Category Archives: Chapter 7
Bankruptcy Filings Dip Slightly
According to the latest government statistics, distressed debtors have less money, owe less money, and are filing fewer voluntary bankruptcy petitions than they were a year ago. Nationally, consumer filings dropped 6 percent in the latest filing tally. The average debtor had a $2,668 monthly income to pay $2,590 in monthly expenses. In 2015,… Read More »
Using Bankruptcy To Protect Cash
Mostly because of the unfortunate “liquidation” nickname, many residents of Illinois and Indiana are afraid that if they file Chapter 7 bankruptcy, they will lose their savings. But in most cases, that is simply not the case. In both Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 actions, most assets are off limits to moneylenders, unless they… Read More »
Court Decision Highlights What Bankruptcy Can And Cannot Do
In a March 2017 opinion, the Indiana Supreme Court distinguished between an in rem proceeding against property and an in personam proceeding against individuals to deny mortgage relief in a Chapter 7 case. McCullough v. CitiMortgage involved a long-running dispute between the homeowners and a mortgage company. According to court documents, in the early… Read More »
Why Do People File Bankruptcy?
It should come as no surprise that medical bills are once again the top reason that people seek bankruptcy protection. Medical bills are often very onerous in and of themselves. One in five working Americans with health insurance who are under 65 have had problems paying their medical bills in the past year; to… Read More »
Report: Illinois In Dire Financial Straits
The Prairie State ranked 44th overall in a recent economic survey. Should Illinois lawmakers consider bankruptcy as a way to obtain a fresh start? Illinois’ rank was even lower (48th) in terms of outmigration, or the number of people leaving the state versus the number of people moving into the state. There are various… Read More »
Another Regional Department Store Chain Mulls Bankruptcy
Gordmans has operated in the midwest for over 100 years, and now according to sources, the department store chain may be closing its doors permanently. The chain began with a single store in Omaha, Nebraska operated by Russian immigrant Sam Richman in 1915. Some time later, Bloomingdale executive Dan Gordman had an unexpected layover… Read More »
What Happens To Property In A Chapter 7?
Probably because of the procedural nickname (“liquidation”), many people erroneously believe that they will lose most or all their property after they declare bankruptcy in order to pay their creditors. After all, that’s essentially what happens in Monopoly and some other finance-based party games. This belief does have some basis, because debtors do indeed… Read More »
Indiana Rejects Peabody Bankruptcy Plan
Concerns over future mine cleanup costs have put the energy giant’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy on hold, at least for now. The state of Indiana, along with some environmental groups, were among the only parties that objected to an $8 billion reorganization plan. Peabody said it would use a controversial though federally-approved plan to clean… Read More »
Prominent Real Estate Investor Files Bankruptcy
A huge shareholder lawsuit in Northern Illinois may have pushed the onetime “King of Downtown Orlando” over the financial precipice. Ten years ago, Cameron Kuhn employed seventy people, owned twenty choice properties in downtown Orlando, and was expanding into new markets in northern Florida, Georgia, and Louisiana. But then the real estate market crashed… Read More »
New Republic Airways To Emerge From Bankruptcy
The Indianapolis-based regional airline submitted a Chapter 11 reorganization plan to a bankruptcy judge, and if it is approved, Republic should emerge from bankruptcy sometime in the first quarter of 2017. A protracted contract dispute with its pilots meant that the carrier could not fulfill its obligations to United, American, and Delta, forcing the… Read More »