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Archive for January, 2010
A number of stories have recently appeared in bankruptcy and consumer rights blogs suggesting that the Atlanta based collection firm Mann, Bracken, LLC has gone out of business. On his Caveat Emptor blog, Minnesota bankruptcy attorney Sam Glover has written several posts about the Mann, Bracken firm including one on December 22, 29 stating that the calls to the firm’s phone number instructs callers to communicate directly with their creditors. I called several numbers listed for Mann, Bracken but the calls were answered by a message that “all circuits are busy, try your call again later.”
Although based in Atlanta, Mann, Bracken has a national practice and it has apparently been growing by merging with other law firms. I found a web site called paymbw.com which purports to be a payment gateway for debtors to make electronic check or credit card payments on debts being handled by Mann, Bracken. This site notes that Mann, Bracken is the successor by merger to Wolpoff & Abramson L.L.P., and Eskanos & Adler P.C., two collection law firms well known to debtor’s lawyers.
The domain mbllc.com has a “coming soon” page and the registration information for that domain is private. I looked up the contact information for the partners. Douglas Mann’s shows him as an inactive lawyer affiliated with Mann, Bracken. Chris Bracken’s registration shows a gmail.com email address, a business address at Mann, Bracken’s location, but the space for the law firm information is blank. Two other partners – Bill Layng and Steve Knezo – are now affiliated with other law firms.
Atlanta
Wisconsin Bankruptcy Law
Clients ask us if we practice Wisconsin Bankruptcy Law. Strictly speaking, we don’t do that. What we do is represent clients in bankruptcy law in Wisconsin.
There’s a big difference between the two.
Under our Constitution, there is just one bankruptcy law. It’s federal. In just one sentence of the Constitution, our Founding Fathers gave the United States federal government gave Congress the exclusive right to regulate both bankruptcy and immigration. That’s quite an assignment for one sentence.
Even though we practice federal bankruptcy law, Wisconsin law is still very important to our Wisconsin debtors in bankruptcy. Why? That’s because all property rights are determined by State law. In Wisconsin, unlike Illinois, you get to select whether you’d like to take advantage of Wisconsin exemptions or federal exemptions in a bankruptcy case. The federal exemptions can be very advantageous if you don’t have any equity in your house. You can then use the federal homestead exemption to protect personal property.
On the other hand, Wisconsin exemptions have just been amended to be much more liberal. So planning your bankruptcy case with reference to allowable exemptions is very important.
If you have moved into Wisconsin from another state within the past two years, other state law may decide what you get to keep. But that’s a different question for a different day.
So remember. Lakelaw practices bankruptcy law in Wisconsin. Don’t let anyone tell you that th
Guarding Against Bankruptcy For Indiana Guardsmen
I read a lot, everything from professional journals on law, financial planning, tax, employee benefits, and education – all with an eye to providing the most up-to-date Indiana bankruptcy information and advice to my Indiana clients and blog readers. A couple of weeks ago, I read an article in the Chicago Tribune that touched on two subjects close to my heart – service members and job markets. The story highlighted Illinois guardsmen 
returning from duty and having difficulties getting back into the job market.
For the past twenty years and more, I’ve been offering Indiana bankruptcy help, as well as help with small business bankruptcy in Indiana. Over the years, I often had to help servicemen and women deal with payday loan debt help.
Fortunately, in 2007, new laws were passed making it illegal for creditors to grant high-interest payday loans and car title loans to members of the military.
In several ways, our bankruptcy laws in Indiana allow for special accommodations for soldiers and veterans, including, of course, guardsmen. Bes
As you probably know, your eligibility for bankruptcy protection is determined in part by your household income. The Bankruptcy Code requires us to calculate your median income by looking at gross income earned by you, your spouse and any other working member of your household during the 6 months preceding the current month. We add up all the income and divide by 6 to arrive at a number. We then compare than number to a median income table provided to us by the Census Bureau and the United States Trustee’s office. This calculation is called the “median income test.”
If you are over median, then a presumption of abuse arises as to your eligibility for Chapter 7 and we must proceed to perform additional calculations (these additional calculations are called the “means test.”).
The addition of the median income and the means test to the consumer bankruptcy process has made bankruptcy a lot more complicated both for lawyers and for individuals. I know several lawyers here in the Atlanta area who used to handle bankruptcy cases, but no longer do so because of the complexity of the median income/means test process. I personally think it is absurd that bankruptcy has become so complicated that a reasonably intelligent person would have almost no chance at figuring out the calculations. If there was ever a reason to avoid non-lawyer “petition perparers” this would be it.
Click on the link to see the current median income table for Georgia.
In any case, I did find an online tool that will allow you to calculate your median income. If you are so inclined, you can download this tool as an iPhone app! While obviously not a substitute for legal advice, this tool, created by a Massachusetts bankruptcy law firm, may help you get a sense of where you stand in terms of Chapter 7 eligibility.
Indiana Small Business Bankruptcy – Chapter 11
Two days ago in my Indiana bankruptcy blog, I wrote about Freight Masters Systems, an Indianapolis trucking and logistics firm that filed bankruptcy. Yesterday, I responded to a reader’s question about whether Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 was more advantageous for a small business seeking Indiana bankruptcy help.
Since my blog is part of an effort on my part to provide useful bankruptcy information in Indiana. I think it might be helpful for my blog readers and Indiana bankruptcy clients to understand why Freight Masters Systems chose Chapter 11, and what the special requirements and advantages are of that form of bankruptcy. <
Bankruptcy Filings Increase Among Middle Class
This weekend’s AJC Business story entitled “Bankruptcies hit State Hard” confirmed what I have been seeing on a weekly basis in my Atlanta area bankruptcy practice – more people who were solidly “middle class” are finding themselves facing huge debt loads and the prospect of a Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 filing.
The newspaper story quoted a spokesperson from Consumer Credit Counseling who offered the following observation about the “typical” bankruptcy filer in the Northern District of Georgia:
- a homeowner
- Caucasian
- annual income of $43,
- credit card debt of $39,
- mortgage and car payment totaling $1,6 per month
- average credit score of 529
- negative net worth of $73, (up from negative $57, in 28)
I think that the most telling aspect of these statistics is the amount of credit card debt vs. annual income. If you are trying to service credit card debt that is equal to your annual before tax income, you will never dig out of that hole.
In my practice I often see men and women earning $8,, $9,, even $1, or more – and often their credit card debt will be double or even triple the household income. Wit
Borrowing after Bankruptcy
Valued cars
Many people mistakenly believe that they will never be able to borrow money again after filing for personal bankruptcy. On the contrary, lenders are more than eager to lend money to those who have just discharged a bankruptcy—at an inflated interest rate! The situation is a win-win for lenders typically, as they will require some collateral upfront, charge a higher than market rate, and they also are secure in the knowledge that the debtor cannot file bankruptcy again for at least seven years.
Most often, people file for bankruptcy due to reasons beyond their control: loss of a job or significant portion of their income, or extremely high medical bills due to a serious illness or accident. Rebuilding and getting back on track as soon as possible will save untold thousands of dollars in interest over their lifetime.
First Things First
The first step should be to establish a budget, in order to avoid potential future financial problems. A new credit card or car loan can go a long way toward boosting credit scores back to respectable levels, but only if they are always paid on time. People who file bankruptcy are given a clean slate and should use new credit cautiously!
Knowing what is affordable is key to staying out of trouble. A budg
This has certainly been a year of good-news/bad news combo reports when it comes to layoffs and hiring. All during this recession, I’ve considered it an important function of my providing Indiana bankruptcy information to report on the jobs market. I’m always careful 
to explain why:
Precisely because my career as an Indiana bankruptcy attorney and debt consolidation lawyer has spanned an almost twenty-five year period, I know that the goal of my work and of my clients is not filing bankruptcy; the goal is emerging from bankruptcy. Whether I’m dealing with an individual, a family, or a small business, I know the emphasis needs to be on developing a steady flow of income for the financial rebuilding process. To do that, my clients need to be able to find well-paid jobs. If my work involves a small business owner, that business needs to be able to bring in enough income to attract the work force they need in order for the business to grow. One way