… one of the most important pieces of legislation that helped shaped bankruptcy is the Bankruptcy Reform Act of 1978.  Here are six important changes that the Act brought to the U.S. Bankruptcy Code:

 

The act introduced Chapter 13 bankruptcy protection for the first time.  The new type of bankruptcy was referred to as a wage-earner reorganization bankruptcy.

The act allowed married couples to file a joint bankruptcy for the first time.  Before the act, people had to file …

Tags: Bankruptcy Code Bankruptcy Reform Act Legislation

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… are often the last resort of desperate students who can’t find money anywhere else for their education.  Normally, students looking for money for college will receive grants, scholarships and student loans directly from the government.  The problem is that the cost of college has shot up so high and so fast that the amount of government student loans has not been able to keep pace.  Because of this many students turn to private lenders such as Sallie Mae to fund their education.  But …

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… year… R.J. DeSilva, a spokesman for State Comptroller Susan Combs, said the Texas Prepaid Higher Education Tui­tion board voted in May to make the change, which becomes effective Nov. 1. Combs “has always had concerns about the financial stability of the fund because of the fact that it is going to go into a hole,” DeSilva said. “In terms of looking for ways to maximize the resources of the fund, she and the board felt this was a way to try and address that.”

But despite the …

Tags: Colleges and Universities Education Education Reform Texas Texas Tomorrow Fund Tuition

… responded by citing the need for more staff and training to make the program effective.  Even if reform is driven through, there is still no guarantee that the programs will work to help some groups of homeowners.  Curtis Glovier, the managing director of Fortress Investment Group, warns that the current programs don’t really help consumers who owe “far more on their mortgage than their home is currently worth.”

With the amount of red tape and debate involved, the foreclosure crisis …

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According to an article in the Dallas-Morning News, health care reform is at the top of the new administration’s list of priorities.

The article said:

The statistics explain part of the reason for the urgency:

•The U.S. spent an estimated $2.4 trillion on health care in 2008, or $7,900 per person – about twice the average of other developed nations.

•More than 45 million Americans lack health care coverage, and 25 million more …

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Bankruptcy reform legislation that would give bankruptcy courts the power to modify toxic mortgages in bankruptcy is heading to the House of Representatives on Thursday. The bill will allow bankruptcy courts to help homeowners avoid foreclosure by decreasing interest rates on their mortgage, decreasing the principal of the mortgage and/or extending the life of the mortgage to up to 40 years. But the …

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The House Judiciary Committee has approved a bankruptcy reform bill that will allow bankruptcy judges to modify mortgages for people facing foreclosure.

The bill’s sponsor, Democratic Rep. John Conyers Jr. spoke of the importance of the bankruptcy reform :

"We have block after block of “for sale” and foreclosure signs – feeding off each other, driving down home values, uprooting families, decimating communities – and causing …

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There’s a very educational article at Consumer Affairs about the need of bankruptcy reform to save hundreds of thousands of homeowners struggling to pay subprime mortgage loans and facing imminent foreclosure.

Consumer groups quoted in the article said:

"The only chance many of these (subprime) borrowers have is through declaring bankruptcy…the problem is that as currently enacted, the Bankruptcy Code favors home mortgage lenders over virtually all other …

Permalink: /loans-mortgages/subprime-mortgage-victims-need-bankruptcy-reform/

… having to go to school with older kids, all could have a negative impact on their children’s education.

 

Anyway, it is still up in the air as to what will happen.  An entity can’t continue to operate if all it does is lose millions of dollars year after year.  Something major will have to happen, so you might want to stay tuned.

 

As funny as it sounds, bankruptcy might not be the worst option for the district.  Of course, all of the details of the district’s financial …

Tags: Bankruptcy Education

… with payday loans, so they put in restrictions on the lending companies under the Payday Loan Reform Act.  To get around the new restrictions, the companies ended up making new names and terms for the loans in order to bend the rules.  The lesson here is, if you see a place offering “checkbook” or “installment” loans you better be very careful.

 

For instance, the Act was put into place for loans that lasted under 120 days.  As a result, the companies just extended the …

Tags: Payday Loan Reform Act Payday Loans

The Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (H.B.  4173) is under consideration by Congress.  One of the most important aspects of this proposed legislation is the changes to bankruptcy law that will allow bankruptcy judges to modify toxic mortgages.  A similar proposal was defeated in the Senate earlier this year; but we’re hoping that this time legislators will give American homeowners a fighting …

Tags: Bankruptcy foreclosure Law Mortgage modification The Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act United States

… was inspired by the recent credit crunch that left many students unable to continue their education because of the lack of student loans available through private institutions.  If the new law is passed, student loans would not be affected by market functions because they would come directly from the government.

Many banks and their supporters are calling the move by legislators to eliminate government student loan subsidies for private banks, a “government takeover” that would …

Tags: Business Education Loan Sallie Mae Student loan United States House of Representatives