Here’s the latest from BAPCPA Man as he continues to find new ways to help average people deal with their financial struggles.  (Re-posted by Haines & Krieger with express permission from the creators of BAPCPA Man.)

You may not be the type of person who saves every receipt in a shoe box. 

That’s okay. 

If you decide that a bankruptcy filing is right for you, chances are good that you’ll be able to quickly gather all of the information we’ll need for your filing.  Here are the documents we’ll need:

• A credit counseling certificate.  This proves that you took the mandatory credit counseling course before filing for bankruptcy.  We’ll let you know how you can take the course on the Internet, or even over the phone. 
• Bank statements from the last six months. 
• Pay stubs and any other documents establishing your income from the last six months.  We’ll need those to determine whether you qualify to file bankruptcy under Chapter 7.
• A copy of your tax returns from the last four years.
• A list of your debts, including the names and addresses of your creditors. 
• A list of your assets.
• If your business is filing for bankruptcy, we’ll need profit and loss statements from the last six months.  If you are filing for bankruptcy as an individual, we’ll need a description of your monthly household budget.

Our job is to make your life less complicated, not more.  If you have questions about how to obtain or prepare anything on this list, we’ll walk you through it.  Call us at 1-800-LAWYERS to schedule a free initial consultation with one of our bankruptcy experts. 

PARTYYYY!

According to the L.A. Times, that’s just what one top loan officer at Wells Fargo decided to do after reposessing a home that belonged to owners who had lost their savings to Bernie Madoff.  And this wasn’t just any home.  This was a $12 million beach house in southern California. 

Apparently, the Wells Fargo executive was refusing to show the house to potential buyers.  No wonder, considering that the executive was living it up by escorting her nearest and dearest via yacht to party at the repossessed home.  Finally, suspicious neighbors and a real estate agent who couldn’t understand why she wasn’t able to show the home to prospective buyers complained, leading Wells Fargo to investigate. 

Wells Fargo plans to list the property for sale in the near future.  And in case you’re wondering - yes, the executive was fired, and is probably not doing much partying these days.

At present, student loans are nearly impossible to discharge under the bankruptcy code, even if you get yourself the best Las Vegas bankruptcy lawyer you can find. 

The only way to meet the standard of "undue hardship" is to prove that you are physically unable to work, or your chances of obtaining any type of gainful employment in the future are non-existent.  (That said, there are still ways of using the bankruptcy process to help you deal with student loans, as described in one of our previous posts.)

Fortunately for many American, all of that may soon change.

According to an article in Inside Higher Ed, Congress has been making noises about putting lenders of private student loans on the same footing as all other lenders.  That means that in the near future, you may finally have the option of discharging your student loans in a bankruptcy filing.

Recently, the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law held a hearing on the subject of student loans.  In it, Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.), the committee chair, said the current law gave private student loan lenders a “favorable, unusual” advantage over other consumer lenders.  As a result, Cohen is initiating legilsation to undo a 2005 change in the federal bankruptcy law, saying, "Hopefully it’ll be bipartisan and if not, you know, we’ll just have to forge ahead and do what’s right.”

This is potentially great news for everyone facing financial hardship who also has to worry about student loans.  According to House testimony by attorney Brett Weiss, a consumer bankruptcy lawyer, it’s unfair that mortgages and other large loans can be dealt with in bankruptcy while student loans cannot.

If you’re considering bankruptcy and student loans is one of your concerns, please get in touch with us for all the bankruptcy information in Las Vegas that you’ll need to start dealing with your problems.  Get in touch with us for a free initial consultation and you can talk with an experienced bankruptcy attorney in Las Vegas and get a clear picture of all of your options.

For more information on student loans and bankruptcy, here’s one of our previous posts on the topic.

http://www.examiner.com/x-12824-Dade-County-Education-Policy-Examiner~y2009m9d18-Student-loan-system-overhaul-is-an-improvement-but-still-ignores-a-bigger-problem

Studetn loan system overhaul is an improvement, but still ignores a bigger problem

No, not Lenny Dykstra or Stephen Baldwin.

It turns out that one of the suspects in the recent FBI raid on an alleged terrorist plot actually filed for bankruptcy in the Eastern District of New York earlier this year.

According to a Bloomberg article, Najibullah Zazi, 24, an airport shuttle driver,  filed for bankruptcy March 26 in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Eastern District of New York in Brooklyn.  Based on the documents filed in the case, Zazi listed himself as a resident of Flushing, as unmarried, and having $2,400 in assets and $51,491 in liabilities. He indicated his income as $800/month from his work as a food cart vendor and monthly expenses of $1,109.

The Bloomberg reporter also talked with Zazi’s bankruptcy lawyer who described his limited interaction with Zazi.  “This guy walked into our offices and we did an initial, five to ten minute-long intake." Also that Zazi “subsequently provided documentation about himself. There was nothing extraordinary about our brief meeting with this guy.”

While I don’t normally look to the world of terrorism suspects for bankruptcy insights, it seems there are two potential takeaways from this.

1.  If you have a good bankruptcy attorney in Las Vegas or elsewhere, the bankruptcy process is often relatively straightforward and non-eventful.  Granted, there are complexities involved and everyone’s situation is different.  But if you sit down with your lawyer and do a good job preparing, then the case should go smoothly.

2.  You do need to be aware that a bankruptcy filing is part of the public record.  However, it’s also worth noting that barring a front page news story about you, bankruptcy is typically a discreet process.  Your employer, your neighbors, your friends, etc. don’t need to know that you filed for bankruptcy, and it’s very unlikely they would ever find out unless you told them.

If you’re looking for good bankruptcy attorneys in Las Vegas, get in touch with us for a free initial consultation.  With the right bankruptcy information in Las Vegas, bankruptcy becomes something that protects you rather than something to run away from.

And most importantly, using the bankruptcy process to help you get back on your feet does not make you a criminal.  It’s a necessary safety net in our society that is used by people from all backgrounds on a regular basis.
 

Here’s the latest from BAPCPA Man as he continues his battle against Mortgantua, a powerful symbol of the mortgage industry and foreclosure crisis.  (Re-posted by Haines & Krieger with express permission from the creators of BAPCPA Man.)

Click here to see a larger version of the cartoon image.

Here are previous Haines & Krieger posts on the topics of foreclosure and loan modification.

As the bankruptcy laws and the issues surrounding foreclosure and mortgage modification have become more complex, it’s more important than ever to have an experienced Las Vegas bankruptcy attorney on your side to help guide you through the foreclosure crisis.

We want to help stop foreclosure Las Vegas.  Please get in touch with us for a free initial foreclosure consultation so we can apply our skills for your benefit.

We, the Las Vegas bankruptcy lawyers at Haines & Krieger, are pleased to help spread the word that the Legal Aid Center of Southern Nevada (LACSN) will be offering free classes on the foreclosure mediation and loan modification process at UNLV.

Here’s an article about the classes from LasVegasNow.com, the Channel 8 Eyewitness News website.  And below is info about the class schedule:

The LACSN also has a nice step-by-step, visual explanation of the foreclosure process in PDF format.

If you can’t make the class, or you just want a private setting for discussing your situation, please feel free to contact us for a free foreclosure mediation consultation.  Whether you’re dealing with foreclosure or thinking about filing for bankruptcy in Las Vegas, we’ll be able to provide you with the necessary Las Vegas bankruptcy information and make sure you understand all of your options.

For more information on Nevada’s foreclosure mediation program, you can read the following previous posts on our blog.

• Foreclosure mediation: Nevada gives homeowners a new option
  
• What’s so great about foreclosure mediation?
  
• Nevada Foreclosure Mediation Program Has Received Over 450 Requests for Mediation So Far
• Another reason why Nevada’s mandatory foreclosure mediation law is necessary
• Will Nevada’s foreclosure mediation program succeed?

Just two weeks ago, we posted an entry in which we applauded a Brooklyn judge for tossing out foreclosure requests where the banks had made mistakes in the foreclosure proceedings or in their foreclosure applications. 

It seems like the trend of sticking it to the banks is continuing.  We couldn’t be happier.

Case in point:  The New York Times recently ran an article describing how a Phoenix bankruptcy judge ordered a high-ranking Wells Fargo executive to testify under oath in the bankruptcy case of a homeowner.  

The homeowner, Bobbi Giguere, had submitted an application for a loan modification, but heard nothing from Wells Fargo for months, despite her repeated phone calls to the bank.  She submitted three applications in total.  Still, she never received an answer as to whether she was approved or denied the loan modification.  Finally, in order to save her three-bedroom home, Mrs. Giguere filed for bankruptcy.

Ordered by the bankruptcy judge to give answers as to why Mrs. Giguere never received a response to her loan modification requests, Wells Fargo sent senior vice president Joseph Ohayon to testify.  Mr. Ohayon explained that Mrs. Giguere had repeatedly failed to provide a financial worksheet in her application.  From her files, Mrs. Giguere produced a letter from Wells Fargo describing the paperwork that she needed to file for a loan modification.  After reading the letter in the witness chair, Mr. Ohayon admitted that Mrs. Giguere was right.  The letter did not ask for a financial worksheet.

The judge continued to press Mr. Ohayon on why Mrs. Giguere, or, for that matter, thousands of other loan modification applicants, was never told that their loan modifications were denied.  Mr. Ohayon responded:  "Customer communication is something we’re taking a serious look at, your honor."

We sure hope that’s true.  At least Wells Fargo agreed to schedule a three-day seminar in Phoenix, where customers who submitted loan modification applications were able to meet with bank representatives to learn whether their applications were approved or denied.  Mortgage servicers may have a long, long way to go, but this is a start. 

Say you own a business.  You might put your life into that business.  You might work all hours of the night, you might invest your own savings into it, and your kids might be your employees.  You probably feel like you are the business and the business is you.

For your sake, we hope that you and the business are not the same.  In fact, we hope that you are very distinct entities.  If not, many problems may arise if you decide to file for personal bankruptcy.

If you do not incorporate your business, your personal and business debts are considered one and the same.  They cannot be separated when you file for bankruptcy protection.  This means that you’ll have to list all of your business assets in your personal bankruptcy paperwork.  Which means that those assets will become part of the bankruptcy estate, and may be sold by the bankruptcy trustee to pay your personal creditors.  Your personal bankruptcy may mean the end of your business.

How to prevent this?  Incorporate your business.  It’s quite simple.  You’ll need to file papers with the Nevada Secretary of State to create a separate legal entity for your business.  You may have many shareholders, or you may be the only shareholder.  You may have various corporate officers, or you may be the only corporate officer.  Once incorporated, your business will own property in its own name, and owe debts in its own name.  Your personal bankruptcy filing will not have to signal the end of your business. 

Do you live in Nevada and want more information on how to protect your business?  Call our offices at 1-800-LAWYERS.  You’ll be able to schedule a free initial consultation with our expert bankruptcy lawyers.  We’ll help make sure your business stays alive while you get most — or even all – of your personal debts discharged through bankruptcy.