A Bankruptcy Lawyer's Response to the New Bankruptcy Bill.

[MikeG]

Now that it looks assured that the bankruptcy bill will pass soon, it means that the playing field has changed.

Some things stay the same. When an insurance company commits outright fraud, they can still be sued.

I will be on the constant lookout for this and won't hesitate to consider filing a class action when I see merit in it. In the past, it wasn't cost effective. Now it just might be.

I will also be scrutinizing any attorneys fees charged by creditor's attorneys. In the past I was willing to let close cases go. Not now.

Hope they like it.

[Earth_First]

1. Thank you. nt

[Darkhawk32]

2. I expect a flood of personal bankruptcies before that bill goes into ...

effect.

Sadly, I'm going to have to be one of them. Wanted to wait to see if I can pull out of it properly, but they're leaving me absolutely no choice.

[ProfessorGAC]

3. Me, Too!

As a matter of fact, i'm sure of it. The last time there was even NOISE about a bill passing, there was an statistically significant uptick in filings. Now, with this looking like a done deal, i think we'll see even more of them.

Sorry about your situation. That's a drag.

The Professor

[Darkhawk32]

4. Honestly, it's more of a preventative measure.....

If I lose my job or get sick or injured, what would I be able to do?

[ProfessorGAC]

6. That's Pretty Drastic PM!

You know your situation, not me. But i wouldn't go BKO as a preventative measure. But, that's just me.
The Professor

[The Backlash Cometh]

7. Do you think that the number of filings may kick off a worse economic

situation? One that could have been avoided?

[ProfessorGAC]

13. There Are Economic Consequences

The marketing philosophy of commerce in the U.S. has been, for many years, buy, buy, buy. The economy is 70% predicated upon consumption.

Anything that makes people think twice will have a net negative effect on consumption. The scarier part, is that with this safety net removed, many people who are NOT high risk borrowers and diligent loan repayers, will now reduce their lending and consumption. It can have a chilling effect on consumption.

Since the economy is now heavily supported by drastically increased gov't spending, over 20% on borrowed money, the whole economic picture is untenable in the long run. Recessionary behaviors are almost inevitable given the short term focus of laws like this one and the tax cut legislations.

While i'm far from a doom and gloomer, (i don't see collapse or depression as a predictable event), i think there is going to be downard pressure on commerce. Less consumption, less gov't spending = less profitability = fewer jobs. That creates a cycle of economic stagnation that results in recession.

This bill is a solution in search of a problem and will likely be iatotropic.
The Professor

[progressivedude]

8. how much are you in debt?

I know someone 50k under, not including the house payment and they made out ok...took 2 years of working an extra job on weekends, but it is possible.

[Darkhawk32]

10. Enough to where in the place where I live, I'm making more money than...

most people do (after a long layoff, hence the debt) around here. If something happens to this job, there'd be no way to replace it. And I'd have no fallback plan to boot.

My wife works full-time, I work full-time at night and watch the kids during the day. A second job is out of the question.

There are many other people in my situation I'm sure that have no idea what steamroller is coming at them.

[progressivedude]

12. call this guy up today

he is on 12-3EST
great advice

www.daveramsey.com

[The Backlash Cometh]

5. Thanks. There may be very little money in it, but I would work for a

lawyer that had these causes in mind.

[Jacobin]

9. I've been doing a bit of digging.......

The Louisiana Civil Code has a section on "Respite" which is a state law bankruptcy set of statutes. Kind of interesting the way it works. Somewhat cumbersome, but has a provision for injunctions against creditors, meeting of creditors, a notary instead of a trustee, and a procedure for a cramdown on partial payments if the creditors can't agree on payments. Looks sort of like a Chapter 13, with a fall back to a Chapter 7 if the assets and liabilities dictate that result.

I'm looking foward to trying this in the right situation.

heh heh heh

[katinmn]

11. The majority of Americans that have a clue are against this awful "reform"

It's another situation where the corporate-owned government is going to run roughshod over citizens.

I'm sure you've seen it but just look at the dozens of articles and editorials from across the country speaking out against the awful legislation.

It's exactly like Bush pushing through Social Security privatization no matter what.

When are people going to fight back?

http://www.nacba.org/news/update.asp