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Due to low mortgage interest rates and a rebounding economy, more first-time homebuyers are searching the real estate market in hopes of finding their dream home. Every first-time buyer needs to know how to navigate the real estate market in order to find the best deals on the best homes. The first step in searching for a home is knowing how much you are able to spend. Knowing your credit score is essential to determining the amount of financing you will be able to obtain. For three more … [Read more...]

US Bankruptcy Court Judge Steven Rhodes ruled that all pending lawsuits filed against the city of Detroit would be frozen while Detroit’s bankruptcy is pending. It also incorporates all state-level legal challenges to Detroit’s bankruptcy into the federal case. The judge ruled that the bankruptcy court had “exclusive jurisdiction” over the case. A state court judge had ruled last week that the bankruptcy case violated the state Constitution but her ruling had been stayed upon appeal pending … [Read more...]

Last week, Earl Gaudio & Son Inc. filed for relief under Chapter 11 of the bankruptcy code seeking to restructure the finances of the company. This comes after a County Circuit Court judge approved a sale of the company to a Decatur-based Anheuser-Busch distributor. The matter had reached the circuit court because of a motion filed with the court by one of the shareholders asking the court to remove the current Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. For more details read the entire … [Read more...]

Nortel Corp. US disabled workers won their fight in bankruptcy court this week over severance pay. A judge ruled that the disabled workers were entitled to collect severance pay. Nortel had argued that the US disabled workers were not employees and therefore not entitled to collect severance pay. However, the judge overruled Nortel’s objections based, in part, on the fact that Nortel had sent notices to the workers in 2010 stating that the disabled workers “were being terminated due to a … [Read more...]

The short answer to that question is “no” but the better answer to the question is “probably so.” If you are filing a very simple, no asset Chapter 7 bankruptcy case, you may be able to figure out the bankruptcy forms, exemptions and rules yourself. However, even the simplest bankruptcy case can become difficult quickly and you risk losing assets because you are not familiar with complicated bankruptcy laws. To read about reasons why you need a bankruptcy attorney see, “Filing for … [Read more...]

Detroit filed a Chapter 9 bankruptcy case this week and became the largest municipal bankruptcy case ever filed in the United States. The filing comes after years of struggling under billions of dollars in debt and poor management. Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr has been trying to restructure the city’s debt but has also been warning of a possible bankruptcy. If the court approves the bankruptcy, it would allow city assets to be sold in order to generate money to pay the city’s massive debt. … [Read more...]

The Bankruptcy Code requires that certain information, such as social security numbers, account numbers, and other personal information, be redacted from documents filed with the court. However, Citigroup failed to redact personal information on forms filed with bankruptcy courts all across the nation. Some 150,000 consumers were affected by this error. In a 2012 settlement that is just now being unsealed, Citigroup agreed to correct the filings, notify debtors and offer free credit … [Read more...]

The Chapter 9 bankruptcy filings by Stockton, California and Jefferson County, Alabama have been in the news lately and have called attention to the rarely used chapter of bankruptcy. Chapter 9 filings are rare and can be blocked by judges and, when allowed, typically involve special districts and utilities. However, because of the recession and the economy, more cities and counties are seeking bankruptcy protection under Chapter 9 of the Bankruptcy Code. To read about some of the more … [Read more...]

A bankruptcy judge approved the final agreement for The Royal Appliance Manufacturing Co.’s purchase of the assets of bankruptcy Oreck Corp. Oreck had tried to sell the company for months before filing the Chapter 11 bankruptcy case. Royal, a subsidiary of the China-based TTI Floor Care, will pay $17.25 million for the company in addition to assuming several of the company’s debts. It plans to retain the Oreck factory based in Cookeville, TN but will close the Nashville headquarters. For … [Read more...]

Tommy Thompson hit gold, literally tons of it, when he discovered the wreckage of the SS Central America in the 1980s. However, even the millions of dollars that came from that discovery did not keep his creditors from filing an involuntary bankruptcy petition to try to collect money owed to them by Thompson’s company. However, an Ohio judge ordered that a receiver take possession of the bankruptcy company this past May. The receiver has now requested that the bankruptcy case be dismissed. A … [Read more...]