As the cost of food and gas begin to crowd out other expenses, and access to credit is limited by the mortgage meltdown, a “widening wave of bankruptcies in American retailing” is threatening the economy, says the NYT.
bankruptcy
Use Your Gift Certificates: Linens 'N Things Expected To File Bankruptcy Tuesday
By 4.13.08
If, as the market price implies, Linens ‘n Things noteholders expect to recover just one-third of face value on their debt, woe to the equity holders, Apollo Management, National Realty & Development Corporation and Silver Point Capital. Their stock is almost sure to be wiped out.
Frontier Airlines Joins Airline Bankruptcy Conga Line
By 4.11.08
Frontier Airlines has joined the conga line of bankrupt airlines today, according to a statement from the company.
What To Do If You Hold Skybus Tickets
By 4.5.08
Defunct budget airline Skybus plans to issue full refunds to all ticket holders. The airline announced last night that they were done flying less than two weeks after former CEO Bill Diffenderffer quit to pursue a book-writing career. While everyone who hasn’t yet traveled will soon be reunited with their cash, what about passengers who are in the middle of a trip? Let’s ask Air Force Sergeant Gary Patterson.
Customers Holding ATA Vouchers Are Sad, Angry
By 4.3.08
Reader Jake writes in to share the story of how he came to be the proud owner of a now-worthless ATA voucher:
Getting Back On Your Feet When You Have Lots Of Bad Student Loan Debt
By 3.21.08
Reader Jennifer sent the following letter to a few lawyers looking for some help with SallieMae. They told her that there was nothing she could do and to negotiate with the lender and to start making payments:
Brookstone Will Let You Use Your Sharper Image Gift Card As A 25% Off Coupon
By 3.11.08
Brookstone says they will accept your Sharper Image Gift Card. Sort of.
Shaper Image Will Accept Gift Cards Only If You Buy Something 2x The Card's Value
By 3.7.08
The Shaper Image says that it will resume redemption of gift cards, but there’s a catch.
The Sharper Image Suspends Acceptance Of Gift Cards Due To Bankruptcy
By 2.22.08
Despite issuing a press release claiming that they will “continue to conduct business as usual,” The Shaper Image has suspended redemption of all gift certificates after filing for bankruptcy late on Tuesday.
Sharper Image Files Chapter 11, Will Close Half Of Their Stores
By 2.20.08
Hey want to buy an “ionic air filter”? You don’t? Is it because of that annoying class action lawsuit? Hey guess what? You’re not the only one! After losing a class action lawsuit Sharper Image ” said in court papers it fell victim to “negative publicity” as it fought lawsuits over its Ionic Breeze air purifiers.”
By 2.5.08
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Furniture retailer Wickes has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. [Chicago Sun-Times]
Bankruptcies Up 40% In 2007
By 1.4.08
Although December marked a slight decrease in Chapter 13 filings from November, 2007 overall logged a whopping 40% rise in the number of bankruptcy filings compared to 2006, reports the Wall Street Journal—over 800,000 filings in 2007, versus around 570,000 the previous year.
MAXjet Goes Bankrupt, Strands Passengers On Christmas Eve
By 12.26.07
On Monday, the young all-business-class airline MAXjet filed for bankruptcy protection and ceased all operations, “leaving jets on tarmacs and stranding passengers on Christmas Eve.” To compensate, the airline has been booking hotel rooms through early January 2008 in the four cities it served, and trying to arrange for other airlines to take on their passengers—”Continental Airlines and Silverjet Aviation Ltd., another all-business class carrier, said they would honor limited numbers of MAXjet tickets.”
The Subprime Meltdown From The Perspective Of A Housing Counselor
By 12.11.07
Coppedge saw it coming in slow motion. Around this time last year, she was mostly dealing with renters who were behind on payments. Rarely did she counsel at-risk homeowners. When she did, they were usually suffering a one-time setback such as job loss.
From $2 Million To Foreclosure On An Ameriquest Subprime Mortgage
By 12.5.07
Frances Joy Taylor had had about $2 million in assets, which she intended to leave to her church, before she met a businessman named Tyrone Dash. Dash took over her affairs and “methodically liquidated or leveraged almost everything she owned: her bank accounts and securities, her insurance policies, her credit cards, her two apartment buildings and, ultimately, her home,” says the Seattle Times. Frances suffers from Alzheimer’s.
Update: Dubious Fees For Homeowners Facing Foreclosure
By 11.12.07
Last week we talked about a NYT article about a bankruptcy professor who has been looking at fees loan services are charging and how she found many of them to be dubious and/or inexplicable. For example, by looking at all the defaulted loans being paid off under chapter 13 bankruptcy, she found millions of dollars of difference between what the debtor thought they owed and what the loan service said was owed. Some of that was due to the insertion of questionable fees, like “fax fees” and “demand fees.” There was a front-page NYT article on it, and now you can download the paper that started it all, Misbehavior and Mistake in Bankruptcy Mortgage Claims (PDF).
Dubious Fees For Homeowners Facing Foreclosure
By 11.7.07
The New York Times today took a look at the work of Katherine M. Porter, associate professor of law at the University of Iowa, and bankruptcy specialist. She’s been taking a closer look at the fees that some loan servicers are charging homeowners who are in foreclosure. She’s determined that some of the fees are “questionable.”
