Judge rips Congress in bankruptcy case

[kurth]

Austin American-Statesman
February 5, 2006
Judge takes Congress to task in bankruptcy case
Legal world abuzz about tirade calling act inane, confusing.
By Robert Elder

FREDERICKSBURG — Alfonso Sosa, a house painter here who made about $20,000 last year, filed for bankruptcy the morning of Dec. 6, hoping to avoid the foreclosure on his family's mobile home scheduled for later that day. Judge Frank Monroe of Austin rejected the case 16 days later — with a bang.

In his ruling, Monroe said the new federal bankruptcy law is full of traps for consumers, calling some of its provisions "inane," "absurd" and incomprehensible to "any rational human being." He stopped just short of accusing Congress of being bought and paid for, dryly noting, "Apparently, it is not the individual consumers of this country that make the donations to the members of Congress that allow them to be elected and re-elected and re-elected and re-elected."

Ordinarily, a case such as the Sosas', which primarily concerns a mobile home and land valued at $32,840, would quietly disappear into court archives. But Monroe's order has caught fire in the world of bankruptcy and consumer law. It's being debated on law blogs and circulated across the country.

Steve Jukabowski, a bankruptcy specialist in Chicago and creator of the Bankruptcy Litigation Blog, said Monroe's unusually strong language represents "the pot boiling over" in frustration at the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act, which took effect Oct. 17. "It's the kind of thing people know but that you don't write down." ... Congress passed the new law in April on largely partisan lines.

http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/02/5bankrupt.html

=============================================================================

"...The parties pushing the passage of the Act had their own agenda. It was apparently an agenda to make more money off the backs of the consumers in this country. It is not surprising, therefore, that the Act has been highly criticized across the country. In this writer’s opinion, to call the Act a “consumer protection” Act is the grossest of misnomers."
- Frank R. Monroe, United States Bankruptcy Judge

http://alt.coxnewsweb.com/statesman/metro/020506_bankrupt.pdf

[KoKo]

1. Thanks for this post. Looks like a good read! n/t

[LincolnMcGrath]

2. Proud to give this a fifth!

[ooglymoogly]

41. one more vote won't hurt . our very own dinocrat

lieberman voted for this legislation if memory serves, as he did for cloture.

[JDPriestly]

3. Thanks. We should hold the feet of those who voted for this

Bankruptcy bill to the fire -- whether they are Democrats or Republicans.

[Dr.Phool]

50. Thank you Bill Nelson---again

:sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm:

[Gormy Cuss]

4. The judge's best line is

"Can any rational human being make a cogent argument that this makes any sense at all?" he wrote

[Angry Girl]

5. This is LBN! Or should be! (grrrrr! This all makes me so angry!)

Everything this scumbag administration does is geared toward hurting and/or killing the poor. Their "health care" programs, the ethnic cleansing of New Orleans, the stripping of the education system, their push to force the poor into the military for lack of options....

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGH!

[Justice Is Comin]

35. The army is even

taking criminals now because they can't recruit enough enlistees.

[Lasher]

47. This was very easy to predict

Justice,

If you want to know what's coming next in this respect, just review what happened during the Vietnam war. Iraq is Vietnam with sand. The draft is coming soon, I assure you. I expected it before now, but other forms of compulsory service - stop loss, calling up the Reserves and Guard - have delayed conscription.

I was drafted in 1969. In basic training, the guy who bunked right above me was a murderer, who had copped a plea for manslaughter. The judge then gave him a choice of going to prison, or joining the Army.

This was not uncommon back then. They needed lots of cannon fodder. The neocons can not sustain their agenda of world conquest without the draft.

[biscotti]

6. This is great

Thanks go to this judge. Hope this article gets wide circulation. Thanks for posting this.

[Hubert Flottz]

7. That's great.

An honest judge, the kind Bush want's to replace and Tom DeLay threatens. That judge is a patriot.

[cal04]

8. thank you for posting. I just sent this to my rep who voted

for this horrendous bill
I blasted her secretary at the time on the phone unfortunately that didn't help

[dweller]

9. interesting tidbit at the end...

"Monroe's opinion inspired Austin lawyer Randy Howry, president of the Austin Bar Association, to send it to all 3,700 members. He praised Monroe's order as "a reminder to us all that as lawyers and judges, we are the protectors of our democracy. . . . We must not sit idly by as our constitutional rights are being shredded."

dp

[Straight Shooter]

10. A man who "makes a living" improving other people's homes, loses his own.

Ain't that America :sarcasm:

[Hubert Flottz]

14. The guy was taking work from builders who really need the work

KB&R/Halliburton. The GOPers want to crush the little guys and the Mom and Pop operations. Anyone in America who has a decent paying job is a target now! The way Bushco sees it, is if you're not a CEO you shouldn't have anything but cabbage soup like the German bosses served their slave laborers.

[MaraJade]

55. Eliminate the Middle Class altogether. . .

Is what the Repukes really want. First, they formulate arcane tax rules that have small
businesspeople paying through the nose with the stupid AMT; then they formulate this ridiculous
Consumer Protection Act that eliminates any bankruptcy relief while at the same time mandating
credit issuers to double minimum payments. Then there is the SUPPORT for illegal workers from
third world countries (rather than increasing minimum wages so that Americans will take jobs.)

Any fool can see that the goal is to eliminate the middle class. Many economists now talk of
an "hourglass economy" with rich people at the top, very few people in the middle, and a large
number of the population at the bottom.

Under these circumstances, many of the poor at the bottom would be forced into the military just to
survive. In fact, many in the middle might see their children forced into the military as
assistance for higher education disappears.

With the erasure of the middle class, they would get rid of most of the intelligent protest
against their policies. The middle class MUST GO! It's the only way the Repukes and the
wealthy aristocracy can truly rule.

[Hubert Flottz]

58. You are exactly right on all counts...

And welcome to DU.

[Old Smokey]

59. You're right

Great post. They want us all gone.

[dogday]

11. As if the poor don't have enough, let's entice them with

credit and then take the rest of what they don't have...

[HysteryDiagnosis]

12. Who has done more to harm American citizens? The people

who failed NO and Mississippi with their response?

The people who have waged a financial war on the middle class?

The people who have let your parents go without medicine and healthcare?

The people who have taken money away from education and social programs to drop bombs halfway around the world?

The people who have sent your sons and daughters off to die for a lie?

The people who have tweaked your election process?

The people who threaten you with terrah when you speak the truth?

The people who have created more hatred for your country than ANYONE previously has?

Or the 19 people were allowed to defeat our security and take down the trade centers??

I ask you, who has done more to harm this country.

[AndyA]

13. Another nail in the coffin

Everyone who voted for this should be sent packing in November! This Act abuses the rights of the American people, and caters to big business.

[Slit Skirt]

15. we should send this article to every single representative

that voted yes on this


they need to know we will not forgive!

[Deja Q]

16. Judges can be as ethical as they want. Hasn't stopped the corporate elite

not for decades.

[rman]

18. That's because some judges play ball with the corporate elite

as do certain lawyers.

More opposition to that within the judicial system will help stop the corporate elite. Many small efforts can make a difference.

[Wilms]

17. kick

[ClintonTyree]

19. "Largely partisan lines".........

:wtf: Here's the Senate roll call vote on the bankruptcy bill. http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2001-03-15-rollcall.htm

It seems largely BIPARTISAN to me! The Democrats caved again and screwed the working poor right into the ground along with the Republican fiends. Bullshit! "Largely partisan", my ass! :grr:

[satya]

21. Take another look -- that list is from 2001. Different bill.

[ClintonTyree]

22. Oopsie.......

you're right, how could I have missed that? :silly: There WERE a goodly number of Democrats that supported it though, if I'm not mistaken.

Here we go, these are the Democrats that sold middle America out.

Biden (D-DE), Yea
Byrd (D-WV), Yea
Carper (D-DE), Yea
Conrad (D-ND), Yea
Johnson (D-SD), Yea
Kohl (D-WI), Yea
Landrieu (D-LA), Yea
Lieberman (D-CT), Yea
Lincoln (D-AR), Yea
Nelson (D-FL), Yea
Nelson (D-NE), Yea
Pryor (D-AR), Yea
Salazar (D-CO), Yea
Stabenow (D-MI), Yea

[TahitiNut]

27. Largely the same slime that voted for cloture.

:shrug:

[satya]

30. Thanks, I was looking for that list and couldn't find it.

Kind of sad to see Senator Wellstone's name on the first list... :cry:

[LuckyLib]

51. and you know Paul Wellstone would have been still screaming bloody

murder at this abuse, the war, and Spygate. He'd be all over it, challenging other members of Congress to speak up and stop acting like sheep!

[satya]

52. Absolutely! Such a tragedy to lose him so soon. May his life inspire

others to step up to the plate and continue the fight.

And, on another note, Welcome to DU! :hi:

[Old Smokey]

60. I hate every scumbag sack of shit that voted for this bill

Rat bastards. Whores.

[GreenPartyVoter]

20. Wow! Glad to see this. As someone who was able to keep her mobile home

after filing for bankruptcy several years ago, I am glad to hear a judge state out loud everything that is wrong with the new laws.

[The Whiskey Priest]

23. That law is oppressive and could not have been enacted

at a worst time for the working class.

[Giant Robot]

24. Yes I'll stop calling things like this class warfare

when those with money and power stop attacking the middle and lower classes! The new bankruptcy law has to go, even if it just symbolic, we need to send a message to the upper classes and corporations that we will not stand idly by while they attempt to return us to days of serfdom. GRRRRRR.....one very angry Giant Robot here.

[jazzjunkysue]

25. Hope this has legs.

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

26. Wow, That is an awesome find and a powerful statement against this

horrible new legislation. Reading that it is catching fire in the law community can only make one hope that more and more judges will put these thoughts on paper rather than just 'knowing' them as the article states.

Kudos to that judge.

[no_hypocrisy]

28. I don't understand why the bankruptcy bill isn't considered

unconstitutional on the grounds of an illegal taking of property with due process. I don't mean being given a hearing, but a fair hearing. A hearing where there is a balance between the creditor and the debtor. Businesses weren't threatened with their own bankruptcy based on the old laws for consumer bankruptcy.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

32. "Unconstitutional"?? Who would eventually hear that case?...

...How about the U. S. Supreme Court packed with NeoCon cronies?

[ClintonTyree]

54. The credit card companies were losing so much money......

under the "old" bankruptcy laws, they just HAD to do something! Of course, now that the new laws almost make it impossible to claim bankruptcy I'M SURE THEY'LL LOWER THE CREDIT CARD INTEREST RATES ACCORDINGLY! :eyes: Yeah, and monkeys will fly outa' my butt any second now! Another windfall profit for the credit card industry. They have to keep screwing the lower and middle classes because it's the only way to increase profits.
The fucking GOP is so dirty and entwined with Corporate America it makes me sick. :puke: Capitalism will kill this country. Not pure capitalism, mind you, the mutated, corrupted and rigged "capitalism" that we now have does in no way resemble pure capitalism.

[Pryderi]

29. Debtors' Prisons and Poor Houses...Welcome to the 19th century

<img src="">

[Media_Lies_Daily]

31. We got in under the deadline with a Chapter 7 bankruptcy......

...and we managed to save our house and two vehicles. We now have no savings of any kind, and we haven't had an health care plan for more than a year. We will now have bad credit for the next ten years.

We got into debt trying to save a business that went under based on the economic policies of the NeoCon Junta. The jobs I used to fill by recruiting computer, telecomm, and IT personnel were outsourced to foreign countries, and remain outsourced to this very day.

Since the closing of my business in December 2003, I have been seeking employment in a variety of disciplines to include insurance and furniture sales. Insurance was not my bag, and the furniture store I worked for went bankrupt. So, I'm now selling cars at the age of 55. My wife is working herself into the ground with her job, I have a daughter in college who will start her senior year in the Fall, and my wife and I have two kids in elementary school.

Am I angry? Am I bitter? Guilty as charged.

But, if we hadn't managed to file before the new law went into effect, it could have been MUCH, MUCH worse. I really feel sorry for anyone declaring bankruptcy under the new laws...they will lose everything and be required to pay back a portion of their debt.

What a nightmare. Bankruptcies and foreclosures are at a record levels with new records being set each month as the economic misery grows.

[kineneb]

39. we are filing for ch. 7 now

but we had to wait until Hubby was "awarded" his disability ruling. That upped the allowence for our house to $150K, an important consideration in California(it is a double-wide on foundation, incidently). We hope to keep our cars (one is non-op), and some other items. We are already low-income and have no assets, since Hubby needed to be on state Medicaid (CMSP/MediCal here) to get medical care.

He is now on dialysis and federal disability, and I am his free "medical care assistant" (clinic is 50 mile drive round trip, 3x/week). On our (non) income, I don't worry about our credit rating. We won't be able to buy anything anyway; we just hope to hang on to what little we have. I am "investing" in my vegetable garden. I guess we will be living like my grandparents did during the Depresssion.

Our saga started with Hubby being laid off by WorldCom in 2002. I don't think I need to explain more.

Good luck. In some ways, you have it much harder than us.:hug:

[autorank]

33. 14 of the Democrats who voted to stop the Alito filibuster voted for

the bankruptcylaw. most of them were from poorer states. I wonder if they have any concept of the pain they've caused? Nah, they're just looking for ward to the fat, disgusting Senate pension and other benefits plan. They'll live like kings and queens in their retirement and buy up property everywhere are fire sale prices.

[WhiteTara]

34. Judge Frank Monroe

a true American Hero :patriot:

[RC]

36. I think it crossed the line into being a felony.

"Consumer protection” Act is the grossest of misnomers."

[Randypiper]

37. At the same time bankruptcy is made harder for regular Americans,

Congress let corporations take away pensions and healthcare benefits.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/10/23/2552/7270

[Nutmegger]

38. Thanks for this

My parents filed bankruptcy and I'll tell you one thing, they were suffering from these insane medial expenses. The Repukes would like to label my parents as "offenders" and "abusers of the system". I'd like to see one of these bastards suffer from overwhelming debt. So much so that they can't sleep at night.

And that goes for any Dem that voted for it too. Including Joe "MBNA" Biden.

[greiner3]

40. While I'm too poor to file for bankrupcy;

I hope I never get too well off not to be able to either. From what I heard, you can have a hospital bill for a million dollars and file for bankrupcy. But with the new law, you would still pay off as much of that health bill as any judge deemed you could still afford. Congress sucks!

[burythehatchet]

42. I beg combover Biden to run for president

I will hound him at every place I can be at when he's speaking.

[Hissyspit]

43. Someone using "Gross Misnomers?"

Welcome to Bushco America!

[dmr]

44. Kick n/t

[Maraya1969]

45. Is there anything the community can do if their house does go up for

auction? What would happen if there was a protest and no one bought it?

"The new filing should delay the foreclosure auction of their home, which is scheduled for Tuesday on the Gillespie County Courthouse steps."

[The Backlash Cometh]

46. Glad to know there are good judges still out there.

[flamingpie2500]

48. my question is how do you have a $700 mortgage payment on a mobile

home worth 32,000? Seems a bit high to begin with.

[ProfessorGAC]

49. Totally Dependent Upon Rate and Term

Mobile homes are not allowed 30 year mortgages on most banks. I know the bank of which i'm a director wouldn't. I think the max is 15, and 10 year is encouraged. In addition, if this guy only had a $20k income, he probably had a low credit score. So, his rate would have been at a higher tier. (That's unfortunate, in and of itself. The less you can afford the loan, the higher the interest rate!)

So, given those circumstances, it's not at all an unrealistic number.
The Professor

[catrose]

53. That was my first thought.

How did he have a prayer of paying for it and a truck too?

And what about their lawyer? They had to have one to file for bankruptcy. "Their lawyer, James Chapman of Fredericksburg, filed another petition Jan. 27..."

So why didn't this lawyer tell them that they had to go for counseling first? Of course, this is the state that thinks your lawyer is doing a fine job if he sleeps through your trial.

Yee, not to mention, hah.

[Old Smokey]

61. That is kind of high for a mobile

[madmark]

56. this result is exactly what was contemplated by the law; the dems

who voted for it should pay the price in the primaries, its that simple.

[Rainscents]

57. These Dem's who voted for the bankruptcy bill are true

American hero's! :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm:

Biden (D-DE), Yea
Byrd (D-WV), Yea
Carper (D-DE), Yea
Conrad (D-ND), Yea
Johnson (D-SD), Yea
Kohl (D-WI), Yea
Landrieu (D-LA), Yea
Lieberman (D-CT), Yea
Lincoln (D-AR), Yea
Nelson (D-FL), Yea
Nelson (D-NE), Yea
Pryor (D-AR), Yea
Salazar (D-CO), Yea
Stabenow (D-MI), Yea

[efilon]

62. I filed bankruptcy last year

before the law changed mainly to get out from under a mobile home loan. I bought it new in '97 and it was falling apart by '98. Greentree, a mobile home lender, will give a 30 year loan on a mobile home. That's what I had. Greentree is really slimy though. My hearing for the bankruptcy was June 15th and Greentree filed for a hearing and foreclosed on the 10th. So I not only have a bankruptcy to overcome, I now have a foreclosure as a separate mark against me. Now, the credit union that I've banked at for over 20 years and had 12 different loans with won't even loan me enough to pay off last year's income taxes of around $1200.00. :MAD: Then last week they sent my 25 year old daughter a check for $2800.00. Just sign it and put it in your account! I co-signed her car loan 3 years ago!!! It's enough to drive a wooden woman crazy! as my ma used to say.:mad: