Austin Bankruptcy Attorney Alex Wathen (512) 391-1886

Jeffery Toobin answers Alex Wathen's question about the lack of geographic and educational diversity on the Supreme Court.

Speaking at the State Bar of Texas Advanced Consumer Bankruptcy Seminar, CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin, acknowledged and agreed with Alex Wathen about the narrowness of the experience of members of the United States Supreme Court.  Alex Wathen pointed out that the Supreme Court Justices attended most Yale Law School and Harvard Law School and are mostly from the Northeast and if people with more diverse educational and geographical backgrounds were appointed we would have a Supreme Court with more diverse perspectives.

Bell County Kentucky Courthouse by W Marsh.

The County Clerk of Bell County Kentucky has filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy.  It shows that everyone including elected officials can have financial difficulties.  The changing face of bankruptcy now includes people with steady salaries for 25 years who hold prominent positions in their community.  I encourage you to read the court documents because I think you will be able to relate to her.  They read just like mainstream America unlike some of the celebrity filing I have reported on in the past.  I wish her the best of luck and hope she will take this opportunity to make other Americans realize that it is their own neighbors, friends, and family that are having difficulties.

Docket Report

Petition, Part 1, Part 2, Part 3.

Credit Counseling Certificate

Chapter 13 Plan

Read the documents the bankruptcy court sealed about Congressman Ruben E. Hinojosa's bankruptcy that he does not want you to see, like Congressman Anthony Weiner, he is hiding something it is just financial information.

The legal battle over Congressman Ruben E. Hinojosa’s sealed bankruptcy petition continues.  Bankruptcy Attorney and Blogger Alex Wathen has had his IT staff digitally repair one of the sealed entries Docket No. 27 the Amended petition so that most of it is readable.  It can be viewed here:

Sealed documents Congressman Hinojosa does not want you to read (second set)

The first set of documents consisting of the original petition is also available but in its entirety:

Sealed bankruptcy petition of Congressman Ruben E. Hinojosa.

This second set was obtained by Alex Wathen before they were sealed by the Court but it did not save correctly and was corrupted.  Most of the document has been able to be restored to some extent but not all pages.  It has not been readable until now.  The rest remains sealed pending Alex Wathen’s appeal of the sealing order.

It is ironic that a member of Congress who holds an office of trust of the United States is fighting efforts in court to unseal the sealed parts of his bankruptcy not only on the merits but he is arguing that no one else has the right to even have access to the courts to argue against his sealing of the documents.

I warmly recommend this book for anyone to use during and after a bankruptcy. It gives you detailed hard to find information about various credit card available to you not found anywhere else. Watch the video to find out more details on building your credit score during and after a bankruptcy.

Actor Stephen Baldwin has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Photo courtesy of www.lukeford.net.

Actor Stephen Baldwin and his wife filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last year to reorganize their finances.  Baldwin is best known for his appearances in the Young Riders, Threesome, and the Usual Suspects.  He is the brother of William, Daniel and Alec Baldwin.

They list a million dollar home in Rockland County, New York, a couple of businesses, and a couple of Volvos as assets among other things. Here you can read the important documents from their bankruptcy which is still ongoing including the list of all their assets (they provided so little detail that the average person who files bankruptcy would draw objections if they did it this way), and their monthly operating reports which are mandatory in Chapter 11. They appear to be overdue for May and June 2010, and appear to have filed late operating reports in the past assuming that they are due the 20th day of the month following the month that they are for. It is interesting so see how celebrities in bankruptcy live. Maybe it provides some comfort to you to understand that even people who seem to have it all still have problems and still file late reports.

Docket Report – Shows all events and Documents Filed Except Claims

Petition and Schedules Listing Liabilities

Certificates of Credit Counseling

More Schedules

Amended Schedules – Creditors

Operating Report – August 2009 – Part 1

Operating Report – August 2009 – Part 2

Operating Report – September 2009

Operating Report – October 2009

Operating Report – November 2009

Operating Report – December 2009

Operating Report – January 2010

Operating Report – February 2010 – Part 1

Operating Report – February 2010 – Part 2

Operating Report – February 2010 – Part 3

Operating Report – March 2010

Operating Report – April 2010 – Part 1

Operating Report – April 2010 – Part 2

Antoine Walker - Photo courtesy of www.ktown213.com

May 29, 2010 – Antoine Walker, former NBA player, has filed a petition for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in Miami, Florida. Walker’s attorney was paid $20,000 for the filing of which $10,000 was paid by Walker’s friend and University of Kentucky teammate Nazr Mohammed. The schedules listed four pieces of property including his $2.3 million dollar Miami home with a $3.6 million dollar mortgage on it. He listed $19,000 in household goods without giving a specific list, clothing valued at zero, and interestingly enough no books, no magazines, no collecrtibles such as plaques, certificates, or other memorabilia. Strange for a pro-athlete.

The documents are available for viewing here:

Antoine Walker Bankruptcy Court Docket Sheet as of May 28, 2010
Antoine Walker Bankruptcy Petition and Schedules of Assets and Liabilities
Antoine Walker Bankruptcy Creditors Meeting Notice
Antoine Walker Bankruptcy Credit Counseling Certificate
Antoine Walker Bankruptcy Statement of Intentions
Antoine Walker Bankruptcy Declaration Regrading Pay Advices
Antoine Walker Bankruptcy Means Test Exclusion Due to Business Debt
Antoine Walker Bankruptcy Declaration for Electronic Filing
Antoine Walker Bankruptcy Disclosure of Compensation of Attorney for Debtor
Antoine Walker Bankruptcy Certificate of Mailing of Creditors Meeting Notice
Antoine Walker Bankruptcy Notice of Appearance
Antoine Walker Bankruptcy Application to Employ
Antoine Walker Bankruptcy Order Granting Application to Employ

I would like to thank www.ktown213.com for the photograph.

As we know it is required for all individual bankruptcy filers with a few narrow exceptions to undergo credit counseling before filing. Until now all agencies have required a phone call in addition to an online component. Some offer an all telephone course. Now there is an agency that offers on all web and email course without a telephone component. Click to get started. On top of that this course is also free! It may take a few days for the counselors to respond so this course should be done only if you have at least a week before fil

Here are the six options available for handling secured collateral in Chapter 7:

1. Surrener
2. Redeem
3. Reaffirm
4. Reaffirm and Rescind
5. Reaffirm and Argue to the Judge to not approve the reaffirmation
6. “Ride Thru” or Keep and pay and not reaffirm.

Read the full story….

Bankruptcy in Austin, Texas

While I do not agree with Stephen’s general view of Chapter 13 and his expectations for people in bankruptcy, I think that the book is an invaluable source of information that you will need in order to get credit especially while in a Chapter 13 bankruptcy.

Here is my book review of Stephen Snyder’s book on getting credit in and after a Chapter 13: