Los Angeles Bankruptcy Blog

More layoffs to come.

The Office of the United States Trustee (OUST) has released the new median income figures. People who didn’t pass the Means Test before might, just might, pass after Monday next week.

The Means Test is the gatekeeper to file Chapter 7 bankruptcy.

You see these signs everywhere:

“Free List of Forclosure Homes, call 24/7″ (yes, misspelled like that)

People want to buy homes cheap, but the reality is, it’s not so simple

Foreclosures aren’t the quick path to riches many imagine. “Some people show up [at the auctions] to observe and see if it’s something that’s easy and a quick way to make money,” she says. “A lot of them find out it takes a lot more work than they think.”

The mortgage situation is going to be a meltdown much worse that it is today. This was written six months ago, but we’re nowhere near bottom yet.

….and this is after they laid off 1300 in two waves last week.

I wonder if they’ll file bankruptcy (Chapter 11) in a few months?

And just think! This is a reputable company that makes loans to quality borrowers!

Just imagine what the shady lenders are feeling!

Some interesting findings from a recent study about the increased number of applications people get before a bankruptcy as opposed to credit after bankruptcy.

Can you guess?

3 to 1 .

Ballys Total Fitness might be the newest company to file for business bankruptcy (Chapter 11).

I guess all those contracts they got people to sign and never let them out of without a note from your 10 cardiologists… all the sending people to collections… I guess that strategy kind of backfired.

Here’s an excellent opinion piece about how creditors and mortgage lenders practiced “redlining in reverse”.

This is a fairly good summary of some of the things we think we know, but probably don’t.

Of them, the main one I disagree with is: Debt is Bad (myth). Actually, it *is* bad. Sure, you need it to build credit, as I’ve discussed in my Credit After Bankruptcy article. But if you’re on this site reading up, just figure that debt is bad, savings is good, and you can live off of your paycheck and savings. If you can’t, you don’t need it.

The best invention ever was the debit card, where you use your own money.

According to this ruling, the answer is “yes.”

Only an attorney can make determinations or decisions that are legal in nature. Such as what chapter to file bankruptcy. Or what bankruptcy exemptions to use.

“Automated” solutions can be the unauthorized practice of law.

Sadly, we’re seeing this more and more, where people Can’t sell, so owners give bank the homes

Desperate families walk away rather than lose them to foreclosure.

STERLING HEIGHTS — Alan and Alyson Wirgau live in a cute ranch on a quiet suburban street next to an award-winning school. There’s a new roof above their heads, a new deck in back and a For Sale By Owner sign in front.

Instead of weighing offers, the family is weighing an option that seemed unthinkable a year ago: If they don’t sell their home soon, they may turn down the heat, load their possessions in a U-Haul and drive away.

Read the whole thing.