American Bankruptcy Institute’s Annual Detroit Consumer Conference

ABI’s Sixth Annual Detroit Consumer Conference is designed especially for Michigan consumer bankruptcy legal professionals. The program deals with subjects that consumer practitioners need:

The latest from the Supreme Court and the lower courts; what’s left of good faith in bankruptcy, as well as an extensive series of breakout sessions on exemptions, lien stripping, tax issues, means testing, asset cases, claims against creditors, objections to claims, legal writing and oral argument, and mortgage modification news.

Michigan Bankruptcy Courts Say No Ads In Pleadings

Attention Michigan bankruptcy attorneys. A new notice has been posted to the Michigan bankruptcy court’s website regarding advertisements and electronic bankruptcy filings. Some papers containing advertisements or links to advertisements have been filed in cases by means of the Court’s ECF system. Papers filed in the Court’s ECF system containing advertisements or links to advertisements in any
form shall be stricken without further notice.

If you use the Court’s ECF system, you will want to check any filing software that you may use to make sure that it doesn’t contain ads or links to ads.

Order Regarding Allowable Bankruptcy Petition Preparation Fee

Section 110 of the Bankruptcy Code outlines the disallowance and turnover of any fee deemed to be excessive of the value of services rendered by a preparer of a petition for bankruptcy.

In an effort to provide prospective debtors and preparers of petitions information on what would be an excessive fee, this district’s bankruptcy judges have entered an Administrative Order, pursuant to Sections 105 and 110 of the Bankruptcy Code.

The Order sets forth a presumptive maximum allowable fee. The presumptive maximum allowable fee for a bankruptcy petition preparation is $100. A bankruptcy petition preparer may file a motion seeking fes greater than the $100 allowable fee.

When Should I file for bankruptcy?

Whether to declare bankruptcy is quite a private decision. Many people do not possess any assets in addition to what the law makes it possible for them to keep, even when they do not pay their creditors. If this is your situation, then you might not need a bankruptcy in order to protect your belongings.

A number of people find it beneficial to file a bankruptcy case anyway since their financial circumstance is causing them emotional hardship or depression, or because they wish to free themselves of debt now, if legally allowed, and have their income and belongings to themselves in the future. In addition, several people may well discover that a bankruptcy is worth filing even if they do forfeit some of their belongings.

In the event that many of the following are true in your situation, you may possibly consider bankruptcy:

An Individual’s wages have been garnished or your bank account has been attached
Most of an Individual’s debts are unsecured debts like credit card bills, hospital or doctor’s bills, etc.
Your total debt, not including your car or house loan, is more than you could pay, even over five or more years
Collection agencies are calling you at home and/or at work
A person’s payments are more than 30 days behind on more than one bill
There are lawsuits pending against you
You have high medical bills not covered by insurance
You owe income taxes that you are currently unable to pay
You have few belongings
You have little or no savings
You have had property repossessed (such as a vehicle)

Regulations passed in 2005 make it much more complex to file for bankruptcy.

You should search for guidance of qualified bankruptcy attorneys prior to choosing whether to enter bankruptcy.