Mortgage giants Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae will suspend foreclosures and evictions for owners of occupied homes through the holidays — the latest effort to keep people in their houses.

Freddie and Fannie, which were seized by the government in September, announced Thursday that they will contact an estimated 16,000 borrowers who are facing foreclosure or evictions between Wednesday and Jan. 9. Those proceedings will be delayed and the homeowners will have a chance to work with mortgage servicers to modify their home loans into affordable payments...

Last week Freddie and Fannie — which own or guarantee 31 million mortgages, or 58% of the nation's total — announced a streamlined mortgage-modification program, designed to get borrowers closest to foreclosure into affordable monthly payments. Given that the Federal Housing Finance Agency, which oversees Freddie and Fannie, announced this loan-modification program starting Dec. 15, the decision to suspend foreclosures isn't surprising, says Keith Gumbinger of HSH Associates. "You don't want to start the program and find people who have missed the cutoff by a day or a week." ...

Most loans going into foreclosure are held by other investors. "We hope others will take the cue and offer streamlined modification," Zigas says.

BH S&B Holdings, an entity formed to buy bankrupt retailer Steve & Barry's LLC out of bankruptcy for $163 million, sought court protection itself, citing the deteriorating U.S. economy.  BH S&B Holdings, created by hedge funds and former owners of Steve & Barry's, filed for bankruptcy protection today in Manhattan federal court.

The petition for Chapter 11 reorganization listed $100 million to $500 million in debt and assets. BH S&B Holdings, formed to purchase the retailer in August, includes Bay Harbour Management LC and York Capital Management, with Steve & Barry's co-founders Steve Shore and Barry Prevor as investors...

From Reuters -

The bill was introduced in what is expected to be an abbreviated lame-duck session of Congress, called to address a possible auto industry bailout and economic stimulus measures. A new Congress will be seated in January. The Senate in April voted against a similar mortgage bankruptcy proposal, also supported by Durbin. His bill this time around would also require certain federal agencies to restructure mortgage loans involved in homeowner assistance programs already approved by Congress.

The company website includes the following description of its products:

VuBotics was formed in 2005 to create products that improve information delivery. From years of research and studies that examine why digital information is more difficult to consume, more stressful and ultimately 25% slower than book reading, we believe that the VuBotics' VuIT™ family of technologies for email, TextCasting and online reading represent a very real solution to many information delivery problems.

As successful authors like Dan Brown, Tom Clancy and J.K. Rowling have demonstrated for us, the written word can be more powerful than any special effects wizardry. Our technology can enhance that experience by allowing the author to control the the user experience on any screen, device or mobile phone anywhere.
 

Dear [GM Customer],

You made the right choice when you put your confidence in General Motors, and we appreciate your past support. I want to assure you that we are making our best vehicles ever, and we have exciting plans for the future. But we need your help now. Simply put, we need you to join us to let Congress know that a bridge loan to help U.S. automakers also helps strengthen the U.S. economy and preserve millions of American jobs.

Despite what you may be hearing, we are not asking Congress for a bailout but rather a loan that will be repaid.

The U.S. economy is at a crossroads due to the worldwide credit crisis, and all Americans are feeling the effects of the worst economic downturn in 75 years. Despite our successful efforts to restructure, reduce costs and enhance liquidity, U.S. auto sales rely on access to credit, which is all but frozen through traditional channels.

The consequences of the domestic auto industry collapsing would far exceed the $25 billion loan needed to bridge the current crisis. According to a recent study by the Center for Automotive Research:

• One in 10 American jobs depends on U.S. automakers
• Nearly 3 million jobs are at immediate risk
• U.S. personal income could be reduced by $150 billion
• The tax revenue lost over 3 years would be more than $156 billion

Discussions are now underway in Washington, D.C., concerning loans to support U.S. carmakers. I am asking for your support in this vital effort by contacting your state representatives.

Please take a few minutes to go to www.gmfactsandfiction.com, where we have made it easy for you to contact your U.S. senators and representatives. Just click on the "I'm a Concerned American" link under the "Mobilize Now" section, and enter your name and ZIP code to send a personalized e-mail stating your support for the U.S. automotive industry.

Let me assure you that General Motors has made dramatic improvements over the last 10 years. In fact, we are leading the industry with award-winning vehicles like the Chevrolet Malibu, Cadillac CTS, Buick Enclave, Pontiac G8, GMC Acadia, Chevy Tahoe Hybrid, Saturn AURA and more. We offer 18 models with an EPA estimated 30 MPG highway or better — more than Toyota or Honda. GM has 6 hybrids in market and 3 more by mid-2009. GM has closed the quality gap with the imports, and today we are putting our best quality vehicles on the road.

Please share this information with friends and family using the link on the site.

Thank you for helping keep our economy viable.

Sincerely,



Troy Clarke

Group Vice President

President GM North America

According to a Motion to Extend Time to File Schedules, the company is "a manufacturer, importer and distributor of decorative ceramic tile and natural stone products,and supplies "local, regional  and national tile distributors, various retailers, and national “home centers” such as The Home Depot and Lowes Corporation." 

Also according to the Motion, the company is yet another victim of the depressed building industry:

The Debtor suffered erosion in sales due to the decline in the housing and home improvement channels, demands for significant price decreases by several of its key customers and increased foreign competition. The Debtor also concurrently experienced increases in operating costs as a result of increased distributed product costs, rising fuel costs and unfavorable exchange rate variances. These factors resulted in significant losses to the Debtor, which it was unable to fully ameliorate in spite of substantial cash infusions from its investor group, sales and cost-saving initiatives.

The firm’s practice focuses on bankruptcy and litigation. Scott has represented Chapter 11 debtors, creditors, trustees and other interested parties in bankruptcy cases and bankruptcy litigation. For more information, click here.

A description of the entities and facts can be found in the Declaration in Support of First Day Pleadings by J. Robert Ward, the Chairman, President and Secretary of Land Resource Group, Inc., which is the Managing Member of Land Resource, LLC.  Click here for the 20 Largest Unsecured Creditors, which includes the Atlanta Braves (owed $50,000).

Land Resource is the developer of Cumberland Harbour on Cumberland Island. An Atlanta Journal article by Stacy Shelton discusses the company and filing:

Ward said his company fell victim to the real estate downturn, fueled by the credit crisis and low consumer confidence. He was not making enough money on sales to complete the promised projects.  “The banks stopped making loans to our customers,” Ward said in an e-mail. “It just doesn’t seem fair that the banks can put us into bankruptcy because of their failure to lend and then get a federal bailout, but then chase me personally and ruin a very good company and put 250 people out of work and affect thousands of property owners and leave them with uncompleted lots.” ... The company’s assets include 128 unsold lots in Cumberland Harbour in St. Marys, where the largest marina complex on the Georgia coast has been proposed. According to Land Resource, 936 lots have been sold. They asked from $150,000 to $750,000 for lots

The disclosure statement and plan of reorganization filed with the Bankruptcy Court also assume that creditors will be paid, at least in part, by Vick's future earnings in the National Football League.  "The Debtor has every reason to believe that upon his release, he will be reinstated into the NFL, resume his career and be able to earn a substantial living," Vick's attorneys wrote in a disclosure statement filed before a hearing Thursday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Norfolk (see AP article).

 If you are interested in the 8 bedroom house, listed at $4.1 million, see the listing here. The site includes several photographs of the house.  Apparently, the list price is down from $4.5 million.  If you buy it, you can live among other successful and interesting people and activities.

Nov. 13 (Bloomberg) -- Web site failures at one of the busiest bankruptcy courts in the U.S. have forced attorneys to return to the oldest tool in their arsenal: paper.

The Web site used to view cases in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware was shut down for nearly three days. A related disruption of service also made it difficult to file the kind of billion-dollar cases for which Delaware is famous.

``We've had to file things by paper and then try to follow up later electronically,'' Daniel J. DeFranceschi, a bankruptcy attorney with the Wilmington law firm Richards, Layton & Finger, said in an interview. ...

General Growth Properties Inc., which owns Cumberland Mall, Perimeter Mall, North Point Mall, Southlake Mall in metro Atlanta, said it may be forced to seek protection from its creditors as it struggles to refinance debt.

Chicago-based General Growth has $958 million in debt that comes due Dec. 1 and another $3 billion in debt that matures in 2009. Citing weakness in the credit and the retail markets, the company says it can’t be sure it will be able to refinance or extend terms on the debt.

So far in 2008, there have been a few name-brand bankruptcies—like the recent Circuit City filing, Linens-n-Things, Frontier Airlines, and Mrs. Fields Cookies—plus the colossal liquidation of Lehman Brothers. But believe it or not, it has been a fairly calm year for bankruptcy judges, by one important measure: the corporate default rate. The share of corporate bonds in default over the past 12 months, which goes hand in hand with bankruptcies, has been about 3 percent, according to data compiled by Prof. Edward Altman of New York University's Stern School of Business. That's near the historical average. So, the vast majority of corporations have been paying their debts during the early part of this recession.

But like many good things of the past few years, that's about to end. The latest data from Altman suggest that by this time next year, the corporate default rate will be somewhere between 8.5 percent and 11.1 percent. That means there could be three to four times the number of corporate bankruptcies we've seen over the past year. And each one of those will probably involve layoffs...

CMECF DICTIONARY CHANGES EFFECTIVE NOVEMBER 24, 2008

• Motion to Release Unclaimed Funds: This is a new event in the motions category.
• Trustee’s Response: This was formerly called “Trustee’s Approval/Objection Letter.” The prompt has been modified to read “Please enter APPROVAL, OBJECTION, NO POSITION OR OTHER APPROPRIATE TEXT.”
• Trustee’s Statement Pursuant to 11 U.S.C. Section 1302(c): This is a new event in the Trustee category.
• Motion to Consolidate: The advisory message has been modified to read “You should not docket this to the case you wish to designate as the lead case.”
• Request for Certified Pleading: This is a new event in the Bankruptcy and Adversary Other categories. The filer will select the pleading to be certified and will receive a message that the court will contact them within 2 business days regarding the charges due.
• Motion for Hardship Discharge: This event has been modified to advise the filer to file a Certificate Re: Hardship Discharge with the motion or separately. The filer is advised they can obtain a blank copy of the certificate from the Court’s web site.
• Certificate Re Hardship Discharge: This is a new event in the Bankruptcy Other category. If filed separately from the Motion for Hardship Discharge, it will automatically link to the Motion for Hardship Discharge.
• Motion for Relief from Co-Debtor Stay: This event was modified to add an advisory message “If this motion is being filed pursuant to 1301(c)(1) or 1301(c)(3) a hearing is required.”
• Notice of Voluntary Conversion: This event was modified to advise the filer “If you are amending schedules, please docket “Schedules (Amended) as a separate event. No fee is due in this situation. If you have no schedule changes, please file your certificate pursuant to LBR 1019f to that effect as a separate entry.”
• Request for Redaction of Pleading: This event was formerly called “Request for Redaction of Pleading or Claim.” A separate event has been created for requesting redaction of a claim.
• Request for Redaction of Claim: This is a new event in the Bankruptcy Other, Claims and Limited Use categories. It should be used only to redact a claim.
• Request to Issue FiFa: This event has been added to the Adversary Other category.
• Motion to Impose Automatic Stay: This event has been modified to add the ability to set a hearing, a 20 day objection deadline and a message “If you are filing this motion more than 30 days from the date of filing of the petition you cannot use this event. Contact the Clerk of the Court.”
   

1. Regarding new and amended Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure that are effective December 1, 2008. Click HERE for a copy of this notice. Click HERE to see related General Order No. 9-2008.

2. Regarding new and amended Bankruptcy forms that are effective December 1, 2008. Click HERE for a copy of the public notice.

3. The new Small Business Monthly Operating Report can be download by clicking here. 

Bankruptcy lawyers say the automaker could benefit from a prepackaged bankruptcy, which would be a reorganization that is worked out among the automaker's creditors before the case ever gets to a bankruptcy court judge. "It would be messy but ultimately could help the company restructure itself a lot faster," says Mark Bane, a partner at New York law firm Ropes & Gray.

The biggest obstacle to any bankruptcy is the lack of availability of debtor-in-possession (DIP) financing, which is liquidity normally provided by banks and private equity firms that a company in bankruptcy needs to reorganize itself. Indeed, the question of bankruptcy has been on the minds of GM's top executives. On Nov. 6, GM North America President Troy Clarke told a gathering of auto suppliers that obtaining DIP financing would be "practically impossible" given the state of the credit markets and the size of GM's obligations. "But that's where the government could come in," says attorney Bane, "providing the liquidity GM would need to massively reorganize under Chapter 11."

The worst-case scenario for GM, say most experts, is a spontaneous Chapter 11, like the one filed by electronics retailer Circuit City (CCTYQ.PK) on Nov. 10. But a prepackaged filing could be set up to make sure that the vast majority of auto suppliers would continue to get paid on time.

 

Others disagree. Kimberly Rodriguez, a partner at Grant Thornton, an accounting and management consulting firm that works with auto companies and suppliers, says bankruptcy is a "last resort." Rodriguez says that in better times GM and Ford (F) have provided liquidity to its biggest suppliers who would have otherwise been forced into Chapter 11, which is very messy and destructive. "The government could play that same role for GM, and it will be a lot more orderly," says Rodriguez...

Chief among them is GM's belief that customers who own GM vehicles, as well as those who might consider them in the near future, would flee the companies' brands if it were in bankruptcy. In the past, when GM has been associated with the specter of a bankruptcy filing, showroom traffic drops off. During an interview with Fox Business News on Nov. 7, Wagoner said that GM's research shows that 80% of those surveyed said they wouldn't buy a car from a bankrupt car company. "If your revenue line falls, you would not be talking about a reorganization, you would be talking about a liquidation."  ...

 See also this post on the Wall Street Journal Deal Blog.