Media personality Tom Martino, also known as “The Troubleshooter,” has filed a Chapter 7 bankruptcy petition in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Denver.  The filing lists $78.6 million in debt and $1.37 million in assets.

Martino hosts consumer-advocacy radio and television shows.  He cites failed business real estate projects, failing banks, and the recession as the reasons for his financial difficulties.  Martino stated, “It is commercial real estate debt, every bit of it.  I have no consumer debt.”

The Chapter 7 filing lists 47 creditors, most of which are failed banks that Martino received real estate loans from. “There are so many people in this same boat.  You’ve got millions of dollars in lost value and all of a sudden you can’t refinance your loans and you’re just upside down,” said Martino.

To learn more about filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, contact the West Palm Beach Chapter 7 bankruptcy lawyers of Eric N. Klein & Associates, P.A. by calling 561-353-2800 today.

Last week, singer Toni Braxton had most of her debts discharged under Chapter 7 bankruptcy.  A judge at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Los Angeles issued an order discharging the majority of her eligible debts.

Braxton filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy last September and listed $1.6 million in assets and $18.3 million in debts.  The order does not list which debts were discharged, only that most of the debts that existed at the time of her filing  were discharged.

In having the debts discharged, Braxton is no longer responsible for repaying the debts and debt holders are not allowed to take collection actions against her.

If you or someone you know would like to meet with an attorney to learn more about Chapter 7 bankruptcy, contact the West Palm Beach Chapter 7 bankruptcy lawyers of Eric N. Klein & Associates, P.A. at 561-353-2800 today.

The American Bankruptcy Institute issued a report last week that showed a decrease in personal bankruptcies in 2011.

According to the report, from January 1, 2011 to June 30, 2011, 709,303 consumers in the United States filed for bankruptcy.  In the same time period in 2010, 770,117 people filed for personal bankruptcy in the U.S.  This is a 7.9 percent decrease in personal bankruptcy filings.

In June, a total of 119,768 people in the U.S. filed for consumer bankruptcy.  This is a 5 percent decrease from the number of personal bankruptcies filed in June 2010 and a 4 percent increase from personal bankruptcies filed in May 2011.

Experts estimate a total of 1.46 million personal bankruptcies will be filed by the end of the year.

If you or someone you know has questions about filing for personal bankruptcy in West Palm Beach, contact the West Palm Beach chapter 7 bankruptcy lawyers of Eric N. Klein & Associates, P.A. at 561-353-2800 today.

After changes were made to bankruptcy laws in the United States in 2005, it became more difficult for public employees to be eligible for chapter 7 bankruptcy.  However, since the economy has taken a toll on state and local governments, many government workers are finding themselves able to file for chapter 7 protection.

Many governments’ attempts to balance their budgets have led to wage freezes, salary deductions, and higher costing benefits for public workers.  In effect, workers’ salaries are lower and more likely to qualify to file under chapter 7 bankruptcy.

One bankruptcy expert said of the trend, “Traditionally, public employees were not eligible for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy due to the fact that they had good salaries and typically didn’t have to pay much towards their benefits … In the current fiscal crisis, that is changing.”

Contact the West Palm Beach chapter 7 bankruptcy lawyers of Eric N. Klein & Associates, P.A. at 561-353-2800, if you or someone you know has questions about chapter 7 bankruptcy eligibility.

West Palm Beach-based Florida Stage theater filed for chapter 7 bankruptcy on Monday.  Over the years, the company gained a reputation for creating new plays.  Since its beginnings in 1987, the theater produced and staged over 150 plays.

The theater’s board said they were faced with financial challenges related to a decrease in season subscribers and insufficient donations.  At the theater’s best, they had a total of 7,000 season subscribers a year.  Last year, only 2,000 people purchased season subscriptions to the Florida Stage.

The company’s bankruptcy filing listed $1.5 million in debts.  The filing will cease the theater’s operations just before its 25th anniversary season.

If you are considering filing for chapter 7 bankruptcy in West Palm Beach, contact the West Palm Beach chapter 7 attorneys of Eric N. Klein & Associates, P.A. at 561-353-2800 to learn more about the process today.

Orlando-based restaurant franchise, Urban Flats, filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection last week in federal bankruptcy court.  Several Urban Flats locations are independently owned by franchisees and will not be closed with the filing.

Filing for chapter 7 bankruptcy allows Urban Flats to prevent collection actions and lawsuits from being filed against it.  In addition, the company agrees to liquidate available assets to pay off creditors to the best of its ability.

In the bankruptcy filing, Urban Flats listed assets in the range of $0 to $50,000 and liabilities in the range of $1 million to $10 million.  The majority of Urban Flats restaurants are located in South Florida and there is one location in Tennessee.

If you or someone you know is considering filing for chapter 7 bankruptcy in West Palm Beach, contact the West Palm Beach chapter 7 bankruptcy attorneys of Eric N. Klein & Associates, P.A. at 561-353-2800 today.

According to South Florida Business Journal, the Big Brothers and Big Sisters nonprofit organization out of Palm Beach County filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy last week.  14 out of 17 of the organization’s Florida chapters are currently in the red.

Big Brothers Big Sisters Palm Beach shut down operations almost a year ago.  Officials from the nonprofit reported that they had tried to resolve issues with creditors without filing for bankruptcy but were unable.  The filing listed only $7,000 of assets from a few laptop computers, some furniture and a projector.  Liabilities were listed at nearly $138,000 with almost two dozen creditors.

Contact the West Palm Beach Chapter 7 bankruptcy lawyers of Eric N. Klein & Associates, P.A. at 561-353-2800 if you or someone you know has questions about filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy.

Community organizer and advocate for the poor, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now or ACORN, filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy last Tuesday.  ACORN has over 400,000 dues paying members and over 1,000 staff in 38 states.  The nonprofit was formed in the 1970s and made headlines in the 2008 presidential election after right-wing media accused the organization of voter fraud.

In reference to the filing, ACORN CEO Bertha Lewis stated, “We have seen this coming for some time.  Our [more than 1200] chapters closed in the first quarter of the year.  We have spent our remaining resources trying to dissolve the organization with integrity, while continuing to respond to extremist attacks”.  Her statement continued to say that the accusations of voter fraud and “ongoing political onslaught caused irreparable harm” to the organization.

If you have questions about the details of Chapter 7 bankruptcy or would like to set up an appointment to talk to an experienced bankruptcy lawyer, contact the West Palm Beach Chapter 7 attorneys of Eric N. Klein & Associates, P.A. at 561-353-2800.