Why Won't My Mortgage Lender Work With Me?

Dear Dr. Don, I would like to have more information about loan modification. I've been struggling for three years trying to negotiate with my bank, but up to the moment, no one has contacted me back. I have copies of all the letters and emails, and a phone log with names, the times of my calls, etc. Can you please help me? Thank you. -- Lili Later

Read the answer at Fox Business

Foreclosure crisis hitting older Americans hard, says AARP

More than 1.5 million older Americans already have lost their homes, with millions more at risk as the national housing crisis takes its toll on those who are among the worst positioned to weather the storm, a new AARP report says. Older African Americans and Hispanics are the hardest hit. "The Great Recession has been brutal for many older Americans," said Debra Whitman, AARP's policy chief. "This shows that home ownership doesn't guarantee financial security later in life." Homeowners who are younger than 50 have a lower rate of serious delinquency than their older counterparts, and the rate is increasing at a faster pace for older Americans than for younger ones, according to AARP's analysis of more than 17 million mortgages.

Read the rest of the article at The Morning Sentinel

My City Went Bankrupt -- Should I Flee?

In recent weeks, three California cities have filed for bankruptcy: Stockton, in the Central Valley; Mammoth Lakes, near Yosemite and the Sierras; and San Bernardino, in the sprawling Inland Empire east of Los Angeles. If you live there, should you get out of town? And if you don't live there, should you worry that your city is next? In short: no, and no. Here's why.

Read the rest of the article at The Huffington Post

Exactly How Embarrassing is Bankruptcy?

You are an adult. You are approaching your bankruptcy as an adult – making the hard decisions and living with the consequences. But you can admit it. Despite your ability to try and remove the emotion from this decision to file bankruptcy, there is a big worry in the back of your mind that the entire world is going to know you filed for bankruptcy. And if everyone knew, that would be really embarrassing. Many believe that once you file bankruptcy that your name will be in the paper or that there will be some website of shame where you name will appear. But the reality is, unless you are Warren Sapp, Toni Braxton, or some other famous person filing for bankruptcy, the only people who will really know is whoever you decide to tell.

Read the rest of the article at JD Supra

Pondering bankruptcy: What's at stake

Q: I have been unemployed for about a year and still have not gotten a job. I was paying my credit cards until a couple of months ago. My unemployment benefits stopped, and my savings are now gone. I have spoken with my credit card companies and most of them understand my situation. When I could make a partial payment, I did. But I received a collection agency notice yesterday on one of my accounts even though I made some payments to them. Should I file for Chapter 7? The total amount I owe is about $50,000.

Read the answer at The Chicago Tribune

The pros and cons of bankruptcy

In my 12 years as a certified county-court mediator in Florida, one of the most common questions I've heard defendants ask is, "Should I file for bankruptcy?" It is a good question, but one that should be directed to an experienced bankruptcy attorney, who will be able to explain the process, eligibility, costs and available options in greater detail. With so many individuals being sued because of large outstanding debts for credit cards, mortgages, car loans, etc., it is important for people to consult with expert counsel to better grasp the advantages and disadvantages of bankruptcy. There are two forms of personal bankruptcy: Chapter 13 and Chapter 7.

Read the rest of the article at The Chicago Tribune

Bankruptcy judge will OK new ownership for Tribune Co.

Tribune Co. lurched into bankruptcy court less than a year after a bid to take the company private led by Chicago billionaire Sam Zell left it with a $13 billion tower of debt just as the economy and advertising markets began to collapse. Since then, Tribune Co. has lost thousands of employees, endured an embarrassing management crisis and, like all traditional media companies, struggled to find a new business model as the proliferation of websites and mobile devices transform how people receive and consume news.

Read the rest of the article at The Chicago Tribune

There really can be life after bankruptcy

Some exerpts from the article -

“Many who need it cannot afford it,” added David Nadler of Rothschild & Nadler, also in Cedar Rapids. “It can cost from $1,000 to $3,000 to file.”

Alternatives to bankruptcy, according to Taylor, include out-of-court settlements and reduction of payments. Repayment can sometimes be achieved by selling property or borrowing on property or by locating a new investor.

Bankruptcy lawyer Kevin Ahrenholz said that while his focus is primarily individuals, in the past five years there have been more businesses knocking on the door. These are primarily mom-and-pop companies and businesses with two to three shareholders.

Some small businesses, as an alternative to bankruptcy, simply prefer to close their doors and let the business die a natural death.

Read the full article at The Gazette

Obama Administration Backs Bankruptcy Option for Some Student Debt

The Obama administration urged Congress to make it easier for people to discharge a portion of certain student debt by filing for bankruptcy protection. The recommendation, in a report by the Education Department and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, wouldn't affect the vast majority of student debt, which is issued by the federal government. It would apply only to the roughly $150 billion, or 15% of total outstanding student debt, issued by private lenders such as SLM Corp.'s Sallie Mae and Wells Fargo & Co.

Read the rest of the article at The Wall Street Journal

Can you get the filing fee waived when filing bankruptcy in Arizona?

I am a bankruptcy attorney in Phoenix ($995/Chapter 7) and our clients frequently have difficulty coming up with the money to pay us and file. In addition to our $995 fee, there is a $306 court filing fee. Sometimes that fee can be waived if someone makes very low income. The guidelines in order to qualify are on the bankruptcy court website here. If your annual income is less than $16,335, which is 150% of the official poverty level, you should be eligible to have the fee waived. That amount increases by family size. If you are a family of four, that level is $33,525. You will need to fill out an application to have it waived, then a judge will decide whether you qualify. For someone who has lost a job, not having to pay that additional fee can be a great relief.

The Alexander Bankruptcy Law Firm provides low low cost Chapter 7 and 13 personal bankruptcies. $995 Chapter 7 or $2500 Chapter 13 bankruptcies plus court filing fee. Free consultation with a compassionate attorney who will handle your case personally. Call 24/7, available to meet with you around your schedule. 602-910-6812. Conveniently located in Central Phoenix along the Camelback corridor. AlexanderBankruptcyLawFirm.com

The lure of flipping foreclosures

The DIY strategy is gaining traction these days as energetic homeowners try to build equity in a still-depressed housing market, with a growing number of foreclosures filling the multiple listing services with run-down homes. According to RealtyTrac, a foreclosure listing service, 26 percent of homes sold in the first quarter of 2012 were foreclosed properties, an increase of 8 percent from 2011. Short sales of properties accounted for 12 percent of national sales in the first quarter, up from 9 percent last year. This glut of properties means a great need for renovation, say industry experts like Eric Sussman, a senior lecturer in real estate at the University of California at Los Angeles Anderson School of Management. As property values have decreased and families deferred maintenance work, many of the most affordable homes need significant renovations, he said. Foreclosures can be especially problematic, as many people have been trashing foreclosures and carrying away appliances, said Bruce Graf, a general contractor in Grand Prairie, Texas.

Read the rest of the article at The Chicago Tribune

Tax Liens Trigger More Foreclosures

When Elsa Dabreo inherited a house from her late father, she thought it was the best thing that ever happened to her. But now she is struggling to keep it. The house, in a suburb of Boston, was mortgage free and valued at about $330,000 when she received the deed in 2005. However, it was saddled with $20,000 in back taxes which Ms. Dabreo, now 54 years old, couldn't pay. In 2010, after the taxes and penalties had ballooned to $42,000, the city of Weymouth, Mass., sold the debt at a tax-lien auction. If Ms. Dabreo can't pay the debt, she could be subject to foreclosure. Relatives advised her to sell the home and pay off the debt, but she refused. "I wouldn't be honoring my father's memory if I sold the home that he worked so hard to buy," said Ms. Dabreo, a former child-care worker who is now unemployed. She recently filed for bankruptcy and hopes to keep living in the home—which has fallen in value to $296,000. A report released this week by the National Consumer Law Center, says Ms. Dabreo's situation isn't unusual. Although mortgage default is behind most home foreclosures in the U.S., the number of foreclosures tied to delinquent tax payments is climbing. The NCLC, an advocacy group, estimates that $15 billion of tax-lien foreclosures happened in 2010, the latest year for which data are available.

Read the rest of the article at The Wall Street Journal

Arizona should adopt Calif. law on foreclosures

"Dual-tracking" will be outlawed. The law bans banks from pursuing foreclosure while a borrower is seeking a loan modification, a process known as "dual-tracking" that has led to countless foreclosures -- even as homeowners were attempting to stay in their homes. Lenders cannot give borrowers the runaround. Homeowners will no longer have to speak to a different person every time they call their lender and resubmit the same mountain of paperwork to different people at the same bank. The new law requires banks to assign borrowers a single point of contact, or they can be taken to court. Borrowers will be able to sue their banks. California homeowners will now have the right to sue banks for "significant, material" violations of the law. Homeowners will also have a clearly defined right to access the courts to protect themselves from violations.

Read the rest of the article at AZ Central

Ex-Mets Player Lenny Dykstra Pleads Guilty to Bankruptcy Fraud

Former New York Mets outfielder Lenny Dykstra pleaded guilty to looting valuables from his $18 million mansion and secretly selling them after his bankruptcy filing in 2009. Dykstra, 49, pleaded guilty to three counts of bankruptcy fraud, concealment of bankruptcy property, and money laundering at a hearing yesterday in federal court in Los Angeles. He faces as long as 20 years in prison. “Mr. Dykstra’s days of playing games with the public and the legal system are over,” Andre Birotte Jr., the U.S. attorney in Los Angeles, said in a statement. “With these federal convictions, Mr. Dykstra’s fraud and deceit have been exposed for all to see.” Dykstra, in shackles and dressed in a green prison windbreaker and white prison trousers, didn’t speak at the hearing other than to state his name and level of education, high school, and to respond to the judge’s questions, including whether he understood the rights he was giving up and whether he was coerced, with “yes, your honor” or “no, your honor.”

Read the rest of the article at The San Francisco Chronicle

Foreclosure outreach touching few

Two new reports out of Washington point out what has been a foregone conclusion to many who are the front lines of the foreclosure crisis, be they homeowners, community members or professionals who work in the field. The national foreclosure review's outreach to troubled borrowers has been inadequate, according to one report. The other one concludes more oversight is necessary to ensure foreclosed homes are properly managed and maintained and their values maximized. The federal Government Accountability Office specifically looked at the outreach to borrowers who were eligible for a free, independent review of their 2009 or 2010 foreclosure actions to see if they suffered financial hardship and were due remediation. The review process was part of a federal consent order finalized in April 2011 with 14 mortgage loan servicers.

Read the rest of the article at The Chicago Tribune

Housing Rebound Signaled as Banks Resume Foreclosures

U.S. lenders are notifying more delinquent homeowners they face foreclosure, a step toward clearing a backlog of properties and helping to accelerate a housing recovery. Initial notices of foreclosure, the start of the process, jumped 6 percent in the second quarter from a year earlier, the first annual increase since 2009, according to RealtyTrac Inc., a seller of housing market data. Banks at the same time found alternatives to the final step of seizing the home, either by working with the borrower or by agreeing to sell properties for less than what was owed, with repossessions falling 22 percent. “You have to get to the point where the market can heal itself and foreclosures and price adjustments are the only way that can happen,” said Anthony B. Sanders, an economics professor at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia.

Read the rest of the article at Businessweek

Phoenix-area bankruptcy filings drop

Amid signs that consumers are getting a better handle on their finances, metro Phoenix bankruptcy filings fell another 27 percent in June. The 1,770 Phoenix area filings last month brought the total for the first half of the year to 10,867, down nearly 24 percent from the 14,271 in the first half of 2011, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for Arizona reported. The statistics cover January through June. The numbers were in line with a statewide filing drop of 25 percent in June and 23 percent over the first six months of the year. Both sets of statistics mirrored the national trend, in which filings fell 18 percent in June from a year earlier, with a decline of 14 percent in the first half of the year. "We are on pace for perhaps the lowest total (of) new bankruptcies since before the financial crisis in 2008," said Samuel Gerdano, executive director of the American Bankruptcy Institute, which released the national figures along with Epiq Systems In

Read the rest of the article at The Arizona Republic

The Ripple Effect of California's Bankruptcies

Are L.A. and Riverside next?

In the latest sign that some U.S. cities are barely making ends meet, the city of Oakland, California Thursday priced a $211 million taxable bond which will help it cover pension obligations. Yes, borrowing money to cover retiree pay. Moody's Investor Service has proposed adjusting its U.S. public sector pension data to put the unfunded liabilities at $2.2 trillion, nearly triple what they were two years ago. While market reaction to San Bernardino's pending bankruptcy has been "much calmer than expected," Envision Capital's Marilyn Cohen added, "people are asking 'Is Riverside next?'" referring to the other major city in California's Inland Empire. The heat from three California bankruptcies in two weeks is fanning out like a late summer brushfire. Los Angeles County officials have ordered a review comparing their financial practices to now-bankrupt Stockton.

Read the rest of the article at CNBC

California bankruptcies are only the beginning

San Bernardino became the third California city to file for bankruptcy in the past few weeks ... but it won't be the last. Many municipalities in the Golden State and around the nation are struggling to cover their costs as the economic malaise continues to hurt tax revenue streams, experts said. This will lead to more municipal bankruptcies, which have been rare until now. "This is not the end. This is the beginning," said Peter Navarro, business professor at University of California, Irvine. "As cities see it can be done and is being done, it will give them the idea to do it."

Read the rest of the article at CNN

The Domino Theory of Bankruptcy

Two years ago, an obscure Wall Street analyst named Meredith Whitney was vilified for this statement she made to CBS' “60 Minutes:” “There's not a doubt in my mind that you will see a spate of municipal bond defaults. You could see 50 sizeable defaults, 50 to 100 sizable defaults, more. This will amount to hundreds of billions of dollars.” You see, Whitney was threatening a major industry in this country that typically goes under the radar - the municipal bond industry, a massive $3.7 trillion industry. It relies on the confidence of investors and Whitney was threatening it. But this week, she looks like she was on to something.

Read the rest of the story at Fox News

Valence Technology, Maker off Batteries for Electric Vehicles, Files Bankruptcy

Valence Technology Inc. (VLNC), a maker of batteries for electric vehicles, sought bankruptcy protection from creditors, saying it plans to complete its restructuring this year. The company, based in Austin, Texas, listed debt of $82.6 million and assets of $31.5 million as of March 31 in Chapter 11 documents filed today in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in its hometown. Valence owes $35 million on loans from affiliates of Chairman Carl Berg, about $34 million in interest on those loans, and $3 million on another third-party loan, according to court papers. The company also owes about $9 million on two series of convertible preferred stock held by Berg affiliates and has $11 million in trade debt and accrued expenses.

Read the rest of the article at Bloomberg

Kodak, in bankruptcy, seeks bonuses to keep executives

When Eastman Kodak went into bankruptcy proceedings six months ago, it left creditors holding unpaid bills and the world with questions about whether the company would simply shut down. Now, Kodak's top executives could be in line for big bonuses if creditors get some payback and if the company successfully emerges from bankruptcy or gets acquired. The printing and imaging company on Wednesday filed a motion in U.S. Bankruptcy Court seeking approval for as much as $17.6 million in bonuses for 15 executives. CEO Antonio Perez could receive up to $4.4 million if unsecured creditors — those who have no assurance they'll get paid — get back every dime they're owed. If they get back 30 cents on the dollar, which is Kodak's target, Perez would receive $2.2 million.

Read the rest of the article at USA Today

Sheriff, DA investigating bankruptcy-bound CA city of San Bernadino

The Sheriff's Department said Thursday it was working with police and the district attorney's office to investigate possible criminal activity within the government of San Bernardino, where city officials voted this week to take the rare step of filing for bankruptcy. Sheriff-Coroner Rod Hoops said in a statement the investigation began at the request of city officials several months ago. City Attorney James Penman said earlier this week that the City Council had been presented with falsified documents that masked the city's deficit for 13 of the past 16 years, and he had given evidence of financial mismanagement to "appropriate government agencies," declining to provide further details.

Read the rest of the article from the AP

Bankruptcy Loses its Taboo for California's Cities

Bankruptcy is no longer taboo among California’s struggling cities. San Bernardino has just become the third Golden State municipality in two weeks to fail - ending a four-year hiatus since fellow California town Vallejo began its costly and protracted court battle against creditors. So far, though, investors seem pretty sanguine. Granted, the three cities, which also include Stockton and Mammoth Lakes, are hardly bustling metropolises - each has a population of less than 300,000. But California, home to the glamorous Silicon Valley and Los Angeles, has the high taxes, big government and heavy regulation that are characteristic of major metropolitan areas. That makes it especially tough for cities in the state’s heartland that can’t attract the glitterati. They have also been hammered by the housing market bust. Throw in rising pension costs and terrible governance and it’s likely that other towns will turn to the courts to remedy their woeful finances.

Read the rest of the article at Slate

How to know when it's time to declare bankruptcy

As the housing crisis continues to touch American lives, one of the ripple effects of the crisis is the desperate financial straits of homeowners who continue to struggle with debt -- even years after losing their homes. As lenders continue to pursue deficiencies from three or four years ago, honest people who want to make good on their debts are increasingly overwhelmed. They find it impossible to rebuild their financial lives. Attempting to make even the minimum payments on a sea of debt can wipe out your retirement savings and max out your credit cards. It takes only one small shift in circumstance to make repayment an impossible task: a loss of employment, divorces, a health or housing crisis. Remaining in denial about the futility of repaying all debt is stressful and takes a toll on your relationships, family and health. When your liabilities are excessive, and your assets are minimal, if not gone, it is time to take a rational look at a very personal and, often emotional, decision: Should you declare personal bankruptcy? Years ago, personal bankruptcy was considered by some to be a shameful last resort. Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2012/06/30/how-to-know-when-it-time-to-declare-bankruptcy/?intcmp=features#ixzz1zOgenI3d