When Can Bankruptcy Be Helpful?

I know I know it sounds stupid, but bankruptcy can be helpful.  Here is a quick list of a few ways that it can be a positive situation in your life:

• In a lot of situations you can actually improve your credit as you are lifted out from under your debt.
• You can give yourself breathing room to rebuild your credit by staying on payment plans for loans on your car and mortgage.
• Creditors will get off your back and cease those almost harassing phone calls.
• A lot of items are exempt such as your car and others for your home and professional life.  You will be able to keep these.
• For the most part, filing for bankruptcy will not limit you in the future from moving on and acquiring or owning personal property
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United States Bankruptcy laws differ from state to state and vary from one situation to another.  For that reason, it may be in your best interest to consult with a bankruptcy attorney to see what all of your options are to make sure it serves you in the best fashion.

Peter Cammarano III - Hoboken's Youngest Mayor Sentenced to 2 Years

Peter Cammarano III, the former mayor of Hoboken, New Jersey has been sentence to two years in a federal prison for having accepted $25,000 in bribes.  His arrest came after only 3 weeks of becoming Hoboken’s mayor.  This past April, Peter pleaded guilty to conspiracy and extortion to a federal judge.  According to the U.S. attorney’s office Cammarano accepted bribes from a government witness posed as a real estate developer in exchange for Hoboken government assistance in the future.  In total, he accepted three cash payments, two while he was a councilman at large and the last after being sworn in as Hoboken’s mayor.

“Operation Bid Rig” was an FBI money-laundering investigation that captured 44 civic officials including Cammarano.

According to the U.S. attorney’s office, this is one of the state’s largest political corruption scandals.  Along with the 24 month prison sentence, Cammarano must pay back the $25,000 as well as serve an additional years of supervised release after his prison term.  He is free on bond as of now and scheduled to surrender on September 20^th in order to begin his prison sentence.

GM- Bankruptcy – Rising From the Dead?

GM filled for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on June 1^st 2009 and has been emerging out of out that status ever since July 10^th 2009.   Prior to this, GM was a king in the business world so to speak and had a history of being one of the wealthiest and largest companies in the country and world.  On the onset of General Motors bankruptcy, the United States government committed themselves to provide $30 million to the company in order for them to restructure themselves and compete with Asian auto makers who operate at a lower-cost.  Eventually, it ended up being a taxpayers undertaking of about $64 billion.  The timeline of GM’s bankruptcy proved to be eventful and costly to say the least.

Ever since rising from bankruptcy about a year ago, GM (which is owned by the U.S. government)  has either added or recalled 6,900 employees in the United States and posted first quarter profits of $865 million.  Of which, 1,100 of those jobs are located in Michigan.  The employment has bolted by even more in their Canadian facilities by 2,770 employees.

With the rise and fall of one of the greatest American companies, there are sure to be lessons learned.  Check out this insightful Wall Street Journal article by Paul Ingrassia on some of the lessons to be derived by the GM bankruptcy as a nation.

What do you think are some of the biggest lessons we could all derived from the GM bankruptcy?