BAPCPA Man takes on scary creditors in BAPCPA Man #13:  Halloween and Bankruptcy.

(Note:  BAPCPA Man cartoon re-posted by Haines & Krieger with expression permission from the creators of BAPCPA Man.)

Click here to see larger version of BAPCPA Man #13:  Halloween & Bankruptcy

Liddy does a nice job of laying out a lot of the issues surrounding loan modification in a concise way, and for that reason it’s recommended reading.  And it’s encouraging to hear someone who works with the mortgage industry call for "leadership" and big picture thinking from the mortgage industry.  Hopefully calls like that will be echoed by others and lead to change over time.

But let’s not forget who we’re talking about.  We’re talking about the mortgage industry, a self-interested, pure profit-motivated, latest-trend following behemoth best personified by the character of Mortgantua in the BAPCPA Man cartoons (see http://bankruptcybill.us).

The mortgage industry is not known for leadership.  The only leading it’s done is to help lead us into the foreclosure crisis and the current recession.

So an "A" in Analysis for Liddy and recognizing that "it’s in everyone’s best interest to accelerate this process."  But an "F" in Realism for his wishful thinking and failure to address the most crucial issue of all:  How to get the mortgage industry to embrace a solution that’s not only good for itself but good for the American people as well. 

They say the Devil is in the details.  We’re still inclined to believe he may work for the mortgage industry. 

Help Stop Foreclosure Las Vegas
If you have questions about foreclosure, about foreclosure mediation or bankruptcy in general and you’re seeking good Las Vegas bankruptcy attorneys, please feel free to contact us for a free initial consultation.

Does the "good faith" requirement for mortgage lenders under the new Nevada Foreclosure Mediation Program have teeth?

If you’ve been following this blog, then you know that under Nevada Foreclosure Mediation Program put into place this year, a Nevada homeowner who received a foreclosure notice on July 1, 2009 or later can apply within 30 days for a foreclosure mediation session.  This means that an authorized representative from the mortgage lender must attend the session.

According to the rules, the mortgage lender’s representative must act in good faith.  That is, they can’t just show up and go through the motions.  The consequences for not acting in good faith are "sanctions" which can mean a delay of the foreclosure, or perhaps something stronger.

What those sanctions will be and whether they’ll have enough teeth, however, is not clear yet.

Thanks to a frustrated homeowner named Raul Cardenas, however, we may soon find out.  He went through a foreclosure mediation session with his mortgage lender–Chase Bank–recently.  After getting the sense they were not acting in good faith, he sued Chase.  The court set November 13 as a hearing date to determine sanctions, though the judge also encouraged both sides to get together for another mediation session.

While we do not yet know what the sanctions will be, it is encouraging to see that the courts are placing value on the "good faith" requirement and allowing a hearing on the sanctions to proceed.  That alone may provide the leverage Mr. Cardenas needs to be able to keep his home.

Help Stop Foreclosure Las Vegas
If you’re a Las Vegas homeowner facing foreclosure and you’re seeking good bankruptcy attorneys in Las Vegas who are experienced with foreclosure, loan modifications and new bankruptcy laws Las Vegas, then contact us for a free foreclosure consultation.

We’ll help you figure out all of your options and get the full benefit of the bankruptcy process that was created to protect citizens like you.

Ever wonder what it would be like to play "fantasy football" with your own job?  Here’s Bankruptcy Bill’s continued take on the concept of "fantasy bankruptcy."  (Go here for his earlier take on "fantasy bankruptcy" on this blog.)

(Note:  Bankruptcy Bill cartoon re-posted by Haines & Krieger with expression permission from the creators of Bankruptcy Bill.)

Click here to see a larger version of the image.

On September 28, the Nevada Supreme Court passed new rules regarding Nevada’s Foreclosure Mediation Program.  And the new rules give the program some additional teeth that should be helpful to Las Vegas homeowners.

What happens if you go into a foreclosure mediation session and the mortgage lender’s representative says, "I don’t have authority to make that decision," or "Sorry, that’s not my department"?

Under the new rules, the foreclosure mediator now has the authority to determine that a mortgage lender is acting in "bad faith."  In such case, the court could impose sanctions that stop the foreclosure process or even go further.

The new rules came in response to a request from Nevada State Assembly Speaker Barbara Buckley, according to an article in the Las Vegas Business Press, who clearly understands the seriousness of the foreclosure crisis for Nevada and Las Vegas and has succeeded in giving average people a little leverage in the process.

If you’re a Las Vegas homeowner facing foreclosure, contact Haines & Krieger to have expert Las Vegas bankruptcy attorneys help you figure out your options for saving your home and getting your financial life back together.

Help Stop Foreclosure Las Vegas
Get in touch with us for a free foreclosure consultation.  Get your questions answered, and learn how the Nevada Foreclosure Program can help you.

Since it was first implemented by the Nevada Legislature earlier this year, Nevada’s Foreclosure Mediation Program has become a big deal for Las Vegas and other Nevada homeowners who have received a foreclosure notice.

There have been over 2,200 mediation requests, and according to an article in the Las Vegas Business Press, there have been up to 100 mediation requests per day according to the program’s project manager Verise Campbell.  The article also noted that Clark County reported 6,160 notices of default in December according to the Foreclosure Mediation Program data. And the first week of September was the peak with 1,742 homeowners in the county receiving foreclosure notices.

How successful is Nevada’s Foreclosure Mediation Program so far?  
It’s hard to say right now.  There have been approximately 50 actual mediations since mid-September, though information about the outcomes is not available to the public.  But what is clear is that there is bid demand for loan modifications from Las Vegas homeowners facing foreclosure.

The primary advantage of the program is that a Nevada homeowner who receives a foreclosure notice can request a mandatory foreclosure mediation sessions within 30 days of receiving the foreclosure notice.  That means an in-person meeting with a representative of the mortgage lender, a professional foreclosure mediator, the homeowner and the homeowner’s lawyers.  (And yes, you most likely do want to have a lawyer with you for this process.)

If you’ve received a foreclosure notice and want to talk with a Las Vegas bankruptcy lawyer about the foreclosure mediation process as well as other options, please contact us for a free foreclosure consultation.  We’ll provide you with all of the Las Vegas bankruptcy information you’ll need to make an informed decision.  And we’ll do everything we can to help you start getting your financial life back together.

An ecstatic client recently charged into our office waving some paperwork at us, all the while busting some Beyonce-style moves.  Turns out, the bank had forgotten to get a lien on his car when they made the car loan.  Our bootying client thought that his bankruptcy filing meant that he owned the car, free and clear.

We hate to burst anyone’s bubble, especially when they’ve got a good groove going, but we had to tell our client that wasn’t the case.  When you take out a loan to buy the car, you sign a security agreement, which pledges your car as collateral for the loan.  The bank can file a lien on the car, which notifies the world that it has a secured interest in that car.  That way, other creditors know that if you offer your car as collateral for their loan, they’ll only have second dibs on it. 

If the bank doesn’t record its lien, then future creditors may not have to honor the bank’s rights in  the car, since they don’t know about that right.  But that doesn’t change your obligation to pay the bank.

A bankruptcy filing complicates things a bit, but still doesn’t let you off the hook.  In a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, the bankruptcy trustee wold be treated as though he is a buyer of the car without any notice of the lien.  Therefore, he may be able to sell the car and distribute the proceeds to all of your creditors, and the bank would have no lien on those proceeds.  So the bank might get shafted, but you still lose the car.

A Chapter 13 bankruptcy filing might be the place for you.  The unperfected lien will mean that you’ll get to keep your car.  You still will be obligated to pay the bank the market value of the car, but this might be less than what you owe.  Therefore, you may end up benefiting from the bank’s mistake after all.

Rising unemployment and foreclosure rates are causing some of our clients to consider leaving Sin City.  First we tell them that yes, they can move after filing their bankruptcy case in Las Vegas.  Then we tell them that we’ll miss them, and that we wish them the very best of luck.  We get them the appropriate change of address forms to fill out in order to let the bankruptcy court and bankruptcy trustee know that they are moving. 

 Thanks to the Las Vegas housing bust, Nevada once again has topped RealityTrac’s quarterly report for having the the highest rate of foreclosures in the U.S. at 1 out of every 23 homes.

The Nevada foreclosure situation is of course not being helped by a 13% unemployment rate in the state along with declining population overall, according to a recent article in Bloomberg.

This means continued trouble for homeowners in our Las Vegas community.  And it means that, barring significant government help, the best option for homeowners to have any chance of keeping their homes is Chapter 13 bankruptcy or a loan modification (aided by Nevada’s Foreclosure Mediation Program), or a combination of the two.

Of course, none of this helps homeowners who also have lost their jobs, since you generally need some sort of steady income to be able to negotiate a loan modification or set up a Chapter 13 repayment plan.

As a result, there have been some calls for a moratorium on foreclosures for those who are unemployed.  In particular, James H. Carr of the National Community Reinvestment Coalition has been an advocate for this concept.

"We do need to think more carefully about a bridge so people aren’t being kicked out of their homes as they are looking for employment," Carr was quoted as saying in an October 16 article in the Washington Post.

Whatever happens, it would be best if it happened quickly.  Especially for Las Vegas homeowners.

In the meantime, if you’re worried about foreclosure in Las Vegas and are seeking Las Vegas bankruptcy information, then it makes sense to talk with Las Vegas bankruptcy lawyers to get all of your questions answered.

Contact us for a free initial consultation.  We’ll sit down with you, explain your options and provide the Las Vegas bankruptcy help you need to get back on track with your financial life.

A few weeks ago, we posted an entry in which we pondered whether the curse of the Chicago Cubs would manifest itself in a bankruptcy filing by the team.

Indeed, the team filed for bankruptcy.  Although the filing barely seems like a curse.  In fact, we should be so cursed.

The Cubs, which were purchased by the Tribune Company in 1981 for $20.5 million from candy maker Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co., are going to be sold through the bankruptcy case for a whopping $845 million.  This deal tops the record $660 million paid for the Boston Red Sox in 2002.  The purchaser for the team is the family of billionaire Joe Ricketts, the founder of TD Ameritrade.

The Cubs aren’t actually insolvent.  Like we’ve said, you don’t need to be poor to file for bankruptcy.  But the Cub’s current owner filed for bankruptcy last December as a result of financial problems, and expects that the sale of the Cubs will help it shed some debt. The Cubs’ bankruptcy filing will also ensure that any claims against the team will be eliminated, so that the Ricketts family can own the Cubs free and clear.

$820 million in profits and getting rid of your debts doesn’t sound like a curse to us.  Here’s hoping that the Cubs’ bankruptcy filing will give the team a fresh start, and end their 101-year title drought.