Executive Office of U.S. Trustee Suspends Debtor Audits

About a week ago BankruptcyLawNetwork.com reported that the Executive Office of the U.S. Trustee has suspended auditing of debtors filing for bankruptcy because Congress did not fund the audits in the 2008 appropiration. This is good news. Under the 2005 changes to the bankruptcy law, the U.S. Trustee could engage the services of outside accounting firms to audit the records of bankrupt debtors. At least until they find some funding somewhere, and they are looking for alternative sources, this auditing activity will come to a stop.

This does not mean that the Trustees themselves cannot continue requesting detailed information, documents and records from bankrupt debtors; and going over it with a fine tooth comb. It just means that they can’t hire outside accounting help to do it. When these audits were in progress, they only involved a very small percentage of the bankruptcy cases being filed. A much higher percentage of cases were investigated directly by U. S. Trustee personnel without outside help.

It is my hope that the failure to appropriate funds represents the beginning of a backlash against the so-called Bankruptcy Reform Act.

Full Moon Tonight – Likely time to Get in Trouble

If you take a close look around my office, you will see an atomic clock on the wall that not only indicates time, but also shows the phases of the moon. I have that clock for a reason. For years I have been noticing that the phases of the moon seem to influence my business and the behavior of my clients. For example, last night at about 7 pm, just as the full moon was rising (I checked the Naval Observatory and the time was almost exact), one of my bankruptcy clients sent me an email on the subject of how he needs to go further into debt for something. I will be going over the situation with him, but I expect my advice will be that it’s a really bad idea.

I have never read this anywhere. This is strictly my own observation. BUT here’s how it seems to me the moon phases seem to work: people get in various kinds of trouble during the full moon, and then call me asking to get the problem fixed during the new moon. So today I expect my phone to be fairly quiet. If you want to have a long talk with me, today is a good day to call. As October 11th the day of the new moon approaches, I know that my phone will get very busy – email too – and a lot of the communications will be rather breathless. It happens every time.

At the hospital where my wife works as a nurse, the busy time – especially in the emergency room – is the full moon. That’s when they get the most body part donors – lots of people out on their motorcycles without helmets after having a few too many. At my office it’s pretty much the opposite, with the busy time being the time of the new moon. There’s got to be some science behind this. If anyone who happens to read this knows what that is, I would appreciate some feedback on that subject.

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