The September 2018 New York City Taxi & Limousine Commission (TLC) sales results have been released to the public. And as is our practice, provided below are Jim Shenwick’s comments about those sales results.1. The volume of transfers rose from August. In August, there were 54 unrestricted taxi medallion sales.2. 44 of the 54 sales were foreclosure sales, which means that the medallion owner defaulted on the bank loan and the banks were foreclosing to obtain possession of the medallion. We disregard these transfers in our analysis of the data, because we believe that they are outliers and not indicative of the true value of the medallion, which is a sale between a buyer and a seller under no pressure to sell (fair market value).  One transfer was an estate sale for no consideration and another transfer was from the dissolution of a partnership, which also does not reflect fair market value and which we have also excluded from our analysis.3. However the large volume of foreclosure sales (approximately 81%) is in our opinion evidence of the continued weakness in the taxi medallion market. 4. The eight regular sales for consideration ranged from a low of $160,000 (three medallions), $175,000 (two medallions), $180,000 (one medallion) and a high of $200,000 (two medallions).5.  Accordingly, the median value of a medallion in September was $175,000, the same as in August.In Jim Shenwick’s opinion, the new NYC law restricting the number of Uber, Via and Lyft licensesdoes not seem to have yet increased the value of taxi medallions.Please continue to read our blog to see what happens to medallion pricing in the future. Any individuals or businesses with questions about taxi medallion valuations or workouts should contact Jim Shenwick at (212) 541-6224 or via email at jshenwick@gmail.com.

The Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution protects us all from illegal searches and seizures. The rationale behind this fundamental principle is that we, as citizens of the United States of America, have an expectation of privacy, one that cannot be violated. Therefore, the police must have a basis for infringing on this important […] The post Can I Sue the Police for Illegal Search and Seizure in Pennsylvania? appeared first on .

Aaron ElsteinLomto Federal Credit Union of Queens, which failed last year after taxi loans unleashed a shower of red ink, was acquired today by Teachers Federal Credit Union.The acquisition comes exactly a month after Teachers Federal acquired another Queens institution done in by dud taxi loans: Melrose Credit Union. Lomto and Melrose, along with the failed Montauk Credit Union and First Jersey Credit Union, were specialists in lending to buyers and owners of taxi medallions, the metal plates that confer the right to drive a cab. Before the rise of ride-hailing apps in 2014, the value of a taxi medallion soared to more than $1 million, and lenders came to see the loans as virtually risk-free. New York taxi medallions now sell for less than $200,000, often in foreclosure auctions.Signature Bank and Medallion Financial also have reported big losses from taxi lending. The unraveling of the business has taken a toll on cabbies and medallion owners.The city's leading medallion owner, Evgeny "Gene" Freidman, pleaded guilty in May to tax fraud related to his taxi business.And on Sept. 18 Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump's former attorney, divested 10 medallions he controlled. The city forced the sale after Cohen pleaded guilty in August to eight criminal charges, including tax evasion related in part to the concealment of income generated by his medallions.Copyright © 1996-2018. Crain Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

By Katy Stech Ferek WASHINGTON—The legal professionals who ensure people going through bankruptcy aren’t hiding assets are pushing lawmakers for their first pay raise since 1994, saying the robust oversight of the country’s personal-bankruptcy system is at stake. In a House hearing on Wednesday, consumer-bankruptcy experts said the pay for the watchdogs, called bankruptcy trustees, should be doubled to $120 per case. The experts said trustees play a vital role in the bankruptcy process by making sure people don’t hide valuable possessions and by returning recovered money to people and small businesses who are awaiting payment. Many are drawn to the work not for the pay, but for the prestige or public-service aspect. For most bankruptcy cases, they get only a flat fee, currently $60—far less than what they could earn for other legal work. Roughly 1,100 trustees monitor chapter 7 cases, the most widely used form of bankruptcy for individuals. But during the hearing before a subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee, experts testified they worried that the stagnant pay would lead to fewer competent, honest applicants. Last year, 20 candidates applied for every open chapter 7 trustee position, down from 58 in 2010, according to the Justice Department, which runs the program. At the hearing, Rep. Tom Marino (R., Pa.) agreed with witnesses, calling trustees “vitally important” to the bankruptcy system. Mr. Marino is co-sponsor of a bipartisan bill that would raise trustees’ pay.He said lawmakers agree the increase is necessary but they have “different paths to getting there,” referring to who should pay for it. Trustees can uncover money and return it to pay off a bankrupt person’s debt to small businesses, credit-card companies and other individuals such as ex-spouses, Illinois trustee Neville Reid testified at the hearing. Taxpayers also benefit, he said, noting that chapter 7 trustees distributed roughly $170 million to state and federal tax authorities in 2016. “Trustees frequently uncover schemes and wrongdoing that lead to prosecutions that prevent further injury or achieve justice for innocent people, even though the trustees frequently do not recover the value of their time investigating such matters,” Mr. Reid said. The bill discussed at Wednesday’s hearing has support from two influential blocs, the American Bankers Association trade group and consumer-bankruptcy advocates. Several similar proposals have failed in the past. The latest legislation would fund the pay increase by making bankrupt individuals pay higher fees.Some lawyers and consumer-focused nonprofits are urging Congress to find another source of money to pay for the increase, such as a new fee for those filing requests for payment from someone going through bankruptcy. Chapter 7 allows a financially troubled individual to sell property to repay certain bills before a judge cancels some unpaid debt, such as credit-card and medical bills. Last year, 472,190 individuals and couples filed for chapter 7 protection. Trustees can also receive a second form of compensation beyond the flat fee: money from selling possessions and property valued above the limits of what a bankrupt person is allowed to keep. But cases with trustee sales are rare, occurring less than 10% of the time. Under federal law, chapter 7 trustees review lists of individuals’ possessions and expenses and later question them in person. The compensation structure gives trustees incentives to look for hidden assets, but the model isn’t always successful. Jason Gold, a Washington, D.C., trustee, said that in at least 2,000 cases—nearly 8% of the total he has taken since 1989—he has spent a few hours to several days on a case only to realize there are no additional assets to sell. Overall trustee compensation has fallen over the past six years, including an 18% drop in annual pay last year, Justice Department officials said. The decline comes as the number of people who file for bankruptcy each year has fallen since a 2010 peak. Meanwhile, the number of bankrupt people who are so poor that they don’t have to pay the fee has increased in recent years. The number of chapter 7 cases with waived fees has grown to 4.7% in 2016 from 1.9% in 2007, testified Raymond Obuchowski, a Vermont-based trustee. Mr. Obuchowski has grown a long beard in protest of trustees’ pay, saying he won’t shave until Congress authorizes a raise. Some consumer advocates say the low pay and drop in filings have driven trustees to be more aggressive in an attempt to boost their compensation. Tara Twomey, executive director of the National Consumer Bankruptcy Rights Center, said trustees have gotten more creative in their recovery efforts since 2010, including by trying to sell property that bankrupt people would have historically been able to keep. Others have sued colleges to claw back tuition that bankrupt parents paid for their children. Ms. Twomey supports the compensation increase but doesn’t want bankrupt people to pay for it. She and other consumer advocates said that a 2005 law already increased the costs of a system designed to help people who are financially struggling. Rep. David Cicilline (D., R.I.) said he wouldn’t vote for the bill in its current form, saying the cost of bankruptcy is already “a great challenge for many people.”  Corrections & Amplifications Jason Gold became a chapter 7 trustee in 1989. An earlier version of this article incorrectly said it was in 1998. (Sept. 26, 2018)Copyright ©2018 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Oftentimes, claimants will wonder can I still receive disability benefits if I have a drug or alcohol addiction. This answer is a resounding – maybe. More specifically, although drug or alcohol addiction may substantially interfere with a Claimant’s ability to perform gainful employment on a regular and sustained basis, the addiction cannot be the basis […] The post Can Substance Abuse Prevent Me from Obtaining Disability Benefits? appeared first on .

For many years, homeowners struggled with attempting to modify their mortgage in hopes of saving their home. As a result, the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) was enacted in 2009 as part of the making of a home affordable program. This was a direct result of some of the careless and reckless practices of the […] The post How to Get a Mortgage Loan Modification After the HAMP Expiration appeared first on .

By Josh Ocampo | Sept. 21, 2018 Nic Hunt has been driving a taxicab in New York City for more than 30 years. Hunt’s best friend, Nicanor Ochisor, died by suicide in March. Friends and family members of Ochisor, who was also a cab driver, believes his suicide was the result of financial pressure due to increased competition for passengers with ride-hailing apps like Uber and Lyft.“I still have texts in my phone when he text[ed] me. ‘Half an hour I couldn’t pick up a passenger’ or ‘40 minutes, I couldn’t find a passenger,’” Hunt said on Mic Dispatch.Six taxicab drivers in NYC have died by suicide since November, sparking protests and rallies aimed at protecting drivers’ wages. Lyft’s revenue soared to $1 billion in the fourth quarter of 2017; in the second quarter of 2018, according to a Bloomberg report, Uber generated $2.8 billion in sales. 2017 also marked the first year Uber outpaced yellow taxis: Uber provided more than 400,000 trips per day in NYC that year, compared to around 300,000 per day for yellow taxis.Meanwhile, NYC’s taxicab revenue dropped 9% in 2016, and operating your own cab by purchasing a coveted taxi medallion also means drowning in debt for many drivers. NYC taxi medallions, often passed from generation to generation, were once considered safe investments — in 2014, a medallion was worth as much as $1.3 million. Today, many of those medallions are worth much less than what drivers borrowed to buy them, something many attribute to the rise of Uber and Lyft.According to retail website nycitycab.com, a medallion now retails for as low as $100,000. The cheapest medallion currently on the site is being sold as part of a foreclosure sale, a growing trend among taxi drivers around the country right now. In Chicago, 774 taxi medallions had been surrendered to the city as of May 22, 2017, with drivers unable to afford taxes and license fees associated with ownership. Many of those end up moving to foreclosure.“You sleep like two, three hours, then you wake up and you turn around in bed,” Hunt said. “It’s a difficult time, mortgage for the medallion, mortgage for the house. One time I didn’t feel good and I told my wife, ‘I’m going to the hospital, I won’t come home.’ I had an anxiety attack in my physician doctor’s office. So then I find out I suffer [from] depression.”But there’s hope for some cab drivers, at least, in NYC. According to the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission’s rulebook, one of its duties is to establish and enforce standards to ensure all taxi driver licensees remain “financially stable.” In August, NYC became the first major metro area to aid drivers affected by the rise of ride-hailing apps: The New York City Council passed legislation to “cap the number of for-hire vehicles for a year.” and to establish minimum pay rates for taxi drivers, the New York Times reported.“More than 100,000 workers and their families will see an immediate benefit from this legislation,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said on Twitter. “And this action will stop the influx of cars contributing to the congestion grinding our streets to a halt.”Not everyone agrees with de Blasio. Thirty-nine council members voted in support of the cap on licenses, but Councilman Eric Ulrich was one of six who opposed it.“I believe in capitalism,” Ulrich said on Mic Dispatch. “Standing in the way of Uber, as I said on the floor with [the] City Council, would be like standing in the way of Netflix because we wanted to save Blockbusters from closing.”Uber communications manager Alix Anfang said the regulation will threaten “one of the few reliable” transportation options in the city.“As Uber continues to grow in communities outside of Manhattan, we will do whatever it takes to ensure that no New Yorker who needs a ride is left stranded,” Anfang said in an email.Uber drivers serve more boroughs than yellow cabs do, with 22% of Uber rides starting outside of Manhattan compared to just 14% of all yellow and green cabs (also known as Boro Taxis, a fleet of cabs deployed specifically for travel outside of Manhattan).Joseph Okpaku, Lyft’s vice president of public policy, reiterated the importance of its service for outer-borough travel in an emailed statement.“These sweeping cuts to transportation will bring New Yorkers back to an era of struggling to get a ride, particularly for communities of color and in the outer boroughs,” Okpaku said. “We will never stop working to ensure New Yorkers have access to reliable and affordable transportation in every borough.”And while regulations on Uber and Lyft could be good news for taxi drivers, it’s only a temporary solution — and only one of the issues affecting drivers who struggle to compete against corporate behemoths like Uber.“They stopped the bleeding now — no more bleeding for one year,” Hunt said. “But the fight is just beginning.”Check out episode 20 of Mic Dispatch above — only on Facebook Watch.© 2018 Mic Network Inc. All rights reserved.

In Pennsylvania, a juvenile is anyone who is under the age of 18. If your son or daughter has been charged with a misdemeanor or felony offense, it’s important to know the procedural hearings he or she will undergo in juvenile court. The criminal defense lawyers at Young, Marr & Associates invites you to read […] The post What to Do If Your Child Is Arrested in Pennsylvania appeared first on .

Your credit score reflects your financial habits over the years, taking into account factors such as missed payments, credit utilization, and the length of your credit history. Your credit score is financially important, because it is used by banks and lenders to determine what types of loans and credit cards you qualify for. Having a […] The post Can I Rebuild My Credit After Filing Bankruptcy in Pennsylvania? appeared first on .

  A not uncommon issue in chapter 13 cases is what happens when debtors are paying 100% to unsecured creditors but are not committing all their disposable income to the plan in the process.  The chapter 13 trustee's often object, requesting that interest be paid to the unsecured creditors when debtors do not commit all disposable income to the plan.  A bankruptcy court in  Indiana had the opportunity to rule on this issue in IN RE: GEORGE M. McKINNEY & EUGENIA L. McKINNEY, Debtors., No. 18-70417-BHL-13, 2018 WL 4378655 (Bankr. S.D. Ind. Sept. 13, 2018).    The means test showed debtors with a $1,369.31/month disposable income, which would require up to $82,158.60 over the 60 month plan.  However, only $17,116.96 in unsecured claims filed timely.  The plan proposed to pay $850/month over the life of the plan, sufficient to pay unsecured claims in full, but did not propose to pay interest on such claims.  The trustee argued that §1325(b)(1) requires debtors to either pay all their projected disposable income into the plan, or to pay the present value of all unsecured claims, which would include the payment of interest.  The debtors counter that they are only to pay unsecured claims in full as of the effective date of the plan, citing the same statute.  Section 1325 reads   (b)(1) If the trustee or the holder of an allowed unsecured claim objects to the confirmation of the plan, then the court may not approve the plan unless, as of the effective date of the plan—      (A) the value of the property to be distributed under the plan on account of such claim is not less than the amount of such claim; or     (B) the plan provides that all of the debtor’s projected disposable income to be received in the applicable commitment period beginning on the date that the first payment is due under the plan will be applied to make payments to unsecured creditors under the plan.  The bankruptcy court notes that courts and treatises appear to be equally divided on the issue, noting numerous cases both requiring interest:  In re Rhein, 73 B.R. 285 (Bankr. E.D. Mich. 1987); In re Parke, 369 B.R. 205 (Bankr. M.D. Pa. 2007); In re Hight-Goodspeed,486 B.R. 462 (Bankr. N.D. Ind. 2012); In re Deluna, 2012 WL 4679170 (Bankr. W.D. Tex.); In re Braswell, 2013 WL 3270752 (Bankr. D. Or.); In re McKenzie, 516 B.R. 661 (Bankr. M.D. Ga. 2014); In re Sampson-Pack, 2014 WL 1320371 (Bankr. D. Md); In re Barnes, 528 B.R. 501 (Bankr. S.D. Ga. 2015); In re Cheatham, 2017 WL 5614910 (Bankr.M.D. Fla.); and see, 3 Norton Bankruptcy Law and Practice, § 75.10 and not requiring interest ,In re Eaton, 130 B.R. 74 (Bankr. S.D. Iowa 1991); In re Ross, 375 B.R. 437 (Bankr. N.D. Ill. 2007); In re Stewart-Harrel, 443 B.R. 219 (Bankr. N.D. Ga. 2011); In re Richall, 470 B.R. 245 (Bankr. D.N.H. 2012); In re Coay, 2012 WL 2319100 (Bankr.D.C. Ill.); In re Edward, 560 B.R. 797 (Bankr. W.D.Wa. 2016); In re Gillen, 568 B.R. 74 (Bankr. C.D.Ill. 2017); In re Eubanks, 581 B.R. 583 (Bankr.S.D.Ill. 2018); and see, 5 Colliers on Bankruptcy, § 1325.06(3)(B).  The issue revolves around interpretation of the phrase 'as of the effective date of the plan.'  Normally the code uses the phrase in the term 'the value, as of the effective date of the plan, of property to be distributed... (e.g. 11 U.S.C. §§1129(a)(7), 1225(a)(4), 1325(a)(4), etc).   This language is uniformly interpreted to require a present value analysis of the proposed payments.  However, when the phrase 'as of the effective date of the plan' is moved it arguably reflects an intentional legislative distinction, reflecting the different justifications for paying interest.  Unlike secured creditors, or even unsecured creditors in a solvent chapter 7 estate, unsecured creditors in a chapter 13 have no right to immediate payment in full at the front end of the case.  Given the lack of a forced deferral of a pre-existing payment right, there is no entitlement to interest.1   Indeed, placement of the phrase 'as of the effective date of the plan' outside of §1325(b)(1)(A) may have been to prevent courts from misconstruing such section as requiring a present value requirement.  The only interpretation of such placement as applied to both subsections (A) and (B) is that the date as of which the court is to determine whether either (A) or (B) is applicable and satisfies the trustee's objection.   The contrary interpretation would lead to the anomalous result of paying interest to general unsecured claims even though §1322(a)(2) allows for deferred payment of priority claims without interest.  Based on this analysis the court overruled the trustee's objection and allowed confirmation of the 100% plan without interest to unsecured creditors. 1 Gillan, 568 B.R. at 79↩Michael Barnett hillsboroughbankruptcy.comMichael Barnett, PA506 N Armenia Ave.Tampa, FL 33609-1703813 870-3100