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A Mansfield, Ohio man was found guilty on more than 24 charges in connection to a mortgage fraud scheme that caused several banks, including J.P. Morgan Chase and Washington Mutual Bank, to lose over $1 million. David R. Sharrock, 71, pleaded no contest to a slew of charges that included bank fraud, conspiracy, wire fraud, [...]
Potential bankruptcy filers in Washington and Oregon are concerned about the potential effect of the government shutdown are their cases. While the courts are open for the time being, at least through October 15th anyway, and likely will remain open throughout the shutdown in a limited capacity. It seems likely that temporary cost cutting changes may take place.
Hearings will probably be delayed. Normally the 341 hearings in Salem,
Portland, Vancouver and Seattle are set out about 30 days after filing. It seems likely that they will be set out an additional month or set at a later date after filing. Chapter 13 filers waiting for their cases to be confirmed will probably have to wait longer to have their cases confirmed as the bankruptcy dockets in Portland, Seattle, Tacoma and Eugene may be cancelled until the end of the shutdown.
The fact is though, except for delays in having hearings and getting cases confirmed, the impact on prospective bankruptcy filers aside from delay is likely to be minimal mainly because bankruptcies are filed electronically and it seems likely that this function will be preserved throughout a shutdown. Because attorneys will continue to be able to file cases electronically, debtors will continue to be able to obtain protection under the bankruptcy court.
While the impact on debtors in Oregon and Washington is likely to be minimal, the impact on the courts is likely to be catastrophic. Due to budgetary constraints imposed in the last few years, the courts are completely understaffed as is. Once the bankruptcy court staffs go back to work, digging themselves out will be a near herculean task.
The original post is titled What Will Happen to the Oregon and Washington Bankruptcy Courts? , and it came from Oregon Bankruptcy Lawyer | Portland, Salem, and Vancouver, Wa .
This is the case of Jimmy Brownlow who resides in Chicago, Illinois. He’s here for a consultation regarding Chapter 7 or Chapter 13. Mr. Brownlow has never filed for bankruptcy before. He does have a two flat which is worth approximately $176,000 and he owes $179,000. He has property tax arrears of $1400. He is+ Read MoreThe post Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Recommended For Jimmy Brownlow appeared first on David M. Siegel.
Miami bankruptcy lawyer Jordan E. Bublick has over 25 years of experience in filing chapter 13 and chapter 7 bankruptcy cases. He has filed over 8,000 bankruptcy cases.
The court in In re Adams, 375 B.R. 532 (Bkrtcy.W.D.Mo. 2007)(Dow, J.) held that the Florida homestead exemption does not have extraterritorial effect. Although the debtors filed for chapter 7 bankruptcy in Missouri, they were required to apply the Florida exemptions as they had not been domiciled in Missouri for the entire 730 days prior to the bankruptcy filing and were domiciled in Florida for the greater part of the 180 days prior to such 180 day period 11 U.S.C. Section 522(b)(3)(A).
The court noted that the Florida homestead exemption found in Florida's constitution at Art. X Section 4 does not specifically provide whether it has extraterritorial effect. The court found that the Florida courts agree with the courts that hold as a general proposition that where the homestead law is silent, it does not have extraterritorial effect. See e.g. In re Sanders, 72 B.R. 124 (Bankr.M.D.Fla.1987)(mobile home located in Tennessee not exempt under Florida law as not located within the State of Florida), In re Schlackman, 2007 WL 1482011 (Bankr.S.D.Fla.2007)(Florida courts construe the Florida constitutional homestead provision to require that the homestead be located within the State of Florida for the homestead exemption to be applicable).
The court refused to follow the case of In re Drenttel, 309 B.R. 320 (8th Cir.BAP2004) which allowed the application of the Minnesota homestead exemption to exempt the debtors' home in Arizona. The court distinguished Drenttel as being based on the interpretation of specific Minnesota exemption statutes and the state's public policy. Furthermore the court suggested that the Drenttel court reached its result in an effort to avoid the inequity of the debtors not being able to claim either state's exemptions. The court noted that BAPCPA added the right for a debtor to claim the federal exemptions if the effect of the domiciliary requirements of section 522 is to render them ineligible for any exemption.Jordan E. Bublick is a Miami Personal Bankruptcy Lawyer with over 25 years of experience in filing chapter 13 and chapter 7 bankruptcies. Miami Personal Bankruptcy Lawyer Jordan E. Bublick has filed over 8,000 chapter 13 and chapter 7 cases.
Miami Personal Bankruptcy Attorney Jordan E. Bublick has over 25 years of experience in filing Chapter 13 and Chapter 7 bankruptcy cases. His office is centrally located in Miami at 1221 Brickell Avenue, 9th Fl., Miami and may be reached at (305) 891-4055. www.bublicklaw.com
The Bankruptcy Court in Miami previously issued its decision in the case of In re Maria D. Lopez, Case No. 08-18101-BKC-LMI (Bankr. S.D.Fla. April 17, 2009)(Isicoff, J.), the Bankruptcy Court held that the involved attorney fees were not entitled to priority status as a "domestic support obligation".
The debtor's ex-husband was awarded his attorney fees in their dissolution of marriage proceeding and sought priority status for the claim in the debtor's chapter 13 case. Priority status would require full payment and the lack thereof would subject to claim to status as a general unsecured creditor and typically only a small dividend.
The Court explained that the Bankruptcy Code provides that a domestic support obligation ("DSO") owed to a former spouse is entitled to priority status and that while an award of attorney fees in some instances may be considered a DSO, not every award of attorney fees in a dissolution of marriage case are entitled to DSO status.
The Court states that for a claim to be considered as a DSO, it must meet all the requirements of section 101(14A) of the Bankruptcy Code. Generally, the claim must be
- owed to a spouse, former spouse, or child of the debtor, or such child's parent or guardian
- be in the nature of alimony, maintenance or support
- established or subject to establishment by reason of a separation agreement, divorce decree, or property settlement agreement or by court order
- not assigned to a nongovernmental entity unless voluntarily assigned for purposes of collection
At issue in this case was whether the attorney fees are "in the nature of alimony, maintenance, or support." The Court noted that the 2005 BAPCPA amendments to the Bankruptcy Code amended certain provisions relating to claims arising from "alimony, maintenance, or support" and renamed these obligations "domestic support obligations," but that the pre-BAPCPA case law does to a certain extent continue to have applicability post-BAPCPA.
The Court rejected the claimant's argument that the attorney fees met the requirement of being "in the nature of alimony, maintenance or support" as they related to custody, parentage, or visitation. The Court noted that the determination of what constitutes "support" is a matter of federal law. The Court further noted that in determining whether an award of state court attorneys' fees constitutes "support", the Bankruptcy Court may "only undertake a simple inquiry as to whether the debt can be characterized as 'support'" and that it may look to state law for guidance on whether the obligation should be considered in the nature of "support". The Court noted that the state court judgment awarded claimant attorney fees based on the debtor's litigation misconduct and not based on their respective wages or ability to pay.Jordan E. Bublick is a Miami Personal Bankruptcy Lawyer with over 25 years of experience in filing chapter 13 and chapter 7 bankruptcies. Miami Personal Bankruptcy Lawyer Jordan E. Bublick has filed over 8,000 chapter 13 and chapter 7 cases.
Bringing you the most up-to-date news, tips and blogs throughout the web. Here’s your Bankruptcy Update for October 10, 2013 North End Segway tour co. rolls into bankruptcy Houston Astros have filed a motion to dismiss the involuntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy Sunland ceases operations, files Chapter 7 bankruptcy
A Wisconsin man is ordered to pay close to $10,000 in fines and restitution, along with a 30 day jail sentence and four years of supervised released for tampering with a grand jury witness and bankruptcy. Brett Pohle, 45, of Neillsville committed bankruptcy fraud by concealing information about his personal assets. He later tried to [...]
So how does bankruptcy effect Employment status? 11 USC Section 525 gives an explanation of that. The bankruptcy effect on employment is thus:
Private Employers
525(b) says that no private employer may terminate SOLEY because of a bankruptcy. So that means bankruptcy can actually be a reason but it cannot be the only reason. It also says that no private employer may discriminate with respect to employment solely because of BK.
Government Jobs
Under 525(a), the government must similarly abide by the same expectations a private employer has with respect to discriminating or terminating an employee who has filed BK or a potential employee who has filed a BK.
Now if one hasn’t filed BK but let the cat out of the bag? Perhaps that isn’t covered under 525. Perhaps an employer can discriminate against those contemplating a BK. That’s a highly unlikely scenario but it needs to be considered.
Conclusion
In most bankruptcy attorneys’ experience, job discrimination or loss of employment is rare, but it has happened before. However, always remember an employer cannot do so SOLELY because the debtor is a bankrupt or was a bankruptcy.
So how does bankruptcy effect Employment status? 11 USC Section 525 gives an explanation of that. The bankruptcy effect on employment is thus:
Private Employers
525(b) says that no private employer may terminate SOLEY because of a bankruptcy. So that means bankruptcy can actually be a reason but it cannot be the only reason. It also says that no private employer may discriminate with respect to employment solely because of BK.
Government Jobs
Under 525(a), the government must similarly abide by the same expectations a private employer has with respect to discriminating or terminating an employee who has filed BK or a potential employee who has filed a BK.
Now if one hasn’t filed BK but let the cat out of the bag? Perhaps that isn’t covered under 525. Perhaps an employer can discriminate against those contemplating a BK. That’s a highly unlikely scenario but it needs to be considered.
Conclusion
In most bankruptcy attorneys’ experience, job discrimination or loss of employment is rare, but it has happened before. However, always remember an employer cannot do so SOLELY because the debtor is a bankrupt or was a bankruptcy.
So how does bankruptcy effect Employment status? 11 USC Section 525 gives an explanation of that. The bankruptcy effect on employment is thus:
Private Employers
525(b) says that no private employer may terminate SOLEY because of a bankruptcy. So that means bankruptcy can actually be a reason but it cannot be the only reason. It also says that no private employer may discriminate with respect to employment solely because of BK.
Government Jobs
Under 525(a), the government must similarly abide by the same expectations a private employer has with respect to discriminating or terminating an employee who has filed BK or a potential employee who has filed a BK.
Now if one hasn’t filed BK but let the cat out of the bag? Perhaps that isn’t covered under 525. Perhaps an employer can discriminate against those contemplating a BK. That’s a highly unlikely scenario but it needs to be considered.
Conclusion
In most bankruptcy attorneys’ experience, job discrimination or loss of employment is rare, but it has happened before. However, always remember an employer cannot do so SOLELY because the debtor is a bankrupt or was a bankruptcy.
The post Afraid That Filing Bankruptcy Will Get You Fired From Your Job??? Is There a Bankruptcy Effect on Employment? appeared first on JCH LAW FIRM.
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