I want to challenge the conventional wisdom that filing bankruptcy should be considered a last resort. Does that sound self serving coming from a bankruptcy lawyer? Maybe.

The short answer is no…you do not have to surrender your home if you file for bankruptcy.  If you are having financial trouble and problems making your ongoing mortgage payment, I would first recommend contacting your lender and trying to modify your mortgage.  Some lenders will work with you, but if they are not willing [...]

Vowing to make the billionaires pay their “fair share”, the country has a true consumer advocate in Massachusetts now.  Elizabeth Warren, a law professor who moonlights as a true champion of the middle class consumer, beat incumbent pretty-boy Scott Brown for the Massachusetts Senate seat vacated by Ted Kennedy.  Warren created the Consumer Protection Bureau although Wall Street interests had her ousted from her position as director when they saw her headlights in their rear view mirrors.  If there is anyone who can give the middle class hope, it is her.  Congrats Senator Warren!

Vowing to make the billionaires pay their “fair share”, the country has a true consumer advocate in Massachusetts now.  Elizabeth Warren, a law professor who moonlights as a true champion of the middle class consumer, beat incumbent pretty-boy Scott Brown for the Massachusetts Senate seat vacated by Ted Kennedy.  Warren created the Consumer Protection Bureau although Wall Street interests had her ousted from her position as director when they saw her headlights in their rear view mirrors.  If there is anyone who can give the middle class hope, it is her.  Congrats Senator Warren!

New mortgage modification rules make it easier to combine a HAMP or "Obama Plan" mortgage modification with a Chapter 13 Bankruptcy. Combining a HAMP mortgage modification may be beneficial to many homeowners.

The filing of a chapter 13 bankruptcy generally stays all foreclosure and collection actions by mortgage companies and other creditors. This allows a person to formulate a chapter 13 plan to reorganize their financial situation.

Tens of thousands of people in California file Chapter 13 Bankruptcy every year.

In a recent opinion, the Sixth Circuit has provided clarification of Stern v. Marshall's1 holding by analyzing Article III “judicial power,” the pubic rights doctrine, and the bankruptcy court's authority.

Auday v. Wet Seal Retail, Inc., Case No. 12-5057 (6th Cir., Oct. 25, 2012) (recommended for full-text publication). 

On August 17, 2012, the new Making Home Affordable handbook 4.0 for non-GSE mortgages was released.

Jordan E. Bublick, Miami and Palm Beach, Florida, Attorney at Law, Practice Limited to Bankruptcy Law, Member of the Florida Bar since 1983

Wright v. Bank of Am., N.A., No. 10-cv-1723, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 73807, at *9-15 (N.D. Cal. July 22, 2010) - July 22, 2010, Judge Jeremy Fogel, of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, held that borrowers are not intended third-party beneficiaries of the Servicer Participation Agreement and, therefore, lack standing to sue for an alleged breach of the agreement.