A unit of the Justice Department, the U.S. Trustee Program, is now using its role as a watchdog to pressure lender-side foreclosure law firms and mortgage processing companies to make sure foreclosure proceedings are handled properly. Chapter 13 bankruptcy trustees...
Month: October 2010
Bernanke: Federal Reserve Now Probing Foreclosure Mess, Paperwork
Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke announced Monday that federal regulators are now investigating whether banks have engaged in practices that have led to systemic problems in the foreclosure process. The Fed is also looking into what effect foreclosures and...
Some New FTC Rules on Credit Card Debt Settlement Now in Effect
The Federal Trade Commission has put new rules into place to protect consumers from certain practices by credit card debt settlement firms. Primarily, the new rules ban all up-front fees by debt settlement firms. However, the intent is to broadly guarantee that...
Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Trustee Sues Three Foreclosure Companies
A new wrinkle has come up in the massive, nationwide problems with the foreclosure process that are becoming known as "Foreclosure-Gate." A pair of Mississippi homeowners who lost their home to foreclosure, then filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy, are suing two...
Credit Card Debt Causing More Elderly People to File Bankruptcy
A new study by a professor at the University of Michigan Law School found a disturbing new bankruptcy trend. Our nation's seniors are increasingly saddled with unmanageable levels of credit card debt -- and it's sending them into bankruptcy. According to Professor...
Attorneys General Strike Loan Modifications Deal With Wells Fargo
After eight states initiated investigations into deceptive mortgage lending practices by its subsidiaries, Wells Fargo has made a deal that could offer hope to distressed homeowners with adjustable rate mortgages (ARMs). Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum...
Singer Toni Braxton Files Chapter 7 Bankruptcy for Second Time
After debt problems that included a potential foreclosure, an possible upcoming divorce and delays in the release of her latest CD, singer Toni Braxton filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy on September 30. This will be Braxton's second experience with bankruptcy after a...
Supreme Court Takes On Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Deductions Case
In one of its first cases of the term, the U.S. Supreme Court heard a Chapter 13 bankruptcy case on October 4. The case involves what deductions a debtor can take from his discretionary income when setting up a Chapter 13 repayment plan. In this case (Ransom v. FIA...
Treasury Dept Expands ‘Hardest Hit Fund’ for Unemployed Homeowners
This week, the Obama Administration announced that the U.S. Treasury Department has approved additional assistance for Florida homeowners who are struggling to pay their mortgages due to unemployment. The Treasury Department has approved a plan by the Florida Housing...