Avoid Personal Bankruptcy

What are dischargeable debts in Massachusetts bankruptcy? In a case recently decided by Federal Bankruptcy Court of Massachusetts, the issue of an attorney’s deliberate misrepresentation was considered non-dischargeable. What happened?

In the case entitled In Re: Lambert, Patricia A. (Hoffman, J.) (USBC) (Chapter 7 Case No. 09-45047-MSH; Adversary Proceeding No. 10-04030) (Oct. 27, 2011), a client, Unger, filed suit against his former attorney, Patricia Lambert. The lawsuit was filed in Massachusetts Superior Court by Unger, alleging that his lawyer, Lambert, had induced him into an investment and made false promises, misrepresentations and breached her fiduciary duty to him.

The first step in a Massachusetts legal malpractice case is to determine if there was, indeed, any attorney client relationship. This is crystal clear sometimes. Other times it can be murky. If you make an investment with your attorney, in what capacity was the attorney acting in encouraging or inducing you to make the investment. Unger sought counsel in Lambert after inheriting money and needing investment and legal advice. Unger’s Massachusetts legal expert testified that Lambert, as an attorney, “violated her fiduciary obligations” to Unger. Lambert asserted that they were investors, and no attorney client relationship was established. Based on the testimony, the jury determined that there was an attorney client relationship.

The trial took seven days. The jury found that Lambert did misrepresent herself and reached a verdict that said that of the $230,000 that Mr. Unger lent to Attorney Lambert, $55,000 was an investment and the rest was a loan. There was a verdict of $170,488.
Following the jury verdict, the judge held a hearing on Unger’s Massachusetts Chapter 93A count and found that the jury verdict of false promises, misrepresentations, and breaching her fiduciary duty constituted “willful and knowing violations of General Laws Chapter 93A.” The Court determined that the Unger’s attorney fees were $120,000 and doubled that under 93A, added $130,409 in interest, and $25,000 in costs, entering a judgment in the amount of $566, 615. The Massachusetts Appeals Court affirmed the judgment and 93A finding, but changed the way it was calculated.

Wherefore, Lambert filed for bankruptcy protection. In bankruptcy court, creditors, such as Unger, can initiate an “adversary proceeding” seeking a determination that his debt is nondischargable. Federal Bankruptcy Law, Section 523(a)(2)(A) says a debt is not dischargable to the extent obtained by . . . false pretenses, a false representation, or actual fraud” and Section 523(a)(6) says that a debt is not dischargable if obtained by “willful and malicious injury by the debtor to another entity.” It was now the Bankruptcy judge’s decision to determine if the state court findings fit the federal court description of not dischargable.

The bankruptcy court used a six-prong test to determine if the debt to Unger was non-dischargeable: 1. did the debtor make knowing false representations, or one made in reckless disregard of the truth; 2. Did the debtor intended to deceive the creditor, Unger; 3. Did Lambert intend to induce Unger to rely upon false statements; 4. Did Unger actually rely on the false statements; 5. Lambert’s reliance was justifiable; and, 6. Unger’s reliance caused financial damage. The bankruptcy judge looked carefully at the lower court findings of intentional misrepresentations and determined that Unger was entitled to a judgment in his favor in the bankruptcy court. Wherefore, Lambert cannot discharge her debt, the state court judgment, and Unger may attempt to collect it notwithstanding the bankruptcy.

Retirement plans are of growing interest among people. Its high time you decide as to which plan to opt for? that is which IRA, which organisation is gonna hold your savings? Etc., Talking about Roth IRA, people generally know that it is tax free only. There are other added advantages than this. The U.S. Government had made the Roth IRA tax free one with certain limitations on the level of income of the individual. The limits are first fixed based on your current income. Further on it is computed based on the gross income of the individual. You needn’t do even this computation works ,the system does it for you. So simple right?? Making an IRA account is much more simpler. Bye bye paper works. To gain more knowledge about this retirement plan visit the following link roth-ira.org.

To start with the flexibility, Roth IRA allows both you and your spouse to have the same amount of rights over the savings money , in case both of you are contributing to the IRA. A Read more…

If you are not able to make proper plans while taking loans, you will have to suffer from different types of shortcomings. There are many gentlemen who like to lead their lives depending on credit card loans. The massive usage of credit cards in getting good loan amount brings someone to the major danger of being destructed by destructive bankruptcy. You will have to pay your monthly bills within specific time limit. The same thing is also applicable to the repayment of different secured and unsecured loan clearance programs. That’s why, debt relief programs should be opted for after making fantastic comparison study. The tremendous pressure of debts and payday loans puts a debtor in uncomfortable condition. Before reaching the severe alarming position due to be perished under the debris of debts, you will have to do your best for choosing debt relief programs.

American government has declared in public that the higher authority will take care of financial aspects of the debtors to some extent. Therefore, the government has offered financial insulation in the form of federal debt relief plans. Read more…

The U.S. Postal Service is expected to provide details for their plans to cut around 7,500 administrative positions. Going through a lay off can be very difficult, employees from KV Pharmaceutical and US Fidelis went throug this difficult process when their companies experienced an increased amount of layoffs due to their companies filing for bankruptcy protection. The employees from the US Postal Service are going to go through the same process, the best thing to do is to look for the right information that can help you.

These plans were previously announced in January, and the recent announcement clarifies which positions are going to be impacted. These layoffs come as part of the organization’s discussion to close around 2,000 post offices and condense mail-processing centers over the next year. These cuts are in response to the decline in mail volume as more people use email, the internet and other technologies to communicate and pay bills.

The agency is also trying to drop from six-day delivery to five, so they are looking to stop Saturday mail.

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In a case handed down by the First Circuit Court of Appeals earlier this month, the Court stated that a bankruptcy debtor who was denied a discharge was valid because the debtor “intentionally and fraudulently omitted” and undervalued assets from his Massachusetts bankruptcy petition. The case, called In Re: Sullivan, Brian J., and published by Judge Votolato, was appealed from a decision by Bankruptcy Judge Feeney.

The assets were as follows:

A Rolex watch, which the debtor wore to the 341 Creditors Hearing, was not listed in the Petition or Schedules. The debtor later argued that he was not in any way intentionally or fraudulently misleading the Court, it was simply inadvertence. He also argued that he thought it had not value. The Court did not believe him, and the Appeals Court affirmed Judge Feeney’s decision saying that there was no clear evidence of the Judge’s finding.

Second, a bank account with $1,800 in it was presented as a bank account with $300 in it. The debtor argued that there was a difference between the date of signing and the date his attorney filed the Petition. This likely happens often; a paycheck gets deposited between those two dates, for example, and is rationally explained.

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The housing crisis has led to plenty of attention for homeowners who are underwater on their mortgages – that is, who owe more on their homes than the properties’ current value. Less press time has been devoted to other types of underwater loans, particularly those for cars.

The good news? Filing for bankruptcy may help you out of an underwater car loan (also sometimes called an “upside down” loan). Here’s a look at how things might work.

Those who file Chapter 7 bankruptcy may handle an underwater car loan in one of three ways:

• Surrender the car. This option means giving up the vehicle and eliminating the debt connected to it. While this isn’t a practical option for those who need a vehicle, it may be useful for folks who have other transportation options.
• Redeem the car. This option lets filers repay creditors the remainder of the car’s fair market value in a lump sum. In other words, you pay your lender the car’s current value minus whatever amount you’ve already paid. This tends to benefit those with underwater loans and enough cash on hand.
• Renew the loan. This cho

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