Recently in Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Category

An astonishing ten percent of national bank consumers switched from one bank to another financial institution, reports The Los Angeles Times. This number speaks to the effectiveness of the bank switching movement.

The reason behind the bank switching movement has mostly to do with bank fees. It used to be that the primary reason people switched banks was because of personal reasons; but the fees are the main reason now.

One big push in the switching movement was the "Bank Transfer Day" which took place last November.

T-Boz, the former member of the hit group TLC, does not seem to be as successful in declaring bankruptcies. It turns out that T-Boz’s third bankruptcy attempt was tossed by Judge James R. Sacca of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, reports the Wall Street Journal.

The kind of bankruptcy she had for is called a Chapter 13 Bankruptcy, as previously reported by FindLaw’s Atlanta Bankruptcy Law News. During a Chapter 13 bankruptcy, you will be required to make a structured repayment plan that shows how you will use your income to pay off your debts over time, typically three to five years.

In what must be getting hailed as great news all across the board, the U.S. unemployment rate is now the lowest since 2009, dropping below 9 percent, reports the Associated Press.

Is this a sign that the United States economy is back? No doubt President Obama will be happy.

The unemployment rate fell to 8.6 percent, the lowest since March 2009, reports the AP. That was just two months after the current President took office. Since then, the rate stayed higher than 9 percent for all but two months.

T-Boz, or Tionne Watkins, formerly of the group, TLC, has filed for bankruptcy protection, reports the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. T-Boz lives in Duluth, Georgia.

This is T-Boz's second attempt at a bankruptcy. She filed for bankruptcy earlier in the year but it was dismissed. Her problems have to do with a relative lack of income. She only makes $1,200 a month from her TLC royalties, her papers claim. She is also in arrears $105,000 on her primary mortgage. In addition, she claims to be owed $250,000 in child support arrears from former husband, the rapper Mack-10.

Bankruptcy filings in which an attorney was used have increased 98 percent over the last five years, reports The Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts Office of Public Affairs.

The study, which primarily focuses on “pro-se” bankruptcy filings — where a person doesn’t use an attorney to file — had a great deal to tell about other bankruptcy statistics as well.

Donald Trump, host of the TV show Apprentice, knows about overcoming bankruptcies. No surprise, then, that Trump will be bringing Teresa Giudice from Real Housewives of New Jersey to his show after she's overcome her own financial troubles, reports the NY Post.

Teresa Giudice, who has been on all four seasons of Real Housewives of New Jersey, previously faced bankruptcy with her husband Joe due to combined debts of nearly $11 million. The couple then decided to go on a repayment plan and addressed the claims of most of the creditors, reports People.

That the "housing bubble" is behind many of the financial woes facing Georgians these days has been pretty well-established. Yet, for the most part little has been done to tackle the problem head on. But now Atlanta area Wells Fargo branches are putting together an event at the Georgia World Congress Center aimed at keeping people in their homes, reports the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

The event at the Georgia World Congress Center, which will occur on Thursday and Friday of this week, is called the "home preservation workshop" and in it people can find out whether they are eligible for various modifications that might help them stay in their home.

You have to be a Wells Fargo customer, but there is still time to open up a simple account if you want to take advantage of this opportunity. Wells Fargo anticipates helping more than 2,000 people over the course of the two day period of the home preservation workshop.

Prominent Atlanta Businessman, William Johnson, the former owner of Ritz-Carlton, filed Chapter 11 Bankruptcy for a company through which he purchased a corporate jet, reports the Wall Street Journal.

A lawsuit by Amegy Bank filed in the U.S. District Court in Houston claims that William Johnson wrongly withheld money owed to the bank. Amegy Bank had put the money up for Johnson to buy his jet in exchange for what were supposed to be 825,427 shares in Host Hotels & Resorts, worth $9.7 mllion. But apparently, Johnson began missing payment deadlines.

Is it "ironic" if we say that our economy needs more bankruptcies?

Well, that's the message being delivered by some industry experts who say that the 8 percent decline in bankruptcies nationwide is just a sign that people can't afford to file and because there's little pressure from creditors to do so, reports the Atlanta Journal-Constitution in a detailed report.

Experts believe that we will know that the economy has turned for the good when the number of bankruptcy petitions increases. A good economy means more aggressive creditors and their aggression means more bankruptcies.

It's not often that issues of same-sex marriage are discussed in bankruptcy court, but a case in the Central District of California highlights just how there can be a need for the U.S. Bankruptcy Court to recognize the gay marriages.

According to Wall Street Journal, a legally married same-sex couple in California filed a joint petition for Chapter 13 bankruptcy protection in February. The U.S. Bankruptcy Code allows for any individual and his or her spouse to file a joint application. Yet the U.S. trustee's office asked the court to dismiss this case, claiming that the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) prohibits the bankruptcy court from recognizing the same-sex couple's marriage.