Can Debt Collectors Steal Your Stimulus Check?

The CARES Act neglected to protect people from creditors, but some lawmakers are working to correct that.

April 16, 2020
From: The Motley Fool
By: Dan Caplinger

The coronavirus crisis is causing severe financial pain across the U.S., where tens of millions of people have lost their jobs and filed for unemployment benefits in just the past month. For those who have lost income, a federal stimulus check could be vital to their financial well-being right now.

Unfortunately, many people who were already having money troubles before the COVID-19 pandemic hit are now running into a new challenge with their stimulus payments. Debt collectors are rushing in to try to grab up those stimulus checks in order to satisfy people's past debts. Because of the way that lawmakers set up the stimulus check program, what those debt collectors are doing appears to be legal -- but it also threatens to undermine the entire point of the program, which was to rush cash to hard-hit Americans so that they could cover their current expenses during this crisis.

Despite the best of intentions

The Treasury Department has worked hard to try to get stimulus money to people rapidly. For those who included direct deposit banking information with their 2018 or 2019 tax returns, the Treasury is using that data to send stimulus payments directly into people's bank accounts. For most people, that's the fastest way to get the money where it needs to go.

However, millions of people owe certain kinds of debt for which creditors can garnish bank accounts. That includes just about any type of debt on which collection proceedings have advanced far enough for creditors to get a court judgment. When debt collectors present banks with garnishment orders, banks follow procedures that often include freezing accounts. To regain access to their funds, banks require account holders to provide proof that the money that's come into the account is somehow exempt from garnishment. Most people in debt don't know how to respond effectively to such demands even in the best of times -- let alone when they are stuck in their homes, when bank branches are closed to the public, and when courts aren't functioning at anywhere near normal capacity.

Lawmakers could have specifically designated the stimulus payments as exempt from garnishment or debt collection proceedings. However, they didn't include such clear provisions in the CARES Act, which leaves the matter up to legal interpretation. That ambiguity set the stage for debt collectors to act -- and they're acting quickly.

Fixing the problem

Now that they've identified the problem, legislators at the state level are working fast to address it. State laws govern much of the legal framework around debt collection, so in some states, those receiving stimulus checks already had some protection. Other states are moving to pass emergency legislation that exempts the stimulus payments from debt collection proceedings.

Congress could also take action, although it might be difficult for it to do so quickly enough to make a difference. Passing a federal law that reclassifies stimulus money into the same category as other exempt payments would offer everyone across the nation protection.

What you can do

If you're already aware that your bank account might be subject to a garnishment order, there are some things you can do to try to protect yourself. They include:

• Having your stimulus payment sent to a different bank account. Often, garnishment orders will apply to all bank accounts, but if you know that debt collectors have only identified one of your accounts, then having your stimulus money deposited into an account at a different institution might protect it.
• Getting a physical stimulus check. The IRS is seeking banking information for many Americans through its Get My Payment tool, with the goal of expediting those stimulus payments. However, if you anticipate problems, getting a physical check and cashing it will help keep it from getting locked up in a frozen bank account.

With the coronavirus pandemic wreaking havoc on all our lives, the last thing any of us need is for our stimulus checks to get taken away. If you think debt collectors might be looking to take your stimulus payment, don't wait for lawmakers to help you out -- do what you can to protect yourself and your finances.

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What Really Happens When You File for Bankruptcy

April 17, 2020
From: twocents.lifehacker.com
By: Kristin Wong and Lisa Rowan

Bankruptcy is a last resort for people and businesses alike. Many companies file for bankruptcy and continue business as usual; the lesser-known reality is that individuals can file for bankruptcy and emerge in one piece, too.

Bankruptcy is poorly understood, so let’s talk about how it affects your finances.

The differences between chapter 7, 13, and 11

In general, people file for bankruptcy when there’s no way in hell they can meet their debt obligations. Popular assumption is that those people are bad with money and take out too much credit card debt. Sure, that happens, but often, people file bankruptcy after a major financial blow. It might be a lawsuit debacle or an unexpected illness.

A lot of people think bankruptcy wipes out any and all debt obligations, but that’s not the case. You still have to pay up, and how you’ll pay up depends on what kind of bankruptcy you file: chapter 7, chapter 13, or chapter 11. There are other types of specific bankruptcies, too (chapter 12 is for farmers and fishermen, for example), but these three are the most common.

With chapter 7, you may have to liquidate certain assets (like a car or a second home) to pay off at least some of the debt. Most of your assets are probably exempt, but it depends on your state, your financial situation, and whether or not that asset is deemed “essential.” You have to meet certain eligibility requirements to file, and income is perhaps the most important one. As legal site Nolo explains, there’s a whole set of criteria to determine your income eligibility, but generally, you have to have little to no disposable income.

With chapter 13, you get a plan to pay off your debts within the next three to five years, but you get to keep your assets. After it’s all said and done, some of those debts will likely be discharged. You have to qualify, though, and that means your secured debts can’t be more than $1,184,200 and your unsecured debts cannot be more than $394,725. Secured debt is debt that’s backed by collateral, like your house or car.

Chapter 11 bankruptcy works kind of like chapter 13, but it's typically reserved for businesses. Businesses can file for chapter 7 bankruptcy, too, but again, that means a liquidation of assets, so chapter 11 is usually a more attractive option. Companies get to keep their stuff and keep their creditors at bay while they continue their operations, but they have to come up with a plan to pay off at least some of their debt, or get it forgiven.

What happens when you file

When you file for bankruptcy, you get an automatic stay. Basically, this puts a block on your debt to keep creditors from collecting. While the stay is in place, they can’t garnish your wages, deduct money from your bank account, or go after any secured assets.

Ironically, bankruptcy isn’t free. The filing fee alone is between $300 and $350 for chapters 7 and 13. And then there are the attorney fees. You can file without a lawyer, but it’s not recommended since bankruptcy laws can be tough to navigate. Attorney fees for chapter 7 average around $1,500, while chapter 13 fees tend to be in the $2,000-$3,000 range. With many attorneys, the more complex your situation, the more you’ll pay.

There are ways reduce the legal costs of filing for bankruptcy. Nonprofit Upsolve, for one, helps you generate your bankruptcy filing forms for free if your case is a simple one. Or, your local legal aid society may be able to connect you with low-cost legal services.

You’ll also have to take a class or two. The government requires individuals to get credit counseling 180 days before you file, and you also have to take a debtor education course if you want your debts discharged.

A couple of weeks after filing, you’ll have to attend a “creditors meeting,” which is basically what it sounds like: a court meeting between you, your bankruptcy trustee, and any creditors who want to attend. They’ll all ask you questions about your financial situation and decision to file bankruptcy.

Your assets get liquidated with chapter 7

Nolo says that in most cases, chapter 7 debtors don’t have to liquidate their property (unless it’s collateral) because it’s usually exempt or it’s just not worth it. They explain:

If the property isn’t worth very much or would be cumbersome for the trustee to sell, the trustee may “abandon” the property — which means that you get to keep it, even though it is nonexempt...Most property owned by Chapter 7 debtors is either exempt or is essentially worthless for purposes of raising money for the creditors. As a result, few debtors end up having to surrender any property, unless it is collateral for a secured debt…

After the creditors meeting, your trustee will figure out whether or not to liquidate your stuff. If it does get liquidated, that means you’ll have to either surrender it or fork over its equivalent cash value to pay back your debt.

You get a payment plan with chapter 13

With chapter 13, you get a plan to pay off your debts, and some of them have to be paid in full. These debts are “priority debts,” and they include alimony, child support, tax obligations, and wages you owe to employees.

Your plan is based on how much you owe and what your income looks like, and it will include how much you have to pay and when you have to pay it.

What happens to your credit

Your credit score will plummet with a bankruptcy. The higher your score, the more it’ll fall. FICO notes that the more accounts are involved in your bankruptcy filing, the greater an impact you’ll see to your score.

In general, chapter 7 bankruptcy remain on your credit report for 10 years, and chapter 13 stays on for seven.

After bankruptcy is all said and done, most debts are discharged, but not all of them.

In some cases, student loans can be discharged after a bankruptcy, but you have to pass a federal test for hardship.

Other difficult-to-discharge debts include:

• Tax debts
• Alimony and child support
• Divorce-related debts, including property settlement debts

Bankruptcy is usually a desperate remedy to a helpless situation. But knowing how it works and what to expect can help you navigate some of the misconceptions and figure out what the process actually entails.

This post was originally published in 2016 and was updated on 4/17/2020 by Lisa Rowan. Updates include: Checked links for accuracy; updated formatting to reflect current style; revised article to focus on bankruptcy methods for individuals; updated monetary requirements and averages.

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), signed by President Trump on March 27, 2020

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), signed by President Trump on March 27, 2020

We hope that all are safe and doing well in these uncertain times. The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), signed by President Trump on March 27, 2020, contains several changes to the Bankruptcy Code, which are detailed below.
1) a) With respect to personal bankruptcy, the CARES Act amends the definition of “income” in the Bankruptcy Code for Chapters 7 and 13 cases so that coronavirus-related payments from the federal government will be excluded from being treated as income.   b) Coronavirus-related payments made by the federal government under the CARES Act will be excluded from the disposable income calculation for purposes of confirming a Chapter 13 Plan.          c) Finally, chapter 13 debtors will now be able to extend their plan payments for up to seven years instead of five years (under the prior law).

2) A. The Small Business Debtor bankruptcy provisions were modified such that small business debtors with debt up to $7.5 million will now be eligible to file for bankruptcy, rather than the old limit of $2,725,625 in debt.

B. Under the chapter 11 reorganization plan, small business debtors can now retain their equity or member interests in an LLC even if creditors are not being paid in full. The law requires a small business debtor to pay their “projected disposable income” over the next 3 to 5 years to creditors who were owed money at the time of the bankruptcy filing. Under the new law, a creditors’ committee is not formed, but the small business debtor will only have 90 days to file a reorganization plan, with very limited right to extend. Additionally, a “standing trustee” will be responsible for oversight of the small business debtor instead of a creditor committee. The standing trustee will be selected by the U.S. Department of Justice from a list of preapproved turnaround professionals.


People with questions about the CARES act should contact
Jim Shenwick   212-541-6224    jshenwick@gmail.com

NYC taxi fleet founded in the 1970s files bankruptcy amid coronavirus

April 1, 2020
From: NY Post
By: Thornton McEnery


A Brooklyn taxi operator who got his first medallion in the 1970s has filed for bankruptcy as the coronavirus ravages an already struggling industry, The Post has learned.

Joe Pross, who started driving a taxi in 1975 and now runs a fleet of 42 cabs, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection for his Crown Heights-based medallion company, Walker Service Corp., on March 27, court papers show.

Pross, 75, declined to be interviewed for this story. But his Brooklyn federal court bankruptcy filings underscore how vulnerable taxi operators were prior to the coronavirus crippling tourism and forcing thousands of New Yorkers inside.

Walker Service Corp. appears to be the first medallion owner to file for bankruptcy protection since the pandemic shut down the city, but it’s not likely the last, industry experts say.

 “This industry was on the brink before this happened, and this virus has just pushed it totally over the edge,” said Matthew Daus, a former TLC commissioner who’s now a lawyer with Windels Marx. “I hope we don’t see more bankruptcies, but I’m afraid a lot of people might go under and file for bankruptcy protection. This will be worse than 9/11 economically, especially for the black cars and luxury livery.”

In an affidavit filed with his bankruptcy papers, Pross says his medallions — “once worth millions” — plummeted in value as ride-hailing apps and Uber and Lyft grew in popularity, leaving him and his wife struggling to pay off loans they took out on their medallions to build the business.

By 2019, before the coronavirus even hit, Pross’ fleet was pulling in $29,400 a month — far short of the $105,610 a month he needed to repay $18.7 million in medallion loans, court papers show.

In late February, his lender, Virginia-based Pentagon Federal Credit Union, issued notices of default on six loans and demanded $158,186 within 30 days to rectify the situation.

Pross says he tried to negotiate repayment. Then the coronavirus hit — slamming the brakes on taxi revenue even as drivers and operators continue to face expenses for parking, dispatchers, mechanics and administrative workers.

“The current COVID-19 pandemic has now rendered the debtors with virtually no income to operate its businesses as the debtors have recently suspended operations during the COVID-19 pandemic for March, April and possibly May 2020,” Pross’ filing says.

As The Post reported on March 15 - before Gov. Cuomo even ordered restaurants shut down and non-essential workers stay home — taxi drivers were making as little as $50 a week as people afraid of contagion avoided public spaces.

“The drivers are coming back asking if I can pay their gas because their fares didn’t even cover it. We can’t go on like this,” a taxi operator who asked not to be named told The Post on Wednesday.

Pross’s affidavit also blames Walker’s debt holder, PenFed, saying it has been playing hardball by “shockingly” refusing to extend its 30-day payment deadline.

PenFed acquired $290 million worth of medallion loans, including Pross’s, as part of its 2019 merger with New York-based Progressive Credit Union, according to reports at the time.

The credit union declined to comment on how many medallion loans it currently possesses, but insisted its working hard to keep taxi operators in business.
 
The credit union declined to comment on how many medallion loans it currently possess, but insisted it’s working hard to keep taxi operators in business.

“PenFed actively works with our members experiencing financial hardships, including taxi medallion borrowers who have requested relief,” a PenFed spokesperson said in a statement. “PenFed has an extensive team in New York working to help members who need assistance during this challenging time.”

Pross is hoping to come out of bankruptcy with reduced loans so he can continue to run the business through his main business, Utica Taxi, which operates the cars and garages and employs the dispatchers and other workers, filings show.

But with coronavirus deaths in New York nearing 2,000 and growing, the main business also faces the threat of going under.

“The proliferation of ride-sharing apps such as Uber and Lyft … combined with the economic devastation associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, may eventually render Utica Taxi bankrupt as well,” Pross’ affidavit said.

Coronavirus Decimates N.Y.C. Taxi Industry: ‘The Worst It’s Ever Been’ New York Times March 25, 2020

There are so few travelers left at Kennedy International Airport, one of the world’s busiest airfields, that taxis wait six hours or more for a single passenger.

Taxi companies can no longer find enough drivers for their fleets because there is so little business.

And some cabdrivers are so fearful of being exposed to the coronavirus they are staying home with no way to pay mounting bills.

All this at a time when many of New York City’s taxi owners are already in financial ruin after taking out reckless loans to buy medallions — city-issued permits required to own a yellow cab — at artificially inflated prices, with the reassurance of the city’s taxi commission of their high value.

Their industry has increasingly lost riders to the boom in Uber, Lyft and ride-app services, and been shaken by a spate of suicides by desperate taxi owners and for-hire drivers.

Now taxi owners and drivers who were barely holding on said their livelihood had evaporated as the city all but shut down to try to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

“When you have to wait six or seven hours to get one passenger, it’s really bad,” said Mario Darius, 66, a taxi owner who was camped out at Kennedy Airport after picking up just three fares in three days.

Though citywide taxi ridership numbers for March are not yet available, some taxi companies, cab owners and drivers said their rides had plunged by two-thirds or more.

The city’s largest taxi group, the Metropolitan Taxicab Board of Trade, which represents the owners of 5,500 yellow cabs, said rides had dropped nearly 91 percent to a total of 20,596 trips over this past Friday, Saturday and Sunday. That is compared with 217,540 total trips for the same three days three weeks ago.

Coronavirus Decimates N.Y.C. Taxi Industry: ‘The Worst It’s Ever Been’ from New York Times March 25, 2020

Coronavirus Decimates N.Y.C. Taxi Industry: ‘The Worst It’s Ever Been’

There are so few travelers left at Kennedy International Airport, one of the world’s busiest airfields, that taxis wait six hours or more for a single passenger.

Taxi companies can no longer find enough drivers for their fleets because there is so little business.

And some cabdrivers are so fearful of being exposed to the coronavirus they are staying home with no way to pay mounting bills.

All this at a time when many of New York City’s taxi owners are already in financial ruin after taking out reckless loans to buy medallions — city-issued permits required to own a yellow cab — at artificially inflated prices, with the reassurance of the city’s taxi commission of their high value.

Their industry has increasingly lost riders to the boom in Uber, Lyft and ride-app services, and been shaken by a spate of suicides by desperate taxi owners and for-hire drivers.

Now taxi owners and drivers who were barely holding on said their livelihood had evaporated as the city all but shut down to try to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

THE LATESTRead our live coverage of the coronavirus outbreak in the New York area.
“When you have to wait six or seven hours to get one passenger, it’s really bad,” said Mario Darius, 66, a taxi owner who was camped out at Kennedy Airport after picking up just three fares in three days.

Though citywide taxi ridership numbers for March are not yet available, some taxi companies, cab owners and drivers said their rides had plunged by two-thirds or more.

The city’s largest taxi group, the Metropolitan Taxicab Board of Trade, which represents the owners of 5,500 yellow cabs, said rides had dropped nearly 91 percent to a total of 20,596 trips over this past Friday, Saturday and Sunday. That is compared with 217,540 total trips for the same three days three weeks ago.

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The New York Taxi Workers Alliance, which represents about 21,000 taxi and ride-app drivers, said a detailed survey of seven members who are taxi drivers found they earned an average of $368 — not including expenses, gas or taxes — from March 15 to March 21, a 71 percent drop from $1,260 two weeks earlier.

Bhairavi Desai, the alliance’s executive director, said it had received calls from dozens of taxi drivers who can no longer afford to pay for necessities like groceries and medicine.


ImageSome drivers have seen the number of rides drop by more than 90 percent.
Some drivers have seen the number of rides drop by more than 90 percent. Credit...Chang W. Lee/The New York Times
“They are facing immediate loss of income when they have no savings to fall back on and an uncertain future as to when the economy will begin to recover," she said. “It’s devastating. I thought we had hit a low point already.”

Across the country, taxi and ride-app drivers have seen their business all but disappear in cities like San Francisco, where people have been ordered to shelter in place, as well as other communities, including Chicago, Philadelphia, and Washington.

Taxi owners need immediate help to survive, Ms. Desai said, including making interest-free city loans available and requiring lenders to partially forgive loans for medallions and temporarily suspend collection of loan payments.

And she urged that state unemployment benefits be extended to taxi drivers, who are considered independent contractors and do not qualify.

A spokesman for New York City’s Taxi and Limousine Commission, which regulates the for-hire driving industry, said officials were working with the taxi industry and government agencies “on a number of supportive measures” but declined to give any details, saying discussions were ongoing.

20-Somethings Now Realizing That They Can Get Coronavirus, TooMarch 23, 2020

Density Is New York City’s Big ‘Enemy’ in the Coronavirus FightMarch 23, 2020

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo was seeking federal disaster assistance that would provide unemployment benefits to contract workers, including taxi drivers.

The City Council speaker, Corey Johnson, a Democrat who is running for mayor, has proposed a $12 billion relief plan for businesses and workers impacted by the coronavirus — which would cover for-hire drivers. The plan includes expanded unemployment benefits and an immediate payout of $550 to every adult and $275 to every child.

“This crisis is unlike anything we’ve ever seen before,” said Mr. Johnson, who has led recent efforts to help the ailing taxi industry. “Every New Yorker is struggling, and for-hire vehicle drivers are among the hardest hit.”

A sample pool of 5,533 for-hire drivers in New York City — most of whom work for Uber and other ride apps — found that they drove significantly fewer hours and miles, according to Nexar, a software company that analyzes data from its network of smart dashboard cameras.

On March 18, they drove an average of 3 hours and 35 minutes, down 39 percent from 5 hours and 50 minutes on a typical Wednesday. They also covered an average of 48 miles, a 32 percent drop from 71 miles.

“This is so massive and so sudden, it’s a shock to the system,” said Eran Shir, Nexar’s co-founder and chief executive officer, who has seen similar drops in other cities. “We’ve never seen anything like that.”

Uber and Lyft declined to release their ride numbers in New York.

But Uber’s chief executive officer, Dara Khosrowshahi, said in a March 19 call with investors that bookings for rides in Seattle and other hard-hit areas had fallen by as much as 60 to 70 percent.

New York City has about 200,000 for-hire drivers licensed by the Taxi and Limousine Commission. The drivers are issued a universal license that allows them to drive yellow taxis, which are capped at nearly 13,600 by the city, and for ride-app services.

The commission, which tracks taxi ridership numbers, has only collected data through January, well before coronavirus reached New York.

Michael Woloz, a longtime taxi industry consultant, said taxi garages had stayed open through some of the city’s worst crises — including the Sept. 11 terror attacks and Hurricane Sandy — but were reeling from the coronavirus fallout.

Many garages, he said, were taking extraordinary steps to get their taxis out on the streets, including reducing leasing fees for drivers by as much as two-thirds.

Other garages were waiving leasing fees altogether, and instead waiting until the end of drivers’ shifts to see if there was any profit to split.

“Right now, it’s the worst it’s ever been,” Mr. Woloz said.

At Kennedy Airport, taxi drivers are stuck in a central holding area for hours before finally being dispatched to pick up passengers at the terminals.

The other day, dozens of taxis were lined up, with some drivers talking on their cellphones to pass the time while others leaned back for a nap.

Edrice Ulysses, 57, of Brooklyn, pounded on his steering wheel in frustration. “Every day one fare,” he said. ”Eight hours, nine hours, ten hours, one fare.”

Marc Petit-Homme, 54, a yellow taxi driver for nearly three decades, said the airport was so slow one day that he finally gave up and drove to Manhattan looking for passengers.

But over five hours, he made just $49 — normally, it would be five or 10 times that much.

So the next day, he was back at the airport. Waiting. “The last two weeks, we suffer,” said Mr. Petit-Homme, as he paced nervously beside his taxi.

Many taxi drivers said their financial worries were compounded by fears of catching the virus and passing it on to their families.

Nino Hervias, a taxi owner who is 61 and had pneumonia last year, has not driven his taxi since March 17.

Mr. Hervias, who has a loan of more than half-a-million dollars on his medallion, said he cannot make the monthly payments on that or on the mortgage on his family’s home in New Jersey, or even cover their everyday living expenses.

“We have food for another two days,’’ he said.

Other taxi owners and drivers are taking their chances, armed with hand sanitizer and disinfectant wipes.

Wilfred Fequiere, 64, who lives in Queens and has driven a cab for 35 years, said he used to average a dozen passengers a day. Now, it is two passengers, if he is lucky, but sometimes none at all.

“Before it wasn’t good,” he said. “Now it’s worse.”

Banks to waive mortgage payments for 90 days

From:Crain's New York Business
By: Gwen Everett

https://www.crainsnewyork.com/coronavirus/banks-waive-mortgage-payments-90-days?utm_source=breaking-news&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20200319&utm_content=hero-readmore

Bankruptcy Filings and the Discharge of Taxes

Affluent Taxpayers and the Discharge of Taxes in Bankruptcy 

In these difficult times, many clients have contacted Shenwick
& amp; Associates asking  whether they should file for
bankruptcy and whether the taxes they owe are dischargeable
in bankruptcy. Both bankruptcy law and tax law are code
oriented and the intersection of those two areas of the law
can create complexity and confusion.  

As we have discussed in prior blog posts, “old income” taxes
are dischargeable in a Chapter 7 personal bankruptcy filing.
The term “old” generally means that the taxes must be more
than 3 years old or more than 3 years must have passed
from the date of the filing of the debtor’s tax return and the
date of the debtor’s bankruptcy filing (“3 Year Rule”). This
is a “back of the envelope” analysis for purposes of this blog
post and an actual analysis would include a review of the
Debtor’s account transcript from the IRS and an analysis of
the facts of the case.    

In addition to the 3 Year Rule calculation, the bankruptcy
attorney must also determine if the debtor attempted to
evade or defeat the payment of  taxes  pursuant to section
523(a)(1)(c) of the Bankruptcy Code. If the debtor took
action to evade the payment of taxes, then the taxes are not
dischargeable in bankruptcy notwithstanding the fact that the
taxes are old and have met the 3 year rule discussed above. 

The recent case of  United States v. Harold, No. 16-05041
(Bankr. E.D. Mich. 2020) proves an example of actions by
a taxpayer/debtor that rise to the level of an attempt to evade
taxes, which result in the taxes not being dischargeable despite
the taxpayer/debtor having met the 3 Year Rule. 

Dr. Harold (debtor) was a successful medical doctor with an
OB/GYN practice. The issue in the case was the discharge of 
the  federal tax liabilities for 2004 through 2012 and 2014 that
met the 3 Year Rule. Unless the exception for attempting to
evade the payment of taxes applied, the taxes  would be
discharged in Dr. Harold’s bankruptcy filing.  

Dr. Harold  grossed approximately $500,000 from her practice
during the years at issue.  

Despite owing taxes, Dr Harold had  an affluent lifestyle: 1. She
purchased  a new home in 2005 along the Detroit River
waterfront,  2. She sent her children to private grade schools
and high schools,  3. Her children attended private colleges.
4. The family took multiple family vacations to Mexico,
Alaska, Puerto Rico, Orlando, Washington, D.C., Paris,
Las Vegas, Hawaii, and Dubai and 5 the family drove
expensive cars: a Jaguar, a Mercury Mountaineer, two
Cadillacs, two Lincolns, a Lexus and a Harley
Davidson motorcycle.

In this author's experience, the IRS  will subpoena the
Debtor’s bank and credit card statements for the relevant
years to determine what the Debtor spent their money on. 

The Court found that the facts of the case indicated that
her expenditures were voluntary and  demonstrated that
the Debtor engaged in conduct to evade or defeat the
payment of her tax liabilities for the years 2004-2012
and 2014 pursuant to 523(a)(1)(c) of the Bankruptcy
Code  and the taxes were not dischargeable. 

The case provides a lesson for  high income earners who
file for bankruptcy and had used their money to purchase
luxury goods or services instead of paying their taxes,
the IRS will object to the discharge of their taxes in their
bankruptcy filing  and the IRS will likely prevail.

James H. Shenwick, Esq. has an LLM in Taxation from
NYU Law School and counsels many clients with tax
and debtor/creditor issues.  

James Shenwick
Shenwick & Associates
122 East 42nd St
Suite 620
New York, NY 10168
Bankruptcy & Creditor's Rights
“We always appreciate referrals”
W 212-541-6224
E: jshenwick@gmail.com
Fax 646-218-4600
Cell Phone: 917-363-3391
Website: https://shenwick-associates.business.site/
Website: https://sites.google.com/site/jshenwick/home
Blog: http://shenwick.blogspot.com
LinkedIn:  http://www.linkedin.com/in/jamesshenwick

AG James and Cuomo suspend state debt collection

From: Crain's New York Business
By: Gwen Everett

https://www.crainsnewyork.com/coronavirus/ag-james-and-cuomo-suspend-state-debt-collection

New York will freeze collections on medical and student debt owed or referred to the state, Attorney General Letitia James and Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Tuesday.

More than 165,000 debts are affected by the decision, the AG and governor said, adding that the freeze will last at least 30 days.

During that time, the attorney general's office will take applications to suspend other types of debt owed or referred to the state, James said, and will decide whether to extend the freeze.

It's an effort to mitigate the mounting financial stresses New Yorkers are facing as the Covid-19 crisis rattles the state's economy. The state shut down restaurants, bars and event spaces Monday.

"In this time of crisis, my office will not add undue stress or saddle New Yorkers with unnecessary financial burden," James said. 

Joe Biden’s effort to heal the breach with Elizabeth Warren on bankruptcy, explained

From: vox.com
By: Matthew Yglesias

https://www.vox.com/2020/3/16/21181500/joe-biden-elizabeth-warren-bankruptcy

NYC taxis struggle to make ends meet amid coronavirus scare

From: NY Post

By: Rosemary Misdary, David Meyer and Jorge Fitz-Gibbon

Coronavirus has slammed the brakes on the Big Apple taxi industry.

New York City cabbies are suffering a radical drop in ridership amid concerns over the potentially deadly bug, with some only scraping together a few bucks after long shifts behind the wheel.

“We don’t make money,” said Queens cabbie Jones Donkoi while trying to land fares on the Upper West Side. “I collected $300 in fares but if you take the taxes and surcharges and lease payment, I make about $40 at the end of a 12-hour shift.”

“I support three children,” he said. “I’m going to find another job because I can’t continue like this. I can’t buy anything.”

Driver Mohammad Azad said it’s so bad out there that he had just $10 in his pocket after his first three hours on the road on Sunday.

“Our pockets are empty,” said Azad, who was near Spring Street in SoHo Sunday. “If it continues like this, it will be very hard to survive in New York City. All taxi drivers are miserable. Am I scared? Yes. But we take the risks.”

Another driver said he took home just $50 one day last week, and at one point drove around two hours without a single fare.

“I don’t know what’s going to happen,” said the cabbie, who would only identify himself as Patrick. “I am driving around hoping to get a passenger and there are none. They are too scared.”

One cabbie said his family has had to cut down on food spending and even stopped buying laundry detergent to try to get by.

Taxi garages throughout the city told The Post that business has dropped by 30–50 percent as fewer tourists hit the city and more locals stay indoors to avoid contact with the COVID-19 virus.

And cabbies are feeling the squeeze.

“It’s really dire out there,” said Bhairavi Desai, executive director of the New York Taxi Workers Alliance. “Trips dry up after evening hours and with significant loss of airport trips, only small fares remain.”

A chunk of the fares they collect go toward paying off their pricey taxi medallions or, in some cases, the weekly lease payments to garages that rent them their cabs.

“Tomorrow I will ask if my garage can lower the rate to rent the cabs,” said Brooklyn cabbie Abdallah Abdujabar. “Every week I pay $600 plus gas, EZ Pass. It adds up to $800, $900.”

Then there are fees that come out of the fares, including a $2.50 state congestion surcharge and a 30-cent city surcharge.

According to taxi garage owners and dispatchers, the crunch is having a ripple effect on the industry.

Garages that rent out the cabs rely on the drivers’ lease payments to pay off their medallions, and without that money coming, some owners said they risk defaulting on bank loans they took out to make their medallion payments.

“My drivers work a 12-hour shift and they’re not even making the money to pay the lease on the car,” said Mahbub Hassan, a dispatcher at Yellow Cab Crescent Management in Long Island City. “In four hours, they’re lucky to get three rides.”

“We have 268 cabs in our fleet, and 100 of those cars are just sitting there without drivers,” Hassan said. “We have been giving our drivers $200, $300 discounts on the lease, and drivers are still not making enough to cover the lease payment.”

Added a manager at Midtown Operating Corp: “At the end of the day, we are all in the same boat along with the rest of the city. My pockets are not that deep.”

Meanwhile, drivers said they also have to live with the fear that they’re exposing themselves to the virus while trying to make a living.

“They give me three hand sanitizers per shift,” driver Muhammad Boote, a cabbie for 12 years, said of his bosses at Queens Medallion Leasing in Long Island City. “I’ve almost run out. I need to ask for more.”

Additional reporting by Anabel Sosa and Khristina Narizhnaya

What Trump’s Student Loan Interest Freeze Does - And Does Not - Do

From: forbes.com
By: Adam S. Minsky

Yesterday, President Trump announced that he would be freezing student loan interest as part of his national emergency declaration regarding the Coronavirus outbreak. But with few details provided during his public announcement, student loan borrowers have been wondering what exactly this means for them.

Here’s what President Trump’s student loan interest rate freeze would do:

• Interest accrual on certain federal student loans will be frozen. This means that no further interest will accrue on certain federal student loans going forward.

• The student loan interest freeze will only apply to student loans “held by federal government agencies,” such as the U.S. Department of Education and its contracted student loan servicers. 

• The student loan interest freeze is temporary, but will continue indefinitely until the policy is changed.

• The student loan interest freeze will be implemented automatically, likely in the coming week (although the exact timing is unclear).

While some applauded the President’s decision, there is much that the national emergency declaration does not do:

• Private student loans are not covered by the interest freeze, since these loans are not held by U.S. federal government agencies. 

• Certain federally-guaranteed student loans — such as federal Perkins loans and FFEL-program loans — may not be subject to the interest freeze if they are not held by a federal government agency (which is the case for many of these loans).

• Borrowers must continue to pay their normal monthly payments on all student loans. Your monthly payment amount will not change, nor will your payments be suspended. To be absolutely clear: the President’s declaration does not include any student loan payment relief at all, whatsoever.
  

• For student loan borrowers who have already accrued significant uncapitalized interest (such as for borrowers on income-driven repayment plans), all outstanding interest will still have to be paid off first, before any payment will be applied to principal. This is required under federal regulations and the underlying federal student loan promissory notes, and President Trump’s declaration does not alter these terms.

• For student loan borrowers in default, so-called “forced collections” will continue. That means student loan borrowers will still be subject to administrative wage garnishment, offset of Social Security payments, and involuntary seizure of federal and state tax refunds. 

Ultimately, while President Trump’s interest rate freeze will pause balance growth (or, in some cases, temporarily reduce the cost of repayment), student loan borrowers who are struggling with lost income or wages due to the Coronavirus outbreak do not receive any direct student loan relief from the national emergency declaration.

This is an evolving situation, so stay tuned.

Biden endorses Warren's bankruptcy plan, calling it 'one of the things that I think Bernie and I will agree on'

From: CNN Politics
By: Eric Bradner and Arlette Saenz, CNN

 Sat March 14, 2020

(CNN)  Former Vice President Joe Biden says he now backs Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren's bankruptcy plan, endorsing his former Democratic rival's proposal to repeal portions of a law they had clashed over 15 years earlier.

Biden touted his support for Warren's plan as an olive branch to supporters of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders in a virtual town hall for Illinois voters Friday night, calling it "one of the things that I think Bernie and I will agree on."

 

He highlighted a portion of Warren's plan that would allow student loan debt to be eliminated in bankruptcy just like other debts.

 

"I'm going to endorse -- I've endorsed -- Elizabeth Warren's bankruptcy proposal, which in fact goes further, allows for student debt to be relieved in bankruptcy, provides for a whole range of other issues that allows us to in fact impact on how people are dealing with their circumstances," Biden said. "So there's a whole range of things we agree on."

Biden's move to back Warren's plan shows that, as he moves toward clinching the Democratic presidential nomination and seeks to soothe over tensions from a year-long intra-party battle, the former vice president is taking steps to embrace his former rivals and adopt planks of their platforms -- and is willing to move left to do so. 

 

Warren's team got a heads-up from the Biden camp that he would be endorsing the senator's bankruptcy plan ahead of his public announcement on Friday, a Warren aide told CNN's MJ Lee. The two teams were in touch leading up to the announcement, the aide said.

 

A Biden campaign aide said he would likely say more about his support for Warren's bankruptcy plan in his debate against Sanders on Sunday night. 

 

Biden and Warren's high-profile battle over a 2005 bill that made it more difficult to declare bankruptcy, when he was a Delaware senator and leading advocate of the measure and she was a Harvard professor and vocal opponent, played a key role in inspiring Warren's move into politics. 

 

As a presidential candidate, she used it to highlight her differences with Biden. On the day in April 2019 that Biden entered the race, she said at a rally that Biden had been "on the side of the credit companies." 

 

The law, which was heavily backed by the banking and credit card industries, made it harder for Americans to get out of debt by filing for bankruptcy. Supporters of the measure said it would prevent financially irresponsible people from abusing the system, while opponents denounced it, saying it would hurt struggling people by increasing the regulation, documentation and costs of seeking bankruptcy protection. Bankruptcies plummeted after the law took effect, but not for the right reasons, consumer advocates argued.

 

Biden was seen as a leading proponent of the bill at the time, though it was largely backed by Republicans and passed by a GOP-controlled Congress. Biden's campaign has argued he successfully fought for changes to the bill that prioritized child support and alimony in front of lenders and required credit card companies to warn borrowers about their interest rates.

 

The Warren plan targets a series of provisions that she has criticized for years, arguing that they benefit credit card companies and big lenders at the expense of Americans struggling with consumer, household and student debt.

 

Warren's proposal would make the bankruptcy system "simple, cheap, fast, and flexible," she wrote in a Medium post when she unveiled it in January. It would merge the two types of consumer bankruptcy filings -- Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 -- into one, offering filers a "menu of options" for dealing with their unpaid debt. It would eliminate what she termed "burdensome paperwork" that makes bankruptcy more expensive, deterring some from filing. It would reverse the 2005 law's requirement that filers seek pre-filing credit counseling, as well as the additional rules it placed on consumer bankruptcy attorneys.

 

She would also reduce the cost of filing and make it easier for people to keep their homes and cars during bankruptcy. The proposal would make it harder for the wealthy to shield assets in trusts and would crack down on companies that violate consumer financial protection laws while trying to collect on debts. And her proposal would end the ban on shedding student loan debt in bankruptcy.

 

CNN's Gregory Krieg and Tami Luhby contributed to this report.

NYC Cap on Ride-Hail Vehicles Made Permanent from Courthouse Web Services

NYC Cap on Ride-Hail Vehicles Made Permanent from Courthouse News Service

MANHATTAN (CN) – The New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission voted Tuesday to permanently freeze the number of Ubers, Lyfts and other ride-hailing vehicles that drive here.

A one-year cap on such vehicles was set to expire next week. It was first instituted last August after a 39-6 City Council vote.


Taxicabs speed down Broadway near the intersection of Seventh Avenue and 42nd street in New York’s Times Square on May 5, 2005. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)
From 12,600 in 2015 to more than 80,000 last year, the number of Uber, Lyft, Via and similar vehicles on the city’s streets has exploded in recent years, according to Taxi and Limousine Commission reported by Bloomberg. More cars mean more of them drive around empty, increasing congestion and emissions.

In addition to the vehicle cap, the commission voted Wednesday to reduce the amount of time drivers can spend looking for riders below 60th street in Manhattan. That allotted downtown time will drop to 31% by August 2020, down from its current level of 41%.

Uber challenged the cap in court earlier this year, claiming it relied on bogus traffic data. The ride-hailing service said the cap was anti-competitive and “will have a disproportionate impact on residents outside of Manhattan who have long been underserved by yellow taxis and mass transit” in the outer-borough areas where most Uber trips occur.

New Yorkers are split on the issue, with some saying the city should instead address other causes of its traffic-congestion crisis, such as by implementing congestion pricing in Midtown Manhattan. The city’s residents are also widely frustrated with the crumbling subway system, which sometimes forces people to find alternate methods of transportation, with the history of race discrimination among yellow cabs, and with the trend of sporadic taxi service in the outer-boroughs.

Community groups in the city have fought against the cap, saying it stifles drivers’ abilities to buy rather than lease the cars they use.

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, a contender in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary, weighed in on the decision Wednesday.

“For far too long, ride-share apps took advantage of their drivers,” de Blasio said in a statement. “Their wages plummeted and families struggled to put food on their tables. We stood up and said no more. We will not let big corporations walk all over hardworking New Yorkers and choke our streets with congestion. Our caps have resulted in increased wages and families finally have some relief.”

Arthur Goldstein, a former attorney for the Taxicab Service Association, called the cap long overdue.

“The ride-hailing cap will help to reduce congestion on our streets, but does not adequately address the consequences of nearly a decade of government inaction,” Goldstein, who is with the firm Davidoff Hutcher & Citron, said in an email. “When Uber, Lyft and other app-based companies began flooding the streets with cars, many yellow cab owners who have invested in taxi medallions were deprived of an opportunity to earn a return on their investment. These largely immigrant entrepreneurs who invested in taxi medallions are still suffering. Uber and Lyft continue to operate relatively free from regulations applied to their regulated yellow cab competitors and, with ten of thousands of ride-hailing vehicles remaining on the street, the problem persists.”

How to get rid of debt without paying from Bankrate

Outstanding debt is higher than ever. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York reports that household debt in the United States has now reached its highest-ever total: more than $14 trillion.

Regardless of the debt you’re suffering from, you might not see an end in sight. Is there a chance you can get out of debt without paying?

The answer is maybe, depending on a number of factors. Here are some ways you can explore getting out of debt that don’t include paying it.


How you can get out of debt without paying
Debt might feel homogeneous, but each type is different — so your options will depend on which type you’ve accrued. Before you stop paying, make sure you know the limitations and the long-term ramifications of doing so.

How to get out of student loan debt without paying
There are a few different options for getting out of student loan payments. Your loan, job status and sometimes the school you attended all determine what you’re eligible for.

Income-driven repayment plans: These revise your monthly payment to 10 to 20 percent of your income for the next 20 or 25 years (depending on the plan). After that, the remaining loan balance is forgiven.
Public Service Loan Forgiveness: Available for those who work in the public sector, like employees at the federal, state and local level, and for those who work for a nonprofit organization. After you’ve made 120 qualifying payments while working full time for a qualifying employer, the rest of your Direct Loans will be forgiven.
Teacher Loan Forgiveness: Open to teachers who work five consecutive years at a low-income elementary or secondary school and to those who work at an educational service agency. You might qualify for forgiveness of up to $17,500 of your Direct Loans or Stafford Loans.
Perkins Loan Cancellation: Teachers, firefighters, law enforcement officers and others are eligible for Perkins Loan cancellation or discharge. Cancellation can happen over the course of five years, while discharge could happen in the event of bankruptcy, death or disability.
Closed school discharge: If your school closed while you were attending (or soon after you withdrew), you may qualify to have your federal student loans discharged.
Discharge options: You could get your loans discharged in the event of death, permanent disability or — very rarely — bankruptcy.
For most options, you’ll need to make qualifying, timely payments each month. However, even then, not everyone qualifies or receives forgiveness. For instance, less than 1 percent of Public Service Loan Forgiveness applicants were approved and considered eligible.

You can’t have a defaulted loan forgiven, but defaulted loans may qualify for discharge, depending on the loan and the program.

How to get out of credit card debt without paying
If you have more credit card debt than you can handle, there are a few steps you can take; however, you may want to consider the repercussions.

If you stop paying your credit card bill, it gets turned into collections and your credit score tanks. But there’s a statute of limitations for how long creditors can sue you for outstanding credit card debt, which varies from three to 10 years in most states. You could skip payments, but you might be liable for them later. Even at that point, if you are sued for outstanding payment, you most likely wouldn’t win the case.

Another route is debt settlement, which is when you settle your debt with the current lender (or collection agency, if it’s reached that point) for less than what you owe. You may not be responsible for your entire credit card debt, but you’d still pay some of it.


How to get out of debt through bankruptcy
Bankruptcy should only be considered if you don’t have any other options. Filing for bankruptcy may sound like you’re starting over, but depending on the route you go, you may still be on the hook for some of your outstanding debt.

In a Chapter 7 bankruptcy filing, some of your assets are sold off to pay back debt, meaning you could lose your home and personal property. A few months after filing, your remaining debt will be discharged — although Chapter 7 typically won’t cover things like student loan debt or child support.

In a Chapter 13 filing, you get set up on a court-ordered repayment plan. Any remaining debt after a certain time has passed, like five years, might be discharged. This process means you’ll spend even longer paying off your debt, and you’ll also have a bankruptcy filing on your credit report.

Depending on the type of bankruptcy you file, a bankruptcy filing could stay on your credit report for up to 10 years, which is why it’s important to carefully weigh your options and your outstanding debt. Debt collectors can’t attempt to collect a debt that was discharged in bankruptcy, and they can’t continue collection activity while the bankruptcy case is pending — but the filing itself will have long-term effects on your financial health.

Why not paying off debt doesn’t work
Your credit report is a vital part of your financial well-being. Late or missed payments, defaults, collections and bankruptcies not only crush your credit score, but can also hurt your chances of taking out a loan or getting approved for a credit card.

Not paying your bills also puts you in a dangerous position with lenders. Avoiding payment means that creditors can sue you for unpaid bills. In some states, you could get your wages garnished or have your assets seized. Even if you aren’t making the payments directly, you’re still paying your outstanding debt.

Alternatives to bankruptcy
If you have the chance to avoid bankruptcy, you should take it. Here are some alternatives to consider.

Supplement your income: Whatever you need to do to start paying off your debt, do it now. Ask for a raise at work or move to a higher-paying job, if you can. Get a side-hustle. Start to sell valuable things, like furniture or expensive jewelry, to cover the outstanding debt.
Ask for assistance: Contact your lenders and creditors and ask about lowering your monthly payment, interest rate or both. For student loans, you might qualify for temporary relief with forbearance or deferment. For other types of debt, see what your lender or credit card issuer offers for hardship assistance. If you have the means, see if friends and family will help you.
Take out a debt consolidation loan: If you have many different types of debt, look into consolidation options. Taking out a debt consolidation loan is a way to simplify your finances — putting all of your debt in one place — and potentially pay less interest in the long run.
Get professional help: Reach out to a nonprofit credit counseling agency that can set up a debt management plan. You’ll pay the agency a set amount every month that goes toward each of your debts. The agency works to negotiate a lower bill or interest rate on your behalf and, in some cases, can get your debt canceled.
The bottom line
It can feel like it’ll take a lifetime to get out of a huge debt trap. You may skip payments, consider not paying at all or file for bankruptcy. While you might, in certain circumstances, get out of paying your outstanding debt, the likelihood is low. And more often than not, it’s harmful to your financial well-being to avoid paying your outstanding debt.

Cabbies worry as hedge fund snaps up taxi medallions New York Post February 20, 2020

New York taxi drivers and politicians are raising alarms after a secretive hedge fund this week quietly became the city’s largest owner of taxi-medallion loans.

Marblegate Asset Management — a tight-lipped investment firm that has already scooped up some 300 medallions and 1,000 loans, many of them previously owned by disgraced “Taxi King” Gene Freidman — has taken over loans tied to an additional 3,000 New York medallions, sources told The Post.

The deal — valued at about $350 million with the inclusion of an additional 1,500 loans from Chicago, Philadelphia and other cities, according to sources — makes Marblegate New York City’s biggest-ever owner of medallion loans, with nearly a third of the total of 13,500 issued.

The Greenwich, Conn.-based hedge fund didn’t respond to requests for comment, even as critics raised fears that the deal could spell more bad news for cab drivers.

The market value of a New York City taxi medallion — which had topped $1 million in late 2013 — has since tanked below $200,000 with the rise of ride-sharing startups like Uber and Lyft. With passengers defecting in droves, New York’s yellow-cab drivers are facing mounting debts, with nine suicides reported in the last two years.

Some industry sources said they were skeptical whether Marblegate would be interested in taking a haircut on the loans to help out taxi drivers.

“[Marblegate] is happy owning these assets because they want to own a superfleet and build economies of scale,” according to one industry insider. “The idea is to keep buying the loans, keep foreclosing on them and keep gobbling up medallions until you control the market.”

About 60 members of the New York Taxi Workers Alliance had driven down to Virginia on Wednesday in a last-ditch effort to stop Marblegate’s purchase of the loans from the National Credit Union Administration, a federal agency that had taken on the New York loans after the collapse of two local credit unions in 2018.

“It’s ridiculous,” said Bhairavi Desai, the taxi driver group’s executive director. “We’re pretty pissed off.”

Letitia James preps suit against city over medallion debt crisis
Desai says the group met with NCUA reps two weeks ago to discuss letting the Taxi Workers Alliance find a private partner that would help the nonprofit buy the loans. The alliance has said it wants to restructure the loans at uniform values of $150,000 and freeze monthly payments on those debts at $900.

Instead, Desai said that the NCUA — which said in a Wednesday announcement it has lost $760 million holding onto the debt — simply turned around and sold the medallions to the highest bidder.

“We are fiduciaries for the share insurance fund. We are not some hedge fund selling assets,” NCUA board member J. Mark McWatters told the 60 visiting New Yorkers at the regulator’s monthly board meeting in Virginia. “We needed to take this offer.”

The NCUA has assured the Taxi Workers Alliance that Marblegate is open to talking debt relief with medallion owners and that a meeting between the parties to start those talks has been set for “sometime next week,” Desai said.

City officials are equally concerned about what putting an outsize share of taxi medallions in the hands of a hedge fund means for taxi operators on the brink.

“People will read this story and think about committing suicide,” said City Council Member Ydanis Rodriguez, chair of the Transportation Committee. “We cannot wait for the city to create a public-private partnership to buy medallions in foreclosure and hold the medallions so that the debt on them can be reduced. We need to act yesterday on fixing this.”

New York Attorney General Accuses N.Y.C. of Fraud Over Taxi Crisis from New York Times

The state’s attorney general is seeking $810 million from the city to compensate financially struggling taxi medallion owners. New York State’s attorney general on Thursday accused New York City of committing fraud by artificially inflating the value of yellow taxi medallions, and she demanded $810 million from the city to compensate the thousands of cabdrivers who are now saddled with enormous debt.
The city’s Taxi and Limousine Commission marketed the medallions — city-issued permits required to own a yellow cab — as “a solid investment with steady growth” and reaped a profit from the sale of thousands of them at auction at exorbitant prices from 2004 to 2017, according to an investigation by the attorney general’s office. The attorney general, Letitia A. James, said the city must provide financial relief to the debt-ridden taxi medallion owners within 30 days or she would sue for fraud, unlawful profit and other violations of state law. “These taxi medallions were marketed as a pathway to the American dream, but instead became a trapdoor of despair for medallion owners harmed by the T.L.C.’s unlawful practices,” Ms. James said. “The very government that was supposed to ensure fair practices in the marketplace engaged in a scheme that defrauded hundreds of medallion owners, leaving many with no choice but to work day and night to pay off their overpriced medallions.’’Bhairavi Desai, the executive director of the New York Taxi Workers Alliance, which represents cabdrivers, said she welcomed Ms. James’s action and saw it as a validation of the city’s culpability in the taxi crisis. “The devastation that has happened across the taxi industry has been a deep betrayal by the city,” she said. “Not only did they close their eyes to predatory practices and directly engage in inflating the prices but they then allowed in Uber and Lyft completely unregulated.” Freddi Goldstein, a spokeswoman for Mayor Bill de Blasio, said that although the taxi crisis began under Michael R. Bloomberg’s administration, city officials since then have taken steps to provide financial help to taxi drivers and tighten oversight of Uber and other ride-hailing companies. The attorney general began her inquiry in response to an investigation by The New York Times, which found that a handful of taxi industry leaders earned hundreds of millions of dollars by deliberately inflating the price of a medallion to more than $1 million from about $200,000. The Times found that thousands of drivers, many of them immigrants, thought they were safe taking out loans to buy medallions because of the taxi commission’s assurances of their high value. City, state and federal officials exacerbated the problems by exempting the industry from regulations, The Times revealed. The city also filled in budget gaps by selling medallions and running ads promoting the permits as “better than the stock market.” Ms. James said that the city continued to market the medallions at inflated prices even after internal warnings were raised. During the last auction for medallions in 2014, the city sold 350 new medallions at the height of the market, generating $359 million in revenue. Since then, medallion prices have cratered, selling for a fraction of the record $1.3 million price in 2014. In many cases, they are worth far less than what their owners borrowed to buy them. In 2018, New York became the first major American city to adopt a one-year moratorium on issuing new vehicle licenses for Uber, Lyft and other ride-hail services. It came three years after Mr. de Blasio attempted to adopt a similar cap but abandoned the effort after Uber waged a fierce campaign against him. Since then, the city has extended the moratorium. “This crisis has been ours to solve — working tirelessly to clean up the carelessness and greed of others,” Ms. Goldstein said. “If the attorney general wants to launch a frivolous investigation into the very administration that has done nothing but work to improve the situation, this is what she’ll find.” But Ms. Desai said the city’s response has been slow and its efforts so far have generally been underwhelming. She noted that the city waived some small fees for taxi owners even as they drowned under huge debts. “There has been no substantial financial relief — this restitution would be the first,” she said.
The city comptroller, Scott M. Stringer, said Ms. James had made “significant allegations” and that his office “takes these issues very seriously.” The city controls the number of medallions — currently capped at just under 13,600 — to prevent an oversupply of cabs like what happened in the 1930s when concerns over congestion, reckless driving and cut-rate fares led the city to step in. As medallion prices soared, drivers were steered into taking out loans totaling billions of dollars that they could never repay, plunging many into bankruptcy. A spate of suicides by taxi owners and professional drivers in recent years underscored the severity of their plight and has spurred city legislation to try to improve their working conditions. A spokesman for Ms. James said that while Thursday’s action was focused on the city’s role in the taxi crisis, their ongoing investigation continued to examine “all aspects of the taxi industry.” The United States Attorney’s office in Manhattan has also launched a criminal investigation. Taxi industry leaders have denied doing anything wrong, characterizing their actions as normal business practices. They have sought to blame the taxi meltdown entirely on the rise of competing ride-app services such as Uber and Lyft. Last month, a city panel appointed by the New York City Council and Mr. de Blasio proposed a bailout of up to $600 million for taxi drivers, but most of that money would come from private investors. Ms. James is seeking $810 million directly from the city. It is unclear how her demand would affect the bailout plans. City Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez, who was the co-chairman of the panel, said he believed the city did bear some responsibility for creating the taxi crisis, and as a result, it had an obligation to provide financial relief to taxi owners. He added that the city should consider all proposals, including Ms. James’s demand for compensation as well as the private-public bailout proposed by the panel. “What I know is this crisis is so huge and the medallion owners are so desperate that they cannot wait any longer,” Mr. Rodriguez said. Ms. James said the payment from the city would be used to pay restitution to taxi medallion owners, which could include paying off loans, and compensating them for damages resulting from the city’s actions. She also plans to take additional measures to prevent the Taxi and Limousine Commission and the city from inflating taxi prices in the future.Nino Hervias, a taxi owner and spokesman for the Taxi Medallion Owner Driver Association, which represents many immigrant taxi owners, said that it was time that the city was held directly liable for destroying the yellow taxi industry and pushing so many drivers into bankruptcy.

Cabbies worry as hedge fund snaps up taxi medallions

From: nypost.com 

By: Thornton McEnery

https://nypost.com/2020/02/20/cabbies-worry-as-hedge-fund-snaps-up-taxi-medallions/

'It’s ruined my life': Academy of Art ex-student owes $431,000 and has no job

From: sfchronicle.com
By: Nanette Asimov

https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/Ex-students-blame-for-profit-Academy-of-Art-15061438.php

Wiping out the nation’s student-loan debt could have unintended financial consequences for borrowers

By: Andrew Keshner
From: Marketwatch

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/wiping-out-the-nations-student-loan-debt-could-have-unintended-financial-consequences-for-borrowers-2020-02-12

Student loan borrowers announce a strike, refusing to pay their debts

By: Annie Nova
From: cnbc.com

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/02/12/student-loan-borrowers-announce-a-strike-refusing-to-pay-their-debts.htm

The Best Way to Use a Credit Card? Treat It Like Cash from New York Times

The Best Way to Use a Credit Card? Treat It Like Cash from New York Times February 12, 2020

Fewer people than ever carry cash these days, it seems. Life can seem ultraconvenient when you don’t have to worry about a wad of bills in your pocket (or even a wallet in your pocket, for that matter).

But it can hurt people with low incomes when businesses go cashless, it can hurt workers who rely on cash tips and — even if you’re not in either of these groups — it can hurt you because it’s easy to get into financial trouble with credit cards.

Studies prove that people spend more when using credit vs. cash, and late payments are on the rise.

“You have an out-of-sight, out-of-mind phenomenon with credit cards,” said Amy Bucher, the director of behavior change design at Mad*Pow, a design consultancy group. “Unless they’re checking their credit card balance on a daily basis, most people don’t have an awareness of how much debt they’re in.”

But if used responsibly, credit cards are a fast way to build credit without paying a dime of interest. Good credit scores can save you money down the road, typically qualifying you for lower mortgage or auto loan interest rates. Credit card rewards can make things you buy a little cheaper.

The good news: Mental tricks, apps and tools can make spending with credit cards similar to cash, giving you the best of both worlds.

Editorial note: The assessments of financial products in this article are independently determined by Wirecutter, a New York Times company that reviews and recommends products, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any third party.

Make credit card purchases feel tactile
Cash requires you to shop at a physical store, grab your physical wallet and hand over physical money. Giving a cashier a $20 bill in exchange for an $18 item is a tangible transaction. In exchange for a $20, you now have $2 left and a physical bauble.

But a credit card looks the same before and after the transaction, obfuscating what was actually given up for that bauble. Add online shopping to the mix, and you might not even think about your credit card or where the money is coming from.

Grab a receipt. Beverly Harzog, a credit card expert and consumer finance analyst for U.S. News & World Report, always takes a receipt. “It’s just one more thing to help you keep a grip on reality,” she said. “When they ask if you want a receipt, just say yes so you have that feeling of payment in your hand.”

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Remove payment information from your computer. Consumer psychologists refer to creating friction — meaning barriers to doing something — as an effective way to stop an impulse buy. “If you’re sitting on your couch, you’ve had two glasses of wine, you see rain boots on sale, and your credit card information auto-populates, you’re probably going to buy it, because you really only needed to hit two buttons to make that purchase,” Ms. Bucher said. “If you had to get off your couch, pull out your credit card and type in the numbers, that’s friction. You have to commit a little more to make the purchase.” In contrast, digital payments like Apple Pay offer convenience when you’re at the cash register, but they take cash and physical cards out of the equation. If you’re nervous that holding your phone next to the scanner to complete a transaction could turn you into a spendthrift, don’t partake.

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Set spending limits
You can’t buy $300 headphones if your wallet contains only $100. But you can if you’ve got a card with a credit limit over $300 (even if $300 exceeds your budget).

Let robots count your money. Budgeting apps like You Need a Budget ($84 a year) or Mint (no fee) track balances across all your accounts, giving you a clearer picture of your actual balance even if you have multiple cards and accounts from different banks. Some banks, such as Bank of America, also let you sync other accounts, even if those accounts are with competing banks. Check your balance in the app to ensure your next purchase fits your budget.

Try “action planning.” Determine your budget, then implement measures that prevent you from exceeding it. The Uber Credit Card has a feature that lets you create a self-imposed spending limit for certain categories or merchants, which could remove the temptation to stop at Starbucks on the way to work. Other companies, like Discover, allow you to set up alerts if your credit card balance exceeds a certain amount or you near your credit limit.

Section 108 of the Internal Revenue Code Relief of Indebtedness Income and Workouts

Section 108 of the Internal Revenue Code Relief of Indebtedness Income and Workouts

One of the most overlooked areas of the law when doing a workout is Section 108 of the Internal Revenue Code (“IRC”). Section 108 is a trap for the unwary and unless the attorney or lawyer is aware of this tax code section, it can upend a workout or result in a taxpayer having to recognize, report, or pickup unknowingly a significant amount of taxable income. This could ruin the attorney-client relationship or worse yet a malpractice lawsuit by the client against the attorney.

Let's begin this post with an explanation of Section 108 of the IRC.

IRC § 108 provides that if an individual or an entity that owes money (the “Debtor”) is relieved of indebtedness, then that indebtedness is deemed to be ordinary income to the Debtor. The Debtor  must report that income on their tax return and the Creditor is required to file a 1099 with the IRS. There are two exceptions to this rule: first, if the Debtor files for bankruptcy protection, then the relief of indebtedness income is not picked up; and second, on a balance sheet basis, if the individual’s liabilities exceed their assets and they are insolvent, then they do not have to pick up the income.

The goal of a workout from the perspective of the Debtor (the person who owes money) is to pay less than the balance due to the Creditor (person or company owed money).

An example of the application of IRC § 108 will help to explain the above. Let’s assume that an individual owes a financial institution $1,000,000.  The individual is unable to pay the $1,000,000, so the parties enter into a workout (an out of court settlement) in which the individual repays the financial institution $600,000. According to IRC § 108, the taxpayer must pick up the $400,000 differential between what he or she owed and paid as ordinary income.
Unless the client is made aware of this fact in advance of or during a workout, the client may walk away from the workout. If not told at all, when the client receives the 1099 from the Creditor or worse gets audited by the IRS, they will point a finger at the attorney or sue the attorney for malpractice.

Many clients and some lawyers assume that the $400,000 of income is capital gains, but it is ordinary income.

Another question raised by clients is how does the IRS find out about this relief of indebtedness income? The answer is that the Creditor  is required to file a Form 1099-C with the IRS reporting the relief of indebtedness income for more than $600 of forgiven debt.
Yet another question asked by clients is whether the Creditor will file the 1099 with the IRS? The answer is that the Creditor is legally required to do so and most institutional investors will do the 1099 filing.

Section 108 of the IRC comes up in almost every workout, but is currently most prevalent in taxi medallion and restaurant workouts. Both of these industries are struggling and are areas we are doing a lot of workouts.

Clients should review all workouts with their CPA’s or accountants.

At Shenwick & Associates, we are not tax lawyers, but we are familiar with the IRC and James Shenwick has an LLM in Taxation from the NYU School of Law.

Clients who are doing or contemplate doing a workout, are encouraged to consult with James Shenwick to discuss their strategy. Jim Shenwick 212 541 6224  jshenwick@gmail.com