What is bankruptcy attorney advertising like in your area?

[switch625]

I was in Orlando, FL this week on a business trip and I saw two BK attorney billboards and heard one BK attorney radio commercial. In contrast, where I live (the Philadelphia area) I have yet to see or hear any BK attorney advertise in that manner. There is a similar lack of BK attorney advertising in NJ, DE, MD, DC from my observation.

Do BK courts restrict advertising in their region or are some regions just more or less inclined to have BK attorneys advertising their services?

[justbroke]

No advertising restrictions that I know about. You have to remember that Florida is the third most populous State (in the U.S.) -- sorry New York -- and is likely to have more foreclosures. I would also mention that Orlando saw the most ridiculous housing market run-up outside Miami. Seriously, I sold my Orlando home, that I purchased in 2003, for a 50% premium in 2005 (almost exactly 2 years from the date of purchase). Interestingly, had I waited another year, the home would have sold for nearly a 100% premium (my purchaser re-sold the home 1 year later for $100K more than I sold the home).

The foreclosure rates in the largest States, including Texas, California, and Florida (with an honorable mention to Nevada), are largely due to the run up in the housing market. While the Northeast did suffer a little from the housing bubble, it did not hurt as much as it did in the States mentioned.

For that reason, with Florida the place where MANY people built their second, third and/or vacation homes, the likelihood of foreclosure and bankruptcy were almost guaranteed. But even if Maryland has a higher percentage of foreclosures, 1 in 564, the sheer number of foreclosures in the big states, make them prime for Bankruptcy attorneys... if you ask me. For example, Florida had the most with over 116,000 completed foreclosures in 2013 (according to Corelogic National Foreclosure Report January 31, 2014). The others to round out the "highest" number, not percentage, included Michigan (52,000), Texas (39,000), California (38,000), and Georgia (35,000). Guess what? Only 60 foreclosures in Washington D.C.; I wonder what's going on there... are they printing their own money???

Notes:

1. For what it's worth, Maryland had 5,872 foreclosures completed according to the Corelogic report.
2. What's actually interesting is that the top 10 States for Foreclosure in February 2015 was Maryland, Nevada, Florida, Indiana, Idaho, New Jersey, Illinois, Delaware, Ohio, and North Carolina in that order. (Bankrate, http://www.bankrate.com/finance/real...r-foreclosure/)
3. I might also mention the concept of the Bankruptcy Mills, which are probably more prevalent in the more populated States.

[frogger]

The ones in my area are using the "debt relief" type of advertising. The fine print states that they help with debt relief thru the filing of bankruptcy.

[justbroke]

The ones in my area are using the "debt relief" type of advertising. The fine print states that they help with debt relief thru the filing of bankruptcy.

frogger, that was one of the major contentions of the changes to the code in 2005 under the BACPA. The new code made certain things that bankruptcy attorneys do, put them in the category of "debt relief" agencies and placed certain restrictions on such "agencies". This may be why some attorneys avoid the advertising because that "notice" is required.

[LadyInTheRed]

I see the debt relief billboards, but haven't looked closely enough to see if they are actually attorneys. There are also a lot of debt relief ads on the radio. They are not BK attorneys. Their pitch is always that they will help you avoid bankruptcy because it is the worst thing you could ever do. I often find myself yelling at the radio about how misleading they are. There are also a lot of payday lender radio & TV ads and billboards. "We'll loan you the money you need because, unlike those mean banks turning you down because you are already drowning in debt, we trust you and are so very nice and want to help people." Yeah, right!

[justbroke]

LITR, then they smack on the 500% interest (or more) because they are so nice! Then they allow you to refinance the principal each week (pay period) so you only pay them the interest. Sounds like a loan shark. ($50/week for 52 weeks on a $500 loan means that they make $2,600 a year and you still owe them $500! That's right, we're your friends and we'll give you this renewable loan at a rate of 500% APR!)

Where do I sign up for that?

[sophieanne]

It's interesting..I live in WA state and when I filed in 2012 there were a number of attorneys advertising for the BK
business. That seems to have all stopped now. The number 1 advertiser has now moved into advertising for
accident victims...guess bk just isn't as good as it use to be

[justbroke]

The business of bankruptcy-business has declined. The Foreclosure Mills and Bankruptcy Mills have run their course; at least in Florida.

[switch625]

frogger, that was one of the major contentions of the changes to the code in 2005 under the BACPA. The new code made certain things that bankruptcy attorneys do, put them in the category of "debt relief" agencies and placed certain restrictions on such "agencies". This may be why some attorneys avoid the advertising because that "notice" is required.

I've seen that language on BK attorney websites and their documentation. I found that peculiar and thinking it was probably required by the BK code. I still didn't confuse the attorneys I evaluated for my BK with what we consider "debt relief agencies" (and loathe), i.e. debt settlement companies, payday lenders.

Foreclosures may be on the decline, but people will still have heavy debt due to medical issues, divorce, overspending and ineffective money management at the general rate of a million bankruptcies a year nationally. Maybe the margin on making money off BK is so tight, it's tough to spend on billboards and radio ads, unless you are a BK mill.