
Bankruptcy filings drop to 10-year low

MICRA puts an artificial cap of $250,000 on pain and suffering damages in cases involving medical malpractice.
Last week, Judge Dennis Montali, presiding over the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of California, ruled that Bitcoin should be classified as “intangible personal property.”Source: US Bankruptcy Court’s ruling could help HashFast trustee recover $1.3 million » Brave New Coin
Last year, more than 700,000 individuals and couples filed for chapter 7 bankruptcy, the most popular type of consumer bankruptcy, which enables a court-appointed trustee to sell a person’s property to repay debts and then cancel the rest. About 2.1 million underwater homeowners had second liens at the end of the second quarter of 2014, said lawyers for Bank of America, citing a CoreLogic report. (Katy Stech, The Wall Street Journal)Monday’s ruling further clarifies a 1992 ruling from the Supreme Court regarding first mortgages that are “underwater”. The 1992 determination stated that bankrupt homeowners cannot have the lien cancelled under chapter 7 bankruptcy but did not address second mortgages. The last major bankruptcy code overhaul took place in 1978 when second mortgages were much less common. Source: The Wall Street Journal The National Advocates is interested in hearing from you. Let us know your thoughts and concerns about the ruling on our Facebook, Google+ and LinkedIn pages.