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April 17, 2006
name='1'>Commentary: Bankruptcy Law Reforms Punish Lawyers, Middle
Class
While it is difficult to
tell who has benefited from the tightened regulations of the new
bankruptcy law, it is certain is that it has not been lawyers or
families in debt, according to an editorial in the
face='Times New Roman' size='3'>St. Louis Daily Record
size='3'>on Saturday. According to a report issued earlier this month by
the
face='Times New Roman' size='3'>National
size='3'>Bankruptcy
w:st='on'>
size='3'>Research
face='Times New Roman'
size='3'>Center
banking analysts Lundquist Consulting Inc., first-quarter bankruptcy
filings for 2006 plunged 73 percent when compared to the first quarter
of 2005. The reduction, from 381,743 cases to 102,949 cases, is directly
attributed to changes in the law that took effect late last year with
passage of the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act
of 2005. 'We've seen a steep decline in the number of bankruptcies we've
filed,' said St. Charles County, Mo.-based bankruptcy lawyer Rory
Ellinger. Ellinger stressed that a reduced number of filings does not
mean there is any automatic reduction in the number of families facing
financial hardship or creditors attempting to collect on debt. Ellinger
is among an unknown number of bankruptcy lawyers who have experienced a
reduced caseload, as many firms have been forced to cut the employees as
a result.
href='http://www.blackenterprise.com/yb/ybopen.asp?section=ybbf&story_id=9190…'>Read
more.
name='2'>Trustee Sues Firm Affiliated with H&R
Block
A Florida bankruptcy
trustee sued an accounting firm affiliated with H&R Block Inc.,
alleging that the auditor failed to properly notify markets of
misleading statements made by a client, the Wall Street
Journal reported on Saturday. The trustee,
Lewis B. Freeman, claims McGladrey & Pullen LLP gave investors a
false sense of security that led to losses when a client later went
bankrupt. Freeman is suing McGladrey and RSM McGladrey Inc., a tax and
business advisory services business. The two Minnesota-based firms are
legally separate, but affiliated; RSM McGladrey is an indirect, wholly
owned subsidiary of H&R Block. Freeman is the court-appointed
trustee of E.S. Bankest L.C., a Florida-based finance firm that
collapsed in mid-2003. In 2001 and 2003, Bankest purchased stock in
Stratesec Inc. in exchange for canceling debt owed it by the company.
Stratesec, which was audited by McGladrey until early 2001, filed for
bankruptcy protection in April 2004, leaving E.S. Bankest with worthless
stock and debts owed of about $9 million, according to Mr. Freeman's
lawsuit. Freeman claims Bankest wouldn't have invested in Stratesec, or
continued doing business with it, if the company had known of a dispute
between Stratesec and McGladrey.
href='http://online.wsj.com/article/SB114505945244326593-email.html'>Read
more. (Registration required)
w:st='on'>
name='3'>Iowa
size='3'> Bankruptcy Filings on the Rise
Personal bankruptcy
filings in
face='Times New Roman' size='3'>Iowa
have begun to climb again, after falling dramatically in
late 2005, the Des
Moines Register reported yesterday. Bankruptcy
petitions filed in
w:st='on'>
size='3'>Iowa
in March. While just a fraction of the 5,404 filed in October, it
is five times the number filed in November. Bankruptcy courts in
size='3'>Denver
w:st='on'>
size='3'>Milwaukee
others, are reporting similar rises in filings. Mary
Weibel, clerk of the
face='Times New Roman' size='3'>Des Moines
size='3'>court, said statisticians at the court's national offices
in
size='3'>Washington
w:st='on'>
size='3'>D.C.
that by the end of this year, filings could be back at the pace they set
in 2004 when an average of 1,050 Iowans filed for bankruptcy each month.
Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa.), a key proponent of the overhaul, said
current filing statistics leave him 'hard-pressed to believe that we'd
be at the 2004 numbers by the end of the year.'
face='Times New Roman' size='3'>Samuel Gerdano
size='3'>, executive director of the American Bankruptcy Institute,
called the projection 'fanciful.' 'This is not the stock market. This is
not something that's going to move from day to day,' Gerdano
said.
href='http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060416/BUSINE…'>Read
more.
In related news, it is
too early to tell whether the debt-counseling classes will keep
size='3'>Iowa
numbers from reaching record levels again, the
face='Times New Roman' size='3'>Des Moines Register
size='3'>reported yesterday. Critics charge that the courses add an
unneeded layer or bureaucracy to the process, as well as cost typically
$60 for both classes. 'I get the feeling the legislation is working the
way it was intended,' said Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa). Grassley was
a key driver behind the new law, and he said that in all of his visits
to
size='3'>Iowa
bill took effect, he has heard only one comment about reform and it was
supportive. Sam
Gerdano said he wasn't surprised that
pre-filing counseling wasn't producing an alternative to bankruptcy.
'Most people are at the end of their ropes' with bills, he said.
href='http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060416/BUSINE…'>Read
more.
Airlines
name='4'>Delta, Pilots
Agree on Contract and Avert
Strike
Delta Air Lines Inc., the
largest
face='Times New Roman'
size='3'>U.S.
size='3'>carrier in bankruptcy, agreed with its pilots union on a
tentative contract, avoiding a strike and clearing an obstacle in its
effort to survive as an independent carrier, Bloomberg News reported on
Friday. Delta and the union provided no details in announcing the
agreement today. The union's top council still must decide whether to
send it to Delta's 6,000 pilots for a vote, the Air Line Pilots
Association said. The contract is subject to bankruptcy court approval.
Beyond the pilots' dispute, Delta's management has said that a revenue
shortage could force the Atlanta-based carrier from chapter 11
protection into liquidation. The bankruptcy case is In re: Delta Air
Lines Inc., No. 05- 17923, U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Southern
District of New York.
href='http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000006&sid=aqpBSkszAb_0&refe…'>Read
more.
name='5'>American Airlines' CEO's Novel Strategy: No
Bankruptcy
Gerard Arpey, CEO of
American Airlines, might have an easier time competing with leaner
carriers if not for trying to avert a bankruptcy filing three years ago,
the Wall Street
Journal reported today. While competitors
shaved their debt and cut costs to levels below those at American, Arpey
continues to slash costs and seek more revenue just as he did when he
abruptly became chief executive of American Airlines and its AMR Corp.
parent three years ago. In April 2003, American's board turned to Arpey,
then president and chief operating officer, to rescue disastrous labor
negotiations after former CEO Don Carty resigned amid an uproar over
hiding executive bonuses. American had been asking union employees to
take pay cuts and was within hours of filing bankruptcy when Mr. Arpey
stepped in to help finalize the crucial labor deals.
face='Times New Roman' size='3'>Arpey, who started at American in 1982
as a financial analyst, said he took action so American could control
its own destiny. 'Bankruptcy, by definition, really puts the problem in
the hands of somebody else,' he said. His intent is to 'ingrain into the
fabric of this company that to be successful we have to work together
(with unions) or we will fail ultimately.'
href='http://online.wsj.com/article/SB114522834175627148.html?mod=us_business…'>Read
more (registration required).
Court
OKs New Deadline for Twinkie Maker
Interstate Bakeries Corp.
said a federal bankruptcy judge has approved extending the deadline for
the maker of Hostess Twinkies and Wonder Bread to file its restructuring
plan, according to the Associated Press on Friday. U.S. Bankruptcy
Judge Jerry
Venters has given the Kansas City-based
company until Sept. 22 to file the reorganization plan. The earlier
deadline to file a plan was May 18. Since filing for bankruptcy, the
company has shuttered nine bakeries, closed 200 distribution centers and
300 thrift stores, sold $84 million in real estate, cut the number of
distribution routes by 29 percent to 6,500, and eliminated about 6,000
positions.
href='http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/14/AR20060…'>Read
more.
name='7'>Publisher of Alaska-Themed Books Files for
Bankruptcy
Graphic Arts Center
Publishing Co. of
face='Times New Roman' size='3'>Portland
size='3'>,
size='3'>Ore.
parent of longtime regional publisher Alaska Northwest Books, filed for
chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last week, according to the
Anchorage Daily News
yesterday. In a letter sent to the authors and other
vendors, Graphic Arts noted that increased costs due to unfavorable
loans and its failure to secure new capital from its principle lender,
GMAC, forced the company -- along with its two sister organizations,
Lincoln & Allen Co., a book bindery, and Haagen Acquisition Co., a
printing firm -- to seek bankruptcy protection to restructure its
finances. While the publishing group reorganizes over the next six
months, Graphic Arts will continue to distribute its inventory of about
490 active titles including a wide array of
w:st='on'>
size='3'>Alaska
size='3'>guidebooks, photo books, local histories, memoirs and
children's literature, as well as similar books that focus on the lower
48 states, Graphic Arts Regional Manager Sara Juday said.
href='http://www.adn.com/life/story/7633235p-7544903c.html'>Read
more.
name='8'>Commentary: Dealers Rally Behind Struggling General
Motors
As General Motors works
through financial difficulties, many of the 7,400 dealers who sell GM
vehicles are looking to assist the troubled automaker, the
Washington Post
reported today. Some of the most influential dealers in
the country purchased full-page advertisements in the trade and business
press rallying behind GM vehicles and its embattled chief executive,
Rick Wagoner. Allegiance, fear of change and the sizable investments
these dealers have in GM products factor into their pledge to support a
company that continues to sell vehicles to one of every four people who
buy cars or trucks in the United States. Still, the outpouring of
support seems unusual, coming from a group that has long complained
about its lack of leverage with GM. Especially given the fact that many
dealers run multi-franchise operations and do not need GM products to
stay in business, unlike 15 years ago. Because of GM's weakened
competitive state, 'dealers can put as much or as little attention as
they want on GM,' which might explain why the automaker has begun
listening more intently to its dealers and granting them more access to
GM's top executives, said Art Spinella, president of CNW Marketing
Research Inc. in Bandon, Ore.
href='http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/16/AR20060…'>Read
more.
name='9'>Bankruptcy Reform Calls for Ombudsman in Health
Cases
One obscure provision of
the new bankruptcy law is having a big effect on
w:st='on'>
size='3'>Baltimore
care lawyer Laura Katz, a partner at Saul Ewing LLP, who is one of the
first people in the country to be named a 'patient care ombudsman' in a
health care bankruptcy case, the
size='3'>Baltimore Business Journal reported
on Friday. The new law requires that when any health care company files
bankruptcy, the court must appoint an outside party to monitor patient
care. Katz will report to the bankruptcy court on patient care in the
chapter 11 case of Rockville-based Atlantic Health Services, whose
clients include public school systems. If the early motions in Katz's
case are any indication, the new bankruptcy law will cross paths
frequently with HIPAA, the huge federal health care law safeguarding
patient privacy.
href='http://www.bizjournals.com/baltimore/stories/2006/04/17/focus2.html?t=p…'>Read
more.
name='10'>IRS Hires Collection Companies, Upsets
size='3'>
The Internal Revenue
Service has hired private collection agencies to pursue people who have
acknowledged debts but not settled their tax bills, beginning this
summer, the Baltimore
Sun reported on Friday. The government
selected three companies last month to begin the first two-year phase of
the program. The federal employees who do this work are angry because
their own ranks have been scaled back in recent years as their workload
has grown. The agency has selected Linebarger Goggan Blair & Sampson
LLP of Austin, Texas; CBE Group of
w:st='on'>
size='3'>Waterloo
w:st='on'>
size='3'>Iowa
Credit Recovery of Arcade, N.Y., for the job. The effort had recently
stalled after companies who lost bids for the work protested to the
Government Accountability Office.
href='http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/harford/bal-ho.federal14apr14,0,…'>Read
more.
name='11'>South Florida Counties Reporting Some Delinquencies to
Credit Bureaus
Throughout
Florida
proactively looking to collect the hundreds of thousands of dollars in
unpaid fees and fines from residents by reporting the delinquencies to
major credit bureaus, the
size='3'>Miami Herald reported yesterday.
Depending on the locality, everything from unpaid solid waste bills to
fees for cremation documents from the medical examiner could end up
knocking points off an individual's credit score. In addition to
property tax and utility liens and any judgement logged in the public
record, ''just about any type of consumer debt owed to the county is
eligible for reporting to the credit bureau,'' said Lucien Hope, who
manages credit and collections for
w:st='on'>
size='3'>Miami-Dade
w:st='on'>
size='3'>County
governments, at both the municipal and county level, have long
outsourced delinquent accounts to collection agencies, sometimes
authorizing those agencies to let the country's biggest three credit
bureaus -- Experian, Equifax and TransUnion -- know a debt has not been
settled.
face='Times New Roman' size='3'>Miami-Dade
size='3'>County
of courts, for instance, is discussing whether to report unpaid traffic
and parking tickets as well as misdemeanor and felony offenses and court
fees. ''We have advised the collection agencies to let the individuals
know that we reserve the right to refer them to the credit bureau,''
said Martha Alcazar, the comptroller for the
w:st='on'>
size='3'>Miami-Dade
w:st='on'>
size='3'>County
size='3'>clerk.
href='http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/business/14352223.htm'>Read
more.
name='12'>Pension Obligations May Affect
w:st='on'>
size='3'>Illinois
Rating, Agency Says
One of the big credit
rating agencies has given
w:st='on'>
size='3'>Illinois
'negative outlook'
size='3'>rating based on concern that the state may not be able to meet
its growing pension obligations without spending cuts or tax increases,
the Associated Press reported Friday.
w:st='on'>
size='3'>Illinois
$39 billion funding shortfall in its pension funds and costs continue to
grow. This year, the state diverted $1.6 billion to its pensions. The
negative outlook issued on Thursday comes as legislators are struggling
to pass a budget that could scale back scheduled payments to the pension
funds for the second year in a row. The rating shows that
size='3'>Illinois
increasing pressure to make annual pension payments beginning next year
that are $1 billion to $2 billion higher than in the state budget under
consideration.
href='http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/illinoisstatenews/sto…'>Read
more.