Special Assets Lawyer Blog

Most loans today are secured by real or personal property collateral, so the homestead exemption is of less importance to institutional lenders than it used to be. However, if you do find yourself administering an unsecured loan, or if you discover that the loan you thought was well secured turns out to be unintentionally unsecured, then it is good to know about the California homestead exemption.

Continue reading "California Increases Homestead Exemptions" »

Negotiations with borrowers can be tricky and fast-paced. The workout professional needs to be able to respond to borrower inquiries quickly, authoritatively and without losing a step. While final numbers, covenants, terms and conditions must be developed carefully before being finalized, workout professionals know that Cash is King and that they must be able to deal with cash flow issues on the fly.

The workout professional who can make quick rough calculations without using his or her HP 12C has an advantage. A desperate borrower may promise you the moon just to buy time. An unsophisticated borrower may not know how much cash is available to pay the Bank and still keep the business operating. A complicated relationship with multiple deals may prove challenging for Bank and borrower, particularly where the borrower lacks an experienced CFO or controller and financial reporting is incomplete. The officer who can quickly comprehend whether borrower promises are realistic can keep the conversation moving without having to stop to run detailed calculations.

Continue reading "How to Figure Monthly Interest Payments In Your Head" »

The final segment of Stan Gibson's series on Litigation Readiness and Electronic Discovery addresses the practical problem of assembling and collecting all of the data needed for use in the lawsuit. Stan's point is that advance preparation, a luxury in today's fast-paced, cost conscious world, pays dividends when a lender is faced with short time deadlines to respond to massive requests to produce documents and electronic records.

Continue reading "On Bank Litigation--E-discovery (Part 4): Establishing a Data Assembly Process" »

Stan Gibson returns to the Special Assets Lawyer Blog with the third segment of his important series on Litigation Readiness and Electronic Discovery. In his last segment, Stan Gibson explained why it is so crucial to quickly locate and preserve the bank's records by implementing a Litigation Hold. This time, Stan explains what a Data Map is and why you will need one to successfully navigate the waters of electronically stored information.

Continue reading "On Bank Litigation--E-discovery (Part 3): Creating a Data Map and Assembling a Discovery Response Team" »

Stan Gibson's timely series on Litigation Readiness and Electronic Discovery continues with an explanation of the vital "Litigation Hold" process, what it is and how it is implemented. Stan is co-chair of JMBM's E-Discovery Group, and at my request, is sharing his wealth of knowledge with our readers in a four-segment series. Members of the JMBM Special Assets Team™ assist clients in implementing a litigation hold and in making certain that all available information, whether stored on paper or electronically, or known only to witnesses, is collected and preserved.

Our second installment builds on Stan's opening segment, "Record Retention and Compliance," which is a must read for anyone administering litigation in connection with a troubled loan.

Continue reading "On Bank Litigation--E-discovery (Part 2): The Litigation Hold Process" »

E-discovery, or electronic discovery, has come to California's court system. Given our litigious society, there is a good chance that your bank or financial institution will soon be responding to requests for e-discovery. Litigation is never the process of choice, but as all workout professionals know, there are times when the only way to collect the loan is to file suit.

Continue reading "On Bank Litigation--E-discovery (Part 1): Record Retention and Compliance" »

You've gotten a judgment against that troublesome borrower who hides assets and plays games, but you are afraid that it will be many moons before you are able to collect. You know that one of the best ways to get this kind of person to deal with you is to get a statewide judgment lien against him. This is because that judgment lien will show up on his credit reports and effectively block him from getting a car loan or a credit card. Faced with the prospect of paying cash for a clunker, this borrower would rather pay you off than pay cash for a new ride. Fortunately, most borrowers are not like this, but there are a few, and you know the type!

Continue reading "Update - California Now Allows Personal Property Judgment Liens to Be Extended For More Than Five Years" »