First came credit cards in the 1970s, then debit cards in the 1990s, and now there are what the financial industry refers to as “stored-value cards”: cards that function independently of a line of credit or a demand account. The cards’ balances are pre-funded, much like secured credit cards, which I wrote about here. Stored-value …
Rating agencies’ opinions of financial assets isn’t much concern to the New York bankruptcy world, but notably in mid-December both Moody’s and Fitch issued press releases documenting their pessimistic outlooks on a very unique type of financial asset: Federal Family Education Loan Program (FFELP) Asset-Backed Securities (ABS). The FFELP is the defunct federal program in …
Ratings Agencies Pessimistic About Student-Loan Securities Read More »
I recently wrote about stymieing debt collectors by controlling the personal information you give them. Saliently, a recent Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) action demonstrates why debtors should be careful with what they tell creditors, especially online. The action, situated in California federal district court, concerns the behaviors of what are called “lead aggregators.” “Leads,” …
Congress has written a few laws to help protect debtors who fall behind on their bills from creditors. Aside from the Bankruptcy Code, there’s the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) and the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). The FDCPA regulates what debt collectors can say to debtors; the TCPA limits some of the tools …
Credit scores and bankruptcy frequently intersect. Primarily, debtors are concerned about the impact a bankruptcy filing will have on them. It’s not a trivial concern: Credit scores have gone beyond determining creditworthiness to evaluating housing and employment prospects, although New York City has banned many employers from using job applicants’ credit scores as a screening …
The Predictive Power of the Unromantic Credit Score Read More »
In New York bankruptcy, debtors are required to list all of their debts in their petitions and schedules. This is true for both chapter 7 and chapter 13. On the bright side, though, debtors who forget to list a debt will suffer few consequences if they file in chapter 7 and have no assets for …
Persuasive Reasons to List Every Debt in Bankruptcy Read More »
The answer has to do with paying money into a pot, not other kinds of pots. There is surprising flexibility in how debtors can structure their repayment plans in chapter 13 New York bankruptcy, especially as they apply to unsecured creditors. The reason for this flexibility isn’t simply to give debtors more options; rather, it’s …
What Is a ‘Pot Plan’ in Chapter 13 New York Bankruptcy? Read More »
The question arises after a November editorial in The New York Times castigated state governments for doing too little to protect everyday Americans from a host of unethical and illegal debt enforcement efforts, including “sewer service,” which occurred in New York State. You can read more in my earlier post about the topic, but the …
What Can New Yorkers Keep From Creditors Enforcing Judgments? Read More »
On November 17, The New York Times ran an editorial that rambled a little bit but ultimately reached the conclusion that state governments are much too lax when it comes to protecting the public from debt collection agencies. Debt collectors’ harassing—and occasionally illegal—behavior can force people into needless bankruptcy. Among some of the interesting points …
New York Times Editorial on Debt Collectors Makes the Case for Cash Read More »
New York bankruptcy lawyers aren’t always known for their math skills. In fact, there are many jokes about lawyers as liberal arts majors who can’t do math or science. The issue of lawyers and math, however, is quite serious in consumer bankruptcy, which can be “numbers intensive.” Unfortunately, easy math mistakes can plague a chapter …
Good Math Skills Needed When Amending a Chapter 13 Plan Read More »
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