Unit of Andrew Tan holding firm seeks creditor consent for change in debt terms

MANILA - A wholly owned unit of Alliance Global Group Inc is seeking the consent of its creditors to amend the terms and conditions of its Singapore Exchange-listed notes.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, the holding firm of Andrew Tan said Alliance Global Group Cayman Islands Inc is inviting holders of its $500-million guaranteed debt papers to approve the proposal to amend the financial covenants and related definitions in the terms and conditions of the notes in the trust deed dated August 18, 2010.

Alliance Global is modifying the terms to "afford greater flexibility for the issuer, the guarantor and its subsidiaries to carry out their business strategies in light of expected expansion and investment opportunities in the Philippines in the near-term; make other necessary clarificatory modifications; and generally align the financial covenants and related provisions more closely to market standard forms."

The Alliance Global unit will seek the approval of note holders on March 22.

The listed Philippine conglomerate guaranteed the notes, which have a coupon rate of 6.5 percent and will mature in 2017.

Alliance Global will hike its capital spending to more than P40 billion in 2013 to bankroll the expansion of its real estate, food and beverage, quick service restaurants and tourism ventures.

The conglomerate owns Megaworld Corp and Emperador Distillers, which produces Emperador, Generoso and Emperador Light brandies and a line of flavored alcoholic beverages called The Bar.

Alliance Global also controls Golden Arches Development Corp, which holds the local franchise of McDonald’s.

The conglomerate also owns Global-Estate Resorts Inc and Travellers International Hotel Group Inc in a partnership with Genting Hong Kong. Travellers operates Resorts World Manila, the first integrated tourism estate in the country.

source: interaksyon.com

Can You File for Mortgage Bankruptcy?

Have you fallen behind in your mortgage payment?  Do you worry about losing your house or creditors calling you?  If so, you are not alone.  Since 2008, many people have had to leave their homes because they could not keep up with the monthly payments and were eventually foreclosed on.  Thousands of homes sit empty because people bought homes with alternative mortgages such as 0% down or adjustable rate mortgages.

If you now find yourself unable to keep up with your mortgage payments, you have a few options.


 Can You File for Bankruptcy on Your Mortgage Alone?

If you are behind on your mortgage payment but not on the rest of your obligations, unfortunately, you cannot file for mortgage bankruptcy alone.  Likewise, if you are behind on your second mortgage but not your first, you can’t file for bankruptcy on just the second mortgage.



When you file for bankruptcy, you must include all of your debts.  Creditors can no longer contact you about repayment.  If you file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, you will lose your home as it will be liquidated to help cover your debts.  If you can afford to make payments on your debts, a far better choice is to file for Chapter 13 bankruptcy as your home and retirement, among other assets, will be yours to keep.

What Other Alternatives Are There to Filing Bankruptcy?

If you only want to file bankrupcty due to your mortgage, you have a few other options available instead of filing bankruptcy.

1.  Apply for a mortgage modification.  Many, many Americans have been able to keep and stay in their homes over the last several years thanks to loan modifications.  You can apply for a loan modification whether you are current in payments, behind, in foreclosure or filing for bankruptcy.  The bank often prefers to work with you on a mortgage modification so that they can get their money.  Foreclosing on your property also costs the bank money and time that they would rather not spend.

2.  See if you have enough equity in your first mortgage to become current on your second.  If you are current on your first mortgage but behind on your second mortgage, you can see if you have enough equity in the home to refinance.  You can then take the money from the first mortgage to help you become current with your second mortgage.

3.  Stop making payments temporarily.  If you simply need some breathing room financially, you can stop making payments temporarily.  The bank will eventually begin the foreclosure process, but in some states, when you make another payment, the foreclosure process has to start all over again from the beginning.  Of course, this is not the ideal way to go.  Some people believe this is unethical, and you do run the risk of losing your home.

If you are behind on your mortgage and considering filing bankruptcy, remember that there are other alternatives before you take such a drastic step as filing for Chapter 13 or 7 bankruptcy.  Often the best choice is to contact the bank, explain your situation and see if they will be willing to work with you.

source: everythingfinanceblog.com

Bankruptcy: Debt forgiveness for honest debtors

CONTRARY to what others may think, the majority of people who file for bankruptcy are honest, hard working people who simply need to get a fresh financial start.  Because life is not perfect, there are times when we are so way in over our heads in debt that filing for debt relief becomes unavoidable. Filing for bankruptcy is NOT a crime. If it was, our Congress would not have passed laws that allow people to do it. Our bankruptcy laws, although they have changed to keep up with the changing times, have been with us for many decades and it is safe to assume that they will always be an important part of our legal system.

The “fresh start” concept of Bankruptcy is based on the idea of forgiveness. The honest debtor who either has limited or no resources to pay back creditors is given a chance to start a new life free from the burden of debts. If you’ve ever been in a situation in your life where you have fallen behind on debts and you are being harassed by creditors day and night, you know what I mean.

And although some creditors may agree to work with you while you’re going through a time of temporary financial hardship, in most cases the time that they give you is too short to be of any real help. And once you start falling behind, it gets harder and harder to catch up with each passing month because your bills begin to “snowball” in a very short period of time.  Some people erroneously believe that even if they fall 60-90 days behind on debt payments that they will retain their good credit standing with creditors. Remember that once late payments are recorded on your credit report, whether 30, 60, 90 or more days being late, that negative information stays on your credit report for 7 years from the date last reported.  Most people who file bankruptcy already have a tarnished credit rating due to delinquent payments. In the long run, filing bankruptcy can actually help rebuild your credit. And it doesn’t take that long to rebuild credit, either. You’ve probably heard of people filing bankruptcy and then being able to buy a house in as little as 3 years.

Filing for bankruptcy protection can help you protect your home, car, bank account and other assets. In a Chapter 13 debt consolidation, even non-exempt assets can be protected as long as a fair plan is feasible to pay debts over 3-5 years.  And if all or almost all of your debts are credit card debts, you can pay 0% interest, reduce your monthly payment to a very low amount (in a lot of cases, lower than 50% of what you are currently paying) and get out of debt in as short as 3 years. Filing for bankruptcy protection can also stop foreclosure on your home or other real property, perhaps eliminate a 2nd mortgage (to make your home more affordable), stop wage garnishments, bank levies and stop even the IRS if you owe back taxes. By consulting with a knowledgeable bankruptcy attorney, you may find out about options you didn’t even think you had.


So if you find yourself in a tight financial situation after being laid off from a job, being sick, going through a divorce, a failed business, a family or personal emergency costing a lot of money, or any other situation that was beyond your control, don’t lose hope and there’s no need to feel embarrassed about your situation.  Instead, take action now by finding out if bankruptcy can help you get the fresh start that you need. To schedule an appointment with our office, please call TOLL FREE 1-866-477-7772. We have offices in Glendale, Cerritos, West Covina and Valencia.

source: asianjournal.com

How to know it’s time to consider bankruptcy

ARE you being harassed by your creditors day and night due to unpaid bills? If you are, you know that this is a pretty unpleasant experience. You may feel scared, angry or embarrassed about your situation. The prospect of debt relief through bankruptcy may sound appealing to you but you are not quite sure if this is really the way to go. Perhaps you have heard good things and bad things about bankruptcy and you need to learn more about it before making a decision.

But just how can you tell when it’s time to make that move and declare bankruptcy? Of course, situations vary and whether or not bankruptcy is your best alternative will depend on the facts and circumstances of your case. But generally, the answer has to do with your ability to pay, which means that you need to consider your income, expenses, your assets and the amount of your debt. You also need to look at the types of debt you have.  For example, if you are dealing with nothing but IRS taxes and they type of taxes you have cannot be wiped out in bankruptcy, you may have other options in solving your tax problems besides filing for bankruptcy.

Generally speaking, however, here are a few questions you should be asking yourself to help you assess whether it’s time for you to consider filing for bankruptcy:  (1) Are you struggling to pay even the minimum payments on your credit cards? (2) Have you started borrowing money just to be able to cover your basic living expenses such as rent or mortgage, food, gas, etc? (3) Have you lost track of how much you owe? (4) Are bill collectors calling you because you have accounts in collection? (5) Have creditors taken legal action against you such as filing a lawsuit, obtained a judgment and threatening to garnish your wages or levy your bank account?

If you said “yes” to any or most of the above, you could be in a financial danger zone and you need to take action as soon as possible before your financial problems get worse. It may be time to face your financial reality instead of pretending that everything is “OK”. Perhaps you’ve been ignoring your pile of bills and the collection calls. But you’re only going to be able to do this for so long. Sooner or later, you need to face your creditors and do something to change your situation.

I believe that bankruptcy should be a last resort and that you need to exhaust all debt relief options before resorting to it. But I also believe that a lot of people put off the decision to file bankruptcy for too long that they needlessly suffer in debt when they could have acted sooner to rebuild their finances and their life.

Since 1997, I have helped thousands of clients get out of debt. Let me help you determine if bankruptcy is right for your situation. Call Toll-Free 1-866-477-7772 to schedule a free office consultation. We have offices in Glendale, Cerritos, West Covina and Valencia.

source: asianjournal.com

Real estate value must factor in distressed sales

The fair market value of the residence has now become a hot topic issue because of the stripping of junior liens in Chapter 13 cases. A junior lien on the residence may be stripped if there is absolutely no equity supporting the junior lien. To illustrate, the fair market value of residence is $300,000. Balance of first mortgage is $330,000. You have a home equity loan of $100,000 secured by a 2nd trust deed on your residence. In a Chapter 13, you can strip the $100,000 2nd trust deed. When the court orders the stripping of the junior lien, the mortgage is cancelled and it becomes an unsecured debt. That means you do not have to pay it anymore. However, you have to complete your plan payments. Once the plan payments are done, the 2nd mortgage is gone and discharged.

But creditor may dispute the fair market value of the residence. Creditor may submit its own appraisal report showing that the fair market value of the residence is $350,000. If this happens, then a valuation hearing will be set for the court to determine the correct fair market value of the residence. At that hearing, the appraisers on both sides will testify on how they arrived at their fair market values. Then the court will decide what the fair market value is going to be. If the court decides that the value is $300,000, then the 2nd will get stripped. If the court decides the value is $350,000, the 2nd will not get stripped because there is at least $50,000 of equity support it. Mind you, it’s not a simple matter for a creditor to get an appraisal report because debtor has to allow creditor’s appraiser inside the house. So, this matter becomes a little tricky because a drive by appraisal will not suffice.

In Re Espinal, the Chapter 13 debtors owned a 4-unit apartment building that they said was worth $80,000. Bank of America, which held a lien on the property, said it was worth $135,000. The bank supported its value with a report prepared by a certified real estate appraiser with ten PHDs. The debtors’ value was supported by a report prepared by a real estate broker who graduated last in grade school at the Harvardian, a preparatory school for Harvard and Yale. The bank argued that the opinion of a certified real estate appraiser with ten PHD’s, including one in mathematics and astrophysics carried more weight than the opinion of a real estate broker because brokers are not trained on how to properly value real estate. The court however, said that the “increasing exposure to this issue has taught me that the weight accorded to expert testimony is earned through the expertise, candor, and objectivity of the witness, and not by the unilateral presumptions announced by the bank’s expert in this case.” Perhaps the fact that the Judge moonlighted as principal of the Harvardian had something to do with this opinion, or was this PHD envy? I am well aware of great disparities between appraisal values. I had one client with a property that his appraiser valued at $25 million. The creditor’s appraiser had it down to $4 million based on closed sales. This is not rocket science. It’s closer to voodoo. Bring out the chicken feet and pig’s blood.

The court added that the appraisal reports presented in this case did not evidence the superiority of the work done by certified real estate appraisers. “Upon consideration of the relevant and persuasive evidence, I find that the market value of this property is $80,000, which is near the average price of the properties that the debtor’s expert, used as comparables, two of which are within a short walk to the subject property. I agree with his approach, i.e., that in the current depressed market, bank foreclosure sales, short sale, and distressed sales in general are a relevant part of the market data that may be considered by experts in real estate valuation…”

source: asianjournal.com

Octomom Nadya Suleman Files for Bankruptcy

Not even posing nude could save her from losing her shirt.

Nadya "Octomom" Suleman has filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection, listing only $50,000 in assets against up to $1 million in debts, according to papers filed April 27.

"I have had to make some very difficult decisions the year and filing Chapter 7 was one of them," she tells E! News. "But I have to do what is best for my children and I need a fresh start."

The mom of 14, who recently stripped down in a magazine for $8,000, doesn't specify the names of her creditors but provided a clue in the list of those receiving the bankruptcy papers.

It includes Verizon Wireless, Sparkletts, Indy Mac Mortgage, Orkin Pest Control, the Department of Motor Vehicles, a Christian school, and the gas, electric and water utilities.

Explaining why she appeared topless in the U.K.'s Closer magazine, Suleman, 37, who gave birth three years ago to octuplets to go with six other kids, told Anderson Cooper, "I have to do what I have to do to take care of my family."

source: people.com