 | 
|
THE CONSUMER BANKRUPTCY LETTER |
|
|
In This Issue:
|
APRIL 25, 2004
|
|
|
|
•
|
BANKRUPTCY ACADEMY - ENROLL NOW AND SAVE $100
|
|
|
|
•
|
TAKE OUR SURVEY ON FEE PRACTICES
|
|
|
|
|
•
|
CREDIT COUNSELING REFORM
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
•
|
KERRY: MIDDLE-CLASS SINKING IN DEBT
|
|
|
|
|
|
KING BANKRUPTCY ACADEMY SCHEDULES 3-DAY SEMINARS ON DISCHARGING TAXES - LAS VEGAS & SAN FRANCISCO
The first dates scheduled for the 5th annual Bankruptcy Academy program on discharging taxes in bankruptcy cases have been scheduled for LAS VEGAS, Nevada, on Sept. 8, 9 & 10, and at FISHERMAN'S WHARF, San Francisco, October 27, 28, 29, 2004.
Principal presenters will be; Morgan King, attorney and author of Discharging Taxes in Bankruptcy; Charles F. Rosen, former chief of the Los Angeles IRS office of Special Procedures (bankruptcy, insolvency); Eric M. Casper, formerly Senior Trial Attorney, Tax Division, U.S. Department of Justice - Washington, D.C.; and Robert N. Kolb, formerly with the IRS and recently the prevailing attorney for the debtor/taxpayer in two important appellate cases.
The 3-day seminar and workshop will be a thorough exploration of bankruptcy remedies for delinquent taxes and tax liens in consumer bankruptcy cases (chapter 7 and chapter 13), emphasizing hands-on handlng of tax discharge cases.
Early registration for the either program saves $100 off the regular enrollment fee of $695. All previous programs have qualified for CLE in all states for which CLE accreditation was requested. On request the Academy will assist in obtaining CLE accreditation for an enrollee's state.
For more information about the Tax Discharge program, or to enroll, click on red below.
|
|
 |
|
|
COALITION FOR RESPONSIBLE CREDIT PRACTICES ISSUES WHITE PAPER CALLING FOR REFORM
Coalition for Responsible Credit Practices Releases White Paper Outlining Reform Agenda for the Credit Counseling Industry
WASHINGTON, April 20 /PRNewswire/ -- The Coalition for Responsible Credit Practices, a nationwide group of consumer credit counseling agencies and supporting businesses, today released a policy white paper entitled "Building Full Faith in Credit Counseling: An Agenda for Industry Reform."
The paper examines some of the key issues facing the credit counseling
industry and presents policies for reforming and improving industry practices. The white paper identifies several key industry challenges.
1. Consumers are poorly served in the current industry. People in serious
financial trouble deserve unbiased, trustworthy, understandable, and
professional counseling and debt management assistance.
2. Consumers are being overburdened by too much unsecured and credit card debt; and their ability to get out from under that debt is increasingly
being hindered by abusively high interest rates, excessively late fees,
and creditor imposed bias and obstacles in the credit counseling
process.
The paper presents some basic proposals for industry reform:
1. Consistent National Standards. National pro-consumer regulation that
embodies industry best practices standards is needed to preempt 50
often ineffective and poorly enforced state laws.
2. More Consumer Choice, Competition and Professional Business
Involvement. Current state laws and creditor mandates commonly
restrict credit counseling services exclusively to tax-exempt groups.
More participation by professional, taxpaying businesses would improve
the administration of funds for those enrolled in debt management
plans. And, while tax-exempt entities are frequently exempted from
basic regulatory scrutiny, professional businesses are usually already
under regulatory review.
3. Industry Improvement. "Best practice" standards for credit counseling
agencies and businesses are recommended.
4. Full Disclosure of Creditor Affiliation and Actual Fees. Laws should
be enacted to require all credit counseling agencies to fully disclose
the names of all creditors involved in the management, funding and
governance of a credit counseling agency (CCA). CCAs should also be
required to provide a clear statement of the real costs of service.
That includes not only direct upfront and monthly fees, but also the
hidden fees, such as the specific amount of the consumer's payment that is funneled back to the CCA as a creditor "contribution."
5. Creditor Responsibility. CRCP recommends "best practice" standards for creditors to reign in their aggressive marketing of debt to teens, seniors, and other at-risk consumers, and take responsibility for those who have become buried in excessive debt by treating those who seek credit counseling fairly and respecting their choice of credit counseling providers.
|
|
 |
|
|
KERRY NOTES FINANCIAL DISTRESS FOR MIDDLE-CLASS - CITES INCREASE IN BANKRUPTCY FILLINGS UNDER BUSH
LAKE WORTH, Fla., April 19 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Democratic Presidential candidate John Kerry was joined by Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman today on the campaign trail in Lake Worth, Fla., where the two Democrats discussed the new direction Kerry offers middle-class families squeezed by the out-of-touch economic policies of George W. Bush.
Kerry pointed to the following data:
Families Are Unable to Save: In 1981, Americans were saving more than 10 percent of their personal incomes. Two decades later, household debt is at an all-time high of $9.4 trillion, while personal savings is at an all-time low of about 2 percent of after-tax income. (Warren and Tyagi, 2003; Dallas Morning News, 3/14/04; New York Times, 9/29/02; EPI, 2004)
-- Record Family Debt: The average family's debt is now a record $79,000, up in inflation-adjusted terms from $54,000 in 1990. (New York Times, 3/16/04)
-- Record Family Bankruptcies: Under George Bush, the number of personal bankruptcies rose by more than 400,000, an increase of 33 percent. (Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts)
-- Record Student Debt: The average student loan debt is now nearly $17,000, almost double what it was in the early 1990s. Total student borrowing has increased from $19 billion to $49 billion in the past 10 years. (PIRG, 2002; U.S. Department of Education (news - web sites), 2004)
|
|
 |
|
|
SUPREME COURT HOLDS TRUTH IN LENDING ACT INCLUDES OVER-LIMIT FEES
As a remedial statute, TILA must be liberally interpreted in favor of consumers; the over-limit fees in this case were imposed "incident to an extension of credit" and therefore fell squarely within §1605's language. That conclusion turned on the distinction the court drew between unilateral acts of default, which would not generate a "finance charge," and acts of default resulting from an agreement between the creditor and the consumer, which would. Held: Regulation Z is not an unreasonable interpretation of §1605. Pp. 4--11.
HOUSEHOLD CREDIT SERVICES, INC., et al. v. PFENNIG (S.Ct. 2004) UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT NEWS
__________________________
OTHER CASES:
A transfer to a debtor in payment of an antecedent debt is not "new value" within the meaning of 11 USC 547(a)(2).
In re US Wood Products, Inc. (Bankr. De. 2004)
______________________________
Where a substantial equity cushion protects an institutional secured creditor, relief from stay is denied even though the debtor has wholly failed to make payments to the creditor under her confirmed Chapter 13 plan.
In re Avila (Bankr. N.D. Ca 2004)
_____________________________
For an IRA to be excluded from a bankruptcy estate under Patterson v. Shumate, it must qualify as a trust under applicable State law. In the absence of proof of such, the debtor's claim of exclusion was denied.
In re Galloway (Bankr. W.D. Pa. 2004)
________________________
Although the bankruptcy court erred in granting the debtor only a partial discharge of a student loan when the debtor was entitled to a full discharge, the appellate court lacked the authority to grant the debtor such a full discharge, since the debtor had failed to appeal the bankruptcy court's ruling.
In re Alderete (10th Cir. BAP 2004)
________________________
The bankruptcy court erred in declining to grant the avoidance of a lien perfected by a UCC-1 filing that named the debtor only by his commonly used nickname rather than his proper name.
In re Kinderknecht (10th Cir. BAP 2004)
______________________
The debtors' discharge was denied based upon their omission of material information from their schedules and their failure to bring the omissions to the trustee's attention at the creditors' meeting.
In re Wilson (Bankr. C.D. Ill. 2004)
____________________________
For dischargeability purposes, the fraud of one spouse is generally not imputed to the other spouse.
In re Maurer (Bankr. C. D. Ill. 2004)
|
|
 |
|
|
ROOKER FELDMAN ARRESTED IN T.V. EVANGELISM FRAUD
The Right Rev. Rooker Feldman, Deacon of The Church of The Last Laugh and former consumer bankruptcy attorney, was charged today with fraud after selling the same "Sacred Shroud" to over 2,000 gullible worshippers.
Feldman, a former bankruptcy attorney, quit lawyering and opened up his television ministry because, he admitted, "... the pay is better, no paperwork, no rules of ethics, and no trustees."
Says Feldman, "The Lord is my trustee!"
Suspicion was arroused by a recent television showing when a man with one crippled leg rose up out of the audience and begged Feldman to heal him. When Feldman was through casting out the devil, both of the man's legs were crippled.
Feldman reportedly made millions with his television pitch, "Invest In Your Salvation Today With Any Major Credit Card."
Says Feldman, "It's much easier for people to be reborn if they don't have to come up with immediate cash. It's a kind of Painless Pergatory. My motto is, Repent Today, Pay Later." But he admitted that some serial healings may not have been in good faith.
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
PUBLISHED BY KING BANKRUPTCY MEDIA FOR BANKRUPTCY PROFESSIONALS 7080 Donlon Way Suite 222 Dublin California 94568 (925) 829-6460 BankruptcyMedia.com
© King Bankruptcy Media 2004
|
|
|
|
|
|
