Not surprisingly, I get calls from small business owners who are contemplating personal bankruptcy when their businesses fail. There are many issues that arise in these types of cases but I would like to focus on one problem that, more than any other, can force the business owner into bankruptcy.
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According to a recent article regarding Georgia bankruptcy published in the Atlanta Journal Constitution, it is nothing new that Georgia has one of the highest bankruptcy rates in the nation. What is new, suggests the AJC article, is who is filing: large numbers of people who have not previously had problems with financial instability.
More on Georgia Personal Bankruptcy Filings Continue to Increase
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A number of stories have recently appeared in bankruptcy and 
consumer rights blogs suggesting that the Atlanta based collection firm Mann, Bracken, LLC has gone out of business. On his Caveat Emptor blog, Minnesota bankruptcy attorney Sam Glover has written several posts about the Mann, Bracken firm including one on December 22, 2009 stating that the calls to the firm's phone number instructs callers to communicate directly with their creditors. I called several numbers listed for Mann, Bracken but the calls were answered by a message that "all circuits are busy, try your call again later."
More on Giant Debt Collector Law Firm Mann, Bracken Out of Business
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This weekend's AJC Business story entitled "Bankruptcies hit State Hard" confirmed what I have been seeing on a weekly basis in my Atlanta area bankruptcy practice – more people who were solidly "middle class" are finding themselves facing huge debt loads and the prospect of a Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 filing.
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I have been representing debtors in bankruptcy cases filed in the Northern District of Georgia for over 20 years. Until the law changed in 2005, filing bankruptcy was a fairly straightforward process – often I would meet with a client, decide whether to file and select Chapter 7 or Chapter 13, collect information about creditors, develop a budget, then file that day.
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Filing bankruptcy reshapes America.
This chart from the EconomicCrisisBlog.com graphically illustrates what many of us in the Atlanta area already know – Georgia has one of the nation's highest rates of bankruptcy filings.
More on Georgia Among Top Five in Bankruptcy Filings Per 1000 Residents
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With a sluggish economy, I have met with an increasing number of small business owners who are considering personal bankruptcy to deal with credit card debt and personal loans, but who want to keep their business assets and credits separate. Is this possible.
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If you have been hurt on the job in Georgia and rely on weekly wage benefits from workers' compensation you know that temporary total disability benefits payable per Georgia law will require you to downsize your standard of living. Sometimes the financial strain caused by your loss of a regular paycheck may lead you to consider Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy. What are the implications of pursuing bankruptcy while you are receiving workers' compensation benefits?
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Last month, I wrote a post describing a case that was recently heard by one of the judges in the Northern District of Georgia. In this case, a debtor had filed a Chapter 13 the day of a foreclosure. The lender was not aware of the bankruptcy so it went ahead with the foreclosure sale. Like many foreclosure sales in Georgia, the amount of the mortgage was equal to the likely value of the house so there were no bidders at the foreclosure sale. Instead, the lender bid the amount of the mortgage and was, in effect, the winning bidder.
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This afternoon (September 9), I had a chance to observe a very interesting case heard by one of the judges in the Northern District of Georgia. The issue at hand was a motion filed by a mortgage creditor to "validate" a foreclosure that had been cried out on the courthouse steps back in July.
More on Another Debtor Ripped Off by a Foreclosure Relief Scam (Part One)
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