The first phase of the Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act (aka Credit Card Act) goes into effect February 22, 2010.  The new law will require certain disclosures to all credit card consumers. The following disclosures must be present on every monthly statement sent to credit card borrowers:

The total number of months it will take for the consumer to pay off their credit card if they only make the minimum payment. This …

Tags: Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act credit cards loans

A debtor who filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy was indicted on three counts of mail fraud and three counts of bankruptcy fraud for making false statements in her Chapter 7 bankruptcy petition.

The details of the bankruptcy case:

Chapter 7 bankruptcy debtor L.S. McGee had two different Social Security numbers, one in her name and one using an alias.  Because the debtor worked as a …

Tags: Bankruptcy Fraud Full Disclosure

… Texas-based chicken producer filed its plan and a plain-English explanation of it, called a disclosure statement, to a bankruptcy judge for approval. If Pilgrim’s Pride secures the court’s OK on the disclosure statement at an Oct. 20 hearing, it can begin to solicit yay or nay votes from creditors on the plan itself.”

Under the Chapter 11 bankruptcy proposal, Pilgrim’s Pride would sell a 64 percent stake in the reorganized company to JBS for $800 million in cash. The proceeds …

… General Motors took from bankruptcy protection on Friday.  The beleaguered car company is now full of hope and ambitions to make money and build cars people will line up to buy.  Of course, whether that dream will become reality still remains to be seen.

GM DOES have several positives in its favor now.  Once the world’s largest and most powerful automaker, the new and improved GM emerges from bankruptcy leaner and clear of massive debt and burdensome contracts that would have driven …

So, you’ve made the crucial decision to file for bankruptcy and have done your due diligence to find a competent, experienced bankruptcy attorney to represent you.  Bravo!  You’re understandably nervous about the process and wondering what the next step is.  It’s actually easier than you think.  The number one rule of thumb is–be honest.  Honesty truly is the best policy when it …

Comment by Jacob Sparks: … consequences of full disclosure are a barrier to …

… disputed cash deposits. That would allow all of the company’s $8 billion in debt to be paid in full and leave money to the owners of 23 million shares of preferred stock and 1.7 billion shares of common stock, shareholders claimed.

WaMu sued the FDIC claiming the holding company is owed money by Washington Mutual Bank. When the federal regulators take over a bank, they set up a process that is similar to a bankruptcy to pay creditors. WaMu sued after the FDIC rejected the company’s …

… may need to navigate through a series of web pages and download a PDF file to access the new disclosure information.  But according to many debtor advocates, most credit card debtors don’t move beyond the initial web page which tells them their balance, due date and the minimum amount they must pay.  

With so many debtors choosing to bank online exclusively, it may be difficult for them to access the credit card disclosure information which will provide important information about …

… on the student loans.  And in the case of Chapter 13 bankruptcy, student loans will receive full repayment while some other creditors may only receive partial repayment during the 3 to 5 year life of the Chapter bankruptcy.  This however can be beneficial for the debtor, since more of their income will go to paying off student loans as opposed to other types of creditors.

Student loan lenders have incredible powers when it comes to collecting on delinquent debt.  If, after a debtor …

… of bankruptcy due to decreased advertising revenue and a reduced number of people listening.  A full post-bankruptcy recovery may require this broadcaster to renegotiate vendor and employee contracts during bankruptcy and maybe even restructure its business model. And while some broadcasters have chosen to forgo filing Chapter 11 bankruptcy, Regents Communications will hold a cash flow advantage over those competitors after reducing its debt obligations significantly in bankruptcy.

… court.  As a secured creditor in bankruptcy, the mechanic’s lien holder may be entitled to full payment provided that the property securing the lien has value in excess of prior liens and encumbrances. While bankruptcy’s automatic stay prohibits the holder of the mechanic’s lien from filing a lawsuit or filing a foreclosure, Section 546(b)  of the bankruptcy code allows the mechanic’s lien holder to file a “notice of perfection of lien” with the bankruptcy court as an …

… for violating the Truth in Lending Act. The debtor alleged that she did not receive a preclosing disclosure from the lender, who countered that the disclosures were provided to her on Feb. 17, 2004. The lender asked for summary judgment. The court found that it could not grant summary judgment based on the release because the lender was unable to produce a complete signed copy of the agreement and the debtor claimed that she never received it. However, the lender was entitled to summary …

… loan is $150. At the end of the 30 day term the debtor would owe $750. If they cannot repay the full amount, the lender will accept the interest payment of $150 and rollover the debt to the next month.  What this means is that the debtor would owe $750 next month. The lender is only allowed to rollover a debt 6 times and most debtors don’t pay off their loans immediately.  Let’s say that the loan was renewed 5 times.  After five months of only paying the interest on this loan, the …