There is no way to approach the topic of personal bankruptcy without first addressing the basics. If you are considering bankruptcy as a solution to your financial problems, it can be helpful to understand what it involves and how it works. Bankruptcy is the process of paying off your debts under Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 of the US Bankruptcy Code, but not all debts qualify for relief under these chapters. The following sections explain the basics of bankruptcy to know what it is and how it works.

Most people cringe at the mere mention of bankruptcy, and it can be a scary concept. However, debt relief under Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 of the US Bankruptcy Code is one way to get protection from paying your debts in full. This is an option of last resort, but it can help get you back on track.

Chapter 7 Bankruptcy

If you deposit for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy protection, you surrender most of your assets to creditors. However, you must also prove that you cannot pay your bills and that your creditors are unlikely to be reimbursed in full. This can be difficult to prove, so most people seeking bankruptcy protection use Chapter 13 bankruptcy instead.

Chapter 13 Bankruptcy

Chapter 13 bankruptcy is often preferable to Chapter 7 because you don’t have to give your assets to creditors, but you do have to pay at least some of your bills. Under Chapter 13 bankruptcy, the court will create a plan to pay off your debts over the next three to five years. After that, the court will determine how much you can afford to pay and whether creditors should receive all or none of what you owe.

who declares bankruptcy

So you got a notice from the bank that your house was foreclosed, and now you’re wondering who filed for bankruptcy. There’s a lot of confusion surrounding this question, but it’s not as confusing as it seems. If a bank repossesses your home because you haven’t repaid your mortgage payments, this action is called a “power of sale” foreclosure. A foreclosure with power of sale is different from a court foreclosure because, in a court foreclosure, the bank must go through the legal process to foreclose on your home. With power of sale, the bank can follow its pre-established guidelines and seize immediately.

However, with a power of sale, the bank must still file a notice of default with the court. Before reacting to this notice, you should know that some owners go through a voluntary bankruptcy procedure. So before you jump to the conclusion that you can’t expect free legal representation if your home is seized by a power of foreclosure, remember that there are other ways out of this situation. If a person declares bankruptcy, they officially declare bankruptcy. If you were to go to court and declare bankruptcy yourself, you would be considered the “petitioner” in the proceedings. The applicant cannot file for bankruptcy on their behalf, but they can always choose to authorize someone else to do so on their behalf. In these procedures, a person who declares bankruptcy is called a “debtor”.

When should I declare bankruptcy?

There are many professions that cater to people living in America. One of them is the field of law, where lawyers fight for their clients, usually in criminal and civil cases. In these situations, lawyers are remunerated. But some people cannot afford a lawyer.

So what are they doing? In these cases, they declare bankruptcy to fulfill (pay their debts) these obligations. Bankruptcy can be a lifesaver for some people, but it’s not something anyone should take lightly. Although it’s rarely the best choice for people in financial difficulty (and there are times when bankruptcy may not be appropriate even if debts don’t need to be discharged), everyone should know how to file for bankruptcy. Here’s why:

• It’s usually not the best option for people with big debts, but it’s always good to know what to do. Spotting financial problems early on can save you thousands of dollars. Unfortunately, many people don’t know what to do when they run into a problem and file for bankruptcy. The first step is to talk to a knowledgeable advisor like an experienced attorney, CPA, or escrow agent.

• It is never too late for a bankruptcy discharge. Bankruptcy may not be the best idea for people in debt, but it’s a good option, especially if you’re having trouble paying off your loans or credit card bills.

• Not all bankruptcy petitions are accepted for filing and only some of the debts are discharged. It is important to understand that not all debts can be discharged through bankruptcy. The debtor must prove to the court that he has a good reason for filing the petition, and if he cannot pay his bills at that time, these obligations may not be discharged by the court.

Consequences of bankruptcy

Remember that old adage, “you can’t get something for nothing?” The same applies in the event of bankruptcy. Once you have declared bankruptcy and it has been discharged, your creditors will still be able to sue you for the unpaid debts they claim are owed. However, if a creditor comes after you before the discharge has taken place, there is a risk that this will trigger a reaffirmation agreement. This means that the creditor takes charge of collecting the debts on the account and only asks for payment of these debts without harassing you or contacting you again about it.

There are a few things you can do to avoid this. First, don’t act like you have a lot of money in front of the creditor; they may be able to use your statement against you later. It is best to act as if you have financial problems. Second, don’t do anything that could be construed as reaffirming a debt. This includes allowing credit card companies to increase your credit limit or to continue using a credit card after you file for bankruptcy.

Jacob Maslow

Legal Scoops editor Jacob Maslow founded several online journals, including Daily Forex Report and Conservative Free Press.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — WM was hired by Metro as an emergency contractor when Red River Waste Solutions filed for bankruptcy.

“You can see the relief as we walk through when there are overflowing trash cans,” said collection operations manager Donald DeFazio. “We obviously picked up some extra tonnage in the first two weeks because some things got delayed.”

They have already collected around 900 tons of waste. “Our goal is to get things back to normal,” DeFazio said.

In two weeks, they reached 25,000 homes; On Monday, they started on another 25,000. “Our goal is to get everyone back to their normal trash day,” DeFazio said. “It’s been a bit difficult for everyone over the last two months, they didn’t know when someone was coming.”

They brought in crews from out of state to help pick up the trash. They are part of WM’s “green team”. They respond to natural disasters like the 2020 tornadoes.

If possible, make sure your trash is well wrapped so it doesn’t spill everywhere. “It’s a big help,” DeFazio said.

WM recovers 12 daily waste routes during the 120-day emergency contract.

For months, NewsChannel 5 has heard of upset residents whose trash was piling up. Now, they are happy to see a garbage truck passing in their street. DeFazio said, “and they have to be patient.”

Unfortunately, there is no long-term solution yet as bankruptcy proceedings are ongoing. Metro’s attorney is due in court regarding the city’s contract with Red River on March 8.

WM also provides emergency support to the city’s multi-family waste services. According to their press release, they are temporarily emptying more than 700 dumpsters in the city.

STephanie and Troy Lubinski met when they were teenagers and they were married for three decades. Troy was big-hearted, kind, the best fisherman around, a devoted father who took care of the children during the day after long night shifts as a firefighter.

But he had back pain that started when he worked in construction and got worse over the years. His doctor prescribed him OxyContin, and that was the beginning of the end.

“Everything went downhill,” Stephanie said.

Troy endured a decades-long battle with opioid use disorder. The family lost everything – their home, possessions, even a son’s football championship rings – as Troy’s condition spiraled out of control.

Stephanie is one of more than 138,000 plaintiffs alleging the Sackler family and their company, Purdue Pharma, the maker of OxyContin, contributed to the ongoing opioid epidemic. The Sacklers deny wrongdoing.

Facing around 3,000 lawsuits, Purdue filed for bankruptcy in 2019, but not before members of the Sackler family took more than $10 billion from the company over a decade.

This case, brought by states and opioid victims, is currently being settled in bankruptcy court.

But this is proving difficult to resolve. A previous agreement had been blocked in December. After intense negotiations, the Sackler family is now offering $6 billion in settlement talks, paid over several years.

However, the family are insisting on civil liability protection, which would essentially mean they could never be sued in civil court for opioids again – an unusual step that caused the latest deal to fall through.

Such measures are typically used in bankruptcy courts to help restructure a business, but they are not used to protect owners from liability when they do not declare bankruptcy themselves, as in this case.

“That’s clearly the sticking point,” said Regina LaBelle, former acting director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy and current director of the Addiction and Public Policy Initiative at the O’Neill Institute of Medicine. Georgetown University, “to be able to sue the Sacklers personally in the future.

While most parties have agreed to these terms, some still hold. A federal bankruptcy judge, Shelley Chapman, who is negotiating the settlement, has asked for an extension until the end of the month. A stay on other claims during settlement negotiations is due to expire in early March.

Previously, the Sacklers had offered $4.55 billion, but eight states and the District of Columbia objected to that amount.

The family has now added almost a billion dollars, as well as proceeds from the sale of international pharmaceutical companies.

The extra funds would not go to victims, like Stephanie Lubinski, but to governments for law enforcement and health care costs associated with opioids. Victims are expected to receive a total of $750 million, or about $5,000 each.

More than 500,000 Americans have died from drug overdoses in the past two decades.

“None of these people who have lost their lives or been affected by addiction, no amount of money will compensate them. No amount of money,” LaBelle said.

“Absolutely not enough – the $750 million is a joke,” said Ryan Hampton, the former co-chairman of the creditors’ committee representing victims in the settlement, who is himself recovering. “It should have been double that, at a minimum.”

But if an agreement is not reached, it seems unlikely that these many victims will be able to form a new settlement before more claims are made. Those whose lives have been devastated by opioids “stand to lose the most in these negotiations if they fall apart,” he said.

“There is going to be a settlement or some kind of civil action that the Sacklers are going to have to bring. The underlying factor here is whether the victims are going to receive some sort of direct compensation from this settlement.

If that settlement dissolves, other states could bring their own claims, wiping out the victims altogether, he said.

“It’s possible for one state to get the whole bag of money back and not share it with the rest of the states and certainly not share it with victims who have claims,” ​​Hampton said.

“There must be a settlement and a conclusion to this bankruptcy which does not exclude the 750 million dollars for the victims. It would be a crime in itself if all this fell apart and the victims received nothing.

The bankruptcy process is “unfortunately not ideal for doing justice to people involved in this particular type of litigation, where you have real people with human stories who have been affected by the actions of this company,” said said LaBelle.

“I can’t believe we’re this far down the road and still trying to get justice for those affected,” she said. But “if we are able to fix this problem and get money for states, local governments and individuals so that we can start building the kind of dependency system that we need in this country, then we can start moving forward.”

In the settlement, Purdue would be restructured into a public benefit corporation that produces naloxone, a drug that reverses opioid overdoses with prices surging for harm reduction groups last year.

“Reducing the harms associated with opioid use disorder certainly has to be part of the calculation,” LaBelle said.

“It’s an ongoing saga that we haven’t come to the end of yet, and we need to start healing people. We need to start moving forward.”

As Troy Lubinski’s opioid use disorder continued over the years, it affected everything. He stopped making mortgage payments, unbeknownst to his wife, and they lost their house. He pawned all the valuables.

When he finally got treatment for drug addiction, Troy told the doctor he was taking 40 pills a day – a revelation that shocked his wife.

“I just fell to the ground, in the fetal position,” Stephanie said. “How did I not know?” How was I not there for him? How did I not know all of this was happening?

But the treatment didn’t stop him from using opioids for a long time, and after that he became paranoid and delusional, Stephanie said. “I felt so bad for him, because that was his reality. And you can’t defend yourself against things that aren’t real.

Troy moved out and Stephanie filed for divorce to protect what little he had left, even though she still calls him her husband. “I always felt like he was going to come back to us,” she said in tears.

Troy backed off, and for a brief moment of hope, it seemed like he had finally changed. But then something stirred inside him once again. Troy committed suicide in September 2020.

Stephanie had already joined the colony by then, but after Troy died, she needed her story told. “I needed to write the letter, you know, instead of just a claim number,” she said.

“I believe the Sackler family should know what their greed has caused. They should know the name, Troy Lubinksi, and the many, many others who lost their lives to OxyContin,” she wrote in a letter to the judge presiding over the settlement.

But she did not join the colony to commemorate Troy. She doesn’t do it for herself either.

In 2017, Stephanie was diagnosed with a rare stage 4 cancer. She had three to five years to live.

She pressured the Sacklers for restitution because she wanted to leave something for their children, who were now young adults.

“I filed for them,” Stephanie said. “My kids deserve it after all they’ve been through, all they’ve lost.

“I knew I wasn’t going to be there to see anything. But I wanted them to have something.

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Ethics

Lawyers in 2 states sanctioned for association with national bankrupt law firm

By Debra Cassens-Weiss

February 14, 2022, 1:59 p.m. CST

Lawyers in Iowa and Virginia have been disciplined for associating with a national bankruptcy law firm accused of using high-pressure tactics to recruit clients.

Dubuque, Iowa, attorney Christopher Soppe was reprimanded by the Iowa Supreme Court in a November 2021 order for his work with the bankruptcy firm. The reprimand included a July 2021 letter of reprimand sent to Soppe by the Iowa Supreme Court Prosecutors’ Disciplinary Board.

The reprimanding letter warned bankruptcy attorneys of their ethical responsibilities when working with the Chicago-based firm, which does business as UpRight Law and Law Solutions. The Iowa Capital Dispatch published an article about the reprimand last week.

In Virginia, attorney John Carter Morgan Jr. of Warrenton, Virginia, was suspended from practicing law for a year because of his work for an UpRight Law client. The Fauquier Times covered the January 2022 stay order by a three-judge Fauquier County Circuit Court panel in an article last week.

UpRight Law uses non-attorneys to screen callers, determine which type of bankruptcy is right for them, send fee agreements and accept fees, according to the Iowa Supreme Court Attorneys’ Disciplinary Board. New clients are then assigned to partner attorneys in the states where the clients reside.

UpRight Law operates in nearly every state and the District of Columbia. The Iowa Supreme Court Prosecutors’ Disciplinary Board first heard of UpRight Law when a complainant said she called the insolvency firm in March 2019. She was told that the law firm Lawyers needed her credit card for her records, but learned days later that she had been charged $500 without authorization, she alleged.

She filed for a refund on March 4, 2019, but was told UpRight Law couldn’t process it until mid-May. She didn’t actually receive a refund until July 12, 2019, a 92-day wait, the Disciplinary Board said.

The Iowa Attorney General investigated and discovered that several Iowa residents had requested reimbursements from UpRight Law and had not received them promptly. A client of UpRight Law said that when she threatened to call the Better Business Bureau, UpRight Law replied that she “doesn’t scam anyone” and that she doesn’t “specialize in refunds”. We file bankruptcies.

The investigation revealed that only one attorney in Iowa had registered an IOLTA account in connection with UpRight Law. Sopp was not that lawyer. UpRight Law’s client funds were managed and managed by accountants and attorneys in Chicago, and Soppe did not have access to or oversight of that account, according to the July 2021 letter of reprimand.

Soppe declined contact when contacted by the Iowa Capital Dispatch.

In Virginia, Morgan’s suspension stemmed from a penalty issued by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Virginia in February 2018. Morgan was fined $5,000 by the court and suspended from practice before the court for 18 months. UpRight Law and its executives were fined $250,000 and the law firm suspended from practicing in court for five years, according to bankruptcy court notice, Bloomberg Law article and press release of the US Department of Justice.

The bankruptcy court focused in part on an UpRight Law program in which customers could pay their legal fees by turning in their cluttered cars to an Indiana towing company. The company claimed the right to keep the lien holder’s cars until towing, hauling and storage costs were paid. If the towing company sold the vehicle at auction, despite a security from the auto lender, it used the money to pay bankruptcy costs.

Morgan had responsibility for filing a case in which his client was placed in the auto program, the bankruptcy court heard.

“Local attorneys joining multijurisdictional law firms as local partners or limited partners cannot be both large and small,” the bankruptcy court said. “A lawyer cannot claim to be a partner in the firm and file cases in court as lead counsel, but does not claim responsibility for what happens at the main office on any filings the lawyer decides to take on. “

The court also faulted Morgan for allowing his wife, his non-lawyer assistant, to meet with the client and review the bankruptcy petition and timelines. The documents filed in the plaintiff client’s case “were filled with errors”, the court said.

Morgan told the Fauquier Times that he has not been a “limited partner” of UpRight Law since 2016. He said he has advised hundreds of people referred by UpRight Law and filed 63 bankruptcy filings as a result.

UpRight Law’s vice president of legal delivery, Ryan Galloway, did not immediately respond to emailed questions from the ABA Journal.

On January 18, 2021, the Washington Court of Appeals in Copper Creek (Marysville) Owners Ass’n c. Kurtz reaffirmed an important rule related to foreclosures and the statute of limitations after a bankruptcy discharge. The rule is that a bankruptcy discharge, by itself, does not automatically trigger the six-year statute of limitations for a trust foreclosure. copper stream is significant because Washington state and federal courts have not applied this rule consistently since 2016, when the Court of Appeals reached the same conclusion in Edmundson v. Bank of America. In a victory for secured creditors, the copper stream court sorted through the conflicting opinions as to why the federal courts’ interpretation of Edmundson is wrong”.

Lateral bar: A typical home loan consists of (1) a promissory note in which the debtor promises to repay the debt, and (2) a trust deed in which the debtor grants the lender a security interest in the debtor’s property. There are two types of promissory notes, a demand note and an installment note. A remittance note is generally payable monthly and matures at a later date. A sight note is due upon execution. copper stream addressed installment notes and is the focal point here.

Promissory notes and trust deeds are subject to Washington’s six-year statute of limitations. Remittance notes have two separate six-year statutes of limitations. The first applies to each payment and begins on the day it becomes due; the second applies to the entire debt and begins on the maturity date of the note.

When a borrower misses a payment or goes bankrupt, most loan documents give the lender the option of declaring a default and expediting the loan. Acceleration makes the entire debt immediately due and triggers the statute of limitations for all remaining payments, but the lender must take positive action that clearly notifies the borrower that the debt has been accelerated.

copper stream Facts

In copper stream, Stephanie and Shawn Kurtz purchased a home with a rating secured by a deed of trust (“DOT”) in 2007. The property was subject to annual appraisals mandated by the Copper Creek Homeowners Association (the “HOA”). The Kurtzes separated and left the property in 2008, and stopped paying the bill around 2009 and HOA dues in 2010. Stephanie filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in 2010, and Shawn filed for bankruptcy in 2011. In their respective bankruptcies, the Kurtzes included the note and DOT in their debt schedules, did not claim the house as exempt property, and declared their intention to dispose of the property.

Stephanie received her discharge from bankruptcy in June 2010; Shawn received his in July 2011. As a result, their personal liability for the note debt was extinguished without payment to the lender. Importantly, the lender did not declare default or accelerate the debt on the note despite the bankruptcy filings.

Lateral bar: When a debtor receives a bankruptcy discharge, they are released from personal liability for pre-bankruptcy debts, such as a promissory note. However, the privilege of the deed of trust remains attached to the property of the debtor. The general rule (with exceptions not discussed here) is that an act of right by the holder of the trust to seize the collateral survives the bankruptcy.

In 2018, the HOA commenced a legal foreclosure action against the property for unpaid appraisals. In 2019, the lender (Selene/Wilmington, “SW”) initiated its own foreclosure and served the HOA with a notice of sale from the trustee. The HOA responded by filing a silent title suit against SW. In the low-key title case, the trial court granted summary judgment for the HOA because the Kurtz’s bankruptcy release occurred more than six years before SW began its foreclosure. Citing Edmundson— which had nearly identical bankruptcy and foreclosure discharge timelines — the trial court ruled that the statute of limitations for DOT automatically begins on the date of the last payment due before the Kurtzes were released from bankruptcy. SW appealed.

The importance of debt acceleration, or lack thereof

The Court of Appeal ruled in favor of SW and attributed the trial court’s error to certain opinions of the Federal Court which misinterpreted the Edmundson decision. SW has not declared default or accelerated debt. Therefore, DOT remained enforceable for any installment payments whose statute of limitations had not expired. For example, if the Kurtzes stopped paying the bill from the payment due on January 1, 2009, that payment became uncollectible under DOT on January 2, 2015. Each month, SW’s DOT lien will decrease by the amount of the monthly payment. which becomes uncollectible when its limitation period expires.

Why copper stream Questions

State and federal courts have apparently contradicted each other when interpreting the statute of limitations on foreclosures since Edmundson. The Court of Appeal recognized this conflict and set the record straight copper streamexplaining that Federal Court cases have misinterpreted Edmundson as holding that a bankruptcy discharge automatically accelerates the statute of limitations of the trust deed. copper stream distinct Jarvis c. Fed. Nat’l Mortg. Ass’nand Hernández c. Franklin Credit Mgmt. Corp.and have expressly disavowed their holdings and any cases following them. copper stream pointed out that both cases were based solely on Edmundson (also from the Court of Appeal) as the basis for their “erroneous” holdings.

Trust deed lenders involved with a bankrupt borrower will welcome copper stream as confirmation that their lien remains enforceable until the debt is due or accelerated. It is unclear whether the HOA will appeal to the Washington Supreme Court. It’s also unclear how federal courts will consider copper streamgiven that Jarvis remains good law and was upheld by the Ninth Circuit in 2018 in an unpublished opinion.

[View source.]

The Cushman Watt Scout Center, headquarters of the Boy Scouts of America for the Los Angeles Area Council, is pictured in Los Angeles, California October 18, 2012. The Boy Scouts of America, acting by court order, released thousands of files which detail allegations and admissions of child sexual abuse within the organization between 1965 and 1985. REUTERS/Fred Prouser (UNITED STATES – Tags: CRIME LAW)

(Reuters) – The U.S. Justice Department’s bankruptcy watchdog on Monday objected to the Boy Scouts of America’s proposed reorganization plan and underlying $2.7 billion sexual abuse settlement, claiming that it offers impermissible legal protections to insurers and local councils of the bankrupt youth organization, among others.

The U.S. trustee said in a court filing that nondebtor releases provided to insurers and others, who have not filed for Chapter 11, in exchange for settlement contributions are not permitted under bankruptcy law.

“The plan lacks even a superficial discussion of why the nondebtor releases are necessary,” the U.S. trustee said in Monday’s filing, while noting that the releases were so broadly drafted that it doesn’t It was unclear who was covered by them.

BSA filed for bankruptcy in February 2020 to resolve allegations by former Scouts spanning decades that they were abused by troop leaders as children. Since then, more than 82,000 abuse claims have been filed in bankruptcy.

The plan aims to resolve all of these claims through the $2.7 billion settlement, which will be funded by insurers, local councils (which are independent legal entities) and the BSA itself, among others. Insurers, local councils, committees that represent survivors of abuse, current and former BSA officers and employees, and organizations that have chartered Scouting units and activities will be among those covered by non-debit releases. . Anyone who has personally committed or been accused of committing abuse is not protected.

The U.S. administrator also opposed these types of releases in the Chapter 11 case of OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma LP. In December, a federal judge overturned a bankruptcy court’s approval of those releases for members of the Sackler family who own Purdue. Purdue appealed that decision, but it, the Sacklers and several states also initiated mediation to reach an amended settlement of the opioid litigation.

BSA won the support of 73.57% of abuse survivors who voted on the plan, but this figure is lower than the 75% sought. Under the plan, survivors would receive compensation based on the severity of the abuse they suffered, among other factors.

The official committee representing victims of bankruptcy abuse, which has long opposed the deal, has yet to file documents outlining its views on the plan. He has previously argued that the payouts the plan offers to survivors who have filed claims are too low. However, a BSA lawyer said last week that “significant progress” had been made in providing more support to survivors.

BSA representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The case is In re Boy Scouts of America, US Bankruptcy Court, District of Delaware, No. 20-10343.

For the Boy Scouts: Jessica Lauria, Mike Andolina, Matt Linder and Laura Baccash of White & Case; and Derek Abbott and Andrew Remming of Morris, Nichols, Arsht & Tunnell

For the US Administrator: David Buchbinder and Hannah McCollum

Read more:

Boy Scouts lawyer touts ‘significant progress’ toward sexual abuse settlement

Our standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

A lawyer who used disbursements owed to third parties to support his own struggling business has been struck off the docket.

David Johnson, admitted in 2002 and sole director of Bolton Johnson Law Ltd, admitted receiving payments for settled personal injury cases but failed to pay monies due for work on the claims. This continued for almost seven years until the company closed in January 2018 and went into administration.

Johnson was filed for bankruptcy later that year, and the directors later reported concerns to the SRA that the company had failed to pay a significant amount in disbursements to third parties.

The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal heard the potential sum due to third-party creditors could be more than £790,000. ATE insurers, medical information agencies and chambers of lawyers are among those who have not been paid the disbursements owed to them.

There was no evidence available prior to the date of administration that the SRA had been advised by the company of any financial difficulty it had had in paying the disbursements. There was also an absence of accurate accounting records for the six months before the business closed, meaning Johnson could not show where the money had been used.

Johnson reached a settlement with the SRA in which he admitted failing to pay disbursements and failing to repay a loan following an engagement. He also admitted that his conduct had been dishonest.

In an unagreed mitigation, the lawyer said he had tried to settle the sums owed to creditors, but that these had failed. He maintained that he never intended to permanently deprive creditors of payments of amounts owed.

He admitted that the mitigation did not fit the exceptional circumstances that would prevent him from being disbarred, but he asked the court to take into account his unblemished past and his cooperation with the SRA.

The court said the money earmarked for third parties was used to support the company’s cash flow, adding that Johnson “knew that the non-payment of creditors and the use of the money allocated to those creditors for otherwise support the operation of the business were dishonest”. He was struck off and ordered to pay £7,500 in costs.

Fort Walton, Florida. – As the New Year is in full swing, many people are starting to work on their New Year’s resolutions and goals. While some people aim to lose weight or lose a certain number of pounds over the course of the year, others are at a point in their lives where their goal is to buy a home by the end of the year. of 2022. It can be an exciting, yet daunting task. , especially if the person has filed for bankruptcy in the past. Some may even ask if it is possible for someone who has filed for bankruptcy to now buy a house; the answer is yes, but there are several factors to consider when considering doing so. Bankruptcy attorneys Lewis and Jurnovoy are here to lay out those factors.

The first factor to consider is the different bankruptcy periods, as they can prevent a person from buying a house immediately. Another aspect of the process is determining whether the person is going to pay cash or apply for a mortgage. For those paying in cash, it makes no difference if they have already filed for bankruptcy. However, the most common way to buy a home – through a mortgage – is not always feasible for those who have filed for bankruptcy, but it often is. According to Forbes Advisor: “Depending on the type of mortgage you qualify for, your lender, the type of bankruptcy you filed, and the cause of your bankruptcy, you may have to wait one to four years after filing for bankruptcy. You will also have to wait until your credit score has recovered enough to qualify for a mortgage.

Ultimately, the most important thing is for people to be well informed when making such an important decision, as there are multiple facets to consider throughout the process.

For those currently seeking debt help, Lewis and Jurnovoy offer free appointments where they will assess the individual’s financial situation. They work hard to find the optimal solutions for each of their clients. For more information about bankruptcy assistance in or around Fort Walton, call Lewis and Jurnovoy at (850) 863-9110 or visit them online at www.LewisandJurnovoy.com.

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For more information about Lewis & Jurnovoy, PA-FWB, contact the company here:

Lewis & Jurnovoy, PA – FWB
Steven D. Jurnovoy and Martin S. Lewis
(850) 863-9110
[email protected]
151 South Mary Esther Cut Off NW Ste 103, Mary Esther, FL 32569

Joshua Bruno, who operates five low-income apartment complexes in New Orleans where tenants are complaining of dire conditions, filed for bankruptcy Thursday on all the properties, just as an Orleans parish judge was on the case. point of ordering a “custodian” to manage them pending foreclosure.

The filings of five LLCs controlled by Bruno, president of Metro-Wide Apartments, are stopping these proceedings. Instead, Bruno will have time to come up with a reorganization plan for the resorts that tenants say deteriorated under his watch, before and after Hurricane Ida.

What the deposits mean for the remaining tenants, many of whom receive federal rent subsidies, is unclear. Advocates for tenants have lobbied in recent months to find new homes for them, saying Bruno was reluctant to fix and left them stranded.

The properties are two large apartment complexes in Algiers, Oakmont Apartments and Cypress Park Apartments, as well as Forest Park Apartments, Liberty Park Apartments and Washington Place Apartments on the east bank. Together they comprise more than 450 units, many of which house government-subsidized tenants.

Bruno said bankruptcies provide “the best opportunity for properties to be rehabilitated in a timely manner.”

He blamed the stalled repairs on the fight against the foreclosure, which pitted him against the Federal National Mortgage Association, or Fannie Mae, and local advocates for low-income tenants.

Bruno claimed his businesses had lost millions due to the downturn in the pandemic. He also said that Fannie Mae tricked him into not paying for the tickets and that she reneged on the promised abstention. Fannie Mae rejected this claim.

“By ending the costly and time-consuming litigation with Fannie Mae, we are empowered to focus again on serving our tenants and the community,” Bruno said via email. “The deposits also give us the opportunity to restructure our debt and recover from the financial challenges of the past two years.”

He said Chapter 11 filings will “ultimately benefit tenants as we hope repairs to properties can begin quickly.”

Hannah Adams, a staff attorney with Southeast Louisiana Legal Services, said the landlord “does not speak on behalf of the tenants of his properties. The tenants have spoken, and they don’t believe that Mr. Bruno keeping control is in their best interest.

But Adams said the bankruptcies, which she described as inevitable given the breakup, will mean that at least for now Bruno will remain in control. Instead of timely repairs, Adams said defenders moved in to help residents leave.

By far the largest unsecured creditor of the five properties is the New Orleans Sewerage & Water Board, which claims to owe approximately $1.8 million from the five properties. Bruno disputes that bill, saying the council charged him $1.2 million in incidental trash fees. The bulk of the bill, over $1 million, comes from Oakmont.

The Sewerage and Water Board is “aware of the situation at Oakmont Apartments and will not disrupt tenant services until there is a clear path from bankruptcy proceedings,” spokeswoman Grace said. Birch.

Oakmont on Gen. De Gaulle Drive, the largest of Bruno’s complexes, is now largely vacant. Plywood covers some windows; a handful of cars dot the lots. Residents still there complain of rats, sewer backups, water leaks and endemic mold in the 40-year-old complex, which has more than 300 units.

Tenant advocates estimate around a third of those flats are vacant, although residents say squatters have occupied some. Bruno declined to comment on the occupation.

“I have never seen anything so deplorable in all my years of life,” said Nina Desvignes, a federal Social Security retiree.

There remains a hole in her window from which “a bullet whistled past me and my grandchild” on November 18, she said. Its ceiling is collapsing, damaged by Hurricane Ida, when it “rained from all the fixtures. It rained through the walls.

Desvignes said people had come to inspect the damage, leaving blue spray paint behind and vowing to return with patches.

“The mold is unbearable. It’s in a closet. You can smell midges, insects and bugs. I can barely breathe,” she said. “I would like to move, but I can’t afford it. I am at an impasse.

Bruno will have up to 18 months to work out a reorganization plan that could see him keep the properties, depending on negotiations with Fannie Mae and other bankrupt creditors, said Adam Stein-Sapir of Pioneer Funding Group, an investment fund. investment that redeems bankrupt debts. case.

Bruno could hope for an increase in occupancy and reach an agreement in bankruptcy court to restore his loans. It could also seek outside investors or sell the properties through the bankruptcy process, Stein-Sapir said.

“He’s taking this step because he sees value in it,” Stein-Sapir said. “Otherwise he would have just handed over the keys to Fannie Mae and wiped his hands clean and forfeited his capital.”

Fannie Mae offered last spring to seize Bruno’s properties and asked Orleans Parish Civil District Judge Nicole Sheppard to appoint an outside “custodian” to manage them. Bruno asked for an injunction.

Negotiations fell apart once Hurricane Ida hit, and tenants and advocates from the New Orleans Tenants’ Rights Assembly joined the legal fight.

Last month, Sheppard set January 3 as the deadline for Bruno and Fannie Mae to reach a deal before she goes ahead. Bruno also had to send a perforated list of essential repairs sought by tenants.

The judge’s deadline has passed with few repairs and no deal. Instead, Bruno and housing advocates filed duel motions for contempt of court.

This was during a Thursday hearing on Bruno’s contempt motion, alleging Fannie Mae refused to release insurance money for repairs, when he filed for bankruptcy. This took Sheppard out of the equation.

Copyright © 2022 Albuquerque Journal

As the Archdiocese of Santa Fe’s bankruptcy reorganization enters its fourth year without resolution, pressure mounts for church insurance companies to pay a larger share of the payout to nearly 400 survivors of child sexual abuse.

The archdiocese and plaintiffs alleging abuse by priests and other clergy reached a tentative agreement last year on what the archdiocese would pay, but contributions from insurance companies remain an issue.

Now, plaintiffs’ attorneys are preparing to ask U.S. Bankruptcy Judge David Thuma to allow the state’s lawsuits or claims to be stayed by filing for bankruptcy – a move that could eventually allow juries to assess damages to individual survivors after public trials and proving much more costly for insurance companies.

The archdiocese itself plans to file a lawsuit as early as Monday asking a judge to settle undisclosed issues regarding the relationship “between the archdiocese and its insurers,” an archdiocese lawyer said Friday during of a hearing in Albuquerque.

A recent three-day mediation involving the insurance companies, the archdiocese and the claimants, led by a nationally recognized mediator, was positive and is expected to continue, said archdiocese attorney Thomas Walker, making reference to mediator Paul Van Osselaer from Texas.

“I’m hopeful and I know everyone is sick of hearing that word as time goes by,” Walker said. “But I’m encouraged.”

Jim Stang, a California attorney who represents survivors, countered at Friday’s hearing that while progress has been made, “we are a long way from resolving this case in terms of the dollars involved.”

He noted that in the recent USA Gymnastics bankruptcy settlement involving sexual abuse claims against a former team doctor, survivors will receive an average of $800,000 each. In recent days, the University of Michigan announced a $490 million settlement of sexual abuse claims involving a former school doctor in which survivors will receive an average of more than $400,000 each, Stang added.

“We look to settlements across the country to find out what would be the fair value of what these (archdiocesan) abuse claims would total,” Stang said. “If they don’t pay attention to the current trends in the country, they are making a big mistake.”

There has been no disclosure of what the archdiocese is willing to contribute or what insurance companies are offering.

And Rob Charles, a Tucson attorney representing parishes in the archdiocese, said quoting such multimillion-dollar payments might not be appropriate for parishes in New Mexico that have committed “probably more than they can handle.” for the Archdiocese’s financial settlement.

The archdiocese has had numerous insurance companies since claims of sexual abuse by priests and other clergy surfaced decades ago and so far it has paid $52 million , including insurance proceeds and his own money, to settle about 300 cases out of court, according to The Associated Press. . This would average about $175,000 per victim.

The archdiocese filed for bankruptcy in 2018 in part to avoid having to face individual lawsuits alleging clergy sex abuse.

A question on Friday was whether the archdiocese’s next legal action over the insurance issues would be sealed.

Previous court documents, orders and hearings were sealed at the request of the archdiocese to ensure that its contracts with insurance companies, which included confidentiality clauses, were not breached.

Thuma, without immediately commenting on the matter, said on Friday: “My bias is not to seal things off, especially in a case like this where there is a public interest and the public has a right to know. ..”

Merit Bennett, a Santa Fe attorney, told the judge: ‘The words ‘under seal’ in this type of case concern me because I filed my first lawsuit (for child sexual abuse) against the archdiocese. in 1994 and since then the words ‘under seal’ seem to perpetuate the fact that all abuse was under seal for many, many generations.

If the insurance record is sealed, Bennett said, “The public is basically going to say, ‘Well, it’s more or less the same thing.

Stang added, “These insurance policies, one might say, are the most important assets in this area (of the Archdiocese) and doing it behind closed doors is not appropriate.”