According to an article on the US Trustee website, random debtor audits, which were halted in January 2008 due to budgetary problems, will resume on May 12, 2008. The only change appears to be that instead of randomly auditing one out of each 250 cases filed, the UST will audit one out of each 1,000 […]

Brett Weiss was quoted in an article in the May 1, 2008 Salisbury Daily Times. The article, “Bankruptcy Reform May Have Exacerbated Foreclosure Crisis,” discussed the impact of the 2005 adoption of major pro-creditor changes to the Bankruptcy Code, called BAPCPA.
Mr. Weiss’ summary of BAPCPA may be found by clicking on this link.

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We’re often asked by new clients what we actually do for them. I thought I’d put a list together:

We let you answer your phone without your heart seizing with fear that it’s someone calling to collect a bill.
We give you room in your mailbox for birthday cards instead of bills.
We let your answering machine be […]

Brett Weiss was quoted in the January 25, 2008 issue of the Washington Business Journal in connection with the recent bankruptcy filing of one of his Chapter 11 developer clients. Weiss was quoted as saying, “We all know that the current housing market is lousy. And this is making things hard for a lot of […]

Brett Weiss is honored to announce that he has been named the January 2008 Member of the Month by the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys (NACBA).
As the NACBA site states, “NACBA members give generously of their time, energy, and finances to make the organization successful. They do this without expectation of recognition, […]

I’ve taken over a number of cases where a debtor prepared and filed the various bankruptcy documents without the help of an attorney–what is called filing pro se or pro per. Apart from the fact that the schedules generally have to be completely redone (the exemptions are usually wrong, debts are not listed, assets are […]

According to a recent article on the Bankruptcy Law Network by Kansas bankruptcy attorney Jill Michaux, the random and targeted audits of bankruptcy cases by the office of the U.S. Trustee have been suspended. The reason? Congress didn’t appropriate any money!
According to the U.S. Trustee website:
The FY 2008 Consolidated Appropriations Act, Public Law 110-161, […]

While traditionally, Maryland has not been the most homeowner-friendly state in terms of its foreclosure procedures, things have gotten far worse with the deepening of the mortgage crisis. According to State officials, Maryland has jumped from No. 40 to No 15 in foreclosures nationally. A recent article in The Washington Post summarizes the recommendations of […]

The Absolute Priority Rule (APR) is a long-established principle that in Chapter 11 cases creditors’ claims take priority over shareholders’ claims. Pre-BAPCPA, cases such as In re Gosman, 282 B.R. 45 (Bankr. S.D. Fla. 2002) held that the retention of even exempt property by an individual debtor in a Chapter 11 Plan violates the absolute […]

Brett Weiss has filed an amicus brief on behalf of NACBA, in a case before the Maryland Bankruptcy Court, In re Bellamy, Case No. 07-11332, The brief argues that debtor’s counsel’s fees must be paid as a priority administrative expense, before claims of secured and unsecured creditors; concurrent payment is not […]