• Click here to tell the ABA Journal if you think the Bankruptcy Bill site (including the Bankruptcy Bill and BAPCPA Man cartoons, bankruptcy haiku and the “Bankruptcy Lover” song) should be included in the Top 100 law blogs:  http://www.abajournal.com/blawgs/blawg100_submit Deadline is October 2.
  

Note:  If you are viewing this site using Internet Explorer, you may not be able to view items in the sidebar.  Clicking on any page or post will cause sidebar items to appear.

*Click here to see BAPCPA Man #7 – BAPCPA Man vs. Mortgantua – Part 1, and here for all previous BAPCPA Man cartoons, or here for all cartoons on the site relating to consumer bankruptcy.

More information on MORTGAGES, FORECLOSURE and LOAN/MORTGAGE MODIFICATION:

Here’s a nice “infographic” on the steps in the Foreclosure Process in Nevada made available in PDF format by the Legal Aid Center of Southern Nevada.  And if you’re just looking for bankruptcy information, here’s a helpful bankruptcy link.

Below are some useful posts from bankruptcy lawyer blogs on the topics of mortgages, foreclosure, loan modification and the Making Homes Affordable Program.  (Go to the BK Lawyer Blogs page on this site to see a full state-by-state list of bankruptcy lawyer blogs. And get in touch if you have a blog and don’t see it listed.)

George Haines, Esq. and David Krieger, Esq. (Haines & Krieger) (Las Vegas, NV)

• Do you qualify for a loan modification?
• Should I intentionally miss mortgage payments to qualify for loan modification?
• Loan Modification: The NOT Making Homes Affordable Program
• Nevada has highest foreclosure rate in the U.S. for 31st straight month
• What’s so great about foreclosure mediation?

Bruce Weiner (Rosenberg Musso & Weiner) – NYBankruptcyNet (Brooklyn, NY)

• Brooklyn Judge gives New York homeowners a fighting chance against foreclosure
• New York foreclosures likely to continue as ARMs begin to re-set over next 4 years
• Can I keep my home if I file for bankruptcy in New York?
• Subprime loan modification companies

Craig D. Robins, Esq. – Long Island Bankruptcy Blog (Woodbury, NY)

• Why I Won’t Negotiate Loan Modifications
• Many New York Foreclosure Suits Are Dismissed Because They Are Defective
• Is a Short Sale a Reasonable Alternative to Foreclosure on Long Island?

Jonathan Ginsberg, Esq. – theBKLaw (Atlanta, GA)

• Loan Modification Myths Busted
• If I Do Not Reaffirm My Mortgage in Chapter 7, Do I Automatically Lose Title to my House?

Reed Allmand, Esq. (Allmand & Lee) – Reed’s Bankruptcy Attorney Blog (Dallas and Ft. Worth, TX)

• Mortgage Modification in Chapter 13 Bankruptcy
• Selling Your Home When You’re Broke
• Congress Passes Anti-Foreclosure Bill

*To see more of Gideon Kendall’s work go to www.gideonkendall.com and gideonkendall.squarespace.com/journal.  Or order yourself a copy of Dino Pets, the wonderfully illustrated children’s book written by Lynn Plourde and illustrated by BAPCPA Man’s favorite illustrator, Gideon Kendall.

• Click here to tell the ABA Journal if you think the Bankruptcy Bill site (including the Bankruptcy Bill and BAPCPA Man cartoons, bankruptcy haiku and the “Bankruptcy Lover” song) should be included in the Top 100 law blogs:  http://www.abajournal.com/blawgs/blawg100_submit (Update:  There was a problem with the link but it should work now.)

Note:  If you are viewing this site using Internet Explorer, you may not be able to view items in the sidebar.  Clicking on any page or post will cause sidebar items to appear.

*Click here for previous BAPCPA Man cartoons, or here for all cartoons on the site relating to consumer bankruptcy.

For a more in depth explanation of the automatic stay, have a look at the Wikipedia entry.  Also see posts on the topics of automatic stay and debt collection by the following bankruptcy lawyers on their blogs:

Bruce Weiner (Rosenberg Musso & Weiner) – NYBankruptcyNet (Brooklyn, NY)

• Dealing with debt collector harassment in New York

Haines & Krieger (Las Vegas, NV)

• What can I do about debt collector harassment in Las Vegas?
• Creditors giving money to debtors? Punitive damages and the automatic stay

Craig D. Robins, Esq. – Long Island Bankruptcy Blog (Woodbury, NY)

• How Quick Will Creditors Stop Calling Me If I File Bankruptcy?
• What Are Your Rights If a Creditor Violates the Automatic Bankruptcy Stay?
• More posts on the topic of automatic stay and debt collection by Craig Robins.

Reed Allmand, Esq. (Allmand & Lee) – Reed’s Bankruptcy Attorney Blog (Dallas and Ft. Worth, TX)

• Despite the Debtor’s Mishaps Bankruptcy Court Grants Stay
• Can Bankruptcy Help Stop Repossession?

Click here for a state-by-state list of bankruptcy lawyers with blogs.

*To see more of Gideon Kendall’s work go to www.gideonkendall.com and gideonkendall.squarespace.com/journal.  Or order yourself a copy of Dino Pets, the wonderfully illustrated children’s book written by Lynn Plourde and illustrated by BAPCPA Man’s favorite illustrator, Gideon Kendall.

Note:  If you are viewing this site using Internet Explorer, you may not be able to view items in the sidebar.  Clicking on any page or post will cause sidebar items to appear.

*Click here for previous BAPCPA Man cartoons, or here for all cartoons on the site relating to consumer bankruptcy.

Below are some helpful posts from bankruptcy lawyer blogs on the topics of mortgages, foreclosure, loan modification and the Making Homes Affordable Program.  Go to the BK Lawyer Blogs page on this site to see a full state-by-state list of bankruptcy lawyer blogs.  (And get in touch if you have a blog and don’t see it listed.)

Update 9.10.09: There’s a great piece on NPR about foreclosures and the black-box decision making process regarding loan modifications (“Major Banks Still Grappling with Foreclosure“).  At one point, there’s a clip of reporter Chris Arnold in the Bank of America call center, listening over the shoulder of a call center rep who tells a homeowner they’re not eligible for a loan modification.  Arnold questions the rep and receives a not so satisfying explanation.  The issue is raised with the supervisors and it turns out the homeowner was in fact eligible for a loan modification.  How frequently is this scenario replaying itself?

George Haines, Esq. and David Krieger, Esq. (Haines & Krieger) (Las Vegas, NV)

• Do you qualify for a loan modification?
• Should I intentionally miss mortgage payments to qualify for loan modification?
• Loan Modification: The NOT Making Homes Affordable Program
• Nevada has highest foreclosure rate in the U.S. for 31st straight month
• What’s so great about foreclosure mediation?

Bruce Weiner (Rosenberg Musso & Weiner) – NYBankruptcyNet (Brooklyn, NY)

• Brooklyn Judge gives New York homeowners a fighting chance against foreclosure
• New York foreclosures likely to continue as ARMs begin to re-set over next 4 years
• Can I keep my home if I file for bankruptcy in New York?
• Subprime loan modification companies

Craig D. Robins, Esq. – Long Island Bankruptcy Blog (Woodbury, NY)

• Why I Won’t Negotiate Loan Modifications
• Many New York Foreclosure Suits Are Dismissed Because They Are Defective
• Is a Short Sale a Reasonable Alternative to Foreclosure on Long Island?

Jonathan Ginsberg, Esq. – theBKLaw (Atlanta, GA)

• Loan Modification Myths Busted
• If I Do Not Reaffirm My Mortgage in Chapter 7, Do I Automatically Lose Title to my House?

Reed Allmand, Esq. (Allmand & Lee) – Reed’s Bankruptcy Attorney Blog (Dallas and Ft. Worth, TX)

• Mortgage Modification in Chapter 13 Bankruptcy
• Selling Your Home When You’re Broke
• Congress Passes Anti-Foreclosure Bill

*To see more of Gideon Kendall’s work go to www.gideonkendall.com and gideonkendall.squarespace.com/journal.  Or order yourself a copy of Dino Pets, the wonderfully illustrated children’s book written by Lynn Plourde and illustrated by BAPCPA Man’s favorite illustrator, Gideon Kendall.

Note:  If you are viewing this site using Internet Explorer, you may not be able to view items in the sidebar.  Clicking on any page or post will cause sidebar items to appear.

(Click image to see earlier sketch version of cartoon.)

*Correction:  The cartoon previously referred incorrectly to a “Chapter 7 repayment plan.”  Apologies for the confusion.

Below are some helpful posts from bankruptcy lawyer blogs on the topics of unemployment, median income and the means test.  Go to the BK Lawyer Blogs page on this site to see a full state-by-state list of bankruptcy lawyer blogs.  (And get in touch if you have a blog and don’t see it listed.)

*Also, for anyone trying to figure out their median income, Best Case has a free on-line median income calculator for any state.

Bruce Weiner (Rosenberg Musso & Weiner) – NYBankruptcyNet (Brooklyn, NY)

• The Means Test and the Unemployment Trap

Craig D. Robins, Esq. – Long Island Bankruptcy Blog (Woodbury, NY)

• The Means Test is Often the Key to a Successful Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Case
• Long Island Economy: Jobs Down; Unemployment Up; Bankruptcy Up

Haines & Krieger (Las Vegas, NV)

• The “Means Test” and the Median Income for Nevada

Jonathan Ginsberg, Esq. – theBKLaw (Atlanta, GA)

• Chapter 7 and Middle Class Debtors
• How are Year End Bonuses Treated in a Median Income Test Calculation?

Reed Allmand, Esq. (Allmand & Lee) – Reed’s Bankruptcy Attorney Blog (Dallas and Ft. Worth, TX)

• Facing a Job Loss? Don’t Panic!
• Do You Have the Means to File Chapter 7?

*Click here for previous BAPCPA Man cartoons, or here for all cartoons on the site relating to consumer bankruptcy.

*To see more of Gideon Kendall’s work go to www.gideonkendall.com and gideonkendall.squarespace.com/journal.  Or order yourself a copy of Dino Pets, the wonderfully illustrated children’s book written by Lynn Plourde and illustrated by BAPCPA Man’s favorite illustrator, Gideon Kendall.

341 Meeting of Creditors

Here are some blog posts by real bankruptcy lawyers on the topic of the 341 Meeting of Creditors:

Bruce Weiner, Esq. (Rosenberg Musso & Weiner) – NYBankruptcyNet (Brooklyn, NY)

• What will happen at my 341 meeting of creditors in New York? by

Craig D. Robins, Esq. – Long Island Bankruptcy Blog (Woodbury, NY)

• How Much Should You Say at the Meeting of Creditors in Bankruptcy Court?
• Will Creditors Show Up for My Hearing in Bankruptcy Court?

Law Office of Gregory A. Holbus, Esq. – Wisconsin Bankruptcy Blog (Green Bay, WI)

• What happens if I file?  Do I have to go to Court?

George Haines, Esq. of Haines & Krieger (Las Vegas, NV)

• What happens during a Chapter 13 bankruptcy?

*BAPCPA Man would like to offer a special thanks to Eugene S. Melchionne – Connecticut Bankruptcy (Waterbury, CT) for his recent donation to the site.  Eugene, by the way, is currently serving as President of the Bankruptcy Law Network.

*Click here for  Bankruptcy Bill’s state-by-state list of bankruptcy lawyers with blogs.

*Click here for previous BAPCPA Man cartoons, or here for all cartoons on the site relating to consumer bankruptcy.

*To see more of Gideon Kendall’s work go to www.gideonkendall.com and gideonkendall.squarespace.com/journal.  Or order yourself a copy of Dino Pets, the wonderfully illustrated children’s book written by Lynn Plourde and illustrated by BAPCPA Man’s favorite illustrator, Gideon Kendall.

(Click image to see earlier sketch version on Gideon Kendall’s blog.)

BAPCPA Background

For more background on the 2005 Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act (aka BAPCPA), read Professor Elizabeth Warren’s testimony to Congress (Feb. 10, 2005) and testimony by Professor Todd Zywicki (Feb. 10, 2005).  Also a range of helpful coverage and commentary on the debate, impact and effects of BAPCPA on Creditslips.org along with some of the continued debate between the perspectives of Professor Warren and Professor Zywicki here, here and here.

Bankruptcy Lawyer Blogs on BAPCPA

From the bankruptcy lawyer blog circuit, helpful posts on court interpretations of BAPCPA so far by Jordan E. Bublick, Esq. at South Florida Bankruptcy Law Blog, including a summary of the two schools of thought on BAPCPA by bankruptcy courts.   A post by Craig Robins, Esq. on LongIslandBankruptcyBlog about the evolving criticisms of the new bankruptcy law as of 2006.  Additional commentary on bankruptcy as a social safety net by Bruce Weiner, Esq. of Rosenberg, Musso & Weiner (Brooklyn, NY) on NYBankruptcyNet.  And a reflective look back at the passage of BAPCPA by Dave Krieger, Esq. of Haines & Krieger (Las Vegas, NV).

*Click here for  Bankruptcy Bill’s state-by-state list of bankruptcy lawyers with blogs.

*Click here for previous BAPCPA Man cartoons, or here for all cartoons on the site relating to consumer bankruptcy.

*To see more of Gideon Kendall’s work go to www.gideonkendall.com and gideonkendall.squarespace.com/journal.  Or order yourself a copy of Dino Pets, the wonderfully illustrated children’s book written by Lynn Plourde and illustrated by BAPCPA Man’s favorite illustrator, Gideon Kendall.

Mandatory Credit Counseling

• Here’s Bankruptcy Bill’s take on the mandatory credit counseling requirement.
• For a more detailed explanation of  “mandatory credit counseling“ take a look at the Federal Trade Commission’s page.
• For a good perspective on mandatory credit counseling there’s also a Washington Post article from 2005 titled “Mandatory Counseling, A Good Idea (In Theory).”
• For an explanation that helps clarify some of the confusion, try reading “The Many Meanings of ‘Credit Counseling‘” by bankruptcy law firm Haines & Krieger (Las Vegas, NV).
• And for commentary on the actual value of mandatory pre-bankruptcy credit counseling read a 2006 post, “Credit Counseling Requirement of Bankruptcy Code Generally Viewed as a Waste of Time”, on theBKBlog by Jonathan Ginsberg, Esq. (Atlanta, GA).

Subprime Mortgages

• Here’s the Investopedia entry on subprime mortgages.
• Craig Robins, Esq. has an easy-to-follow explanation of subprime mortgages and the subprime mortgage crisis on his LongIslandBankruptcyBlog (“The Sub-Prime Mortgage Meltdown“).
• And here’s a post on shape-shifting subprime lenders and loan modification companies titled “Subprime Loan Modification Companies“ from NYBankruptcyNet by Bruce Weiner, Esq. of Rosenberg Musso & Weiner (Brooklyn, NY).

*Click here for a state-by-state list of bankruptcy lawyers with blogs.

*Click here for previous BAPCPA Man cartoons or here for all cartoons on the site relating to consumer bankruptcy.

*To see more of Gideon Kendall’s work go to www.gideonkendall.com and gideonkendall.squarespace.com/journal.  Or order yourself a copy of Dino Pets, the wonderfully illustrated children’s book written by Lynn Plourde and illustrated by Bankruptcy Bill’s very own Gideon Kendall.

For a more in depth explanation of the automatic stay, take a look at the Wikipedia entry as well as a brief explanation by Haines & Krieger (Las Vegas, NV) and an explanatory blog post by Michael Anderson, Esq. on Arizona Bankruptcy Lawyer Blog.  Also this post on bill collectors by Chuck Newton, Esq.’s blog StayViolation in Texas.

Click here for a state-by-state list of bankruptcy lawyers with blogs.

Click here for previous BAPCPA Man cartoons or here for all cartoons on the site relating to consumer bankruptcy.

(To see more of Gideon Kendall’s work go to www.gideonkendall.com and gideonkendall.squarespace.com/journal.)

For a more in depth explanation of the automatic stay, take a look at the Wikipedia entry as well as a brief explanation by Haines & Krieger (Las Vegas, NV) and an explanatory blog post by Michael Anderson, Esq. on Arizona Bankruptcy Lawyer Blog.

Click here for previous BAPCPA Man cartoons or here for all cartoons on the site relating to consumer bankruptcy.

(To see more of Gideon Kendall’s work go to www.gideonkendall.com and gideonkendall.squarespace.com/journal.)

********************

The site has been reorganized.  STR.I.P. Financing obtained.  Strip #17 – BAPCPA Man has gone effective.

• Thanks to Bruce Weiner of Rosenberg Weiner & Musso (www.nybankruptcy.net) in Brooklyn, NY for putting us over the top.  Bruce, by the way, is Chapter 11 debtor’s counsel to Stephen Baldwin according to Huffington Post and AP reports.
• We would also be remiss to not give a special thanks to 3-time contributor Nancy Rapoport, (http://nancyrapoport.blogspot.com), the Gordon Silver Professor of Law at the William S. Boyd School of Law (UNLV)  and co-author of the book Enron: Corporate Fiascos and Their Implications for all of her support.
• And thanks to everyone else, lawyers and non-lawyers alike, for supporting Bankruptcy Bill.  Hope you enjoy the new strip and stay tuned for more to come.

(To see more of Gideon Kendall’s work go to www.gideonkendall.com and gideonkendall.squarespace.com/journal.)

p.s.  Regarding copyright issues, our legal counsel, IP Aileen, says:  “Other bloggers/websites/publications:  You are more than welcome to post Strip #17 on your sites as long as you also include all of the text, links and images in this post, including this paragraph.  If you fail to respect our wishes, we’ll simply send BAPCPA Man after you.  His powers are great and many.  Actually, we’re not even sure what they are.  Best to just not mess around.”