Blogs

The Big Bailout Helps If You have to Skip Chapter 13 Payments The big bailout law, just passed, includes some slack for people in Chapter 13. If you can’t make your Chapter 13 payments, we can ask the bankruptcy judge to add up to 24 months to your payment plan. Before that law was passed, […]
The post Can’t Make Your Chapter 13 payments? by Robert Weed appeared first on Northern VA Bankruptcy Lawyer Robert Weed - .

We help victims of the Coronavirus pandemic
Many of our bankruptcy clients are understandably concerned about the outbreak of the Coronavirus and the impact it may have on their ability to complete the bankruptcy filing process. I want you to know that we can easily accommodate your needs.
We have long been set up to complete any stage of the bankruptcy process from consultations through the actual filing via video. You need only have a computer or, failing that a phone with video capability to get your case filed.
Make no mistake, our offices will remain open and we are happy to meet with you in person, but I strongly believe that you lose nothing by completing the filing stage of bankruptcy via video.
Frankly, video is superior to an in-person meeting because screenshare enables us to share the bankruptcy petition preparation process with you as we are preparing your paperwork. These meetings are also easier to book for off-hours like weekends and early mornings when you can actually devote your full attention to the process rather than worrying about getting back to the office, picking up kids or beating traffic.
If you just need a phone consultation during these difficult times and want answers quickly without setting up a video meeting, you can book one easily by calling us directly for an appointment.

The post Covid-19 and Filing Bankruptcy appeared first on Vancouver Bankruptcy Attorney | Northwest Debt Relief Law Firm.

Recently I received an email from a woman who filed bankruptcy several years ago and who recently discovered that her lawyer had not requested or filed a reaffirmation agreement. She has been current on her mortgage before, during and after her bankruptcy but because there was no reaffirmation agreement filed, the mortgage lender is not reporting her on-time payments to the credit bureaus.She would like to rebuild her credit and believes, correctly, that on-time mortgage payments would be a big help to improving her credit score. However, her case has been closed for almost three years and she doesn’t know if she has any options.She saw one of my videos where I suggested that refinancing her mortgage could be an option but she is concerned about “rocking the boat” with her mortgage company and possibly losing her house to foreclosure.She is asking me what she should do.I replied by noting that I practice bankruptcy law in the Northern District of Georgia and that while bankruptcy is a federal law, there are state law components as well as legal precedent that applies in her federal court circuit. Further, I pointed out that every bankruptcy court has local rules and customs and that she should reach out to a bankruptcy lawyer in her jurisdiction for advice specific to her case.I can speak generally to this problem as I have seen it come up here in the Northern District of Georgia and I suspect that my experiences are most likely similar to those of lawyers and debtors elsewhere in the country.First, what has happened here is not that unusual. While the language of the bankruptcy law is designed to make a Chapter 7 debtor decide to either formally reaffirm a secured debt or to surrender the collateral, as a practical matter, many Chapter 7 debtors choose the “stay and pay” option.This is the case because reaffirmation agreements in Chapter 7 have become much more complicated than they were prior to 2005 when Congress overhauled the Bankruptcy Code. Since that time if I have a client who wants to reaffirm a secured debt, I, as the attorney, have to sign the reaffirmation agreement and certify that I have reviewed my client’s budget and that I believe that reaffirmation is in my client’s best interest.Congress added this attorney certification requirement to make attorneys more responsible for the decisions of their clients. In theory, this means that a debtor would have a cause of action against his lawyer for improper advice if it turned out later that the debtor really could not afford to reaffirm.Understand that when you reaffirm a debt you are basically removing bankruptcy protection and restores personal liability for a debt. So in the case of a mortgage, if a debtor reaffirms her mortgage debt or auto loan, and later defaults, the creditor can file a lawsuit against the debtor to pursue a deficiency balance.By contrast, if you do not reaffirm a secured debt like a mortgage or vehicle loan, the lender still has a secured claim against the property but has no right to pursue the debtor individually for a deficiency judgment.The tradeoff, as the woman who emailed me has discovered, is that if you do not reaffirm your personal obligation to pay a debt, all those payments you make post bankruptcy will not appear on your credit report.As a practical matter, I am not aware of any case since 2005 where a lawyer got sued for offering bad advice for recommending or certifying a reaffirmation agreement. Still, that possibility exists and many lawyers see no reason to take any chances.Perhaps my emailer’s attorney had some concerns about her ability to repay and did not pursue a reaffirmation on that account. Of course if this is the case the attorney should have been more up front with his client.As an aside, this potential for being held financially responsible for a client’s decision to reaffirm is part of the reason why the cost of bankruptcy has gone up so much. You can thank Congress for thus unnecessary complication.So, what should someone like my emailer do?One option would be file a motion to reopen her bankruptcy case for the purpose of obtaining and filing a reaffirmation agreement. This is an imperfect solution because (1) the bankruptcy judge may not agree to a reopening; and (2) even if she can reopen her case, the mortgage lender may not want to take the time or make the effort to prepare and process a reaffirmation agreement. I can also tell you that it can be very difficult to try to explain to a mortgage company bankruptcy clerk why they should cooperate with this process can be challenging at best.A second option would be to refinance the loan with another lender to end up with a loan that is both secured by the real estate and by the debtor/borrower’ promissory note. Adding personal liability to the arrangement would result in positive credit references.My emailer had expressed concern about asking her current lender to refinance – might that trigger a foreclosure? My feeling is that a borrower who is current would not be at risk but to be safe, why not reach out to another mortgage lender or to a mortgage broker to find an uninvolved lender to process a refinance?Beyond reopening or refinancing, I am not aware of any other options. In my experience debtors have not had problems selling homes when there was no reaffirmation, and I have also found that many Chapter 7 debtors are able to improve their credit scores without a reaffirmation.In sum, I don’t know that my emailer’s situation will create too many problems for her financially so keeping things as they are would not be the worst thing. Otherwise I would suggest that she look into refinancing her mortgage with a new lender – that may solve her problem without risking anything with the current mortgage company.The post What Can You Do if Your Lawyer Failed to Ask for a Reaffirmation Agreement from Your Mortgage Company? appeared first on theBKBlog.

Coronavirus Decimates N.Y.C. Taxi Industry: ‘The Worst It’s Ever Been’
There are so few travelers left at Kennedy International Airport, one of the world’s busiest airfields, that taxis wait six hours or more for a single passenger.

Taxi companies can no longer find enough drivers for their fleets because there is so little business.

And some cabdrivers are so fearful of being exposed to the coronavirus they are staying home with no way to pay mounting bills.

All this at a time when many of New York City’s taxi owners are already in financial ruin after taking out reckless loans to buy medallions — city-issued permits required to own a yellow cab — at artificially inflated prices, with the reassurance of the city’s taxi commission of their high value.

Their industry has increasingly lost riders to the boom in Uber, Lyft and ride-app services, and been shaken by a spate of suicides by desperate taxi owners and for-hire drivers.

Now taxi owners and drivers who were barely holding on said their livelihood had evaporated as the city all but shut down to try to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

THE LATESTRead our live coverage of the coronavirus outbreak in the New York area.
“When you have to wait six or seven hours to get one passenger, it’s really bad,” said Mario Darius, 66, a taxi owner who was camped out at Kennedy Airport after picking up just three fares in three days.

Though citywide taxi ridership numbers for March are not yet available, some taxi companies, cab owners and drivers said their rides had plunged by two-thirds or more.

The city’s largest taxi group, the Metropolitan Taxicab Board of Trade, which represents the owners of 5,500 yellow cabs, said rides had dropped nearly 91 percent to a total of 20,596 trips over this past Friday, Saturday and Sunday. That is compared with 217,540 total trips for the same three days three weeks ago.

Latest Updates: Coronavirus Outbreak in New York
White House emphasizes how hard New York is being hit.
New York police report a drop in crime and a rise in infection among officers.
Governor Cuomo becomes the politician of the moment.
See more updates
Updated 15m ago
More live coverage: Global Markets U.S.
The New York Taxi Workers Alliance, which represents about 21,000 taxi and ride-app drivers, said a detailed survey of seven members who are taxi drivers found they earned an average of $368 — not including expenses, gas or taxes — from March 15 to March 21, a 71 percent drop from $1,260 two weeks earlier.

Bhairavi Desai, the alliance’s executive director, said it had received calls from dozens of taxi drivers who can no longer afford to pay for necessities like groceries and medicine.

ImageSome drivers have seen the number of rides drop by more than 90 percent.
Some drivers have seen the number of rides drop by more than 90 percent. Credit...Chang W. Lee/The New York Times
“They are facing immediate loss of income when they have no savings to fall back on and an uncertain future as to when the economy will begin to recover," she said. “It’s devastating. I thought we had hit a low point already.”

Across the country, taxi and ride-app drivers have seen their business all but disappear in cities like San Francisco, where people have been ordered to shelter in place, as well as other communities, including Chicago, Philadelphia, and Washington.

Taxi owners need immediate help to survive, Ms. Desai said, including making interest-free city loans available and requiring lenders to partially forgive loans for medallions and temporarily suspend collection of loan payments.

And she urged that state unemployment benefits be extended to taxi drivers, who are considered independent contractors and do not qualify.

A spokesman for New York City’s Taxi and Limousine Commission, which regulates the for-hire driving industry, said officials were working with the taxi industry and government agencies “on a number of supportive measures” but declined to give any details, saying discussions were ongoing.

20-Somethings Now Realizing That They Can Get Coronavirus, TooMarch 23, 2020

Density Is New York City’s Big ‘Enemy’ in the Coronavirus FightMarch 23, 2020

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo was seeking federal disaster assistance that would provide unemployment benefits to contract workers, including taxi drivers.

The City Council speaker, Corey Johnson, a Democrat who is running for mayor, has proposed a $12 billion relief plan for businesses and workers impacted by the coronavirus — which would cover for-hire drivers. The plan includes expanded unemployment benefits and an immediate payout of $550 to every adult and $275 to every child.

“This crisis is unlike anything we’ve ever seen before,” said Mr. Johnson, who has led recent efforts to help the ailing taxi industry. “Every New Yorker is struggling, and for-hire vehicle drivers are among the hardest hit.”

A sample pool of 5,533 for-hire drivers in New York City — most of whom work for Uber and other ride apps — found that they drove significantly fewer hours and miles, according to Nexar, a software company that analyzes data from its network of smart dashboard cameras.

On March 18, they drove an average of 3 hours and 35 minutes, down 39 percent from 5 hours and 50 minutes on a typical Wednesday. They also covered an average of 48 miles, a 32 percent drop from 71 miles.

“This is so massive and so sudden, it’s a shock to the system,” said Eran Shir, Nexar’s co-founder and chief executive officer, who has seen similar drops in other cities. “We’ve never seen anything like that.”

Uber and Lyft declined to release their ride numbers in New York.

But Uber’s chief executive officer, Dara Khosrowshahi, said in a March 19 call with investors that bookings for rides in Seattle and other hard-hit areas had fallen by as much as 60 to 70 percent.

New York City has about 200,000 for-hire drivers licensed by the Taxi and Limousine Commission. The drivers are issued a universal license that allows them to drive yellow taxis, which are capped at nearly 13,600 by the city, and for ride-app services.

The commission, which tracks taxi ridership numbers, has only collected data through January, well before coronavirus reached New York.

Michael Woloz, a longtime taxi industry consultant, said taxi garages had stayed open through some of the city’s worst crises — including the Sept. 11 terror attacks and Hurricane Sandy — but were reeling from the coronavirus fallout.

Many garages, he said, were taking extraordinary steps to get their taxis out on the streets, including reducing leasing fees for drivers by as much as two-thirds.

Other garages were waiving leasing fees altogether, and instead waiting until the end of drivers’ shifts to see if there was any profit to split.

“Right now, it’s the worst it’s ever been,” Mr. Woloz said.

At Kennedy Airport, taxi drivers are stuck in a central holding area for hours before finally being dispatched to pick up passengers at the terminals.

The other day, dozens of taxis were lined up, with some drivers talking on their cellphones to pass the time while others leaned back for a nap.

Edrice Ulysses, 57, of Brooklyn, pounded on his steering wheel in frustration. “Every day one fare,” he said. ”Eight hours, nine hours, ten hours, one fare.”

Marc Petit-Homme, 54, a yellow taxi driver for nearly three decades, said the airport was so slow one day that he finally gave up and drove to Manhattan looking for passengers.

But over five hours, he made just $49 — normally, it would be five or 10 times that much.

So the next day, he was back at the airport. Waiting. “The last two weeks, we suffer,” said Mr. Petit-Homme, as he paced nervously beside his taxi.

Many taxi drivers said their financial worries were compounded by fears of catching the virus and passing it on to their families.

Nino Hervias, a taxi owner who is 61 and had pneumonia last year, has not driven his taxi since March 17.

Mr. Hervias, who has a loan of more than half-a-million dollars on his medallion, said he cannot make the monthly payments on that or on the mortgage on his family’s home in New Jersey, or even cover their everyday living expenses.

“We have food for another two days,’’ he said.

Other taxi owners and drivers are taking their chances, armed with hand sanitizer and disinfectant wipes.

Wilfred Fequiere, 64, who lives in Queens and has driven a cab for 35 years, said he used to average a dozen passengers a day. Now, it is two passengers, if he is lucky, but sometimes none at all.

“Before it wasn’t good,” he said. “Now it’s worse.”