The Bankruptcy Lawyers Blog

Have you heard about HEMAP? Neither had I until I read a very interesting article yesterday by Marketwatch’s Ron Orol. The Pennsylvania Homeowners Emergency Mortgage Assistance Program has been running along quietly and successfully since 1984 and a recent study by the New York Fed states that HEMAP is working much better than the national Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP).

According to the article, “The New York Fed study says the HEMAP program can be cheaper for taxpayers and help a large number of troubled homeowners. It compares the two approaches by evaluating costs on assistance for two hypothetical mortgages valued at $210,000 at the time of unemployment. The HAMP modification program, the report argues, costs the federal government $13,600 while the HEMAP program cost Pennsylvania $1,620.”

Orol quotes Henry Sommer, director at the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys, who agrees that more money for HEMAP would have been a good remedy for the large number of people who can’t pay because they are unemployed.

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The Pro Se Pathfinder Project is a new program testing do-it-yourself e-filing consumer bankruptcies. It’s being compared to online tax preparation software. New Mexico, where roughly one out of every 10 bankruptcy petitions already is pro se, was chosen for the initial rollout of Pathfinder as representative of a rural state. There’s a scarcity of consumer bankruptcy attorneys in much of the state, which saw 6,569 bankruptcies filed in 2010.

Also participating in the rollout is California’s central judicial district - the Los Angeles area - where one-third of all bankruptcy petitions are pro se; and New Jersey, where 8 percent are pro se and access to courthouse services is comparatively convenient.

The Albuquerque Journal’s Richard Metcalf recently focused on Pathfinder and what it will bring to their state.

“The system will be designed with graphics, audio and video,” said Norman H. Meyer Jr., clerk of the bankruptcy court for the District of New Mexico. “We want this to be more user friendly with a sort of Turbo Tax approach.”

Pathfinder will guide the do-it-yourselfer through the paperwork, moving the computer cursor through the multitude of requests for information and documentation, he said. A box containing an explanation of what’s wanted will pop up as the cursor hits each request. The explanations will be in plain language, not legalese.

Details are still being worked out, although Meyer said, “Our goal is to have it out to the public by the end of the year."

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Start Fresh Today, one of the nation’s largest providers of federally-required consumer bankruptcy courses today announced the integration of its pre-filing credit counseling and post-filing debtor education courses with New Hope Software, a leading developer and supplier of bankruptcy software solutions for attorneys. Under the integration agreement, Start Fresh Today will deliver its courses directly through the New Hope Software platform, Bankruptcy2011™ (www.bankruptcysoftware.com/startfreshtoday.shtml), and provide access to a host of other products and services to help attorneys comply with the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act (BAPCPA).

The partnership, effective March 30, 2011 of this year, means that participating bankruptcy attorneys and their consumer clients can now enjoy single-source access to the required courses.
 "Our integration with Start Fresh Today further expands the features and functionality of the Bankruptcy2011 platform," said Frederick Rogovy, president of New Hope Software. "Our bankruptcy attorney customers now have fast, convenient access to the consumer data they need to support their clients efficiently and confidently."

New Hope Software is the most recent Start Fresh Today strategic partnership for 2011. The integration capabilities this partnership provides the two companies will leverage information exchange to benefit consumers in the bankruptcy process and their attorneys.

"We are pleased to partner with New Hope, one of the industry’s leading providers of advanced bankruptcy software solutions," said Cris Frankel, CEO for Start Fresh Today. "The seamless integration provides our mutual bankruptcy attorney customers and their consumer clients with quick and efficient access to their required courses – all from a single online source: www.bankruptcysoftware.com/startfreshtoday.shtml.”

Access the full press release here.
Download the PDF of this press release here.

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