New Student Loan Modification Program In Central Florida Bankruptcy

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Student loan debt is a huge concern for many Floridians engaged in the bankruptcy process. Traditionally it has been extremely difficult for a debtor to discharge student loan debt in a bankruptcy case, barring an extensive showing of “undue hardship”. However, the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Florida has recently created the Student Loan Modification Program which allows debtors and creditors to work together to develop modified repayment plans of student loan debt in the bankruptcy setting. The Student Loan Modification Read More +

The Millennial Generation: “selfish Slackers” Or Next Modernist Generation?

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Who are the “Millennials”? According to a recent study by the Pew Research Center, “Anyone born between 1981 and 2000 (ages 18 – 37 in 2018) is considered to be a Millennial… anyone born from 2001 onward will be part of a new generation”. As stated on its website, the Pew Research Center is a “non-partisan ‘fact tank’ that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping the world.” The Center is a subsidiary of the Pew Charitable Trusts, the primary funder of Read More +

Weinstein Company Bankruptcy – Harvey Weinstein Pleads “not Guilty”

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*** FURTHER UPDATE *** In a further development related to the Weinstein Company’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy case, disgraced former CEO Harvey Weinstein today entered “not guilty” pleas to several charges in the State of New York Supreme Court in Manhattan. The pleas apply to one count of first-degree criminal sexual conduct and one count each of first-degree and third-degree rape. Weinstein’s attorney, Benjamin Brafman told reporters that the two sexual encounters alleged in the case were “consensual acts that do not amount to sexual criminal Read More +

Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Filings – 770 As Of March, 2018 – Highest In 7 Years

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*** UPDATE *** (See prior article on this blog – “Chapters in Bankruptcy, a Short Primer…”) The number of Chapter 11 (“reorganization” bankruptcy) filings has reached an all-time high since 2011. In that year, there were 789 Chapter 11 filings as the nation was still trying to recover from the “great recession” of 2008 – 2009. According to data from the American Bankruptcy Institute (“ABI”), the year-over-jump (that tracks the number of such filings in comparison to previous reporting periods) was the second highest to be Read More +

Dodd-frank: Title Xiv – Mortgage Reform And Anti-predatory Lending Act

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Mortgage Reform and Anti-Predatory Lending Act, amendment to the Truth in Lending Act (TILA), was brought about as a reaction to the lending practices that had lead to the burst of the real estate bubble in 2008. Many mortgages prior to the burst of the real estate bubble included clauses that were unfavorable to those who had borrowed the money. Some such clauses made it impossible to pay off mortgages where the value of the property dropped below the amount of the loan. Mortgage Reform Read More +

Gibson Brands, Inc. Dba Gibson Guitars Files For Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Protection

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*** UPDATE TO PREVIOUS ARTICLE *** Ending months of speculation concerning the future of the once iconic guitar manufacturing company, Gibson Brands, Inc., the parent of Gibson Guitars, filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy protection earlier this week. The Nashville, TN-based company is said to have in excess of $100 million in outstanding debt (some reports say that such figure is at least five times greater than the reported amount). In a statement released by the company on Tuesday, CEO Henry Juszkiewicz said, “We are working Read More +

Connecticut – A Legacy Of Debt And The Possibility Of Chapter 9 Bankruptcy

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The State of Connecticut ended the 2017 fiscal year on a note of financial doom. As of the end of December, 2017, the state had the most underfunded pension system in the nation with over $127 billion in government-worker pension liabilities and no viable plan to institute needed reforms. Public-Worker Pensions – The BIG Problem: Pension woes are not the state’s only problem that threatens the economy, but they are the worst. The problem is huge, made up of the following critical components: pensions for Read More +

Chapter 9 Bankruptcy – Santa Cruz, Ca & Calpers Pension Crises

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The City of Santa Cruz, CA is one of the latest municipalities to fall into what some have called a “…disturbing trend that will end in a full-fledged pension crisis” across the breadth and width of the nation. Santa Cruz is a California coastal community of 65,000 residents situated some 75 miles southwest of San Francisco. The small city, home to the University of California at Santa Cruz, is heavily dependent upon year-round tourist trade and not much else in the way of economic support. Read More +

Public Sector Pension Plans: A “ticking Time Bomb”

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According to a December, 2017, washingtonfreebeacon.com report “…unfunded liabilities of state public pension funds increased by $433 billion over the past year and presently exceed $6 trillion…”. The report continues, “Unfunded liabilities of public pension plans continue to loom over state governments nationwide. Absent significant reforms, unfunded liabilities of state-administered pension plans will continue to grow and threaten the financial security of state retirees and taxpayers alike.” Astonishingly, the $6 trillion in unfunded liabilities average approximately $18,676.00 for every person in the United States. Alaska has Read More +

Winn-dixie To Close 94 Stores – Parent Company To File For Chapter 11 Bankruptcy

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Florida-based Southeastern Grocers – the parent company of the Winn-Dixie grocery chain – announced yesterday that it will file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy by the end of March. Southeastern said it is “…implementing a court-supervised, pre-packaged” debt restructuring agreement after “conducting a thorough review of options for reducing our current debt”. The company expects to reduce current outstanding debt by approximately $500 million. In addition to Winn-Dixie, Southeastern Grocers also operates stores under the brand identities of BI-LO, Fresca y Mas and Harvey Supermarket with Read More +