clark Pkwy., Clarksville.USF Worldwide Holdings Inc., 5151 W. U.S. 40, Greenfield. D, $7,105,357; A, none.S.B. Brother's Inc., 600 N. Lincoln Road, Rockville. D, $44,523; A, none.4 SGC LLC, 66 Harmony Road, Carmel. D, $112,292; A, $13,165.Chapter 11 (reorganization)
Thomas K. Helton Inc., d/b/a Home Lumber Co., 101 W. Lincoln St., Danville.
Gini Nelson publishes New Mexico Bankruptcy Blog. I know of Ms. Neslon from the Solosez list and she is off to a very good start with her blog.
Your business gets notice ffrom a Chapter 11 bankruptcy trustee. You recognize the name of the case as a business you did business with. Then you see that the bankuptcy trustee wants money the business paid to you. At this point, hope your business's lwyer knows something about preferences but admittedly a preference claim is hard to beat.
I suggest reading What to Do When You Receive A Bankruptcy Preference Demand Letter from New Jersey Law Blog. Being New Jersey does not count against it. Remember bankruptcy law is federal law. The writer does the best job of clearly and simply describing preferences and what to do about them.
What is Preference?Second, if you have a preference case in Indiana and need legal counsel then give me a call.
A potential preference is a payment received from a debtor, made within 90 days of the bankruptcy filing. Bankruptcy Code section 547(b) allows a bankruptcy trustee or debtor-in-possession to avoid this payment, if the transfer was to or for the benefit of a creditor on account of an antecedent debt while the debtor was insolvent. When Congress enacted the Bankruptcy Code, the policy behind preferences was to level the playing field for all creditors by not allowing a creditor to receive more than it would have within the debtor’s bankruptcy case.
I would add two things. First, that with so many legal matters a good preference case comes from preventive maintenance by the business.
While working on Revisiting Assignments for the Benefit of Creditors, I ran across a few new bankruptcy blogs. That is they are new to me.
The subrpime mortgage mess has economic and political reprucussions but the legal ones are also showing up. Two different articles from two different sources give us some idea of how the legal system will be dealing with this problem.
From The New York Time comes this story out of Florida: 31 Accused in Florida of Falsifying Home Loans:
"Officials said the scheme included participants at every stage of the transactions, including bank employees, title agents, appraisers and fake buyers, and involved property in Miami-Dade and Broward Counties and in the city of Marco Island on the state’s southwest coast."
According to the indictment, Juan Torrens, 40, a defendant and the owner of two real estate investment companies, would identify property owners who were willing to overstate the selling price of their properties.
Mr. Torrens and another defendant, Daniel Ramos, 40, would recruit people to pose as buyers, the indictment said. Mr. Torrens and his wife, Rachael, would then prepare fraudulent mortgage loan applications on behalf of the straw buyers, including false pay stubs and tax forms, according to the indictment.
Meanwhile, to support the inflated sales prices, Alonso A. Muxo, 48, an appraiser, would prepare fraudulent appraisals, the indictment said.
In at least one case, the indictment says, Roger Rosario, an employee of Regions Bank, provided a fraudulent verification of deposit in connection with a mortgage loan application.
The defendants would skim off the difference between the sale price and the mortgage loan and pay off all the participants in the scheme, officials said.
"Coming off a four- or five-year dry spell, small bankruptcy boutiques like McNutt's are watching the ripple effect of the subprime mortgage meltdown and the ensuing credit crunch. They say the ailing run the gamut, from hospitals to retail and high-tech businesses.
McNutt said the firm is getting three times more calls than last year about Chapter 11 from distressed midsize companies -- those with between $5 million and $15 million in annual revenue. Recently, the firm also was tapped to represent the creditors' committee in the SonicBlue bankruptcy and in a case regarding Selix, a troubled tuxedo rental company that owes $9 million to creditors and is going through liquidation.
The McNutt firm also represents four hedge funds in asset acquisitions in Delaware bankruptcy court.
'The difficulties in the subprime mortgage industry are a preview of what's going to happen in the world of corporate insolvency,' McNutt said.
Murray & Murray, a bankruptcy firm in Cupertino, Calif., has added three lawyers in the past four months, for a total of six lawyers. Name partner John Murray says his practice has expanded as a direct result of the subprime mess.
'We're going to be filing a significant Chapter 11 case for a subprime lender in the next couple of weeks,' he said. Small and me"
From the New York Times of last week, Foreclosures by Lender Investigated :
Actually, delay may have been a good thing. Reading this news with the news coming out of Ohio (see my article on that here), I think we might have a trend of lenders behaving badly."The federal agency monitoring the bankruptcy courts has subpoenaed Countrywide Financial, the nation’s largest mortgage lender and loan servicer, to determine whether the company’s conduct in two foreclosures in southern Florida represented abuses of the bankruptcy system."
***In Florida, one of the trustee’s inquiries involves Manuel Del Castillo and Maria E. Pena, Miami borrowers who filed for protection last May under Chapter 13 of the bankruptcy code. In July, Countrywide Home Loans filed a claim, saying that the borrowers owed almost $279,000 on their loan.
Included in the figure, court documents show, was an $11,924 advance Countrywide said it had made to an escrow account before the borrowers filed for bankruptcy as well as an insufficient- funds fee of almost $683.
In the second case, the trustee has asked for documents relating to Countrywide’s claim for almost $101,000 against William and Joyce Chadwick, borrowers in Boca Raton, who filed for Chapter 13 protection in October 2005. Included in that figure was $2,400 in overdue mortgage payments.
The borrowers in both cases objected to Countrywide’s claims of what was owed. In court documents, the Del Castillos argued that Countrywide had not provided an itemized list of the charges, while the Chadwicks contended that their mortgage payments were current.
Some new stuff that ought to be of interest to consumers and creditors alike:
11/21/07 - Notice of New Claims Objection Procedures
Thanks to California Creditor's Rights & Business Bankruptcy Lawyer & Attorney for the article A Fly In The Ointment: Sale Of Property May Cut Off Landlord's Section 502(b)(6) Lease Rejection Claim For Future Rent. I have not seen anything about this issue in Indiana and so this was an interesting point.
I think I will need to follow this up with a comparison between the Virginia law applied and our Indiana law.
Yes, it is from the Scottish Sunday Herald, but Tackling debt must start with some real home truths has some good advice transcending borders:
If you are struggling to cope with your debts, there are several ways to get your finances under control.
The first rule is not to ignore the problem - it won't go away. You need to face up to your debts and discuss the situation with your family.
Next, draw up a budget and honestly assess your incomings and outgoings. It will help you get things straight and could be useful if you have to negotiate with creditors. Ask yourself whether you can cut down on spending, or cut the cost of your debt. You might, for example, be able to find a cheaper mortgage or a credit card with a lower interest rate.
Some people consolidate their debts into one loan that runs for 10 or 15 years. The longer term brings the monthly payments down, but you will pay more in total interest, which could make the situation worse. Experts also warn of the risks of taking out a bigger mortgage to pay off debts or arranging a separate loan secured against your house. If you fall into arrears, you could lose your home.
Try to prioritise your debts. Boden Wilks said: "You know when a debt is a priority because you will lose something if you don't pay it. So, pay your mortgage, rent and essential household bills." Finally, contact creditors if you are struggling to meet commitments.
