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I had no idea that the recession had such a worse impact on minorities. The gap in median household wealth between whites and each of the two largest minority groups has not only gotten tremendously wide, in fact this gap almost doubled in only four years.
This is according to a report just released on July 26, 2011 by the Pew Research Center’s Social & Demographic Trends project.
In most consumer bankruptcy cases you hardly hear about the United States Trustee (UST). But when you do, he or she can make a lot of noise. And carries a big stick. All the more reason to understand this most easily misunderstood player on the bankruptcy stage.
As my title suggests, the UST has two primary rolesâcase administrator and bankruptcy law enforcer. These are reflected in this agencyâs stated mission: âto promote integrity and efficiency in the nationâs bankruptcy system by enforcing bankruptcy laws, providing oversight of private trustees, and maintaining operational excellence.â
As a bankruptcy case administrator, the Office of the UST appoints and supervises the Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 trustees. It monitors cases so that they are âadministered promptly and efficiently.â It reviews and can raise objections to fees charged by attorneys and other professionals in the bankruptcy process.
Your Chapter 13 trustee plays a huge role in the success or failure of your Chapter 13 case. Except he or she actually has at least a half-dozen different roles. Some of which are contradictory. Let me explain.
1) The trustee serves as the gatekeeper of your case, forcing us to play by the rules before allowing your Chapter 13 Plan to be approved by the bankruptcy judge.
2) As part of that role, the trusteeâs job is to make you pay as much as possible to your creditors. Because each individual creditor often doesnât have all that much to lose or gain compared to the cost of each of them hiring an attorney, the trustee is the creditorsâ advocate in your case.
My goal with our Chapter 7 clients is to provide a smooth path through bankruptcy to a fresh and clean start. The way to get there is to do what it takes to keep your Chapter 7 trustee happy. We keep the trustee happy by making it easy for him or her to do his or her job.
Think about the trustee being the green-yellow-red lights at two intersections in a row. The first intersection is about assets. The second one is about getting a âdischarge,â a legal write-off of your debts. In most cases youâre going to get through both intersectionsâthe trustee will claim none of your assets for distribution to your creditors and the trustee will raise no objections to your discharge. But you want to make sure you get through those intersections, and do so without any worry or delay. Thatâs our goalâtwo easy green lights.
The three kinds of trustees in consumer bankruptcy have tremendous power over you. So itâs important to know what they do, and how to stay in their good graces. Iâll introduce them in this blogâthe Chapter 7 trustee, the Chapter 13 trustee, and the United States Trustee. Then in the next three blogs Iâll tell you more about each of them.
1. Chapter 7 Trustee: Determines either that you have no ânon-exemptâ assets to collect or else pursues any such assets in order to liquidate them and pay the proceeds to your creditors. Reviews your documents and presides at your Meeting of Creditors for this purpose. Can conduct other investigation such as reviewing the public record. Can also pursue âfraudulent transfersâ or âpreferencesââmoney or assets either that you gave or sold to someone or that creditors got or took from you within a certain amount of time before the filing of your bankruptcy case.
According to foreclosure-tracking firm RealtyTrac, the number of national foreclosure filings plunged 35 percent in March 2011 as compared to March 2010, a statistic that reflects a more healthy housing market and more robust outlook for 2011.
WHAT IS CHAPTER 7? IN GENERAL Chapter 7 is the most common form of bankruptcy, often referred to as “Straight Bankruptcy.” Its goal is to provide the people filing Chapter 7 (called “debtors”) a “fresh start.” Although Chapter 7 cases are called “liquidations,” in the vast majority of them nothing is taken from the debtors. […]
WHAT IS CHAPTER 13? IN GENERAL Chapter 13 cases are sometimes called “wage earner plans,” but in fact Chapter 13 is a reorganization option available to anyone with “regular income.” Under Chapter 13, a portion of the future income of the debtor is used to satisfy part, or sometime all, of the debt, while […]