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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

What About Forum Shopping?

Posted on September 02, 2009
For those who haven't seen it, Sheila Bair, chair of the FDIC, has an op-ed in today's New York Times. In a piece entitled The Case Against a Super-Regulator, she argues that creating one regulator with authority over all our...

Are You a Work Horse?

Posted on September 02, 2009
Two items of interest . . . . First, from West's "headnote of the day" service on a case interpreting what it meant for a horse to a "work horse" within the meaning of an exemption statute. Given the holding,...

When Children and Parents Fight

Posted on September 01, 2009
Asarco's bankruptcy reorganization is moving along nicely. (I don't have a link to the pleadings, but here's a background link on the company here -- one of our delightfully nerdy and more internet-savvy followers should feel free to post them.)...

Morning graph

Posted on August 28, 2009
From a new dataset of CDS prices I'm working with -- this suggests that even though the credit crisis began in the summer of 2007, the market didn't pick up on Lehman's problems until Spring 2008, and even then really...

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Chapter 11 today

Posted on August 26, 2009
Two recent chapter 11 stories strike me as indications of how the growth of secured lending to distressed companies, particularly second lien and other subordinated forms of secured lending, have changed chapter 11. One is the Chrysler creditors' fraudulent transfer...

Another Sign of the Futility of the 2005 Bankruptcy Law

Posted on August 25, 2009
A big feature of the 2005 changes to the U.S. bankruptcy law was supposed to be a means test that would get people into chapter 13 instead of chapter 7. Because a chapter 13 requires a 3- or 5-year repayment...

The Benefits of Being Litigious

Posted on August 24, 2009
Adam and I have recently discussed our take on whether and why the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) should apply to mortgage servicers. The take-away was that the current interpretation of the FDCPA, based on its legislative history, is...

Mortgage Modification Investor Lawsuit

Posted on August 20, 2009
The District Court ruling in Greenwich Financial Services v. Countrywide, addressing the servicer safe harbor provision for doing loan modifications, is linked here. See here for the NYTimes story. See here for the complaint. Quick version: the ruling went against...

Complaining to HUD about Servicing: Thunder on Deaf Ears?

Posted on August 20, 2009
In my own research, and frequently on Credit Slips, I've noted problems that homeowners face in dealing with their mortgage servicers. As a recent post from guest blogger Max Gardner explained, many of these problems are structural to the servicing...

Thanks to Max

Posted on August 18, 2009
As always, it was a delight to spend (virtual) time with Max Gardner. His posts reflect his extensive experience as a consumer bankruptcy attorney, and his dedication to using legal tools beyond bankruptcy--such as RESPA, the Truth in Lending Act,...

Private Tax Collection

Posted on August 18, 2009
The New York Times has a story today that Credit Slips readers will want to check out. It catalogs the growing trend of local governments to sell their real estate tax debts to private investors. The reporter, Jack Healy, succinctly...

The Lack of Evidentiary Foundations Fosters Fraud

Posted on August 18, 2009
The expanding market for that buying, selling and securitization of consumer debts has resulted in a serious problem regarding the ?quality and admissibility? of the computer data that is being tendered to the United States Bankruptcy Courts to prove the...

Show Me the Original Note and I Will Show You the Money

Posted on August 17, 2009
As mortgage delinquencies rise each month, and as the number of foreclosures increase each quarter, the ?new mantra? of many pro-se and represented consumers is to demand that the mortgage servicer ?prove up the original note.? Is this just some...

The Alphabet Problem and the Pooling and Servicing Agreements

Posted on August 14, 2009
The securitization of residential mortgage notes has created a maze of complex issues and problems for the bankruptcy and foreclosure courts. One fundamental issue is who is the actual holder and owner of the mortgage note. In order to answer...

Does a Tarnished Credit Report Equal an Untrustworthy Employee?

Posted on August 14, 2009
Last week, the NYT ran a piece describing how common it has become for employers to use the credit report as a screen device for job applicants ("Another Hurdle for the Jobless: Credit Inquiries"). In a nutshell, if your credit...

How Much Credit Card Debt Do Bankrupt Consumers Have?

Posted on August 13, 2009
We here at Credit Slips frequently get asked the question, Just how much credit card debt do people filing for bankruptcy actually have? So as a public service of sorts, I?m going to begin answering it. I say ?begin? answering...

What Does RESPA Have to do with Consumer Bankruptcy Cases?

Posted on August 13, 2009
I have trained over 350 attorneys at my Bankruptcy Boot Camps and to my surprise less than 10 percent know what I mean when I refer to a "QWR." This is shocking in that a reasonable QWR can provide the...

HAMP--Is It Really All About the Money?

Posted on August 12, 2009
Are mortgage servicers really refusing to modify mortgage loans solely because of all of the "ancillary fees" they can generate from a completed foreclosure? Is the problem really all about the money or is there something more to it? The...

Countrywide Sanctioned by Ohio Court Citing Porter & Twomey

Posted on August 12, 2009
As many Credit Slips readers may be aware, Countrywide Home Loans (which is now part of Bank of America) has been the subject of proceedings in several bankruptcy courts because of the shoddy recordkeeping behind their claims in bankruptcy cases....

The Consumer Financial Protection Agency

Posted on August 11, 2009
I've written a short research brief (also here) on the Obama administration's proposed Consumer Financial Protection Agency for the Pew Financial Reform Project. The research brief is a non-partisan guide to the issues involved in creating a CFPA. It begins...

Truth in Lending or Truth in Ownership of Residential Mortgage Notes

Posted on August 10, 2009
During my last two Bankruptcy Boot Camps, one of the topics we have discussed has been the recent amendments to the Truth in Lending Act, brought about by Section 404 of Public Law 111-22. Specifically, our interest has been focused...

The Problem with Houston

Posted on August 10, 2009
Two recent decisions from the bankruptcy courts in the Southern District of Texas have me wondering if Houston will become shunned as a locale for large chapter 11 cases. First, in In re Gulf Coast Oil Corp., the bankruptcy court...

Greetings to Max Gardner

Posted on August 10, 2009
Credit Slips welcomes O. Max Gardner III as a guest blogger. In my opinion, Max is as close to a celebrity as the consumer bankruptcy bar has today, gaining fame for his Bankruptcy Boot Camps. At those camps, and as...

Bankruptcy Filings Rise in July, Set Off Most of June's Decline

Posted on August 07, 2009
My blogging has been a little light lately. Two of my University of Illinois colleagues (Jen Robbennolt and Tom Ulen) and I have been finishing our forthcoming text, Empirical Methods in Law. I am glad to say that we now...

Remote Deposit Capture (RDC) iPhone App

Posted on August 07, 2009
One of the quieter revolutions going on in the payments world is Remote Deposit Capture (RDC), the process of depositing checks electronically without ever going to a bank branch. The paper check is slowly going the way of the dodo--many...

How to Count Medical Debt in Bankruptcy

Posted on August 07, 2009
Most Credit Slips readers will be familiar with the debate about the role medical debt plays in consumer bankruptcy. A big part of that debate is one about methodology with disputes about how to count "medical debt." Personally, I've always...

Congressional Hearing on Medical Bankruptcies (July 28, 2009)

Posted on August 06, 2009
Last week I joined the Credit Slips custom of presenting testimony to Congress on bankruptcy matters. (My written testimony has apparently been posted here.) This outing was before the House Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Administrative and Commercial Law...

2d Circuit Chysler Opinion

Posted on August 05, 2009
Released today (and posted below). The opinion contains a substantial discussion of �363(f), which should make the S.D.N.Y. the home for �363 sales for years to come. It will also reaffirm the belief that the GM appellants will need either...

Exporting Chapter 11

Posted on August 05, 2009
FT has a great, and extensive, article today about the push to adopt chapter 11-like procedures in Europe. One thing missing from the article is any discussion of the relative size of the respective jurisdictions. My sense is that chapter...

A Note on Senior Debt

Posted on August 04, 2009
Many of the comments and emails I have received regarding my Forbes commentary lead me to believe that there is a general lack of understanding about how senior debt -- like that at issue in Chrysler -- differs from traditional...

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