Bankruptcy

So How Bad Are Things in the Economic World? Don't Ask!

By Joseph McDaniel, Esq.

The talk turned, as it always does, to the economy and it's effect on our various practices.

One of my buddies did a lot of Chapter 13 cases at one point, and he's tapered off, for two reasons. The current version of a Chapter 13 Bankruptcy is much more brutal on the poor debtor than the nifty version we all used back in the good old days (pre-2005 bankruptcy code amendments).

And the economy is so bad, he mentioned, that after he fights like a dog to get a Chapter 13 Plan confirmed in his client's bankruptcy, the debtor loses a job or takes a cut in pay, and the case turns to poop!

Another buddy I saw at the seminar is a tax lawyer who handles a lot of tax controversies.

He echoed the concerns I'd just heard; when he gets a payment arrangement set up with the IRS, or gets an Offer and Compromise approved, the debtor's business fails and the debtor can't make good on the carefully crafted stipulation!

It's a bad economy when a debtor has a problem, fixes the problem by working with a lawyer to cut a favorable deal, and then the debtor falls apart and can't make the payments, through no fault of his own.

And I hope things improve very, very soon.

NOTHING HERE CONSTITUTES LEGAL ADVICE RE A CHAPTER 7, CHAPTER 13, CHAPTER 11, OR CHAPTER 12. FIND AN ARIZONA BANKRUPTCY LAWYER WHO IS BOARD CERTIFIED IN BANKRUPTCY LAW, AV RATED, AVVO 10 RATED, ON SUPERLAWYERS, OR JUST VERY EXPERIENCED AND A FORMER CHAIR OF SOME BANKRUPTCY SECTION OR COMMITTEE. NOTHING HERE MAY BE USED AS LEGAL ADVICE IN CONNECTION WITH ANY BANKRUPTCY, WHETHER THAT BANKRUPTCY IS IN PHOENIX, GLENDALE, TEMPE, MESA, SCOTTSDALE, OR ANYWHERE ELSE.

Full post as published by Arizona Bankruptcy Attorney Blog on June 25, 2010 (boomark / email).