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THE CONSUMER BANKRUPTCY LETTER |
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In This Issue:
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December 27, 2004
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TAX DISCHARGE PROGRAM IN JANUARY!
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WEB CAST - PROTECTING YOUR FEES
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FEATURED SITE: HANDBOOK FOR CHAPTER 7 TRUSTEES
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HEADS-UP ON RECENT CASES
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CREDIT CARD DEBT HITS $800 BILLION
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THE WEB SITE FOR THE OFFICE OF THE U.S. TRUSTEE
http://www.usdoj.gov/ust/
A sample of the important material that may be found on this web site is the Handbook For Chapter 7 Trustees.
A MUST-READ FOR CONSUMER BANKRUPTCY ATTORNEYS
The Office of the United State's Trustee has prepared “The Handbook For Chapter 7 Trustees.” We highly recommend familiarity with its contents to gain insight into how your local trustees may view a variety of important issues, including attorney's fees, recovery of estate assets, trustee's duties, substantial abuse, objections to discharge, bankruptcy crimes, and similar matters.
For example, here is a portion of the text dealing with detection of bankruptcy crimes:
“The trustee is often in the best position to initially identify fraud or criminal activity in chapter 7 cases. When criminal activity is suspected, the trustee should notify the United States Trustee immediately. The initial review of bankruptcy schedules may alert the trustee to potential crimes. Schedules and statements may indicate sham or fraudulent transactions, such as creation of false secured creditors, gross undervaluation of assets, sudden depletion of inventory, fraudulent transfers to fictitious entities (e.g., affiliates), or incurrence of significant trade debt shortly before the filing.”
“This Handbook represents a statement of operational policy and is intended as a working manual for chapter 7 trustees under United States Trustee supervision. This Handbook is not intended to represent a full and complete statement of the law. It should not be used as a substitute for legal research and analysis.”
The complete text of the Handbook may be viewed by clicking here:
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CREDIT CARD DEBT HITS $800 BILLION
(AP) During a season with shoppers racing about to wrap up holiday spending, half of Americans say they worry about their overall level of debt, an Associated Press poll found.
That includes many - about two in 10 of those surveyed - who say they stay worried about their debt level most or all of the time.
Those debts can come from home and car loans as well as credit cards - even more so with December buying sprees. Three-fourths in the poll said they have credit cards.
Most people who have credit cards say they work to keep control of them, but one in six with cards say they don't trust their own spending with plastic. Young adults and those who make less than $25,000 a year were most likely to doubt their own ability to manage credit cards.
The total amount of revolving credit debt, such as that caused by credit cards, was just over $600 billion five years ago and is almost $800 billion now, according to the Federal Reserve.
In the survey, about 10 percent of those with credit cards said they have missed making their minimum payment during the past six months.
SOURCE: CBSNews.com
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BANKRUPTCY FILINGS DOWN
Bankruptcy cases filed for the 12 month period ending September 30, 2004 dropped 2.6% from the same time period in 2003. 1,618,987 case were filed, down from 1,661,996. (Bankruptcies first broke the 1 million mark for a 12 month period June 30, 1996.)
Business bankruptcies also dropped 3.8% from 36,183 in 2003 to 34,817 in 2004.
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PUBLISHED BY KING BANKRUPTCY MEDIA FOR BANKRUPTCY PROFESSIONALS 7080 Donlon Way Suite 222 Dublin California 94568 (925) 829-6460. Morgan D. King, Editor.
© King Bankruptcy Media 2004 CONTACT US AT editor@bankruptcymedia.com
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