Keep Your Options Open, Mr. Mayor
“Bankrupcy Schmankrupcty.” Or something like that. Mayor Jerry Sanders rejected even the notion that San Diego consider bankruptcy as a solution to its financial woes when asked last week about keeping all options on the table. The details of San Diego’s finances are beyond the scope of this blog. Indeed, they are beyond the scope of this blogger. Were they easy to contemplate fully, they might be easy to fix, and any San Diegan knows there’s no easy fix on the way. The problems go back a long time, threatening even to cost us the Chargers; and the problems continue with no solution in sight. Of course, a consumer bankruptcy in San Diego – like a Chapter 7 or a Chapter 13 that you might file – is nothing like what San Diego would do if it filed for bankruptcy. A city that files bankruptcy would file for a Chapter 9. Yes, there are even Chapter 12 bankruptcies and Chapter 15 bankruptcies. A Chapter 9 bankruptcy is for municipalities. Orange County, our neighbor to the north, filed such a bankruptcy – the largest Chapter 9 in American history – in 1994 after investments of over a billion and a half dollars ran amuck.
Two things strike me when considering the above. Firstly, maybe the mayor should keep his options open. There are budget deficits projected for many years to come. Slashing spending is ridiculously difficult (on the government level) and raising taxes is unpopular, if not wholly useless as taxable revenue streams dry up as a result of increased taxes (a vicious cycle). I’m not saying San Diego should file bankruptcy; I’m not well enough versed on the city’s budget and revenue to make a carefully informed decisions, but ruling it out as an option seems to negate the value that bankruptcy is intended to provide. Indeed, Chapter 9 exists exclusively to be utilized in times of need. The same holds true for a local, yet smaller, consumer Chapter 7 bankruptcy or a wage-earner Chapter 13 bankruptcy: the law is there to be invoked in times of trouble. A number approaching two million Americans will avail themselves of such options this year alone. Dismissing bankruptcy as an option is doing yourself a disservice, just as it might be foolish to unilaterally take bankruptcy off the table for the city.
Secondly, a city (or county) in distress offers a unique consolation when considering a consumer’s situation. That is, if a place with millions of people (and millions of tax-paying citizens and businesses) can get into financial trouble – even with dedicated people assigned to monitor the finances – how much easier is it to see that economic distress is just what happens sometime…to everyone. Consult a local San Diego bankruptcy attorney to discuss how your bills are catching up to you. And keep bankruptcy on the table. The relief it offers is real, and as part of the law as anything else.
If you have questions regarding Bankruptcy in San Diego, Carlsbad, and the surrounding areas of San Diego County please contact us at (619) 209-6046 in San Diego, or (760) 579-7322 in Carlsbad for a free consultation or visit www.bkanswers.com and we can connect you with one of our experienced San Diego Bankruptcy Attorneys. After you have spoken with one of our San Diego bankruptcy attorneys, we can schedule you for a free face to face appointment in an office location nearest you. Our team of Bankruptcy Lawyers, Bankruptcy Customer Care Specialists and Bankuptcy staff supporting San Deigo consumers in debt can assist you with all aspects of your bankruptcy or bankruptcy litigation case. If you have questions about filing a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, a Chapter 11 bankruptcy, a Chapter 13 bankruptcy, or would like to learn more about bankruptcy litigation, legal debt settlement, mortgage modification, lien stripping, cram down, stopping a foreclosure, wage garnishment, asset protection, discharging a debt, etc. we can help! We have bankruptcy attorneys located throughout California and Oregon who can assist you with all of your debt resolution questions. Please feel free to complete our free online bankruptcy evaluation and we can quickly determine if you are a qualified candidate for bankruptcy. We look forward to hearing from you, Southern California!
