Asian Journal- The Filipino-American Community Newspaper

PILGRIM’S Pride, the biggest supplier of dressed chickens in the United States filed for bankruptcy protection late last month. It had assets of over $3.0 billion and debts of over $2 billion. K B TOYS, a nationwide toy retailer, filed for bankruptcy protection last week. Bankruptcy is what chickens and toys have in common it seems. They are the latest victims of having too much debt that threaten their existence as a viable business entity. This year we saw many titans of business and industry destroyed by too much debt forcing them to knock on the doors of bankruptcy court for protection from their creditors: Countrywide, Washington Mutual, Wachovia, Bears & Stearns, Lehman Brothers, AIG, were stalwarts and leaders in the financial industry. Some of them have existed since the civil war and have been doing business for hundreds of years. But all of them were felled in the last few months by too much debt. Billions of revenues were not enough to pay for billions more of debt and interest forcing them to become bankrupt.

Recently, the CEO’s of the BIG 3 from Detroit, went to Washington with tin cups in hand, literally begging lawmakers to give them a portion of the bail out funds so that they can pay their suppliers at the end of the year so they can continue operating next year. Indeed, the financial fabric of our society has been completely unraveled by too much debt!

What happens to businesses happens to individuals too. If you have too much debt and your income is limited, you will reach a point when you can no longer afford to pay your debts. That is certain to happen. It is only a matter of time. You might have bought a too expensive house and assumed too large a mortgage. Perhaps you bought several houses thinking of profiting from the erstwhile increasing property values before the bust. You might have relied on credit card debt to pay your mortgage payments or to live beyond your income for the last several years. This was not uncommon. Before the bust, most people felt that it was now their time to get rich, and it was now their time to travel everywhere and to buy luxury cars and SUV’s. That was the pervasive feeling of people in general. The stock market kept on going up. Property values kept on going up. People had a false sense of prosperity because it was so easy to get cash by refinancing property. Borrow, borrow, borrow, and spend, spend, spend. That was the motto. Even the government encouraged that motto. Besides, the blame for the bust, if it came, could always be blamed on President Bush. I think give President Bush credit for protecting us from another attack here on the mainland, and blame the Democrats for loosening the spigot to allow people who could not afford to buy a house to get one with zero down to pursue the American dream.

What can you do as an individual if you have too much debt? You cannot ask for the government to bail you out. You are not one of the big 3, are you? Well, fortunately for you, you can rely on Federal Bankruptcy law to bail you out. As Donald Trump has said, there is nothing wrong with filing for bankruptcy if you need it. His own companies have done it several times and as recent as 2004. In fact, Mr. Trump has said that he doesn’t think there is anything wrong if the BIG 3 files for bankruptcy. He says the public will still buy cars made by the BIG 3 even if they go to bankruptcy court because, the public still flies with major airlines like Delta and United, when most airline companies have been in and out of bankruptcy court since 9/11. Thus, bankruptcy is now a fact of life.

If you need debt relief, contact my office. I will analyze your case personally.

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Lawrence Bautista Yang specializes in bankruptcy, business, real estate and civil litigation and has successfully represented more than five thousand clients in California. Please call Angie, Barbara or Jess at (626) 284-1142 for an appointment at 1000 S. Fremont Ave., Bldg. A-1 Suite 1125 Unit 58, Alhambra, CA 91803.

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( Published on December 20, 2008 in Asian Journal Los Angeles p. C4 )