Struggling with financial difficulties can be one of lifes most stressful challenges. If you find yourself facing foreclosure, repossession, lawsuits, tax problems, overwhelming credit card debt, or are finding it difficult to pay your monthly bills, it is time to seek professional guidance. For various reasons, people often wait too long before looking for help with their financial struggles and in some instances do not realize they are facing a financial crisis until it is too late. Signs that you are sinking into a financial crisis include robbing Peter to pay Paul, doing balance transfers to be able to pay off credit card debt, borrowing from your retirement plan, taking equity out of your homestead to service debt, taking out payday or title loans or simply running out of money before you run out of month.

Houston bankruptcy attorney Vicky Fealy, is Board Certified in Consumer Bankruptcy Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. For more than 20 years, she has advised individuals and small businesses regarding various options when facing financial difficulties. She has provided expert bankruptcy legal representation for thousands of Houston consumers and businesses regarding issues such as Chapter 7 bankruptcy, Chapter 13 bankruptcy, Chapter 11 bankruptcy, Credit card debt, IRS Problems, Repossessions, Judgments, Foreclosures, Bankruptcy Litigation, Business Liquidation, Business Reorganization and stopping Creditor Harassment.

After years of representing thousands of clients, Vicky Fealy knows few people plan to file for bankruptcy, but life situations can force anyone into a financial crisis. Due to her experience, she understands the stressful situations that cause people to contemplate filing bankruptcy. Loss of job, medical issues, divorce, loss of overtime, unexpected emergencies, or simple poor financial decisions can all be contributing factors to financial difficulties. Board certified Houston bankruptcy attorney Vicky Fealy meets personally with you and delivers the highest quality, confidential legal services with compassion and skill. She believes firmly that it is her duty to inform you of your legal rights and options in the most caring, straight forward manner possible.

When you are contemplating bankruptcy, it is critical to understand your legal rights. Bankruptcy laws are in place to protect consumers and companies from financial ruin and the potential to be abused by creditors. By allowing individuals and businesses to have their qualifying debts eliminated or reorganized, bankruptcy offers all Americans a second chance at controlling their debt and a fresh start.

Houston Bankruptcy attorney Vicky Fealy has more than twenty years experience helping clients take control over their finances and get back on their feet. Her years of experience devoted to exclusively practicing bankruptcy law have enabled her to develop strong professional relationships in the bankruptcy courts while also developing her professional skills as a bankruptcy lawyer.

She considers it a privilege to provide you with a free consultation in which she can examine your specific circumstances in depth. During this consultation you will be provided with a full evaluation of your financial situation and an explanation of the options that are available. This consultation is free and confidential and you will be given an opportunity to ask any questions you may have. You are under no obligation to file bankruptcy and will be advised of all of the options related to your particular circumstances. If you choose to file bankruptcy, Vicky Fealy and her team at The Fealy Law Firm, PC will be with you every step of the way to help you navigate the entire process from your initial consultation to the discharge of your debts.

Vicky Fealy has years of experience in advising clients on the road to financial recovery. Don't allow your financial problems to threaten your business, health, marriage, retirement savings or employment stability. Timing is often critical and you really need to seek advice early - before you have no options.

We are a Debt Relief Agency. We help people file for bankruptcy relief under the Bankruptcy Code. We have done so proudly since 1992.

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Houston bankruptcy attorney

We provide services on family law and bankruptcy. You may call us toll free. Busby & Associates is a law firm that offers professional legal services in the following areas of law: debt consolidation, consumer bankruptcy and family law. We are a debt-relief agency. We help people file for bankruptcy under the Bankruptcy Code. If you need a bankruptcy lawyer in Houston, we are the firm to call. Busby & Associates will respond quickly, providing answers to your questions regarding a Texas bankruptcy, divorce or other family law matters. Our law firm offers discounted attorney's fees. We offer individual attention and high quality professional legal services. Contact us today! Services include but not limited to Chapter 13 bankruptcy, chapter 7 bankruptcy, divorce, foreclosure, auto repossession, credit card lawsuits, temporary restraining orders, waiver divorce, uncontested divorce, agreed divorce, consumerlaw We provide services on family law and bankruptcy. You may call us toll free. Busby & Associates is a law firm that offers professional legal services in the following areas of law: debt consolidation, consumer bankruptcy and family law. We are a debt-relief agency. We help people file for bankruptcy under the Bankruptcy Code. If you need a bankruptcy lawyer in Houston, we are the firm to call. Busby & Associates will respond quickly, providing answers to your questions regarding a Texas bankruptcy, divorce or other family law matters. Our law firm offers discounted attorney's fees. We offer individual attention and high quality professional legal services. Contact us today! Services include but not limited to Chapter 13 bankruptcy, chapter 7 bankruptcy, divorce, foreclosure, auto repossession, credit card lawsuits, temporary restraining orders, waiver divorce, uncontested divorce, agreed divorce, consumerlaw

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The 10 Best Bankruptcy Attorneys in Houston, TX 2017

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In an interview with Brian Burnsed ofSports Illustratedon Wednesday, former NFL running back Clinton Portis recounted considering murder as a means of revenge for going bankrupt.

According to Burnsed, nearly all of the money Portis handed over to a group of men to manage and make safe investments with in 2013 disappeared, which resulted in his contemplating murder.

"It wasn't no beat up," Portis said."It waskill."

Portis discussed sitting in his car outside aWashington, D.C., office building with a pistol in his possession in hopes of confronting one of the investors who squandered his money.

A trio of financial advisersJeff Rubin,Jinesh Brahmbhatt andFuad Ahmedallegedly steered Portis toward faulty investments that resulted in millions lost for the former running back.

In his 2015 bankruptcy filings, Portis made potential claims of $11 million against them, but he believes it is unlikely he will recover anything close to that number.

Along with investment issues, Burnsed wrote in detail about Portis' lavish spending on cars, houses, clothing and trips, all of which contributed to his eventual bankruptcy.

Despite the losses, Portis told Burnsed he believes he can earn much of it back through a broadcasting career and appearance fees.

Portis also told Burnsed that he sustained more than 10 concussions during his career and is eligible to receive compensation as part of theNFL's $1 billion concussion settlement if he displays the requisite symptoms.

Rather than attempting to collect, however, Portis said he'd rather not know if there's anything seriously wrong with him:"F--k that concussion money. I'm scared. I'm really scared of the results."

The 35-year-old Portis played nine NFL seasons with the Denver Broncos and Washington Redskins and was named to two Pro Bowls.

He topped 1,000 rushing yards in a season on six occasions, including three campaigns of 1,500 or more yards in his first four NFL seasons.

Portis last played during the 2010 season and retired having earned$43.1 million, per Burnsed.

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Clinton Portis Talks Urge to Commit Murder, Bankruptcy in SI ... - Bleacher Report

*Clarification appended.

The firm that oversees a stretch of highway withthe country's fastest speed limit saysit is on better financial footing and under new ownership.

The SH 130 Concession Company, which operates a 41-mile stretch of the State Highway 130 toll road from Mustang Ridge to Seguin, announced Wednesday that it has exited bankruptcy a year afterfiling forit, while removingover a billion dollars in debt and attracting $260 million in new financing.

SH 130 Concession Company has emerged from the Chapter 11 process as a muchstronger company, Andy Bailey, the company's new CEO, said in a release.

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SH 130, which runs a total of 91 miles from north of Austin to Seguin, was initially touted as a way to alleviate gridlock on Interstate 35 through the capital city. The southern section is operated by the Concession Company and has an 85 mph speed limit. The rest is run by the Texas Department of Transportation.

Before the highly publicized opening of the southern portion of the highway in 2012, the SH 130 Concession Company signed a then-unprecedented 50-year deal with the state in which the company agreed to split toll revenues with Texas while assuming building and operation costs. Almost instantly, traffic revenues failed to live up to expectations. In 2014, the SH 130 Concession Company nearly defaulted on its debt. The company filed for Chapter 11 last year.

The bankruptcy filing quickly prompted concerns among critics of the project that the state might end up having to put tax dollars to cover the road's debts. But officials with the Texas Department of Transportation insisted the deal had been originally arranged to ensure the state could not end up responsible for road's debt.

"We knew that 130 was tough, and somebody else said, Well take that risk,' said Ted Houghton, then a Texas Transportation Commissioner, in 2013.

Brian Cassidy, an Austin-based lawyer for Locke Lord, one of many firms that helped SH 130 navigate its bankruptcy, noted that the company kept the highway open while it restructured its debt.The $260 million in new financing comes in the form of a loan, which represents the restructured company's only current direct debt, according to company spokeswoman Kate Miller Morton.

"One of the criticisms that you hear periodically about public-private partnerships is that they somehow put the public at risk of having to cover private sector obligations," Cassidy said. "The fact is, if the agreements are structured correctly and this is an example of one that was then that risk to the public sector doesn't really exist."

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The SH 130 Concession Company was originally a joint venture of Cintra, a Spanish company that oversees several other Texas toll roads,and San Antonio-based Zachry American Infrastructure. But as part of the bankruptcy process,Strategic Value Partners, an international investment firm that focuses on distressed debt, led a group of investment funds that assumed control of the company, Morton said. Cintrano longer owns any stake in SH 130, she said.

TxDOT spokesman Bob Kaufman said that the agency "conducted a careful review of the new operator" as part of the restructuring process.

"SH 130 continues to be a viable alternative for drivers who want to bypass Austin and avoid congestion on I-35," Kaufman said. "No state money was used for this portion of SH 130. Most importantly, there is no impact to Texas taxpayers or to the state."

Bailey said the company will use its new funding to improve infrastructure as well as its marketing efforts.

Cassidy noted that, because of the joint revenue agreement, a brighter future for the SH 130 Concession Company benefits the Texas taxpayer.

The better the road does, the better the state does, he said.

During this year's legislative session, a bill that would have allowed for some communities to move forward with toll roads structured as public-private partnerships, similarly to SH 130,failed to pass.

Disclosure: Cintra US has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune. A complete list of Tribune donors and sponsors can be viewedhere.

Clarification: This story has been updated to better describe the location of the portion of State Highway 130 that is operated by the SH 130 Concession Company.

Read related Tribune coverage:

The Texas House shot down House Bill 2861, a measure that wouldve allowed the Texas Department of Transportation to use tolls to fund the construction, renovation or widening of several highways. [link]

After spending years as a target of Dallas activists, I-345 is now among a list of U.S. highways that a national group thinks should be torn down. But a lot may have to happen before city leaders decide the freeway's fate. [link]

Paying off most of the debt Texas has racked up building toll roads would cost about $36.7 billion,the Texas Department of Transportation revealed in September. [link]

Read more:

Operator of Texas toll road with 85 mph speed limit emerges from ... - Texas Tribune

ByDavid Brancaccio

June 27, 2017 | 10:22 AM

Does the world of finance and markets needs a good infusion of humanity? One book examines how how a wider reading of the humanities can help you understand finance and at the same time how finance can help you understand the human condition. Its by economist and Harvard Business School professor Mihir Desai.

He joined Marketplace Morning Report host David Brancaccio to discuss his latest book,"The Wisdom of Finance: Discovering Humanity in the World of Risk and Return." Below is an edited transcript of their conversation. Click the audio player above to hear an extended version of their interview.

Brancaccio: So the humanities can be a teaching tool for understanding things that might seem boring but actually guide our lives at different levels. I'm thinking, reading the book, "Insurance. Really, insurance?"

Desai: Yeah. I mean, insurance is the most mundane thing for most people in the world. What's wonderful about insurance, as I was writing the book, I came to realize that, you know, risk and insurance are the core of finance. And it turns out that risk and insurance are the core of a lot of people's lives. And in fact, the story I tell is the story of Charles Peirce who's this remarkable philosopher and the founder of pragmatism who ends up at the end of his life going around the country saying, "We are all insurance companies," which is very jarring to everybody and they think he's crazy.

Brancaccio: I know he gives a lecture at Harvard, and people were, like, "Oh, this guy's lost it."

Desai: And then Peirce shows up, he gives this lecture, and he's driving the first-order conditions for pricing insurance policies, and everybody thinks he's completely crazy. But what he understood is that the problem of an insurance company is the problem of a human being, which is there's chaos and there's randomness in the world, and you've to figure out how to navigate it. And pragmatism is the philosophy which says go out and sample, get experience, don't introspect. And that is exactly what insurance companies do. So that's the sense in which he meant it as we are all insurance companies.

Brancaccio: This really surprised me: The study of bankruptcy, you argue in the book, is clearly about how to deal with failure. But it's also about resolving, you say, conflicting commitments that we made.

Desai: I told a story of American Airlines, which was the last airline to go bankrupt. The first CEO said for a long time he'll never go bankrupt, because it was his duty to make sure every obligation gets paid off. Of course, he gets dragged into bankruptcy at the very end, they switch the CEO. The second CEO comes in, restructures all the obligations, guts the pensions. But American Airlines goes on to live another day. So the idea there is, you know, who's the hero of that story? Is it the guy who said, "I have to stand by all my obligations," but took the company down? Or the guy who said, "I actually got to manage these conflicting obligations"? I traced that and I make a correspondence between that and, you know, Martha Nussbaum's really remarkable work, "The Fragility of Goodness," where she looks at all the Greek tragedies and she says, "Fundamentally, this is about undercutting the idea that you have to follow duty." Most Greek tragedies are about people who have these conflicting obligations, and it's a mess, and you have to navigate them. And she says that's a good life. If you don't have conflicting obligations, you're doing something wrong. So that's the sense in which bankruptcies are really illustrative, I think.

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What corporate bankruptcy can teach us about morality - Marketplace.org

You've probably heard the news that Takata, the Japanese company that made tens of millions of defective air bags, has filed for bankruptcy protection. This clears the way for Takata to sell its main assets to a company in Detroit.

So what does this mean for you, if you're waiting to have your car's potentially dangerous Takata airbags replaced?

Reporter Paul Eisenstein with The Detroit Bureau says, it could actually speed up the process.

"What everybody is hoping is that now with a bit more stable situation, a new owner and more cash, Takata will be able to actually ramp up production of replacement air bag inflators, Eisenstein said. A shortage of those inflators has been one reason why barely a third of the people who own vehicles with those defective airbags have been able to get repairs so far."

Takata said it plans to maintain control of its airbag business and will continue production until the demand for replacement airbags has been met. Unfortunately, it might take years for that to happen.

More Info: Takata Declares Bankruptcy, Assets Sold to Chinese-Owned Key Safety Systems

What Does Takata Sale and Airbag Recall Mean to You?

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What does Takata bankruptcy mean to you? - KOMO News

PORTLAND, Maine Former defense attorney and Yarmouth resident F. Lee Bailey has again filed for bankruptcy, this time to create a payment plan to resolve a final bit of federal tax debt from the dispute that eventually ended his legal career.

Bailey on Monday filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy, which allows a person who has a steady wage to create a payment plan with creditors. The filing in Maine bankruptcy court will allow Bailey to discharge certain debts he could not rid himself of through the personal Chapter 7 bankruptcy he filed last year.

Baileys attorney in the most recent case, James Molleur, said Bailey resolved his personal IRS debt through the earlier bankruptcy filing, but the federal government retained liens on some of his property that could not be discharged in that case.

The purpose of the second case is to pay the value of that lien over time, so that Mr. Bailey will be finally free of collection efforts from the IRS, Molleur said.

The prominent defense attorney reached the peak of his career by defending football player O.J. Simpson, who was acquitted on murder charges in the high-profile 1995 trial. He represented a number of other prominent defendants, including the Ohio physician Sam Sheppard, whose story inspired the film The Fugitive.

Bailey moved to Maine in 2010.

Molleur said he estimates the IRS liens on Baileys property are worth about $100,000, but the government could dispute that as federal officials previously estimated their secured claims against Bailey at around $600,000. In total, Bailey owed the IRS about $5 million.

Baileys initial filing in the Chapter 13 case does not detail his debts, but states he has assets worth between $100,000 and $500,000 and debts between $1 million and $10 million. The IRS lien affects property such as Baileys condominium in Yarmouth.

Those debts all stem from a decades-long dispute over Baileys handling of client assets in a 1994 drug smuggling and money-laundering case. Bailey agreed to take over his clients shares in a pharmaceutical company and place them in a Swiss bank account in his name, in a deal with prosecutors.

Bailey and another attorney took their pay from the sale of those shares, which had increased significantly in value, but the government argued they were due those proceeds. Bailey argued that was not the deal.

The charges that Bailey treated the shares as his own landed him in prison for 44 days until he could satisfy government demands to return the stock. The IRS separately pursued Bailey for $5 million owed on unpaid taxes from his handling of those pharmaceutical shares, which Bailey unsuccessfully challenged in U.S. Tax Court.

The case led to his disbarment as an attorney in 2001, in Florida and Massachusetts, and he since has tried to return to practicing law. In 2013 he was denied admission by the Maine Bar, a decision Bailey unsuccessfully challenged in 2014. Bailey runs a consulting business out of Yarmouth.

Earlier this year, he expressed a continued interest in resurrecting his legal practice. After the death of prominent Maine defense attorney Dan Lilley, Bailey told WCSH that he and other colleagues were looking over Lilleys cases. Bailey does not have a license to practice law.

Excerpt from:

OJ defense attorney F. Lee Bailey again files for bankruptcy in Maine - Bangor Daily News

6/27/2017 9:31AM Recommended for you Barron's Bounce: NCR Climbs Amid Amazon Angst 6/26/2017 3:29PM Film Clip: 'The Big Sick' 6/21/2017 1:42PM Film Clip: 'The Beguiled' 6/21/2017 1:26PM Documentary Clip: 'My Journey Through French Cinema' 6/21/2017 2:01PM Five Beach Towns Where You Can Afford to Buy a House 6/27/2017 12:00PM Inside Derailed NYC Subway Train 6/27/2017 1:18PM Anxiety Disorder: Is There an Escape? 4/28/2017 6:13PM How the iPhone Was Born: Inside Stories of Missteps and Triumphs 6/25/2017 9:00AM Mexico's Mescal Producers Struggle to Meet Rising Demand 6/26/2017 6:59AM A North Carolina Couple's Modern Duplex 6/22/2017 10:00AM Opinion Journal: Trumps Supreme Court Takes Shape 6/26/2017 2:21PM How The iPhone Was Born: Inside Stories of Missteps and Triumphs 6/25/2017 9:00AM

On the iPhones 10th birthday, former Apple executives Scott Forstall, Tony Fadell and Greg Christie recount the arduous process of turning Steve Jobss vision into one of the best-selling products ever made.

Once the stuff of science fiction, facial-scanning cameras are becoming a part of daily life in China, where they're used for marketing, surveillance and social control. Video: Paolo Bosonin. Photo: Qilai Shen/Bloomberg

Can Republican senators regroup and pass a health-care bill this week? WSJ's Gerald F. Seib explains what it will take to assuage several GOP holdouts. Photo: AP/Getty

Stocks moving after a mention in Barron's include the checkout specialist, a cost-cutting insurer and a Canadian short candidate. Ben Levisohn and Jack Hough discuss.

A recent WSJ/NBC News poll finds public perceptions on Russia's interference in the 2016 presidential campaign is complicated. WSJ's Gerald F. Seib explains what this means for President Trump. Photo: Getty

IBM and games developer Ubisoft are experimenting with speech recognition to enhance one of the first social virtual reality video games: Star Trek: Bridge Crew. The game makes use of IBM's supercomputer Watson. Image:Ubisoft Composite:Mark Kelly

Daniel Libeskind, founder and principal architect of Studio Libeskind, discusses his projects around the world and the future of cities in a conversation with WSJ's Dennis Berman.

Are you saving the most money you can when you shop online? Moneyish's Catey Hill gives tips on how to maximize your savings.

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What Does Takata's Bankruptcy Mean for Car Owners? - Wall Street Journal (subscription)

Todays bankruptcy filing by beleaguered Japanese airbag supplier Takata Corp. puts a spotlight on what has become the biggest safety-related recall in automotive history, a deadly defect linked to at least 16 known deaths and more than 100 injuries.

As part of a settlement with the U.S. Justice Department earlier this year, Takata agreed to pay a combination of fines and reimbursements, as well as set up a victims compensation fund, a deal worth $1 billion in total.

The suppliers bankruptcy and sale to Chinese-owned Key Safety Systems isnt likely to impact that settlement. But it's expected to help speed up repairs on the estimated 42 million vehicles sold in the U.S. equipped with the defective airbags. So far, only 38 percent of those vehicles have had their airbag inflators replaced, a situation that could lead to even more deaths and injuries, industry safety experts warn.

Part of the problem is that many of the vehicles using faulty Takata airbags are older some dating back to the 1990s. Some are already off the road but others may have been sold several times, making it hard to track down the current owners.

RELATED: Faulty Airbag Maker Takata Files for Bankruptcy, Sells to Rival

The other issue has been a shortage of replacement parts, said Cliff Howard, service advisor at Ferndale Honda in Michigan. In the beginning, it was a nightmare, he said. We had to put people on a waiting list.

That was especially true in warm, humid regions like Miami, where the Takata airbag defect was first identified. Manufacturing problems at two North American factories meant the companys airbags were especially sensitive to moisture which would cause their inflators to over-inflate, sending shrapnel spewing into the passenger compartment.

Initially, the Takata recall was focused on products sold in places like Southern Florida. But after several deaths occurred in cooler, drier climates, research revealed that the pyrotechnic compound used in those inflators explosive ammonium nitrate can break down over time, with as much as 50% or more of decade-old inflators tested by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration failing.

But the government still wants automakers to focus their repair campaigns on places like Miami first. That was a real strain, until recently, for dealerships like Toyota of North Miami, where Service Manager Antoine Kerlinst said his repair department is only just now getting good supplies.

The situation has improved, but not for all models, he said, noting that the dealership is telling owners of some Toyota Corolla models they might not be able to be fixed until this December.

Under pressure from federal regulators, automakers have made it easier for owners to check out their vehicles without going into the service shop. Every manufacturers website now has a link to a recall database.

Alternatively, owners can go to the NHTSA site, SaferCar.gov, and enter their VIN to see if theres an outstanding recall.

The "Vehicle Identification Number" is listed on state registration papers and can also be found by peeking through your windshield at the plate bolted to the front of the instrument panel.

What happens if youre on a recall list?

Under the terms of the Takata bankruptcy and sale, the new owners will owner a pledge to set up a $125 million victims compensation program. Experts say it is possible that some instances where airbags malfunctioned havent been reported. If that happened, report your experience on the SaferCar.org website.

The rest is here:

After Takata's Bankruptcy, Is Your Airbag Safe? - NBCNews.com

A group of professors recently wrote Congress to alert it to the folly of repealing orderly liquidation authority and replacing it with bankruptcy. The professors letter is fine as far as it goes, but it does not go far enough.

The professors largely take Dodd-Frank at face value: When a big bank fails, we should try to use the bankruptcy courts first and resort to orderly liquidation authority only in extreme circumstances. That is fine in the abstract, but it bears thinking a bit more deeply about this issue.

Is it really plausible that any of the top half-dozen or so American financial institutions could resolve their financial distress in bankruptcy court? It could happen, just as I may travel to Mars some day.

More realistically, we have to worry that the hurdles to such a case, and the potential knock-on effects, are so significant that such a bank failure would and should proceed immediately to orderly liquidation authority.

That means that bankruptcy for banks should primarily focus on other creatures. For example, it might make sense to devise a bankruptcy court procedure for the next tier of banks and broker-dealers, should they fail. At present the failure of one of the larger regional bank groups might overwhelm both the F.D.I.C.s traditional bank rescue tools and the bankruptcy code.

Seen in that light, it is at least as important that the bankruptcy code address a wide range of financial institutions as it stands ready to address the failure of the next Lehman Brothers.

This reveals the fundamental problem with Congresss present approach. Not only would it leave regulators with no tools to address the failure of a big financial institution, but it would replace that approach with a form of bankruptcy that would be entirely useless for those financial institutions that might actually use a bankruptcy filing.

In particular, Congresss proposed bankruptcy process for banks tries to move the single point of entry strategy developed for the big banks in orderly liquidation authority to the bankruptcy court. Under this strategy, a bank is recused by forcibly converting junior debt to equity.

All the big American banks are revamping their capital structure to facilitate single point of entry. The medium-size financial institutions are not.

So Congress proposes to kill off orderly liquidation authority, the tool that would be of most use to the really big banks, and replace it with a bankruptcy system that will be irrelevant for the really big banks and wont work for medium-size banks.

As a result, we will bail out both in the next financial crisis.

Stephen J. Lubben holds the Harvey Washington Wiley Chair in corporate governance and business ethics at Seton Hall Law School and is an expert on bankruptcy.

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A Proposed Bankruptcy for Banks That Will Lead to Bailouts - New York Times

The revised health care bill drafted behind closed doors by Senate Republicans includes massive cuts to Medicaid that would leave 15 million fewer people enrolled in the program by 2026, according to the Congressional Budget Report released Monday.

Those drastic cuts could result in more personal bankruptcy filings from Americans, reversing course from a decrease after the Affordable Care Act was implemented, health care and bankruptcy experts said.

Unpaid and costly medical bills are a significant contributor in the decision to file for bankruptcy, experts said. And even if the finanical distress from being uninsured doesn't send someone into bankruptcy, high and sometimes unexpected medical costs can still send Americans into a lot of debt.

"The evidence here is to the point where it feels like a pretty robust fact," said Matthew Notowidigdo, an associated professor of economics at Northwestern University who specializes in health and labor economics.

"If you were to roll back the Medicaid expansion, that's going to lead to more bankruptcies," he added.

The largest single health insurer in the U.S., Medicaid covers 74 million low-income Americans about a fifth of the entire country that includes predominantly low-income adults, children, elderly people receiving long-term care and people with special needs.

Former President Obama's signature health care law, which Republican lawmakers have aimed to dismantle since its inception, included hefty Medicaid expansions through the use of federal funding and other measures.

The number of personal bankruptcy filings fell from 1,536,799 in 2010 to 770,846 in 2016 in part due to Medicaid expansion. But the new Senate bill, called the Better Care Reconciliation Act , proposes phasing out federal contribution to Medicaid for states, which under the ACA was used as an incentive for states to have Medicaid cover more Americans. The bill also would lower the annual income limit for subsidies.

Personal bankruptcy offers a remedy for indebtednessbut not a long-term one. While there is no definitive estimate on how many filings come as a result of predominately high medical costs, it is a "significant reason" why consumers may file for personal bankruptcy, said Lois Lupica, a bankruptcy expert and Maine Law Foundation Professor of Law at the University of Maine School of Law.

"It seems absurd that we're using the statutory benefit of debt discharge rather than using a statutory benefit of health insurance, because the people who get sick and defer preventative medicine are going to be sicker," Lupica said.

The CBO score of the revised bill notes that 16% fewer Americans under the age of 65 would be insured through Medicaid if the bill becomes law. In total, the CBO estimates 22 million fewer Americans would be insured in 2026 than those would if the current law stayed in place. The cuts to Medicaid would reduce federal spending on the program by $772 billion by 2026.

"This will make a hugely negative impact on many American lives," Lupica said. "It's scary. If it ever gets to the point where it's law, it will have ripple effects throughout the economy."

One of those effects could land on hospitals, which are often hit with extra costs to cover when medical bills go unpaid. Emergency rooms will not turn away uninsured patients, but prices can quickly reach thousands of dollars just from one visit, both Lupica and Notowidigdo said.

Before the CBO score was released Monday afternoon, the National Association of Medicaid Directors, a bipartisan group of directors of state Medicaid programs, came out against the federal spending cuts Monday, calling it "insufficient and unworkable."

"No amount of administrative or regulatory flexibility can compensate for the federal spending reductions that would occur as a result of this bill," the group said.

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The Senate Health Care Bill Could Lead to More Personal Bankruptcies - Money Magazine

While congressional debate continues over health care, there is another element worth considering.

Personal bankruptcy filings have been cut in half over the past six years. Some experts credit health coverage available under the Affordable Care Act for the drop.

Katie Weber knows the importance of good health insurance.

The 29-year-old is fighting cancer, and she says her treatments would have bankrupted her if not for the financial protections available under the ACA.

"I don't know how many MRIs I've had, but in the dozens for sure," Weber said,.

Bankruptcy courts never ask people why they are filing, but many bankruptcy and legal experts Consumer Reports spoke with agree medical bills were a leading cause of personal bankruptcy before health insurance expanded under the ACA.

"Medical bills are often unexpected, large and unavoidable, so people who don't have insurance can run up massive debt in a relatively short period of time," Consumer Reports' Allen St. John said.

Since 2010, personal bankruptcy filings have dropped by about 50 percent. Experts credit the improved economy for part of the decline, as well as laws passed in 2005 that make it harder to declare bankruptcy.

But nearly all the experts Consumer Reports interviewed also point to expanded health insurance as a major influence on the drop.

"Our reporting found that coverage for pre-existing conditions and also a ban on lifetime limits were really important because it prevented people with serious medical issues from having to file bankruptcy," St. John said.

Weber said she hopes those safeguards remain a part of any new health care legislation.

"Even if I get better, when I get better, the follow-up will be continuous," she said. "The idea that, moving forward, insurers wouldn't cover some of the things that I really need to be covered is really scary to me, to be honest."

Read more here:

Experts say Affordable Care Act has helped people avoid bankruptcy - WRAL.com

YAKIMA, Wash. -- The owner of a longtime medical supply business said he plans to stay open despite filing for bankruptcy earlier this month.

Chuck Vetsch, president of Keeler's Medical Supply, said several issues, including changes in federal Medicare and Medicaid programs, led the company to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on June 15 with the Eastern District of Washington of U.S. Bankruptcy Court.

Keelers Medical Supply, which has been in business since 1948, sellsa variety of home medical equipment including walkers, bathroom safety products and breast pumps.

Vetsch said he tried to keep the business operating in recent years despite reductions in reimbursements from Medicare and Medicaid programs the business once received. In addition, the business was dealing with several audits which the business is fighting that led both programs to reclaim distributed payments.

Sales fell from just under $10 million in 2010 to a little over $1.6 million in 2016, Yakima attorney Roger Bailey wrote in a court document. As of June 1, the company had about $785,000 in assets including pending payments for sales, inventory and office supplies.

Court document show that the company liabilities include nearly $1 million owed in various federal and state taxes, including $862,000 with the Internal Revenue Service.

When it became clear that issues would not be resolved quickly, the company decided to file so it could negotiate payment plans with its creditors, Vetsch said.

We just needed everyone to take a breather, he said.

This story will be updated.

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Yakima medical supply business to remain open during bankruptcy process - Yakima Herald-Republic

TOKYO Japan's Takata Corp (7312.T), the firm at the centre of the auto industry's biggest ever product recall, filed for bankruptcy protection in the United States and Japan, and said it would be bought for $1.6 billion by U.S.-based Key Safety Systems.

In the biggest bankruptcy of a Japanese manufacturer, Takata faces tens of billions of dollars in costs and liabilities resulting from almost a decade of recalls and lawsuits.

Its airbags have been linked to at least 17 deaths around the world.

TK Holdings, its U.S. operations, filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy in Delaware on Sunday with liabilities of $10 billion to $50 billion, while the Japanese parent filed for protection with the Tokyo District Court early on Monday.

Takata's total liabilities stand at 1.7 trillion yen ($15 billion), Tokyo Shoko Research Ltd estimated.

Final liabilities would depend on the outcome of discussions with carmaker customers who have borne the bulk of the replacement costs, a lawyer for the company said.

The filings open the door to the financial rescue by Key Safety Systems (KSS), a Michigan-based parts supplier owned by China's Ningbo Joyson Electronic Corp (600699.SS).

In a deal that took 16 months to hammer out, KSS agreed to take over Takata's viable operations, while the remaining operations will be reorganised to continue churning out millions of replacement airbag inflators, the two firms said.

The U.S. company would keep "substantially all" of Takata's 60,000 employees in 23 countries and maintain its factories in Japan. The agreement is meant to allow Takata to continue operating without interruptions and with minimal disruptions to its supply chain.

"We believe taking these actions in Japan and the U.S. is the best way to address the ongoing costs and liabilities of the

airbag inflator issues with certainty and in an organised manner," Takata CEO Shigehisa Takada said in a statement.

Takada said he and top management would resign "when the timing of the restructuring is set."

His family - which still has control of the 84-year-old company - likely would cease to be shareholders.

Jason Luo, president and CEO of KSS, said in a statement the "underlying strength" of Takata's business had not diminished

despite the airbag recall, citing its skilled employee base, geographic reach and other safety products such as seat belts.

The companies expect to seal definitive agreements for the sale in coming weeks and complete the twin bankruptcy processes in the first quarter of 2018.

The filings have, however, not resolved all issues.

Honda Motor Co (7267.T), Takata's biggest customer, said it had reached no final agreement with Takata on responsibilities for the recall.

Honda said it would continue talks with the supplier but anticipated difficulties in recovering the bulk of its claims.

UNPRECEDENTED RECALLS

Takata faces billions in lawsuits and recall-related costs to its clients, including Honda, BMW (BMWG.DE), Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T) and others which have been paying recall costs to date.

It also faces potential liabilities stemming from class action lawsuits in the United States, Canada and other countries.

Global transport authorities have ordered about 100 million inflators to be recalled.

Industry sources have said that recall costs could climb to about $10 billion.

The ammonium nitrate compound used in the airbags was found to become volatile with age and prolonged exposure to heat,causing the devices to explode.

Costs so far have pushed the company into the red for three years, and it has been forced to sell subsidiaries topay fines and other liabilities.

Founded as a textiles company in 1933, Takata beganproducing airbags in 1987 and at its peak became the world's No.2 producer of the safety products.

It also produces one-third ofall seatbelts used in vehicles sold globally, along withother components.

The Tokyo Stock Exchange said its shares would be delisted on July 27. The stock has collapsed 95 percent since January 2014 as the recalls mounted.

(Reporting by Naomi Tajitsu; Additional reporting by David Shepardson on Washington D.C., Tom Hals in Wilmington, Delaware and Maki Shiraki in Tokyo; Editing by William Mallard, Stephen Coates and Edwina Gibbs)

Activist investor Daniel Loeb's Third Point LLC on Sunday unveiled a stake of more than 1 percent in Switzerland's Nestle SA and urged the world's largest packaged foods maker to improve its margins, buy back stock and shed non-core businesses.

FRANKFURT German insurer Allianz expects to book a loss of around 200 million euros ($224 million) from the sale of private bank Oldenburgische Landesbank to U.S. private equity firm Apollo , it said on Sunday.

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Japanese airbag maker Takata files for bankruptcy, gets US sponsor - Reuters

Legendarybankruptcy expert Dr. Edward Altmancautioned that this benign credit cycle characterized by low default rates, low yields, low spreads, and lots of liquidity could come to an abrupt end.

Its been a terrific market for investors for quite a long time and if anything is concerning its that we now are more than eight years into a benign credit cycle, Altman, a professor at NYU Stern School of Business, told Yahoo Finance. Weve never had such a long benign cycle. And just that one little fact is something that we should be concerned about because if it comes to one and it could come to an end very dramatically.

Altman, the creator of the financial-distress sniffingAltman Z-Score, warned in mid-2007 of a Great Credit Bubble and that there was going to be trouble in the market.He predictedthat a meltdown would stem from corporate defaults. While the primary culprit of the financial crisis turned out to be mortgage-backed securities, investors who heeded Altmans warning nevertheless avoided a lot of grief.

So, how does todays market compare to the market in 2007.

There are some similarities, yes, although the situation back in the great financial crisis was pre-meditated by the mortgage-backed securities and we dont have that problem now, he said.

Troublingly, Altmansees the reckless behaviorof 2007 surfacing again.

Lehman Brothers world headquarters is shown in New York, the day the 158-year-old investment bank, choked by the credit crisis and falling real estate values, filed for bankruptcy. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)

Back in 2007 prior to the crisis in 08 and 09, the fundamentals of credit risk of the companies issuing bonds and taking out loans were quite low, he said.And the similarity that I see now between 2007 and 2016 is very similar fundamentals, quite a bit high risk and it doesnt seem to bother the market because its the only game in town in terms of getting yield greater than what you can get for low-risk securities like governments and high-grade corporates.

In other words, investors arent buying junk bonds just because the risk-reward balance is favorable. Theyre buying because the rewards of investing in lower risk bonds just arent cutting it anymore.

Altman is perhaps best known for the Z-Score, a formula he created 50 years ago thats used to predict bankruptcies. Since that time, he noticed that bankruptcies have gotten increasingly bigger.

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[What] Ive seen over the years is larger and larger companies filing for bankruptcy on a regular basis. On average, in the United States, something like 15 more than $1 billion companies, in terms of liabilities, go bankrupt every year, on average, Altman said. This year already its 13. Last year, it was almost 40.

He noted that inflation has something to do with it, but whats actually happening is companies have been taking advantage of debt and low interest rates like never before, and the corporate debt ratios are way up.

Speaking about the Z-score, if you compare the average Z-score of companies in 2007 with the average in 2016, which is the last time we looked at it, guess what. The average is actually lower today than it was in 2007, and 2007 was right before the great financial crisis, and of course, in 08 and 09 we saw a tremendous increase in corporate bond defaults and loans.

Low Z-scores are associated with financial distress.

He added: So the good news is that its no worse, but the bad news is, fundamentally, the companies are no better than they were back in 2007at least by our model.

At the moment whats keeping companies from going bankrupt as they did during the financial crisis is the incredible amount of liquidity and lowinterest rates.

Well see how long that lasts.

Julia La Roche is a finance reporter at Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter.

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Bankruptcy guru Edward Altman sees similarities to 2007 in the credit market today - Yahoo Finance

"A lot of people are suspecting that it won't cover the total cost. They're saying it's going to be about $5 billion in cost to get all these airbags replaced. There's only $2 billion worth of assets," Brauer said. This would leave affected automakers to cover the rest of the recall and replacement costs.

Earlier this year, Takata agreed to pay $1 billion in criminal penalties stemming from its allegedly fraudulent conduct over the sales of defective airbag inflators.

At the time, it announced it would establish two restitution funds: A $125 million fund for individuals physically injured by the faulty airbags who have yet to reach a settlement with Takata, as well as a $850 million fund to shoulder the airbag recall and replacement costs incurred by affected auto manufacturers.

Janet Lewis, head of industrials research in Asia at Macquarie Capital Securities, said that for automakers, it wasn't just about paying for the recall.

They also need to ensure Takata keeps producing the replacement airbags, she told CNBC's "Squawk Box" on Monday.

"The fact that they appear to have reached an agreement to sell the assets to KSS should enable this to continue," she said. "The (automakers) have been expecting that ... Takata was not going to recover sufficiently to pay them back."

"They have provisioned already for the losses related to the recalls," Lewis added.

Honda said in a statement on Monday that it has not reached any agreements with Takata about how much of the recall cost it would bear, but it would continue to seek to recover the costs from the troubled parts-maker.

But it added that it expected it will become difficult to recover the majority of the claims.

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Takata's woes expected to continue beyond bankruptcy filing amid mounting recall costs - CNBC

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Japan press - Takata expected to file for bankruptcy protection in Tokyo - ForexLive

Bankruptcy is a legal process to help debtors (people who owe money) get relief from the debts they cannot pay and, at the same time, help creditors (people who are owed money) get paid from whatever property or assets the debtor has that he or she does not need to live. Deciding to file for bankruptcy is a very tough decision. You may be feeling overwhelmed and bankruptcy seems like the only option. But think about the decision carefully because it can really affect you for a long time. Also, bankruptcy does not remove all debt, and there are certain types of debt that cannot be discharged (eliminated) in bankruptcy.

Bankruptcy may not always work to save your home or property, so you need to get advice from a bankruptcy lawyer about whether or not bankruptcy is a good option for you. Since there are different types of bankruptcy, one may be better for you than another, or bankruptcy may not be a good solution for your type of problems at all.

To decide if you should file for bankruptcy, you need to know:

Bankruptcy is governed by federal law, so it is the same from state to state. But each state may have different exemptions (assets you can keep even when you file for bankruptcy).

There are four common kinds of bankruptcy cases, named by the chapter of the federal Bankruptcy Code that describes them.

A bankruptcy discharge releases a debtor from being personally responsible for certain types of debts. So, after a bankruptcy discharge, the debtor is no longer legally required to pay any debts that are discharged.

The discharge prohibits the creditors of the debtor from collecting on the debts that have been discharged. This means that creditors have to stop all legal action, telephone calls, letters, and other type of contact with the debtor. This prohibition is permanent for the debts that have been discharged by the bankruptcy court.

You cannot discharge all debts in bankruptcy. Some of the most common debts that you cannot get rid of in bankruptcy are debts from child or spousal support, most student loans, most tax debts, wages you owe people who worked for you, damages for personal injury you caused when driving while intoxicated, debts to government agencies for fines or penalties, and more.

For more information, read the Bankruptcy Code section 523(a)

The Bankruptcy Code allows each individual who files for bankruptcy to keep basic assets that are necessary for the debtor's fresh start after bankruptcy. That property is the debtors exempt property.

Each state has its own list of property that can be exempt. California gives debtors a choice between the state law exemptions found in Code of Civil Procedure section 704 and a set of bankruptcy-only exemptions in Code of Civil Procedure section 703.140 that mirror the Bankruptcy Code exemptions that were in the federal law when the California law was adopted.

The length of the bankruptcy case depends on the type of bankruptcy you file. If you file a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, your debts can be discharged in as soon as 4 to 6 months. With a Chapter 11 or 13 bankruptcy, it can take as long as 5 years because you may still be making payments for some of the debts.

Automatic stay When you file for bankruptcy protection, the federal court issues a notice of automatic stay that stops creditors listed in the bankruptcy petition from pursuing you for any debts until the bankruptcy court lifts the stay. Although this may stop an eviction or foreclosure sale for a short time, it will not provide any long-term protection if you do not have any equity in the property. If, for example, you are a tenant with a month-to-month tenancy, you do not have any property interest to protect for the benefit of creditors, so your landlord can get a stay lifted very quickly. The same is true for a lender who is foreclosing on property where the debtor has no equity.

Bankruptcy is a specialized area of law that is very complex. And the issues are not always apparent or simple. The bankruptcy laws changed in October 2005 to discourage many people from filing for bankruptcy. So the law became more complicated. And there are more situations where a mistake can result in your case getting dismissed. If your case is dismissed, the bankruptcy court often imposes a penalty of 180 days before you can refile, and in this time period a lot can happen. This is why it is so important to have a lawyer advise you and help you with your bankruptcy.

Find a lawyer who can help you work through the issues, alternatives you may have, and consequences of your choices.

If you decide to represent yourself in bankruptcy court, read a guide for Filing for Bankruptcy Without an Attorney.

To find a good bankruptcy lawyer:

Bankruptcy Basics This pamphlet was created by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. You can download it in PDF format. You can also watch a series of videos about bankruptcy.

LawHelpCalifornia Bankruptcy Links to information on what to do if you can't pay your debts, rebuilding good credit and more. (Select your county or enter your zip code for information specific to the area that you live in.)

LawHelpCalifornia Debt Collection, Garnishment, Repossession Links to information on collecting your judgment, what to do if you can't pay your debts, rebuilding good credit and more. (Select your county or enter your zip code for information specific to the area that you live in.)

Official Bankruptcy Forms These bankruptcy court forms are posted by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts.

San Francisco Law Library's Student Loans and BankruptcyIssues This guidecan help you find books about student loans and bankruptcy options.

What Can I Do If I Can't Pay My Debts? A State Bar of California pamphlet. Also available in Spanish and Chinese.

Facts for Consumers Consumer Protection Information posted by the Federal Trade Commission.

Bankruptcy FAQs Find answers to frequently asked questions about bankruptcy.

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Bankruptcy - money_selfhelp

Kazuhiro Nogi | AFP | Getty Images

The logo of the Japanese auto parts maker Takata is displayed at a car showroom in Tokyo on January 13, 2017.

Takata's board is convening to review bankruptcy plans over the weekend, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing sources.

The company is planning bankruptcy filings in both the U.S. and Japan, and has tentative plans to sell operations to rival firm Key Safety Systems for $1.6 billion, sources told the Journal.

Sumitomo Mitsui Banking is reportedly providing the company with bankruptcy financing, the report said.

The auto parts supplier made the airbag components that spawned lawsuits against several major automakers after the devices were linked to deaths and injuries. The company pleaded guilty to criminal wrongdoing and was told to pay $1 billion in penalties for giving automakers misleading safety reports on the airbag systems.

In the U.S., 19 automakers are still recalling the 42 million vehicles outfitted with Takata airbags, the Journal said.

In May, Toyota, Subaru, Mazda and BMW all settled with plaintiffs for more than $550 million.

Read the full story in The Wall Street Journal

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Takata reportedly planning to file for bankruptcy - CNBC

On Michele Kims first day clerking for U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge John S. Dalis, he told her he had the best job in the world, she later said. Kim is about to find out for herself.

On Friday afternoon in the historic federal courthouse in Augusta, Kim was sworn in as the newest Bankruptcy Court judge in the Southern District of Georgia.

An Augusta native, Kim graduated from the University of Georgia School of Law with honors in 2006 and was admitted to the bar the next year. In addition to clerking for Dalis, Kim clerked for Judge Anthony Alaimo. She worked for the King & Spalding law firm in its Atlanta office specializing in financial restructuring and bankruptcy law.

Get used to the view, District Court Chief Judge J. Randal Hall told Kim as she took a seat on the judges bench with Hall and Chief Bankruptcy Court Judge Susan D. Barrett.

Its important for a judge to have good character, integrity and ability, Hall said. Kim has all of those qualities and more, he added.

Dalis, who retired Jan. 31 after nearly 30 years on the bench, said Friday that he and his wife were as proud as parents. He has known Kim for more than 30 years and knows she will serve with honor.

With assistance from her husband, Ryan Babcock, and mother, Hyun-Sook Kim, Kim donned the black robe she will wear for her judicial career.

She will serve as the Bankruptcy Court judge in the Brunswick courthouse.

Reach Sandy Hodson at (706) 823-3226or sandy.hodson@augustachroncile.com.

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Augusta native sworn in as newest Bankruptcy Court judge - The Augusta Chronicle