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Bankruptcy

Credit Slips

A discussion on credit and bankruptcy.
By Bob Lawless, Adam Levitin, Angie Littwin, Katie Porter, John Pottow, Debb Thorne, Elizabeth Warren

Post Frequency: 12.8/day

Last Entry: April 01, 2011 at 09:01:41

A Conversation with Trailblazing Women

Posted on April 01, 2011
Yesterday, I attended the International Women's Insolvency and Restructuring Confederal (IWIRC) Annual Spring Program. The featured event was entitlted, "A Conversation with Trailblazing Women in the Insolvency Field." Moderated by the Hon. Marjorie Rendell of the 3rd Cir...

The Failures of Fannie: Responsibility for the Mortgage Servicing Mess

Posted on March 31, 2011
The news that an Illinois court is halting foreclosures by law firm Fisher and Shapiro LLC will spark another round of frustration about who is responsible for the mess that is the mortgage servicing industry. There is plenty of blame...

Banks to AGs on Servicing Fraud: Drop Dead

Posted on March 31, 2011
Here's the banks' counterproposal for a servicing fraud settlement. I can sum it up in two words: drop dead. Or two letters: F.U. This proposals is so pathetically thin that it's not a good faith counterproposal. This document only deals...

The Elizabeth Warren Witch Hunt Continues

Posted on March 30, 2011
The latest chapter in the Republicans' Elizabeth Warren witchhunt would be farcical, if it didn't have such potentially serious consequences. Congressional Republicans are now demanding that Elizabeth Warren recant her Congressional testimony about her role in the non-existent mortgage servicing...

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Understanding the Dollar

Posted on March 30, 2011
A very good discussion over at the Economist about why political (and water cooler) discussions of the USD are so often just wrong.

Time is Money

Posted on March 30, 2011
A consistent theme running through the Consumer Bankruptcy Fee Study focus group discussions is the increased time it takes attorneys, post-BAPCPA, to take a consumer debtor from initial consultation to filing. As one attorney observed, [BAPCPA has] ...

Housing Prices--It's Worse than It Looks

Posted on March 30, 2011
The latest housing price index numbers from the S&P/Case-Shiller Index were bad. But no one has quite recognized that the index is at its lowest point post-bubble. The S&P/Case-Shiller Index reflects differences in repeat sale prices on the same property...

One Consumer Bankruptcy System, or Many?

Posted on March 29, 2011
As Principal Investigator of the Consumer Bankruptcy Fee Study, I've been gathering "qualitative data" from attorneys, trustees and judges about how the consumer bankruptcy system is working. I have conducted over a dozen focus groups, many, many one-on-one interviews, and...

The Consumer Bankruptcy Fee Study

Posted on March 28, 2011
Thanks to Katie and my friends at Credit Slips for the guest blogging gig. I appreciate the invitation and the opportunity. In my next couple of posts, I am going to report on the Consumer Bankruptcy Fee Study (see Katie's...

Allocating Scarce Dollars: Payment Hierachy

Posted on March 28, 2011
When Americans have fewer dollars, creditors need to position themselves at the top of the pile to get paid each month. This is called payment hierarchy, and traditionally mortgage creditors have been at the top and unsecured creditors, and perhaps...

Euroworried, Eurohappy, Euroflummoxed

Posted on March 28, 2011
Europe has fixed its debt and bank problems -- again. Last week's EU summit produced a term sheet charting the path to a permanent, treaty-based crisis resolution regime, the European Stability Mechanism (term sheet embedded here starting p. 21). You...

Moral Hazard and Mortgage Modifications

Posted on March 28, 2011
Bring out the Vice Squad--we've got a Moral Hazard. Yup, some of the reluctant AGs have now expressed concerns over principal write-downs in a servicing fraud settlement because it might create....moral hazard. Some bank CEOs and other predictable voices jumped...

Principal Reduction Mods--Greatly Exaggerated?

Posted on March 28, 2011
There's an interesting piece in the news section of the Wall Street Journal about bank the extent of principal reduction loan mods banks are doing. I think the take-away from the piece is supposed to be that banks are actually...

Illinois Foreclosures Delayed

Posted on March 28, 2011
Yet more servicing snafus.

More Bogus Lobbying Numbers from the Banks: Debit Interchange Rates

Posted on March 28, 2011
You gotta love the American Bankers Association. These guys just don't stop trying. They're the Hamburgler of the lobbying world. The ABA now has a little piece out now entitled "Merchant Interchange Rates are Steady?Transaction Volumes Are Rising". This piece...

The Wall Street Journal's CFPB Smear Campaign Continues

Posted on March 27, 2011
The Wall Street Journal editorial page has its fourth hit job in two weeks attacking Elizabeth Warren. It's hard to think of the last time the WSJ editorial page assaulted any individual government official for such extended and personalized animus.....

Welcome to Lois Lupica

Posted on March 26, 2011
This week Credit Slips will feature posts from Professor Lois Lupica. She is the Maine Law Foundation Professor of Law at the University of Maine Law School and counsel at Thompson & Knight LLP. Lupica's published works include writings about...

Mortgage Fraud Prosecutions

Posted on March 25, 2011
Joe Nocera's Talking Business column today relates a very disturbing government prosecution of mortgage fraud. Read it. It's a very troubling story. I have not looked at any of the documents from the case and am forming my opinions solely...

Funding Your Buddy's Bachelor Party Through A Payday Loan?

Posted on March 25, 2011
You probably know that title lenders and payday lenders are not just looking for customers who are faced with an emergency. According to the lenders? ads, there are many great reasons to take out such a 300% loan. This ad,...

The GSEs, PMIs, and the Banks

Posted on March 23, 2011
Yves Smith at Naked Capitalism has a fascinating post about the GSEs and private mortgage insurance. The short of it is that the GSEs don't seem to be making claims on PMI policies despite being the loss payees. The reason...

Servicemen and Debt: Know Your Rights

Posted on March 22, 2011
If you don?t personally go to war, you might not think about what being deployed does to your pocketbook. Of course, American civilians regularly take on debt, like mortgages, student loans, credit card debt and so on. Active duty troops,...

Wilmington, Again

Posted on March 22, 2011
My thoughts on the latest effort to restrict chapter 11 cases filing in the jurisdiction of incorporation, up on Dealbook.

Teachers and the Durbin Interchange Amendment

Posted on March 22, 2011
The National Education Association, the largest teachers' union, has come out in opposition to the Durbin Interchange Amendment. It's unusual to see labor siding with financial institutions, but the lines are often blurrier than one might recognize. There are no...

One for the Article 9 Mavens

Posted on March 21, 2011
You're working late, trying to complete the documentation on a secured loan. You're sleepy as visions of security agreements and financing statements dance in your head. What is the perfect pick-me-up: UCC Coffee (now with milk)! It's smooth, refreshing, and...

Congratulations Bob Lawless!

Posted on March 19, 2011
Credit Slips' Very Own Robert M. Lawless was inducted into the American College of Bankruptcy last night at a ceremony at the Supreme Court of the United States. I'm hopeful that we can soon post a picture of the tuxedo-clad...

COP Farewell

Posted on March 19, 2011
The Congressional Oversight Panel released its final report this week, and as of April 1, the Panel will exist no more. The Panel had a remarkable record of achievement and performed a huge service to the country. Between December 2008...

A Bisl Kissel or Why the Kissel Kerfuffle Misses the Point

Posted on March 19, 2011
The gloves have really come off between the Wall Street Journal Editorial Page and the CFPB and its defenders. Zach Carter blogged on HuffPo about how the WSJ's attacks on Elizabeth Warren and the CFPB were authored by Mary Kissel,...

Shakedown or Bailout? The Mortgage Servicing Settlement

Posted on March 18, 2011
How's this for contrasting interpretations: the AGs' proposed mortgage servicing settlement is being termed both a "shakedown" (WSJ editorial page) and a "bailout." (Jesse Eisinger at ProPublica--ok, he uses the word "gift", but still). Wow. That's some divergence in characterization...

The Economics of Lehman

Posted on March 16, 2011
So Lehman has commenced yet another adversary proceeding, this time to recover a preference. The alleged preference is for $206,000. The complaint has three attorneys on it: two partners and an associate. The associate bills out at $630 per hour....

Small Banks and Debit Interchange Reform: Winners or Losers?

Posted on March 16, 2011
The banking industry is making a full court press to get the Durbin Interchange Amendent implementation delayed. Given that a year of delay is worth about $15-16 billion in swipe fees, the banks are quite motivated, and they've managed to...

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