Data released by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts shows that overspending consumers are raising the number of bankruptcies filed in Massachusetts.  For both Massachusetts and the nation, personal and non-business bankruptcy filings increased, while bankruptcies filed by businesses decreased.

In the first six months of 2010, there were 12,159 total bankruptcies filed in the state of Massachusetts compared to the 10,185 in the first half of 2009.  This is a 19 percent increase.  Nationwide bankruptcies only increased by 14 percent in the same time period.  Furthermore, individuals filing for bankruptcy increased to 11,872 from 9,831 in 2009.  This is a 20 percent increase.

If you or someone you know is considering filing for bankruptcy protection, contact the Boston bankruptcy attorneys of Joshua Spirn & Associates at 800-975-5346 to learn more about your rights.

Last week, Constellation Energy Group offered $1.1 billion to buy Boston Generating.  CEG says they can make this offer using a mix of cash on hand and debt.  Boston Generating is the third largest power generator in New England.

Boston Generating is expected to file for bankruptcy protection in the upcoming months.  If they do decide to file for bankruptcy, an auction will take place later this year with CEG’s offer the one to beat.

Constellation Energy Group CEO Mayo Shattuck stated, “These assets would expand our physical generation fleet with a portion of the total output further improving our net load to generation ratio to approximately 55 percent”.

The sale of Boston Generating would include its four natural gas fired plants and one fuel oil plant, all located in Boston.

If you or someone you know is considering filing for commercial bankruptcy protection, contact the Boston commercial bankruptcy lawyers of Joshua Spirn & Associates at 800-975-5346 to learn more about your rights.

Restructuring plans for MGM have not gone as well as planned.  Now, some believe the company may face forced bankruptcy by September 15th.

Lenders are still holding on to avoid losing rights to an upcoming James Bond movie and are trying to come up with new equity capital.  If they are unable to come up with new capital, the studio can try to obtain a seventh extension of its debt forbearence agreement with its lenders.  Over $400 million is still owed to over 100 lenders.

If MGM does face forced bankruptcy, it will be turned over into the hands of its lenders and would most likely see the end of its days as a film producer and distributor.

If you or someone you know is considering filing for bankruptcy protection, contact the Boston bankruptcy attorneys of Joshua Spirn & Associates at 800-975-5346 to learn more about your rights.

Yesterday, Mexicana Airlines announced that it has filed for bankruptcy protection in both the United States and Mexico.  Mexicana Airlines travels to 65 locations across the world, operates almost 70 planes, and carried 1.1 million passengers in 2009.  Mexicana is the largest foreign carrier at Los Angeles International Airport.

Mexicana is citing the global financial crisis and the H1N1 epidemic as reasons for their financial troubles.  The company is also blaming high employee salaries as a major reason they have found themselves filing for bankruptcy.  The airline claims their pilot and flight attendant salaries are 185 percent higher than that of their competitors.  Mexicana is proposing to cut employee salaries by approximately 40 percent in order to come out of bankruptcy and “bring its cost structure, particularly labor costs, into line with market conditions”.

If you or someone you know is considering filing for bankruptcy protection, contact the Boston bankruptcy attorneys of Joshua Spirn & Associates at 800-975-5346 to learn more about your rights.

In the first two quarters of 2010, Massachusetts bankruptcy filings have jumped by 25 percent from the first half of 2009.  So far this year, Massachusetts has had 11,847 Chapter 7, Chapter 13, and Chapter 11 bankruptcy filings compared to the 9,461 in the first two quarters of 2009.  Furthermore, filings have gone up by 13.7 percent from the previous two quarters in which there were 10,419 bankruptcy cases filed.

Warren Group chief executive Timothy M. Warren Jr. stated, “Bankruptcy filings are considered a lagging indicator, and these bankruptcy filings really reflect earlier economic conditions.  Many people struggle to hold on for as long as they can before seeking bankruptcy protection, but even though the economy is recovering, consumers are still hurting and struggling to pay off the debt they’ve accrued over the years”.

If you or someone you know is considering filing for bankruptcy, contact the Boston bankruptcy attorneys of Joshua Spirn & Associates at 800-975-5346 to learn more about your rights.

TLC Americas LLC, the Boston-based marketing company previously running promotions for T-Mobile USA and Levi’s Dockers, recently filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.  Chapter 11 bankruptcy allows a business to continue operating under the supervision of a court while they plan how to reorganize the company and pay off debts.

TLC has faced a number of complaints related to the Dockers promotions, which they believe are without merit.  TLC set up an automated call center to contact consumers who qualified for promotions.  With Dockers alone, TLC says they paid $5.5 million to consumers, and spent $1.5 million on the call center.

If you or someone you know is considering filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, contact the Boston Chapter 11 bankruptcy lawyers of Joshua Spirn & Associates at 800-975-5346 to learn more about your rights.

Bankruptcy claims trading has been on the decline for two months now as many businesses are emerging from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.  Claims trading reached a record high this past April at $3.65 billion, but have been falling ever since.  This past June, claims trading totaled $2.1 billion.  Furthermore, 917 claims were traded in May, while only 816 were traded in June.

Director of the bankruptcy claims market for SecondMarket, Chris Moon, cites the decrease in claims trading to fewer large cases and the usual “summer slowdown”.

The companies with the highest number of claims trading included Flying J Inc., Chemtura Corp., Tribune Co., Smurfit-Stone, and Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc..  Lehman Brothers, who filed the largest bankruptcy in U.S. history, had claims trading of almost $2 billion in 224 trades.

If you or someone you know is considering filing for  Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, contact the Boston Chapter 11 bankruptcy attorneys of Joshua Spirn & Associates at 800-975-5346 to learn more about your rights.

The Boston-based Chicago-style pizza restaurant company, Uno Restaurant Holdings Corp., expects to emerge from bankruptcy with new owners later this month.  Uno filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in January.  Chapter 11 bankruptcy allows for a business to continue operations while they plan how to reorganize the company and pay off creditors.

Yesterday, a New York bankruptcy court judge approved Uno’s reorganization plans.  Now the company just needs to settle exit financing plans.  The reorganization plans involve making two of Uno’s bond holders, Twin Haven Capital Partners of Los Angeles and New York’s Coliseum Capital Management, its new owners.

Uno made plans to give control to the two bondholders in exchange for $142 million of debt, reducing their debt from $176 million to around $40 million.

If you or someone you know is considering filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, contact the Boston Chapter 11 bankruptcy lawyers of Joshua Spirn & Associates at 800-975-5346 to learn more about your rights.

The American Safety Razor Company, one of the world’s largest shaving razor manufacturers, is considering filing for bankruptcy protection and selling to the Swiss bank UBS AG, its primary lender.  American Safety Razor Co is giving their lenders and creditors until the end of the month to make them a better offer.

In 2006, the European private equity fund, Lion Capital bought American Safety Razor Co for $625 million from the Boston-based fund J.W. Childs Associates.

American Safety Razor Co began facing financial trouble after losing their contract with Wal-Mart Stores Inc. earlier this year.

If you or someone you know is considering filing for bankruptcy, contact the Boston bankruptcy attorneys of Joshua Spirn & Associates at 800-975-5346 to learn more about your rights.

The Boston theater studio, Riverside Theater Works, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy earlier this month.  Chapter 11 bankruptcy allows for a business to continue operating under the supervision and authority of a court while reorganizing the company and paying off debts.

Marietta Phinney, who founded Riverside 30 years ago, will meet with the court next week to determine what needs to be done to save the theater.

The theater is a non-profit and trains children from age four to adults in dance, vocal performance, and acting.  Riverside has trained over 300 youths in the past year alone, and will continue to offer this summer’s theater camp.  Phinney and Riverside used to receive $50,000 a year from the state’s Office of Travel and Tourism, but the governor vetoed these funds about two years ago.

If you or someone you know is considering filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, contact the Boston Chapter 11 bankruptcy lawyers of Joshua Spirn & Associates at 800-975-5346 to learn more about your rights.