Matt Leichter, Author at Bankruptcy Attorney in Brooklyn, New York

CFPB Studies Debtor Education That Isn’t a Waste of Debtors’ Time

Bankruptcy, Credit Counseling, Debt / By Matt Leichter

Observing the tenth anniversary of the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act, I discussed one of its less consequential impacts on New York bankruptcy: whether debtor-education requirements were a waste of time. The Government Accountability Office found that debtors thought the courses were somewhat helpful, but they would not have prevented their bankruptcies. In …

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U.S. Supreme Court Sides With Worker-Creditors in Jevic

Bankruptcy, Business Bankruptcy, Chapter 11 Bankruptcy, Creditors / By Matt Leichter

Usually workers in bankruptcy cases are debtors, but when employers are in bankruptcy, then their employees can find themselves wearing creditors’ shoes. Frequently, the employers owe money to banks as well, which leads to conflicts between the workers and the banks over the company’s assets and revenue. Typically, the Bankruptcy Code’s system for prioritizing creditors’ …

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Study: People Stay Away From Credit Cards When Unemployed

Bankruptcy, Credit cards, Debt / By Matt Leichter

At about the same time the Federal Reserve Bank of New York discussed a study about how debtors prioritize debts when money is tight, another Federal Reserve branch, in Boston, published a paper asking whether unemployment leads to increased credit-card use. The short answer is a surprising no. It turns out that rather than run …

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Pew Research Center: Americans Don’t Secure Their Devices, Get Hacked

Bankruptcy, Debt / By Matt Leichter

Late last year, I wrote about the importance of using secure passwords to protect personal information in the context of the hacking that affected the 2016 election. Reinforcing and expanding on some of the points in that post, the Pew Research Center produced a sizeable report titled, “Americans and Cybersecurity,” which adds some insights. Generally, …

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What Is the ‘Statement of Intention’ and When Do Debtors File One?

Bankruptcy, Chapter 7 Bankruptcy, Debt / By Matt Leichter

I wrote about the bankruptcy form called the “Statement of Intention for Individuals Filing Under Chapter 7” (usually “Statement of Intention” or “SOI” for short) back in August in a post about post-bankruptcy non-recourse debts. The SOI form debtors use played a prominent role, so I’d like to expand on it. The SOI only appears …

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NY Fed: ‘Household Sector Remains Vulnerable to Severe Price Declines’

Bankruptcy, Debt, Foreclosure, Mortgage / By Matt Leichter

In February, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s Liberty Street Economics blog published five posts on housing and homeownership. I won’t discuss the findings from every post, nor write five in response, but I will hit on the major points that might be salient to New York bankruptcy. In its first post, the Fed’s …

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How Do Debtors Prioritize Their Debts?

Bankruptcy, Chapter 13 Bankruptcy, Chapter 7 Bankruptcy, Credit cards, Debt, Mortgage / By Matt Leichter

When debtors have too few funds to pay too many debts, they don’t try to distribute their money among all their debts. Rather, they prioritize some debts over others. The insight, courtesy of a blog post at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s Web site, can help debtors and New York bankruptcy lawyers determine …

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No ‘Lock-In Effect’ Stopping Millennials From Moving

Debt, Mortgage / By Matt Leichter

I just wrote about the new study renewing the debate on whether underwater homeowners are stuck in their communities due to the “lock-in effect.” The hypothesis states that underwater homeowners are so reluctant to leave their homes at a loss or file bankruptcy that they stay put and try to find work locally, even if …

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Digital Currencies Are Assets in Bankruptcy

Bankruptcy, Creditors, Exemptions, Trustee / By Matt Leichter

It did not take long for the Internet to create new markets for consumers. It’s one of the Internet’s primary contributions to people’s lives. Like all new things, as it comes into contact with old laws, novel pitfalls emerge—like debt collectors on social media. Because people transact frequently via the World Wide Web, debtors sometimes …

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Lenders Tracking and Disabling Vehicles Before Default, Repossession

Bankruptcy, Creditors / By Matt Leichter

Late last year I wrote about how delinquencies in the subprime auto loan market are rising because auto finance companies are targeting debtors with poorer credit. As borrowers fall behind on their payments, the number of repossessions grows. In the past, borrowers could rely on a few strategies to prevent a repossession of their vehicles. …

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Matt Leichter