This is Doug's area of primary interest. It has become particularly
interesting in the last few years as the banks and credit card companies
have been allowed to take advantage of unsuspecting consumers. Imagine my
surprise to find out that somewhere in my long legal career that the lobbyists
for the "financial" industry had managed to get an exception to Florida's usury
statute that allowed credit cards to charge 25% interest. With vigorish like that,
it probably won't be long unil the credit industtry is controlled by the mob.
As many of you have heard, the voices of conservatism have been industriously working to eviscerate the benefits of bankruptcy for consumers. The underlying philosophy of the bankruptcy code for many years has been that the overextended honest debtor gets a fresh start and the creditors get treated fairly. One major problem is that many creditors view this as a zero sum game and attempt to rig the game in their favor at the expense of the other players. Purchases of "luxury" items on credit has been frowned upon for many years by those who administer the bankruptcy law. The October, 2005 Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 (BAPCPA) didn't so much protect Consumers as it did protect credit card companies. Purchase of luxury items was prohibited within ninety days of filing bankruptcy. Now, Capital One, Chase and Citibank are hiring law firms to oppose the discharge of debtors who purchased the luxuries of groceries and paid their rent.
Representing Salvors in contested salvage claims and licensed mariners in Coast Guard License actions
Be careful if you decide to try a workout. I have had two agencies working for major credit card companies
offer reasonable settlements, and then when I accepted the offer and sent them a check, they tried
to act like it was a regular payment on account. Apparemtly this is not that unusual, there is a defense to a suit on debt
called