Credit Counseling Regulation Comment Deadline is April 1st!

This post at Bankruptcy Law Network by Kent Anderson, Oregon bankruptcy attorney, is of special import today. Briefly:
April 1, 2008, is the last day for citizen comment on an important regulation! The date may be full of irony but this deadline is no joke. The US Trustee has submitted a proposed rule that [...]

Thinking About Filing Bankruptcy in SC? Here’s What NOT To Do…

Dana Wilkinson posts at Bankruptcy Lawyers Network about the things you don’t want to do prior to filing for bankruptcy in South Carolina. Rather than repeat it all here, I’ll just direct you there to her well-written post.

Must Read: James Scurlock on the Death-Squeezing Of the Middle Class

From Alternet via Carolyn Baker comes a must-read article by James Scurlock, of “Maxed Out” fame. James writes about the so-called “new economy” and how it’s based on the “cheering for failure” mentality of the credit industry. Much to the chagrin of that industry’s paid lobby, it looks (finally!) as if Congress is finally opening [...]

I Don’t Know About You, But I’m Pretty Sure I Wouldn’t Call This “Lucky”

Professor Warren recounts the story of a woman who thought herself lucky because her Social Security payment was scheduled to come in the day before her mandatory credit counseling session (required of every consumer debtor filing for bankruptcy now, thanks to BAPCPA). That way, she could pay for the session ($75) instead of eat.
Congress, if [...]

This Blog is Going Dark in Protest For One Week

As a show of solidarity to another blogger, Kathy Sierra of Creating Passionate Users, I am taking this blog dark (i.e., no posting) for the remainder of this week. Kathy has been the victim of a foul, evil campaign including death threats and threats of sexual violence, for no reason apparently other than that she [...]

Payday Lending - An Academic Perspective

At Credit Slips, one of my favorite blogs on the subject of consumer and bankruptcy law, Professor Lawless discusses a recently published article in the Journal of Economic Perspectives simply titled “Payday Lending.” What makes this article noteworthy? (A) Its author (Michael Stegman, the Director of Housing and Policy at the John D. and
Catherine T. [...]

NCPW: Links to Help You Protect Yourself

National Consumer Protection Week is a good time to bookmark some helpful links to help you protect yourself and your family from fraud, unfair practices, and deception in the consumer context.

Consumer Action Website: the online version of the Consumer Action Handbook.
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation:The FDIC sponsors several consumer protection related projects; read about them [...]

Go Directly to Jail?

Over at the Bankruptcy Law Network, a group blog in which I participate with some very smart consumer bankruptcy attorneys all over the country, I’ve just posted about debtors who are told by collection agencies that if they file for bankruptcy they’re somehow committing a crime. It never ceases to amaze me - the depths [...]

Jay Fleischman Debuts New Blogs and Service

I joke with Jay Fleischman, a New York debtor’s attorney, that I want to be just like him when I grow up. When you come to the end of this post, you might understand why.
First up, Jay’s debuting his new blogs. New York Bankruptcy Litigation aims to elucidate the intricacies of those matters litigated [...]