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September 14,
2005
U.S.
Lawmaker
Won’t Reopen Bankruptcy for Katrina
The chairman of the
U.S.
House Judiciary Committee said that he had no intention of reopening a
sweeping
bankruptcy law passed by Congress earlier this year, despite proposals
to exempt
Hurricane Katrina victims from some of its provisions, Reuters
reported yesterday.
The new, more stringent bankruptcy law will not harm people left
"down
and out" by the storm, Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.) said. He
said
that he would not hold a hearing in his committee on a bill by the
panel’s
ranking Democrat, Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.), and 31 other Democrats
who want
to exempt Hurricane Katrina victims from parts of the new bankruptcy
law.
href='http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticleSearch.aspx?storyID=269735%2B1…'>Read
the full story.
id='2'>A Window
for Homeowners Considering Bankruptcy
Two new bankruptcy
laws—the
federal law that goes into effect next month and a state law passed in
Albany,
N.Y.—are dovetailing in a way that may tempt New York homeowners
who are
deep in debt to file for bankruptcy in the next few weeks, the New
York Times
reported today. Under the new state law, a husband and wife may now be
able
to protect $100,000 of equity in their homes from creditors, up from
$20,000.
The law increases the incentive for those with large credit card
payments to
file for bankruptcy and get those debts discharged.
href='http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/14/nyregion/14bankrupt.html'>Read
more.
id='3'>Economist:
Recession On the Way
Economist Tucker
Hart Adams
says that it’s not a question of if the U.S. economy slips into
recession,
but just a matter of when, the Rocky Mountain News reported
today. Adams,
giving her annual forecast at a breakfast for U.S. Bank customers,
predicted
3 percent growth in the economy for 2006, down from an estimated 3.5
percent
in 2005 and 4.2 percent in 2004. But that’s what she calls the
"glass
half-full" scenario. The "glass half-empty and leaking"
possibility
is a recession in 2006 or 2007. Adams remains concerned about consumer
debt,
unsustainable housing price increases and high oil prices. Her
href='http://www.coloradoeconomy.com'>forecast
was developed before the devastation of Hurricane Katrina.
href='http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/business/article/0,1299,DRMN_4_40…'>Read
the full story.
id='4'>Campaign
to Prevent Predatory Lending Launched in Northern Nevada
A coalition of
private and
public organizations launched a major public education campaign aimed
at preventing
predatory lending throughout Northern Nevada, PRNewswire reported
yesterday.
“The Northern Nevada Don’t Borrow Trouble” campaign
is a multimedia
strategy of brochures, Web site, radio, billboards and TV commercials
all aimed
at low- and moderate-income families around the state who are
vulnerable to
predatory lending. By combining advertising and face-to-face consumer
education
and housing counseling, the campaign helps consumers avoid abusive
lending practices.
Read
the full
story.
id='5'>Consumer
Confidence Lowest in Months
Consumer confidence
reached
its lowest level since just before Memorial Day last week, led by
declining
ratings of the national economy and a worsening outlook in the South,
ABC News
reported today. Hurricane Katrina may be playing a role, but the
decline predates
Katrina. The ABC News/Washington Post Consumer Comfort Index
has lost
seven points in the last three weeks, dropping from -7 to -14 on its
scale of
+100 to -100. The decline in the South, similarly, began before
Katrina hit.
href='http://abcnews.go.com/Business/story?id=1102255&page=1&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds…'>Read
more.
Airlines
id='6'>Chapter
11 Closing in for Delta, Northwest
Delta Air Lines
and Northwest
Airlines could be headed for bankruptcy protection this week, the
Chicago
Tribune reported today. That would leave the airline industry with
four
of its major players in chapter 11, unprecedented even for a business
with a
history of turmoil. For domestic travelers, it would mean that one of
every
two seats would be aboard a carrier in bankruptcy proceedings. Delta,
which
has been trying to downplay a scenario that analysts consider highly
likely,
acknowledged for the first time yesterday that despite efforts to cut
spending
and raise money, "bankruptcy remains a possibility."
Northwest, which
began replacing striking mechanics yesterday, said that it skipped
nearly $42
million in financing and other obligations due this month, and that it
faces
another $65 million pension payment by tomorrow.
href='http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0509140190sep14,1,17…'>Read
the full story.
id='7'>America
West Shareholders Approve Merger
America West
Airlines’
shareholders voted to approve the proposed US Airways Group
acquisition, BankruptcyData.com
reported today. America West reported that nearly 96 percent of its
shareholders
approved the acquisition agreement. Doug Parker, America West’s
chairman,
president and CEO, commented, "It’s a ringing endorsement
for what
we believe is a business plan that makes an extreme amount of sense,
provides
security for all of our employees, for our customers."
id='8'>Northwest
Stock Falls Amid Bankruptcy Tidings
Shares of Northwest
Airlines
plunged as much as 58 percent yesterday following a press report that
the carrier
could file for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection as early as today,
Reuters reported
yesterday.
href='http://today.reuters.com/news/newsarticle.aspx?type=businessNews&summit…'>The
Northwest board will meet today to decide whether or not to file
for bankruptcy
protection, the airline’s pilot union claimed late yesterday.
href='http://money.cnn.com/2005/09/13/news/fortune500/northwest.reut/index.htm'>Read
more.
id='9'>Griffin
Book Producer Files for Chapter 11
Griffin
Investigations Inc.,
which distributes lists of suspected cheaters and card counters to
casinos,
has filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, citing a defamation
lawsuit
filed against the company by gamblers who said that they were
improperly detained
at the Caesars Palace and Imperial Palace casinos, called cheaters and
arrested,
the Las Vegas Sun reported yesterday. Griffin, widely used by
Las Vegas
casinos, cited as its largest creditor the company’s attorneys
in the
case, who are owed $106,868.15 in legal fees. The company’s
second-largest
creditors are the gamblers who sued Griffin. Gamblers Michael Russo
and James
Grosjean are owed a court judgment of $105,000, according to
Griffin’s
bankruptcy filing. Griffin’s co-owners, Beverly and Robert
Griffin, are
each owed $74,000 and $50,000, respectively, in loans.
href='http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/business/2005/sep/13/51934906…'>Read
more.
id='10'>
Interstate Hiring Approvals Sought
Interstate Bakeries
filed
motions seeking U.S. Bankruptcy Court approval to retain Jefferson
Wells International,
BankruptcyData.com reported today. The company’s official
committee of
unsecured creditors filed a motion seeking court approval to retain
Paul D.
Sinclair of Shughart Thomson Kilroy as co-counsel.
id='11'>Anchor
Glass Container Notice Filed
Anchor Glass
Container filed
a notice with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for a response to and
objection of the
official committee of unsecured creditors to an emergency motion
seeking an
order authorizing relief from the automatic stay to recover property,
directing
the debtor to return the movant’s property in compliance with
the orders
of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court and authorizing the movant to seek
contempt of
court sanctions from the Court in the event of the debtor’s
continued
failure to comply, BankruptcyData.com reported today. A hearing will
be held
on Oct. 12, 2005.