REUTERS Copyright (c) 2015 Thomson Reuters August 27, 2015 U.S. court approves Corinthian Colleges’ liquidation plan – WSJ Mansi Goenka (Reuters) – A U.S. bankruptcy judge has approved Corinthian Colleges Inc’s plan to liquidate its assets, facilitating the company’s final winding-down process, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday. The liquidating plan sets aside more than $4 million as debt relief to help former students pursue discharges for student loans incurred at Corinthian schools, the Journal said. (http://on.wsj.com/1VbZZo8) Corinthian was not immediately available for comment. Late last year, Corinthian sold off more than half its campuses after it was subject to multiple federal and state probes into matters as whether it misled investors and students about its finances and job placement rates. Corinthian abruptly closed…

As reported on Yahoo news: Rapper 50 Cent, real name Curtis James Jackson III, has reportedly filed for federal bankruptcy protection. US reports say he filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in an American District Court. This follows a ruling from a New York jury ordering him to pay five million US dollars (£3.2 million) in an invasion-of-privacy suit. A woman said that Jackson had acquired a video she had made with her boyfriend, added commentary and posted it online without her permission. In 2003 Jackson hit the big time when his album, Get Rich Or Die Tryin’ was an overnight success. So far there has been no comment from his agent.

As reported by Robin Miller of CBAR: A dream is over, as today in Bank of America, N. A. v. Caulkett, Case No. 13-1421 (June 1, 2015) the Supreme Court disallowed the stripping of wholly-unsecured liens in Chapter 7 cases. The court reasoned that, while a “straightforward reading” of Code § 506(a) and § 506(d) favored the debtor’s position,Dewsnup v. Timm, 502 U. S. 410 (1992) foreclosed it, as none of the reasons offered by the debtor for distinguishing between the partially-underwater mortgages at issue in Dewsnup and the wholly-underwater mortgages involved in the present case was “compelling.” The definition of the term “secured claim” in § 506(d) that Dewsnup settled on—that a claim is “secured” if it is “secured by a lien” and “has been fully allowed pursuant to §502”—does not depend on whether a…

The 5 Rules of Discharging Taxes If the income tax meets all five rules, then the tax debt is dischargeable in EITHER Chapter 7 or Chapter 13. 1. Federal Income Taxes Only: The taxes must be strictly for taxes on income (1040 Income Tax). Taxes such as payroll taxes, trust fund taxes, sales tax or fraud taxes cannot be eliminated in bankruptcy. 2. The 3 Year Rule: The tax return on which the tax debt arises must have been due at least three years before you file for bankruptcy. The due date includes any extensions. Generally speaking the due date is April 15 of the year the return is due. If an extension is filed, then it means August 15 or October 15 of that…

The Wall Street Journal reported today that the White House is weighing whether to make it easier for Americans to discharge student loans through bankruptcy. Federal law prohibits student loans — whether made by private lenders or the federal government — from being wiped out in bankruptcy, except in rare circumstances. In a presidential memorandum today, President Barack Obama directed administration officials to study whether to push for legislation to loosen the rules imposed on “all student loan borrowers” in the bankruptcy process. The effort was announced as part of a broad initiative the White House labeled a “Student Aid Bill of Rights.” The other steps under Obama’s plan include setting up a system for borrowers to register complaints about the companies, known as servicers,…

Bloomberg News reported that a group of Senate Democrats, led by Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, urged the government to offer relief to distressed borrowers, even if that dampens the profit it makes from collecting on people with outstanding loans. In a letter to Education Secretary Arne Duncan,the six senators wrote, “It is not the job of the Department of Education to maximize profits for the government at the cost of squeezing students.” The letter noted that a recent Congressional Budget Office estimate indicates that the federal government will recover over $100 billion from these loans in the next decade. BIG ED should make it easier for people to use the few tools available for demanding a refund on their student debt, the senators wrote. Borrowers…

Accoring to a USTP press release, the U.S. Trustee Program has entered into a national settlement agreement with JPMorgan Chase Bank which will require Chase to pay more than $50 million including cash payments, mortgage loan credits and loan forgiveness to over 25,000 homeowners who are or were in bankruptcy. Chase has also agreed to change internal operations and submit to oversight by an independent compliance reviewer. Chase acknowledges that, in bankruptcy courts around the country, it filed more than 50,000 payment change notices that were improperly signed, under penalty of perjury, by persons who had not reviewed the accuracy of the notices. Chase filed more than 25,000 notices signed in the names of former employees or of employees who had nothing to do with…