A piece of bipartisan legislation concerning Chapter 12 of the Bankruptcy Code landed on the President’s desk for signature last week. The Family Farmer Bankruptcy Clarification Act of 2017 was sponsored by Senator Al Franken (D-Minn.) and Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), and was included as a part of the supplemental appropriations package that the Senate approved 82-7. “Our bipartisan bill is a commonsense fix to ensure that the law functions as intended and protects family farmers in Minnesota and across the country,” Senator Franken said in a statement on October 24. “I’m glad this bill is set to become law and…Read More
Archives for October 2017
Gulf War Veterans Face High Denial Rates by the VA
Given the high denial rates by the VA for Gulf War veterans, here is an interesting article about veterans who are doing something about it and helping other veterans. This information is directly from the article in Stars and Stripes: “In 1994, Congress passed legislation allowing a “presumption” for Gulf War veterans with undiagnosed illnesses — meaning they don’t have to prove their illnesses were caused by military service. Undiagnosed illnesses are a group of undefined and unexplained symptoms found in veterans of that era — headaches, fatigue and joint pain and neurological, skin and respiratory issues. One problem, Brown…Read More
Will Filing Bankruptcy Affect Your Employment?
Updated: 10/25/2017 by Nick Gajewski One of the most common concerns my clients have is whether or not filing a bankruptcy case will affect their job. The short answer is: no, filing a case should not have any impact. The Bankruptcy Code at 11 U.S.C. §525 explicitly prohibits employers from discriminating against any person who has filed for bankruptcy relief. Your employer would be breaking a federal law if they fire you or discriminate against you as a result of your bankruptcy. Protection Against Discriminatory Treatment (a) Except as provided in the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act, 1930, the Packers and…Read More
Cost-Of-Living Adjustment Coming for Social Security Recipients
The Social Security Administration (SSA) recently announced that it would be passing along a roughly two percent Cost-Of-Living Adjustment (COLA) to about 60 plus million Social Security recipients next year. While two percent may seem a bit modest, it is fortunately the largest such increase in benefits over the last five years. I guess you could say it is better than nothing, which was exactly what the COLA was in 2009, 2010 and 2015. The 2018 figure will be the largest increase since 2011’s 3.6% and 2008’s 5.8% respectively. Since 2010 (including 2018’s number), the COLA has averaged about 1.2 percent a year. For…Read More
Criminal Convictions In Payday Lending Scheme
A federal jury in Manhattan found Kansas City businessman Scott Tucker guilty on all counts in a racketeering case. Tucker owned a $2 billion payday-lending business, which prosecutors had argued was built on illegal partnerships and predatory loans. Guilty Verdict’s for Tucker and Muir According to an article on Bloomberg the jury also convicted Timothy Muir, a former lawyer for Mr. Tucker’s company. Muir was a co-defendant in the criminal prosecution. The jury convicted both Tucker and Muir on 14 counts, including money laundering, wire fraud, and violations of federal racketeering and lending laws. The Jury deliberation took less than a…Read More
Fending Off Those Annoying Robo-Calls
Like nearly everybody else, you’ve had a mobile phone for some time now and, for the most part, you love it. You can call, text, tweet, email and otherwise communicate with all the important people in your world. You can get a table at your favorite restaurant, book your next flight to paradise, watch a movie, listen to your favorite tunes, or navigate your way around an unfamiliar city or countryside. Your phone goes with you everywhere. If you don’t have it on you all the time, you feel incomplete. How did we ever function without these things? Robo-callers Your…Read More
Nigerian Scams Strike Again
Over the years, I have talked with several people who were apparent victims of a criminal scheme to get money through deceptive means. I have heard stories of online romance that turned out to be completely false and a ploy to bilk a lonely person with access to money and/or assets. Some individuals cashed out all of their savings and/or retirement accounts and maxed out credit cards all in the name of love (or so they thought). How the Scams Work The con artist persuades the victim to purchase items, send money or transfer money. Most of these schemes stem…Read More
Bankruptcy “Reform” a Dozen Years Later
Today marks the 12th anniversary of the implementation of the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 (BAPCPA). The BAPCPA, bought and paid for by the banks and credit card companies, represented the biggest overhaul of the bankruptcy system in our country in almost 30 years. At the time the legislation was passed, I served on the board of directors of the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys (NACBA). NACBA opposed the legislation fiercely but after seven failed attempts, and immense lobbying expenditures by the credit card industry, congress finally succumbed. The legislation was passed by the Senate…Read More
The Secret That Credit Card Companies Don’t Want You to Know!
The secret that credit card companies don’t want you to know is that you don’t have to pay them in full! Oh really!? Have you heard this advertisement? I was driving to the office the other day and listening to the radio. For the umpteenth time, I heard this exact commercial. It says that there is a little known secret that the credit card companies don’t want you to know and it is that you don’t have to pay your credit cards in full and it is not bankruptcy. I have been practicing exclusively in the area of consumer bankruptcy…Read More
2017 Financial Hardship Scholarship Winner
Bond & Botes, P.C. is proud to announce the winner of our 2017 Financial Hardship Scholarship: Telvin J. Miller. Mr. Miller graduated from Wenonah High School earlier this year and is currently attending the University of South Alabama. The $2,000 Bond & Botes scholarship will help covers some of Telvin’s college tuition costs. About Telvin J. Miller Telvin’s High School experience was no easy feat. He sacrificed a “normal” high school life of spending time with friends for balancing school work, football, a part time job, and helping raise his younger siblings. With these challenges came many achievements. He excelled…Read More
