Posted by Sidney Diamond on Tue, Apr 28, 2009 @ 12:23 PM
Parties in control of Congress change, politicians that control the parties change, but it appears regardless of which party has the upper hand, the one thing that never changes is the people behind the scenes controlling the show. The bankruptcy bill that would give some protection back to the consumer is now stalled in the Senate, on the other hand, provisions that give businesses additional rights in bankruptcy, especially against the average guy trying to hang on to his job and support his family, is quietly moving through Congress and will probably end up being approved. There is also another law that received a great deal of publicity, when it passed Congress, dealing with the abusive tactics used by banks and other companies issuing credit cards. There is now a new proposed law that has been introduced in Congress that would push back the time that the law goes into effect by several years.
After you read this, I hope you are as angry as I am and you contact your representatives.
Posted by Sidney Diamond on Tue, Feb 24, 2009 @ 03:38 PM
According to multiple sources, including the American Bankruptcy Institute and the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Lawyers, efforts to amend the bankruptcy code to allow bankruptcy judges to modify home mortgage including reducing the outstanding debt to the current market value and modifying the interest rates to current rates is moving forward. It is not clear what the final legislation will look like inasmuch as there are multiple versions of the amendment being offered and there is bound to be last minute changes to the legislation as well as changes made to resolve differences between any bill passed by the Senate and the Congress. WHAT'S IMPORTANT IS SOME TYPE OF RELIEF IS ON THE WAY.
One of the things that is lost in the confusion over the various provisions of the stimulus package is that the amendment to the bankruptcy code will cost the American Taxpayer nothing. Absolutely no funds are needed for this amendment to be implemented.
Posted by Sidney Diamond on Wed, Feb 11, 2009 @ 07:44 AM
A consumer being harassed by ‘Debt Collectors' has significant rights under federal law: including the right to demand that a Creditor stop communicating with you. Under the "Debt Collection Practices Act", a federal statute, there are two (2) ways to stop those harassing phone calls or for that matter any form of communication to you.
1- To inform the Creditor that you are being represented by an attorney and providing the Creditor with the name, address and telephone number of the attorney you have hired. The applicable provision can be found in Section 1692c(a)(2) of the Statute.
- 2- Write a letter to the Creditor informing the Creditor that you are not going to pay the debt and that you wish all forms of communication to stop. The applicable provision can be found in Section 1692c(c).