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Our D-Word: Ecuador, Not Greece
In the inane and insane case the United States does skip a debt payment, please let us skip the comparisons to Greece. Greece is really out of money and probably should have bitten the D-bullet...
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Your Government Prefers Chapter 13
Today, I went looking for the court costs payable by chapter 13 debtors who wants to convert their cases to chapter 7. I admit that like many Americans my starting point was Google. I quickly landed...
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A Tale of Two (More) Bankruptcies
It was the greenest of times, it was the reddest of ink. Stop me if this sounds familiar. The Department of Energy approves multi-million-dollar loan to green-tech energy firm as part of its...
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Greece may cancel referendum, government teeters
Trading one uncertainty for another? If George Papandreou wanted to impress his creditors with fiscal and political stability in Greece, he could hardly have done worse over the last few days....
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See the Wreckage and the Damage Done
I've been remiss about cross-posting my Dealbook columns, but my two most recent (here and here) focus on the Dynegy chapter 11 case. Dynegy entered chapter 11 after radically restructuring itself in...
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Is Fraudulent Transfer in Joe Paterno’s Playbook?
No, fraudulent transfer isn't a fancy football term for a fake handoff. That's a bootleg. Instead, it's what you call a bs transfer of an asset to avoid creditors or when you are or are about to be...
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Beacon Power follows Solyndra into bankruptcy
$43 million down the tubes. At the end of last month, I wrote about Beacon Power, a green-tech company that received over a hundred million dollars in taxpayer-backed credit but who teetered on the...
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NPR Reports that Debtors’ Prisons Are Alive and Well
Although debtors' prisons are illegal across the country, you can apparently still end up in jail for an unpaid bill. I first came across this reality reading one of Lea Shepherd’s (Loyola Chicago)...
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Maryland Courts Require More Proof in Debt Collection Cases, Ringing in Some...
In many states, a creditor or debt collector can easily obtain a default judgment with just a person’s name, last known address and Social Security number, and the judgment can follow the person...
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The Crisis of Fake Constraints: Greek Denouement Eupdate
Unless Greece and its creditors reach a deal in the next few days, Greece has no money to pay €15 Billion or so due to its bondholders in March. From the start, this has been a crisis of fake legal...
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Greek Gunboat Diplomacy Eupdate and More ECB/EFSF
Someone who wanted to be very mean to the Germans just leaked this document, where they manage to come off as both desperate and inept. The proposal purports to address Greek failure to meet program...
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The GM & Chrysler Success
During the State of the Union address, the President crowed about the success of the GM/Chrysler bailouts, noting that these companies were thriving again. An NPR program this evening was holding up...
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Consumer Friendly Forms for Bankruptcy
In many respects, bankruptcy is a one-size-fits-all legal process. Yes, there are ample differences in the law (and a world of difference in practice) between the bankruptcy of a large corporation and...
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At Last, A Credible Threat of Default: Too Little-Too Late Eupdate?
At long last, Greece is starting to resemble a normal restructuring–you know, the kind where the debtor just might not pay if it does not get the relief it is asking for. Everyone else has done it...
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Great news: Le Bailoutte de Peugeot avec Le US Taxpayer Francs
When your own losses aren’t enough. Americans sunk tens of billions of dollars into General Motors in 2008 and 2009, money which they won’t see any time soon, if at all. The Obama administration...
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Pari Passu Party (on behalf of Anna Gelpern)
This is Adam Levitin posting for Anna Gelpern. Only the awful illiterative post title is mine. Here's Anna: Argentina and its most intransigent creditors are duking it out again (or still) in the...
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Sit Back and RadLAX
I'm having trouble getting excited over RadLAX going before SCOTUS. Ronald Mann has written that RadLAX "well might be the most important business bankruptcy case since its 1999 decision in Bank of...
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Pari Passu: So Passe! (Extractive Edition)
Felix Salmon stays with the Argentina pari passu saga, about which I wrote here. The holdout creditors have now filed their briefs (Felix has the links), and are doubling down on the text. Much of...
View ArticleAbility-to-Repay Rule for Mortgages Nears CFPB Approval
Ability-to-Repay Rule for Mortgages Nears CFPB Approval Richard Cordray wants lenders to adhere to the most basic tenet of banking: making sure borrowers can repay. Getting them to agree on how is...
View ArticleMassachusetts First State to Require Creditors to Validate Consumer Debts
Massachusetts first state to require creditors to validate consumer debts On March 2, 2012, the Massachusetts Attorney General published onerous new consumer debt collection practice regulations,...
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Sovereign Restructuring after NML v. Argentina: CACs Don’t Make Pari Passu Go...
A remarkable number of people are buying the creditors' argument that widespread introduction of collective action clauses (CACs) in sovereign bonds makes the debate about the pari passu clause in the...
View ArticleFHFA-OIG REPORT | Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac: Where the Taxpayers’ Money Went
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac: Where the Taxpayers’ Money Went U.S. government intervention protected the numerous creditors – both domestic and foreign – who had purchased bonds and MBS issued by Fannie...
View Article6-Minute Pixar Video | How the 99% Finally See, End 1%’s Obvious Crimes
Pixar Animation Studios averages making more money per film than any other film studio. Perhaps the reason is people recognize and are attracted to powerful truths slightly veiled in allegories; as in...
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The Awesome Pari Passu Hearing
The Second Circuit argument in NML v. Argentina was awesome–I was at the edge of my seat the whole time. My takeaway after the hearing is that even though Argentina got the brunt of the yelling, it...
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Exit Consents Killed in England?
The English High Court just ruled in Assenagon Asset Management S.A. v. Irish Bank Resolution Corporation Limited (formerly Anglo Irish Bank) that a popular technique used to pressure bondholders to...
View ArticleTop Economists: Iceland Did It Right… And Everyone Else Is Doing It Wrong
Iceland Shows the Way Nobel prize winning economist Joe Stiglitz notes: What Iceland did was right. It would have been wrong to burden future generations with the mistakes of the financial system....
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Consumer Bankruptcy Fee Study
I have just finished reading Lois Lupica’s paper on her impressive consumer bankruptcy fee study. This is a model of what empirical, law-and-society research should be – it combines data from...
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In Re Harris- Massive Class Action Lawsuit Names Ben Ezra and LPS
The street fighters that are out there fighting these battles every day are making headway, but things are only going to change now that the real prize fighting, hard-charging, sword wielding super...
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California Foreclosure Laws Need Homeowner Bill of Rights
My regular readers will likely remember past articles in which I stated that we would not win this battle over foreclosures by fighting individually in the courts. I’ve stated on numerous occasions...
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