Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
According to court records, bankruptcy filings in all of West Virginia rose by 27 percent in 2009.
Nationally, bankruptcy filings increased by 32 percent last year.
U.S. Bankruptcy Court Northern District administrator Mike Sturm said the number of bankruptcy filings in the 32-county district rose by an estimated 40 percent in 2009.
Proops said the most commonly filed type of bankruptcy is Chapter 7 , which is liquidation of assets. It may take up to six months to discharge, or close, the case.
The U.S. Bankruptcy Courts, which are units of the district courts, exercise the bankruptcy jurisdiction established by statute and referred to them by their respective district courts. Although the Constitution grants the Congress authority to establish uniform bankruptcy laws, for much of the nation’s history the federal courts did not have any bankruptcy jurisdiction.
In the nineteenth century, three short-lived statutes assigned the federal courts responsibility for the administration of bankruptcy cases. An act of 1800 (2 Stat. 19, repealed in 1803) authorized judges of the district courts to appoint commissioners who would oversee the discharge of debts in each bankruptcy case. In an 1841 act (5 Stat. 440, repealed in 1843), Congress granted the district courts “jurisdiction in all matters and proceedings in bankruptcy” and charged the courts with formulating rules for bankruptcy proceedings. Under the act (14 Stat. 517) that governed federal bankruptcy from 1867 to 1878, Congress for the first time referred to the district courts as “constituted courts of bankruptcy,” with original jurisdiction in all bankruptcy matters. The district courts were to be open at all times for bankruptcy business, and the district judges were authorized to appoint registers to assist in the administration of such cases.
The 1898 bankruptcy act (30 Stat. 544), which was in effect for eighty years, again designated the U.S. district courts to serve as courts of bankruptcy. The act established the position of referee: referees were appointed by district judges to oversee the administration of bankruptcy cases and to exercise certain judicial responsibilities referred by the district court. Subsequent acts expanded the referees’ judicial powers.
By the 1960s, the rise in consumer bankruptcy and congestion in the federal courts led to proposals for reform of the nation’s bankruptcy laws. As part of a broad plan to revise the bankruptcy code, the congressionally chartered Commission on Bankruptcy Laws of the United States recommended the establishment of independent bankruptcy courts within the federal judiciary. The Bankruptcy Reform Act of 1978 (92 Stat. 2657) conferred original bankruptcy jurisdiction on the district courts and established a bankruptcy court in each judicial district to exercise bankruptcy jurisdiction. The act provided that the new bankruptcy courts would be considered adjuncts of the district courts but would be presided over by bankruptcy judges appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate for fourteen-year terms, beginning in 1984. In the meantime the incumbent referees would serve as bankruptcy judges.
In Northern Pipeline Construction Co. v. Marathon Pipe Line Co. (458 U.S. 50), the Supreme Court in 1982 declared unconstitutional the grant of bankruptcy jurisdiction to independent courts composed of judges who did not have life tenure and the other protections of Article III of the Constitution. In response to the Court’s recommendations that Congress restructure the bankruptcy courts, the Bankruptcy Amendments and Federal Judgeship Act of 1984 (98 Stat. 333) conferred bankruptcy jurisdiction on the district courts and authorized the district courts to refer any or all matters falling within that jurisdiction to the bankruptcy judges for the district. The 1984 act also provided that bankruptcy judges would be appointed by the courts of appeals. Under current practice, district courts automatically refer bankruptcy cases and proceedings to the bankruptcy court. A bankruptcy court is authorized to decide all referred business, except in limited matters known as “non-core” proceedings. If one of the parties does not consent to entry of a judgment by the bankruptcy judge in these proceedings, the bankruptcy court may only hear the matter and submit proposed findings of fact and conclusions of law to the district court. The district judge then enters the final order, which is subject to review by the courts of appeals or bankruptcy appellate panels.
Alright, End the Fed, NAFTA, usury credit, and all the stupid policies that got us in the mess we're in. I didn't say the Fed makes bankruptcy law, but the Fed certainly affects the value of the dollar in your pocket.
Next up, someone to blame all the bankruptcies on irresponsible borrowers.
I'm sorry, but hearing this 'End the Fed' stuff as a rallying call for every blessed ill is maddening.
Your friendly bankruptcy laws (as frekin' lax as they are) can be blamed on your elected officials, not the 'Fed'.
No f*ck it- end the fed, because Congress can do a better job than an independent board of governors that actually work. Hell- might as well let a drunken sailor have the keys to the bar AND the Ferrari.
Not to be disrespectful here, but it sounds like you really don't know what has been going on. They aren't "my" bankruptcy laws, and they were changed just a few years ago to stem at least some of the abuse.
None of these problems have occurred in a vacuum, the life's blood of the economy is intertwined with the policies.
"If the American public knew what we had done to them, they would chase us down the street and lynch us."
The standard of living has been steadily declining for decades, bit by bit. A relative few live in the illusion of the American dream, mainly due to being in debt to the hilt, and this too will end. When you pull the rug from under the indebted, you get a tsunami of bankruptcy. There are anecdotes of successful frugality sprinkled in the mix, but in my opinion, they are in minority.
Wages have been stagnant, even declining. The dollar buys a lot less than it did in the 50s. The reporting of numbers is fudged to the point that it's difficult to see what is really out there. Just quoting off the top of my head here, it's been said, comparing the buying power of 1950s dollars to today, back then people were making $154/hr. Now it's necessary to have more than one wage earner in the household, and in many cases more than one job per person, just to survive.
We have retirees living on fixed incomes, quietly waiting for the next cost of living adjustment. For 2010 and 2011, there will be no COLA because the government says there was no inflation. Yet nearly every day there's mention of inflation affecting consumers.
I'm getting off track here, and out of time, but I think you may see what I meant. One thing leads to another and Ross Perot was right, it's that giant sucking sound come home to roost. I've said it a hundred times, when American consumers have no jobs, who in America will buy the products produced elsewhere for higher profit margins?
Just got a copy of Dr. Paul's book, End The Fed, I'll see what he thinks about it.
No I guess not. A lifelong career in banking, finance and economics certainly doesn't lend itself very well to understanding bankruptcy laws, the federal reserve system nor the impact of dollar valuations relative to CPI/GDP.
Maybe I should begin gleaning information and forming conclusions from populist positions, that makes more sense I guess.
Carry on.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
