This is the bankruptcy case study for Ms. Jones who resides in Joliet, Illinois. Ms. Jones was in the office today to determine whether or not Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy will provide some needed relief. Let’s go through the facts and details of her case. Ms. Jones is not a homeowner. She is+ Read More The post Bankruptcy Case Study For Ms. Jones appeared first on David M. Siegel.

One of the challenges faced when filing bankruptcy is dealing with automobiles. This is even more challenging when a couple is filing joint bankruptcy and they owe money on one or more automobiles. Because it is important to understand just how to deal with cars, a Troy, Ohio Bankruptcy Attorney explains the various options. When you owe nothing on the car Reaffirmation agreements in bankruptcy When you file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, the trustee may consider liquidating some of your assets in order to pay your debts. Fortunately, there is an exemption for your motor vehicle that is just under $4,000. For joint bankruptcy, this exemption may be doubled. However, it is important to note that your name must be on the title and if you are filing a joint bankruptcy, both spouses names must be on the title. If you own two vehicles, the trustee may “force” the sale of one in order to pay off other debts. When you owe money on the car There are two scenarios what may occur if you owe money on your vehicle and are going through a Chapter 7 bankruptcy. Both are slightly complicated and are: Reaffirmation of debt – you basically reaffirm the debt and agree to make all payments on your car in spite of the bankruptcy Redemption – in this scenario, you will need the assistance of your creditor. As a debtor, you offer to pay for the vehicle at the current market value. If the creditor accepts these terms, then you will be able to keep your vehicle and will owe nothing more Possible exclusions and options Keep in mind that bankruptcy laws offer debtors some protections. There are some possible exclusions and additional options when dealing with vehicles. Some of these include: Use for employment – for those who use their vehicle for employment purposes (e.g., salesman, trucks for landscaping, etc.) there is an option to keep your vehicle Assistive equipment – if your vehicle is specifically designed to assist you with mobility due to a disability, you may also claim an exemption Wildcard combination – if you have two vehicles, you may be able to use your “wildcard” exemption to protect the second vehicle Bankruptcy law is very confusing and if you have one or more motor vehicles you may be even more confused. Instead of trying to figure out if you can keep your car (or cars), it’s a good idea to contact Chris Wesner Law Office, LLC for help. We can help make sure you understand what options are available to help you keep your car. The post Troy, Ohio Bankruptcy Attorney discusses automobiles and bankruptcy appeared first on Chris Wesner Law Office.

One challenge in confirming a chapter 11 plan is finding an impaired accepting class without counting votes of insiders as required by 11 U.S.C. Sec. 1129(a)(10).   A new opinion from the District Court of Arizona makes that job easier in cases with jointly administered debtors.   In re Transwest Properties, Inc., 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 102575 (D. Ariz. 6/22/16).  The Transwest case involved five cases that were jointly administered but not substantively consolidated.    The organizational structure consisted of a holding company, two mezzanine companies and two operating companies.   The debtors proposed a plan in which the mezzanine debtors would be dissolved and the operating companies would be owned by an investor contributing new capital under the plan.    The principal secured creditor (Lender), which had acquired the mezzanine debt during the case, voted against the plan.   Lender argued that because it held the only claim in the mezzanine debtor cases that the plan could not be confirmed under section 1129(a)(10).   The bankruptcy court approved the plan.   Lender appealed.    On the first appeal, the district court dismissed the case as equitably moot.   The Ninth Circuit reversed and sent the case back to the district court.On remand, the District Court noted a split in authority as to whether section 1129(a)(10) applied on a per plan or a per debtor basis.   The Lender relied on two cases from the Bankruptcy Court of Delaware to argue that there had to be an accepting vote in each case.  In re Tribune, 464 B.R. 126 (Bankr. D. Del. 2011), and In re JER/Jameson Mezz Borrower II, LLC, 461 B.R. 293 (Bankr. D. Del. 2011).    The Debtors relied on cases from the bankruptcy courts for the Southern District of New York and Middle District of Pennsylvania.  In re SPGA, Inc., 2001 WL 34750646 (Bankr. M.D. Pa. 2001), In re Enron Corp., 2004 Bankr. LEXIS 2549 (Bankr. S.D.N.Y. 2004), and In re Charter Communications, 419 B.R. 221, 266 (Bankr. S.D.N.Y. 2009).   Thus, a district court in Arizona was called upon to resolve a split between East Coast bankruptcy courts.Rather than relying on the rationales advanced by the competing bankruptcy courts, the District Court applied a plain meaning analysis.    Here, the Court finds that § 1129(a)(10) applies on a per-plan basis. First, unlike the Tribunecourt, this Court finds the plain language of the statute to be dispositive. The statute states that "[i]f a class of claims is impaired under the plan, at least one class of claims that is impaired under the plan has accepted the plan" then the court shall confirm the plan if additional requirements are met. 11 U.S.C. § 1129(a)(10) (emphasis added). Thus, once an impaired class has accepted the plan, § 1129(a)(10) is satisfied as to all debtors because all debtors are being reorganized under a joint plan of reorganization.In re Transwest Properties, Inc., at *15.   The District Court opinion takes a perfectly defensible position.    Section 1129(a)(10) is a technical requirement.   Therefore, technical compliance should be sufficient.

It is very true that a Chapter 7 bankruptcy case can be filed without having the full attorney fees paid up front. In fact, there are some attorneys that are willing to advance even the filing fees in certain circumstances.  However, for a valid Chapter 7 bankruptcy case to be filed, there are certain documents+ Read More The post Filing Without Full Payment, Ok. Filing Without Full Documents, Problemati appeared first on David M. Siegel.

Here at Shenwick & Associates, most clients come to us with concerns about debt, from either the perspective of a debtor or a creditor. This month, we’re going to take a look at the difference between how debts are treated by law and how debts are listed on a credit report. As with all actions (lawsuits), there is a statute of limitations on how long creditors can sue you to collect on a debt, get a judgment against you, and garnish your wages or levy against your financial accounts. In New York, the statute of limitations is six years, pursuant to section 213 (2) of the Civil Practice Law and Rules (CPLR) (for “an action upon a contractual obligation or liability, express or implied . . .”). However, once a judgment has been entered against you, a creditor has up to 20 years to enforce that judgment, pursuant to section 211(b) of the CPLR. However, there are two major caveats to be aware of regarding the statute of limitations:Sometimes, creditors and/or collection agencies will attempt to sue debtors even after the statute of limitations has expired. If you or an attorney that represents you fails to appear in court to claim that the statute of limitations on the debt has expired, the court may issue a default judgment against you, and then the 20 year period for enforcing the judgment starts running.If you acknowledge a debt (in writing and signed) and/or make a payment on a debt, that will restart the 20 year period for enforcing the judgment.With regard to reporting of debts on a credit report, rather than the state laws that govern the statute of limitations to collect on a debt and enforce a judgment, credit reports are governed by federal law, specifically the Fair Credit Reporting Act (“FCRA”), which is codified at sections 1681 through 1681x of title 15 of the U.S. Code. Under the FCRA, credit reporting agencies are required to remove information about a debt after seven years, regardless of the ownership or sale of the debt (i.e. to a collection agency) or whether or not you’ve acknowledged the debt. The seven year period commences 180 days after the last payment on the debt. However, there are also some exceptions to these general reporting requirements. They don’t apply to consumer credit reports to be used in connection with: (1) a credit transaction involving, or which may reasonably be expected to involve, a principal amount of $150,000 or more; (2) the underwriting of life insurance involving, or which may reasonably be expected to involve, a face amount of $150,000 or more; or (3) the employment of any individual at an annual salary which equals, or which may reasonably be expected to equal $75,000, or more. Remember that consumers are entitled to free credit reports every 12 months from the three big credit reporting agencies (Equifax, Experian and TransUnion) from Annual Credit Report.com. For all of your questions about debts and credit reports, please contact Jim Shenwick.

It was the day before Thanksgiving.  A friend of mine called me in a panic.   She received a notification that her bank account was frozen by a creditor; she was to get a direct deposit of her salary in the next 2 days, which was two weeks before Christmas.  She needed to file bankruptcy fast in order to trigger the automatic stay (legal principle that means no creditor can take action to harm you). I stayed up until midnight that day in order to get the case filed for her.  Her business had gone bad and this was the fallout from it. Often, bankruptcy cases are filed on an emergency basis. In many instances, time may be of the essence and you need to file the case immediately (e.g. a creditor  has a judgment against you and has sent the Sheriff to your home or business; you have received a notice of garnishment of your wages or bank account by a taxing body).  If this firedrill can be avoided, it should be. Rushing into a case is pretty much never a good idea.   Filing the petition on an emergency basis only increases the costs of your case and there may not be enough time to research potential issues that may arise during the course of your case.   You may omit important creditors.  You may omit assets.  If the schedules are not accurate,  you will need to amend them and that costs more money to do.  Substantial, repeated amendments do not leave favorable impressions upon the U.S. Trustee or the Ch. 7 Trustee. A debtor is permitted to file a barebones “emergency “bankruptcy petition together with a list of 20 largest creditors. The full set of schedules must be submitted within 14 days, unless extended. Regardless of whether the case is an emergency filing or not, if you are an individual, you MUST complete pre-bankruptcy filing credit counseling course at least 24 hours before any case is filed. BOTTOM LINE: Talk to an attorney.  He or she can give you the questionnaire you need to fill out well ahead of time. He or she will also give you a list of documents you will need You can start gathering that info.  If the case is billed hourly, you will save yourself money by gathering up this information rather than having a paralegal do it. Pre-bankruptcy planning is always advisable for any individual or business.  You don’t want to throw good money after bad (meaning you don’t want to pay down debt that ultimately may be discharged). You don’t want to make preferential or fraudulent transfers.    Often, there are non-bankruptcy options, particularly for businesses (but that can be a topic for another blog post). DISCLAIMER:  This does  not constitute legal advice.  This post does not create an attorney client relationship.  Consultant an attorney for more information re: this topic.

  This is the bankruptcy case study for Michael M., who resides in Aurora, DuPage County, Illinois. Michael is currently being garnished for a hospital bill and is seeking protection under the bankruptcy code. He is inquiring as to whether or not he can file a Chapter 7 to stop the garnishment and yet keep+ Read More The post Bankruptcy Case Study For Michael M. appeared first on David M. Siegel.

Chapter 13 bankruptcy cases are difficult for the debtor as well as the attorney. The debtor has to fulfill a series of requirements prior to filing as well as additional requirements subsequent to filing. The attorney does the bulk of his work upfront and fights to get paid as the case progresses. In recent weeks,+ Read More The post It’s Getting Harder And Harder To Get Paid In A Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Case appeared first on David M. Siegel.

Gawker Media Files For Bankruptcy Gawker Media is a commercial online media company and blog outlet that was founded and owned by Nick Denton. Gawker came from humble beginnings in 2003. Gawker Media is the parent company for several very successful and popular weblogs including Gawker.com, Lifehacker, Deadspin, Kotaku, Gizmodo, Jalopnik, and Jezebel. With so much success in Gawker Media’s timeline, nearly forty five million dollars in revenue, and so many desirable weblogs under its reign, it is hard to wrap one’s head around the fact that the company filed for bankruptcy in 2016. What exactly is bankruptcy? Bankruptcy is the act of being bankrupt or completely broke. Filing for bankruptcy essentially pauses any standing debts that cannot be repaid. Chapter 11 bankruptcy is available for individuals, corporations, and partnerships. Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization has no limit on debt and large companies typically choose this type of bankruptcy to restructure debt. The person, or business, in debt typically can still have all their assets and operate their company under supervision. Chapter 11 bankruptcy is considered the most flexible of the bankruptcy chapters and is subsequently difficult to really define. Things weren’t always so bad for Gawker Media. Gawker Media has seen some financial success in the past. New York Magazine Jossip founder David Hauslaib estimated that Gawker.com had an annual advertising revenue of nearly one million dollars. The very low operating needs paired with advertising success led to Gawker Media boasting a healthy twenty million dollar revenue and an operating income of over two million dollars in 2010. Gawker Media continued to make good money without the need for investments from venture capitalist firms. Blogs aren’t making as much money as we think and lawsuits can ruin a successful business. Gawker’s founder Nick Denton has been quiet on the financial details of Gawker. He has, however, said convicting things about the financial profit of blogs. Of the matter, Denton has said on his personal website, “Blogs are likely to be better for readers than for capitalists. While I love the medium, I’ve always been skeptical about the value of blogs as businesses.” While weblogs may not be a capitalist’s goldmine, other matters contributed to Gawker’s demise. The media organization has dealt with its share of controversy which lead to a large amount of lawsuits being filed in order to destroy Gawker Media. Those lawsuits came from Silicon Valley billionaire Peter Thiel’s third-party funding. Thiel’s actions have raised serious concern about rich people tanking publications by paying for lawsuits that will lead to their demise. Gawker Media is known for their controversy, the big reason Denton decided to file for bankruptcy. Gawker Media is widely considered controversial for their content. In 2012 Gawker published a pornagraphic video of Hulk Hogan and Hogan’s best friend’s wife that subsequently led to a massive sixty million dollar lawsuit to be paid to Hogan for emotional distress. This lawsuit was the beginning for Gawker Media’s path to bankruptcy. Director Quentin Tarantino filed a copyright lawsuit in early 2014 against Gawker Media for the leak of his 146-page script for his film The Hateful Eight. Tarantino said he gave the script to a small handful of trustworthy colleagues and never to Gawker Media for use. Tarantino said in his lawsuit, “Gawker Media has made a business of predatory journalism, violating people’s rights to make a buck. This time they went too far. Rather than merely publishing a news story reporting that Plaintiff’s screenplay may have been circulating in Hollywood without his permission, Gawker Media crossed the journalistic line by promoting itself to the public as the first source to read the entire Screenplay illegally.” In 2013, Gawk Media and its founder Denton faced a Fair Labor Standards Act action brought by unpaid interns that worked for the company. The interns claimed that work they contributed to Gawker Media’s sites, including Lifehacker.com and Gawker.tv, directly led to substantial financial gains and were central to Gawker Media’s business model of internet publishing. They claimed that Gawker Media’s refusal to pay them at least minimum wage for their contributions and work violated state labor laws and the Fair Labor Standards Act. Some interns were paid as a result of the action. A staff writer for Gawker Media published a post in 2015 that attempted to out an executive for Conde Nast by writing about alleged text correspondence between the executive and a gay porn star. There was outrage over the attempt to out the executive and Denton removed the story after his managing partnership voted it was unsavory. Gawker Media was rumored to have paid the executive a sum to avoid a future lawsuit. In 2015 Gawker Media editors decided to unionize and joined the Writers Guild of America, East. Nearly seventy five percent of eligible employees voted in favor. While not entirely controversial, the decision to unionize led to public criticism of Gawker Media’s work conditions. What is Gawker’s next steps? Filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy will save the company and keep it running as long as the company is sold to another entity, free of legal liabilities, at auction. This entity has been revealed to be Ziff Davis publishing group, who now owns Gawker Media and all of its brands. I am thinking about filing for bankruptcy. Who can help me? Making the choice to file for bankruptcy is a difficult decision, and nobody should make that decision without consulting an experienced lawyer. The talented bankruptcy attorneys at My AZ Lawyers, PLLC can help. My AZ Lawyers is a professional limited liability company that can offer professional services and match you with an experienced bankruptcy lawyer trained to offer niche expertise in bankruptcy and financial law. You don’t have to settle for poor law services, especially when your finances or business are at stake. Calling My AZ Lawyers and meeting with a bankruptcy lawyer could be the best decision you could make. Published By: My AZ Lawyers Mesa Location: 1731 West Baseline Rd., Suite #100 Mesa, AZ 85202 Office: (480) 448-9800 Glendale Location: 20325 N 51st Avenue Suite #134, Building 5 Glendale, AZ 85308 Office: (602) 509-0955 Tucson Location: 2 East Congress St., Suite #900-6A Tucson, AZ 85701 Office: (520) 441-1450 Avondale Location: 12725 W. Indian School Rd., Ste E, #101 Avondale, AZ 85392 Office: (623) 499-4222 The post Gawker Media Files For Bankruptcy appeared first on My AZ Lawyers.

Gawker Media Files For Bankruptcy Gawker Media is a commercial online media company and blog outlet that was founded and owned by Nick Denton. Gawker came from humble beginnings in 2003. Gawker Media is the parent company for several very successful and popular weblogs including Gawker.com, Lifehacker, Deadspin, Kotaku, Gizmodo, Jalopnik, and Jezebel. With so much success in Gawker Media’s timeline, nearly forty five million dollars in revenue, and so many desirable weblogs under its reign, it is hard to wrap one’s head around the fact that the company filed for bankruptcy in 2016. What exactly is bankruptcy? Bankruptcy is the act of being bankrupt or completely broke. Filing for bankruptcy essentially pauses any standing debts that cannot be repaid. Chapter 11 bankruptcy is available for individuals, corporations, and partnerships. Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization has no limit on debt and large companies typically choose this type of bankruptcy to restructure debt. The person, or business, in debt typically can still have all their assets and operate their company under supervision. Chapter 11 bankruptcy is considered the most flexible of the bankruptcy chapters and is subsequently difficult to really define. Things weren’t always so bad for Gawker Media. Gawker Media has seen some financial success in the past. New York Magazine Jossip founder David Hauslaib estimated that Gawker.com had an annual advertising revenue of nearly one million dollars. The very low operating needs paired with advertising success led to Gawker Media boasting a healthy twenty million dollar revenue and an operating income of over two million dollars in 2010. Gawker Media continued to make good money without the need for investments from venture capitalist firms. Blogs aren’t making as much money as we think and lawsuits can ruin a successful business. Gawker’s founder Nick Denton has been quiet on the financial details of Gawker. He has, however, said convicting things about the financial profit of blogs. Of the matter, Denton has said on his personal website, “Blogs are likely to be better for readers than for capitalists. While I love the medium, I’ve always been skeptical about the value of blogs as businesses.” While weblogs may not be a capitalist’s goldmine, other matters contributed to Gawker’s demise. The media organization has dealt with its share of controversy which lead to a large amount of lawsuits being filed in order to destroy Gawker Media. Those lawsuits came from Silicon Valley billionaire Peter Thiel’s third-party funding. Thiel’s actions have raised serious concern about rich people tanking publications by paying for lawsuits that will lead to their demise. Gawker Media is known for their controversy, the big reason Denton decided to file for bankruptcy. Gawker Media is widely considered controversial for their content. In 2012 Gawker published a pornagraphic video of Hulk Hogan and Hogan’s best friend’s wife that subsequently led to a massive sixty million dollar lawsuit to be paid to Hogan for emotional distress. This lawsuit was the beginning for Gawker Media’s path to bankruptcy. Director Quentin Tarantino filed a copyright lawsuit in early 2014 against Gawker Media for the leak of his 146-page script for his film The Hateful Eight. Tarantino said he gave the script to a small handful of trustworthy colleagues and never to Gawker Media for use. Tarantino said in his lawsuit, “Gawker Media has made a business of predatory journalism, violating people’s rights to make a buck. This time they went too far. Rather than merely publishing a news story reporting that Plaintiff’s screenplay may have been circulating in Hollywood without his permission, Gawker Media crossed the journalistic line by promoting itself to the public as the first source to read the entire Screenplay illegally.” In 2013, Gawk Media and its founder Denton faced a Fair Labor Standards Act action brought by unpaid interns that worked for the company. The interns claimed that work they contributed to Gawker Media’s sites, including Lifehacker.com and Gawker.tv, directly led to substantial financial gains and were central to Gawker Media’s business model of internet publishing. They claimed that Gawker Media’s refusal to pay them at least minimum wage for their contributions and work violated state labor laws and the Fair Labor Standards Act. Some interns were paid as a result of the action. A staff writer for Gawker Media published a post in 2015 that attempted to out an executive for Conde Nast by writing about alleged text correspondence between the executive and a gay porn star. There was outrage over the attempt to out the executive and Denton removed the story after his managing partnership voted it was unsavory. Gawker Media was rumored to have paid the executive a sum to avoid a future lawsuit. In 2015 Gawker Media editors decided to unionize and joined the Writers Guild of America, East. Nearly seventy five percent of eligible employees voted in favor. While not entirely controversial, the decision to unionize led to public criticism of Gawker Media’s work conditions. What is Gawker’s next steps? Filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy will save the company and keep it running as long as the company is sold to another entity, free of legal liabilities, at auction. This entity has been revealed to be Ziff Davis publishing group, who now owns Gawker Media and all of its brands. I am thinking about filing for bankruptcy. Who can help me? Making the choice to file for bankruptcy is a difficult decision, and nobody should make that decision without consulting an experienced lawyer. The talented bankruptcy attorneys at My AZ Lawyers, PLLC can help. My AZ Lawyers is a professional limited liability company that can offer professional services and match you with an experienced bankruptcy lawyer trained to offer niche expertise in bankruptcy and financial law. You don’t have to settle for poor law services, especially when your finances or business are at stake. Calling My AZ Lawyers and meeting with a bankruptcy lawyer could be the best decision you could make. Published By: My AZ Lawyers Mesa Location: 1731 West Baseline Rd., Suite #100 Mesa, AZ 85202 Office: (480) 448-9800 Glendale Location: 20325 N 51st Avenue Suite #134, Building 5 Glendale, AZ 85308 Office: (602) 509-0955 Tucson Location: 2 East Congress St., Suite #900-6A Tucson, AZ 85701 Office: (520) 441-1450 Avondale Location: 12725 W. Indian School Rd., Ste E, #101 Avondale, AZ 85392 Office: (623) 499-4222 The post Gawker Media Files For Bankruptcy appeared first on My AZ Lawyers.