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Archive | Washington State Bankruptcy

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Homeless shelters see 20% increases in need – 550,000 receive aid from Federal Homeless Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program

[categories: Washington bankruptcy attorney]

The NY Times’ Michael Luo reported upon the extreme toll the recession has taken upon young families. See NY Times "National" Section, Pages 19 & 28, September 12, 2010.

The Federal Government knows of the problem as well. The Feds have allocated $1.5 billion to be made available to homeless prevention causes over the ensuing three years as part of the stimulus package, known as the Homeless Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program.

This article is striking and heartbreaking. It follows the story of Mr. and Ms. Griffith (aged 40 and 26) and their two children aged 3 and 16 months. Mr. Griffith was a hard working gentleman working two jobs. His primary $25/hour job as a waiter at a Florida Applebee’s restaurant ended when the restaurant closed. The family could not find work and returned to Providence, Rhode Island after a three day bus ride from Florida.

I was shocked at the story; living in a homeless shelter with an infant and a toddler is no freeloader’s picnic; I don’t know that I personally could survive the Griffith’s daily life. There are many, many rules at the shelter, and after three infractions of the rules the entire family is evicted – no exceptions.

The rules are easy to violate, and include rules against being found in your living quarters between 10:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. There is a rule against congregating around outside seating benches. If you are caught watching news programming on the TV in the common area, it is also an infraction.

The Crossroads shelter in Providence, Rhode Island (the shelter where the Griffiths reside) has seen a 20% increase in demand and occupancy for June, July and August 2010, over the same time period in 2009. Similarly, an Ohio Y.W.C.A. shelter in Columbus, Ohio, has seen similar increases in occupancy.

Homeless families jumped from 131,000 to 170,000 between 2007 and 2009.

6% Drop In Mortgage Delinquencies – only 13.52% of Households now Behind (but 1 out of 7 Remain Delinquent!)

[categories: Washington bankruptcy attorney]

The NY Time’s David Streitfeld reported on Friday, November 19, 2010, that mortgage delinquencies dipped from 14.42% of households to 13.52% of households. This works out to about a 6.0% reduction in mortgage delinquencies from Q2 2010 to Q3 2010, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/19/business/19delinquent.html?

Likewise, seriously delinquent mortgages (in excess of 90-days) fell from 9.11% of mortgages to 8.7% of mortgages, a drop of some 4.5% overall.

Federal Reserve Bank governor Elizabeth A. Duke testified before Congress this week – the Federal Reserve expects 2.25 million foreclosure filings for each of 2010 and 2011. 2 million foreclosures are expected for 2012.

David Streitfeld reported: "…foreclosures are no longer being caused by bad [subprime] loans, which was the case for much of the recession. Now most foreclosures occur with prime loans, which are harder for banks to modify than subprime [loans]. Prime fixed-rate loans, the safest kind of loans, represented 36 percent of all new foreclosures in the third quarter, up from 30 percent in the third quarter of 2009. Meanwhile, the percentage of new foreclosures generated by the worst kind of loans, adjustedable subprime, fell sharply.

CHECK THIS OUT – MODIFICATIONS LARGELY A SHAM! – D. Streitfeld reported: "…only 24,000 hoseholds had gotten permanent new loans during October. It was the lowest number since the government’s Making Home Affordable Program was getting started last year. [ ] ..483,000 homeowners ahve gotten permanent new loans through the program; 719,000 enrolled in a trial but were either foreclosed or got a modification without government oversight.

I personall feel that banks seem to seek avoidance of the guidelines of the HAMP program, which recite a modification must meet certain criteria – so the banks seem to make up their own modification programs so as to avoid the strictures of the HAMP program. Accordingly, "Bank of America said that it modified 25,000 loans in October, up from 16,500 in September. Relatiely few were done through the government program." recites the NY Times’ David Streitfeld, in his 11/19 article.

D. Streitfeld quotes Michael Fratantoni of the Mortgage Bankers’ Association: The post-modification re-default rate of modified loans can be as high as 50% after the first year, another reason foreclosures are unlikely to decline significantly.

Mismatch of skills: There are jobs – but none for you! Especially, if you have stretched out your earlobes.

[Categories: Washington bankruptcy attorney]

Many jobs go unfilled, because of a "mismatch of skills" reports Jeff Joerres, CEO ofstaffing giant Manpower. (See USA Today, Section 1B, October 11, 2010, Paul Davidson "Jobs are starting to open up again".

Mr. Joerres is quoted: Companies are being pickier." With sales rising modestly, "There’s no big wind at thier back that says they have to hire right now…[they] want to fill it with the exact person they want."

"…employers added a net 64,000 private sector jobs in September. That’s far better than last year’s steep job losses, but less than the roughly 125,000 additions needed to lower the 9.6% unemployment rate." reports Mr. Davidson.

Mr. Davidson focuses on a case study of Gentex, a Zeeland Michigan maker of electronics and rearview mirrors for in-car technology systems. Gentex has found it nearly impossible to fill about 100 engineering positions after searching for six to nine months, and having received over 1,000 applications. The company has struggled to find skilled engineers, and it is also being very selective. Gentex’s Vice President of human resources Bruce Los recites: "If there wasn’t a good fit culturally, we would not hire them."

What does this mean to you? Ideas for action?: I think it is pretty darn obvious. For starters, take out the unusual face jewelry and laser out those tatoos! Anything even slightly offputting to employers means you will not get the job, so before you insert the earlobe-stretchers in your earlobes, think about the impact it will have on employers! And by all means take out the nose ring for your interview and don’t say anything stupid or offensive! This is the time to "fit in" and not be offputting in a job interview.

What is MERS? My Halloween thoughs on witches, lynchmobs, “Dancing with the Stars”, Arthur Miller and “The Economist” magazine.

[categories: Washington bankruptcy attorney]

MERS stands for Mortgage Electronic Registration System. It is a company based in Reston, Virginia, and its services are utilized by the mortgage industry to track mortgages and their ownership, and has been around since the late 1990s. USA Today reports that 64 million mortgages are tracked by MERS, and that about 60% of new mortgages are tracked by MERS. (See USA Today, Page 1B, October 11, 2010, "The mess gets uglier, more confusing".

When a mortgage loan is signed by the borrower, two documents are created; the first is called the promissory note (the note) and the second is the deed of trust or mortgage document (deed/mortgage). The deed/mortgage is thereafter "recorded" in the county records where the property is located, such as the Office of the Pierce County Auditor, here in Pierce County, Washington.

But what so often happens is that the loan originally written up, funded and then recorded by local Bank A, is then sold off later to Investor B, who later sells the loan to Investor C. The idea behind MERS was to reduce costs; it is expensive for Investor B to record a "Notice of Transfer/Assignment" in the Pierce County records and it is again expensive for Investor C who buys the loan from Investor B to again record another "Notice of Transfer/Assignment" in the Pierce County records. There is the cost of hiring someone to draft up the transfer/assignment document and then to pay the fees to Pierce County, which can be substantial as to recording a transfer. I believe the current fee is $11.00 for the first page and $2.00 for every page thereafter, thus a 6 page document costs $21.00 to record (please check these fees, though, I am going from memory!).

The idea behind MERS was that Bank A would send a "Notice of Transfer/Assignment" to MERS (instead of to Pierce County) regarding the transfer to Investor B and likewise MERS would receive notice from Investor B and Investor C that investor B had transferred ownership of the loan to Investor C.

If there was later a problem with the loan and a foreclosure had to be commenced, then Investor C could go collect all of the transfer/assignment documents plus perhaps even the original mortgage/deed and perhaps even the original note from MERS because MERS served as a registry and repository for these documents and transfer information, per my understanding.

MERS probably works quite well at keeping track of millions of documents and transfers, but if say Investor B and Investor C forgot to tell MERS about their transfer, then MERS might hand out inaccurate information to Investor C’s loan servicer and the loan servicer for Investor C could become confused and perhaps start a foreclosure saying "Investor B hereby commences foreclosure on parcel #12345" when in fact Investor C is truly the owner.

What does this mean to you? Well, prior to joining the lynchmob that is trying to blame the "mortgage industry", MERS and loan servicers for the rising tide of foreclosures, you should be a thoughtful and well read person and take a moment to reflect – you should separate the baby from the bathwater before throwing both out the window: MERS is not inherently evil; it is little more than a storage facility for information and in my opinion, has been doing little more than trying to keep track of who really owns what mortgage as banks, hedge funds, mutual funds, investors and institutions holding mortgages have swapped the mortgages like young boys swapping baseball trading cards.

Remember that, unfortunately, when a witch-hunt begins, it is the non-witches that pay the worst price. Consider reading or re-reading playwright Arthur Miller’s "The Crucible" before you join the mob seeking to set fire to MERS, loan servicers and the banks/investors who gave nearly every American the chance to borrow money to fulfill a dream of home ownership. ANYONE who bothered to turn off their TV and take a little time and effort to be reasonably well read could see that we were in a housing price bubble 2002-2006 – if the lynchmob was too busy watching "Dancing with the Stars" and sports on TV instead of taking a little time to slow down and read a few issues of "The Economist", then my suggestion would be that the lynchmob should extinguish their torches and take its medicine. The news about the real estate bubble was out there – the lynchmob just wasn’t listening.

You can be a thinker or you can be a mob…the choice is yours.

Floodgates Open: Foreclosure filings jump 71% in Seattle/Tacoma/Bellevue – Sharpest annual increase in the country! Housing prices sure to drop as foreclosures flood the market.

[categories: Washington bankruptcy attorney]

One in every 129 Western Washington households received a foreclosure filing notice with the largest annual increase in foreclosure filings anywhere in the country.

What does this mean to you? It means that you have little hope of your home price rising in order to allow you to pull funds out of the home to pay off credit card debt or other bills. In my estimation, your home value is going to sink like a rock at worst and stall out completely for many years, at the very best.

The next largest jump was the Chicago-Naperville-Joliet area, with a 35% annual jump, with one in every 84 households receiving a foreclosure notice.

The Washington state unemployment rate stands at about 9.0%, by official statistics, but remember that many more people that this are out of work, because people who are unable to find a job after an extended search are not counted in that 9.0%, so "real" unemployment is likely higher. Also this statistic does not well include the "underemployed" working significantly less than full time (but who would rather be working full time) or those who are working out of their normal field of labor at a reduced wage (e.g. the geologist once earning $100k annually no working as a Walmart greeter). Nationally, "official" unemployment stands at about 9.6%.

The highest foreclosure rate was in Las Vegas-Paradise, Nevada, where one in every 25 homes received a foreclosure warning in the July-September time period.

In more bad news, spending by companies on capital goods (excluding aircraft purchases) dropped 0.6% in September, after a brief rise of 4.8% in August 2010. This category is viewed as a good proxy for business investment in the economy, and it has declined in two of the last three months. New home sales are down 78% from their peak of 1.4 million homes in 2005. New home sales are at their worst level since 1963, with sales at an annual pace of only 307,000 for the month of September.

Banks have seized/fully foreclosed some 816,000 homes nationwide January 1, 2010 – September 30, 2010, and will have seized more than 1,000,000 homes by the end of the year.

Source: Tacoma News Tribune, Thursday, October 28, 2010, from Alex Veiga of The Associated Press.

Yes it will all happen again – Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac return to politicized (instead of economic) lending/refinance decisions – 21% of all HFannie Mae/Freddie Mac refinance purchases must involve lower income families.

[categories: Washington bankruptcy attorney]

The Investor’s Business Daily reported on Friday, September 3, 2010, that the federal regulator of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac has ruled that 21% of all refinance loan purchases under must be granted to lower income families. The earlier proposal had been 25%.

The federal government took control of Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac in 2008 amid losses in large part attributable to the agencies’ political agenda to grant more loans to lower income borrowers.

With the government now running Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac pursuant to the federal takeover, it appears that the politicized lending decisions will continue. An earlier overemphasis upon lending to the economically disadvantaged was significantly responsbile for the recent Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac failures of 2008.

In this writer’s humble opinion, Freddie Mac/Fannie Mae should concentrate on lending to the strongest borrowers so as to ensure the ongoing solvency of both programs.

IDEAS FOR ACTION: If you are of lower income and wish to buy a home or obtain a refinance of your presently difficult loan, then ensure you request a Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac product by name from your mortgage broker, or better yet, appproach the Federal Housing Finance Agency yourself to see what Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac options are available to you.

The negative flip side of low mortgage interest rates: Grandma or mom and pop may have to move in with you as their investments falter.

The NY Times reported on Thursday, September 9, 2010 (reporter Graham Bowley) that “Households and corporations alike are refinancing to take advantage of interest rates that seem impossibly cheap. But those same low rates come with a flip side, driving down the income of retirees and others who live off their savings. It is a side effect of a government policy meant to push down interest rates to a point that busineses and consumers are compelled to borrow and spend again, and yet it is hurting anyone with a savings account.”

“Perversely, coming after a devastating financial crisis caused by companies and households that feasted on borrowing, ultra-low interest rates are penalizing people who have paid down their debt and are now trying to save. it is also punishing those who rely on the proceeds of their nest eggs to pay bills.” reports Mr. Bowley.

See link to NY Times article: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/09/business/economy/09rates.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=Debtors%20feast%20at%20the%20expense%20of%20the%20frugal&st=Search

IDEAS FOR ACTION: Should you remodel part of your home into a mother-in-law apartment? Perhaps you can avoid this extreme measure for now. But you should definitely “talk turkey” about retirement plans and intentions of middle-aged and elderly family members. Perhaps some synergistic accommodations can be reached. E.g. if both you and your spouse work outside the home yet have childcare needs, perhaps you could pay mom or grandma to conduct the childcare. instead of a daycare. Grandma or mom could likely use the extra money that you are now spending on daycare/nannies in order to help them shore up their coffers of funds set aside for retirement, since their returns on normal conservative interest bearing investments are presently so low.

How to get a new job after ruining the company you were paid to run: Strategies for getting a raise after making grave errors at work.

[categories: Washington Bankrutpcy attorney]

The NY Times, September 15, 2010 Section B reports in "Even as Companies Fail, Directors are in Demand" (Susanne Craig and Peter Lattman) that if you ruin a perfectly good company, chances are that you will be rewarded with another opportunity to repeat your failure.

See link to NY Times article: http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B06E5DD133FF936A2575AC0A9669D8B63&scp=1&sq=even+as+companies+fail%2C+directors+are+in+demand&st=nyt

"For 16 years, Marshall A. Cohen served as a director of American International Group, stepping down just months before the company’s near-collapse in 2008. Several months later, Mr. Cohen was again in demand, joining teh board of Gleacher and Company, a New York investment bank. Gleacher expanded its board last year to include not only Mr. Cohen, but Henry S. Bienen, who served as a diredtor of Bear Stearns from 2004 until its rescue by JP Morgan Chase in March 2008. On the second anniversary of the Lehman Brothers bankrutpcy, apointments like those of Mr. Cohen and Mr. Goldstein highlight how the directors of the companies at the center of the financial crisis – A.I.G., Bear Stearns and Lehman itself – still play an active role in the governance of corporate America." report Craig and Lattman.

"In many cases during the real estate bubble, directors approved the strategy that paved the way for executives to make risky investments on borrowed money. These directors also approved pay packages that fed the risk-taking. … Some board members, … say their experience on the boards of troubled companies made them stronger directors, giving them hands-on experience that will help them stop other companies from repeating the same mistakes." report Craig and Lattman in the NY Times.

Craig and Lattman quote the congressional Financial Crisis Inquiry Commision chairman Phil Angelides: "I don’t think there’s any question that a dramatic failure of corporate governance was a central issue of the crisis…" says Mr. Angelides.

The list of directors and officers from failed companies that went on to lucrative new directorship appointments for different companies is startlingly long:

Marsha J. Evans (formerly director at Lehman, now sits on boards of Weight Watchers, Huntsman and Depot, earning $500,000 annually).

Toronto lawyer Marshall A. Cohen (former director at A.I.G., now sits on the board of Gleacher & Company investment bank)

Henry S. Bienen (formerly director at the failed Bear Stearns, now sits on the board of Gleacher & Company investment bank)

Charles O. Rossotti (formerly director at the failed Merrill Lynch, now sits on the board of Bank of America)

Virgis W. Colbert (formerly director at the failed Merrill Lynch, now also sits on the board of Bank of America)

E. Stanley O’Neal (formerly CEO of Merrill Lynch, now sits on the board of Alcoa)

Robert A. Ingram (formerly a director at the failed Wachovia Bank, now sits on the board of semiconductor company Cree)

Stephen E. Frank (formerly director at the failed thrift Washington Mutual {and head of the WAMU director’s audit committee to boot!} now sits on the board of Las Vegas utility NV Energy)

IDEAS FOR ACTION: Next time you thoroughly mess up at work in such a grand and comprehensive way as to endanger and threaten the very existence of your employer, remind your boss that it is quite lucky for the company that you messed up so badly. Let the boss know that because of your incompetence and laziness, you should receive a raise and promotion for having made that error. You can explain to your boss that you deserve a raise and promotion because you will now be able to train other employees on how to avoid the same error, having made the error yourself. Now, this line of logic works for Messers. Frank, Ingram, O’Neal, Colbert, Rossotti, Bienen, Cohen and Ms. Evans. Why shouldn’t the same logic work for you?

“Robo-signer” problem unlikely to afford relief to Washington homeowners in foreclosure – despite big problems at GMAC and J.P. Morgan Chase bank.

[catagories: Washington bankruptcy attorney]

The Seattle Times reported on Sunday, October 3, 2010 (columnist Blythe Lawrence) and the New York Times reported on September 30, 2010 (columnist David Streitfeld) that J.P. Morgan Chase and GMAC were quietly halting or delaying foreclosures in up to 23 states which require "judicial foreclosures". Unfortunately, Washington is a state which allows non-judicial foreclosures, so it seems unlikely that Washington residents will receive the benefit of a postponed or stopped foreclosure because of "robo-signer" foreclosure procedural inconsistencies.

Just what is a "robo-signer"? Take the case of Jeffrey Stephan, 41, who was a modest to low paid employee at GMAC. From his cubicle in Pennsylvania, "robo-signer" Mr. Stephan signed off on as many 10,000 foreclosures per month. This is about one foreclosure per minute, assuming an eight hour work day. The problem is that Mr. Stephan’s signature indicated that the information in the legal foreclosure documents was accurate to teh best of his knowledge, and that he signed in the presence of a notary. The problem was, that didn’t always happen, according to depositions that Mr. Stephan gave in December and June for court cases involving families trying to keep their homes, reports Brady Dennis of The Washington Post. (See Sunday, October 3, 2010, Seattle Times article).

Mr. Dennis reports that "Stephan’s admission has cast into doubt thousands of mortgage-foreclosure filings. Ally Financial, the nation’s fourth-largest home lender and GMAC’s parent company, halted evictions in 23 states that mandate a court judgment before a lender can take possession of a property."

IDEAS FOR ACTION: I have seen a few court cases in bankruptcy court where hopeful individuals are trying to stall or stop a foreclosure by complaining that the foreclosing bank cannot produce copies of original notes or produce a "chain of assignments" showing the various transfers of ownership of the loans. These hopeful (but misguided) borrowers may successfully see a slight delay in the bankruptcy courts, but they should not hold their breath for a permanent injunction against foreclosure. Our local judges are not inclined to give anyone a free house. Remember, one of our local bankruptcy judges ran a foreclosure/garnishment/repossession law firm for many years and thus enjoyed bread buttered by the mortgage lenders for most of a long legal career; It is unlikely in my opinion that this judge will put up with such anti-foreclosure stall tactics for any appreciable length of time. No observation here is meant to disparage the judge or any judge for that matter, but to just point out a widley known fact in the reasonable exercise of first amendment freedoms. Most of the foreclosure stall tactics you might read about on the internet mostly originate from more distantly liberal jurisdictions; I doubt they are going to meet with much traction in this jurisdiction. However, this unlikely strategy of a permanent injunction against foreclosure is absolutely distinct and different from a perfectly allowable "lien strip" of a second mortgage. A "lien strip" which is fully permissible and legal under the bankruptcy code. In a lien strip, a Chapter 13 debtor may be able to completely write off his/her second mortgage and remove the lien from the property without having to pay one dime to the second mortgage holder.

There is a bankruptcy/economics link here: Save your money and save your life: stay out of bars and “know when to walk away..and when to run!” – Against all common sense and any sense of good reason, many states now permitting firearms to be carried

[catagories: Washington Bankruptcy attorney]

Read on through this entire post- there really is something related to bankruptcy and the economy in this post.

For starters, I, James H. MaGee, grew up around firearms. I have even even killed a few furry and feathered beings while out hunting, as I grew up as an "almost-redneck" in eastern Washington. I do confess however, that I enjoyed the hiking part of hunting more than the killing and gutting part. And truly, I liked skiing and reading more than shooting. But as a youngster I was able to fit in well enough with the "kill it and eat it" crowd, and in I enjoy some degree of minimal fluency in "hunting and fishing" lingo.

I have been in a household owning firearms and have little problem with the "right to bear arms" language in the US Constitution.

Consequently, I hope that my beliefs offend no one, as I do not intend to be a boor or a pill. But I must say that this new trend of "guns in bars and cocktail lounges" seems absolutely loony! Read on for ANOTHER good reason besides the recession to stay home at night and avoid visiting your local watering hole….:

As reported October 3, 2010, NY Times: "In Nashville, happy-hour beers were going for $5 at Past Perfect, a cavernous bar just off this city’s strip of honky-tonk restaurants and tourist shops when Adam Ringenberg walked in with a loaded 9-millimeter pistol concealed in the front pocket of his gray slacks.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/04/us/04guns.html?hp
Mr. Ringenberg, a technology consultant, is one of the state’s nearly 300,000 handgun-permit holders who have recently seen their rights greatly expanded by a controversial new law — one of the nation’s first — that allows them to carry loaded firearms into bars and restaurants that serve alcohol.

“If someone’s sticking a gun in my face, I’m not relying on their charity to keep me alive,” said Mr. Ringenberg, 30, who said he carries the gun for personal protection when he is not at work.

Gun rights advocates like Mr. Ringenberg may applaud the new law, but many customers, waiters and restaurateurs in this city are dismayed by the decision. “That’s not cool in my book,” said Art Andersen, 44, as he nursed a Coors Light at Sam’s Sports Bar and Grill near Vanderbilt University. “It opens the door to trouble. It’s giving you the right to be Wyatt Earp.”

Tennessee is one of four states that recently enacted laws explicitly allowing loaded guns in bars. Eighteen other states allow weapons in restaurants that serve alcohol. The new measures come amid two landmark Supreme Court rulings that citizens have an individual right — not just in connection with a well-regulated militia — to keep a loaded handgun for home defense.

Experts say these laws represent the latest wave in the country’s ongoing gun debate, as the gun lobby seeks, state by state, to expand the realm of guns to include nearly every aspect of civic life.

The rulings, which overturned handgun bans in Washington, D.C., and Chicago, have strengthened the stance of gun rights advocates nationwide. More than 250 lawsuits now challenge various gun laws, and Gov. Rick Perry of Texas, a Republican, called for guns to be allowed on campuses after a shooting last week at the University of Texas at Austin.

The new laws in Tennessee, Arizona, Georgia and Virginia have also brought to light the status of 20 other states — New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts among them — which do not address the question, appearing by default to allow those with permits to bring guns into establishments that serve alcohol, according to the Legal Community Against Violence, a nonprofit group that advocates gun control and tracks state gun laws.

“A lot of states for a long time have not felt the need to say you could or couldn’t do it,” said Paul Helmke, president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. “There weren’t as many conceal carry permits out there, so it wasn’t really an issue.” Now, he said, “the attitude from the gun lobby is that they should be able to take their guns wherever they want. In the last year, they’re starting to move toward needing no permit at all.” "

Loony!

Here is the link to bankruptcy/economics:

As to economics, people like me with a wife and three young children are unlikely to visit a bar for a brew or two if there is ANY chance whatsoever that someone is packing heat inside the bar. I cannot see how "guns in bars" is good for the restaurant/bar business. I will stay home.

As to bankruptcy, intentional conduct (like shooting someone) can create a civil liability that is NOT dischargeable in either Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy. Also, damages done while intoxicated can expect a difficult time in any bankruptcy plan or discharge efforts. Also, criminal restitution (the doctor bills for the person you shot) are also likewise difficult to discharge in bankruptcy.

IDEAS FOR ACTION: How is this for simple: Write to your state senator and state representatives: No guns in bars!