Thank you to all the bankruptcy trustees, attorneys, assistants, and exhibitors for a wonderful weekend conference in beautiful Amelia Island, Florida.  Focusing on incorporating technology into the daily practices in bankruptcy case administration made for interesting and engaging meetings.  We will have pictures from the conference up shortly on our facebook page (www.facebook.com/bkassets).

If you saw us at the conference and have questions, comments or would like to request materials regarding bankruptcy auctions on www.bkassets.com  or the educational materials from our presentation, please feel free to contact us here and we’d be happy to help.

NEWTON, Mass. — May 3, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — TripAdvisor®, the world’s largest travel site*, today announced the winners of its 2011 Travelers’ Choice® Destinations awards. In its third year of the awards, TripAdvisor has honored 337 outstanding destinations across the globe. In addition to the top 25 in the world overall, top 25 lists have been named for the United States, Europe, the Caribbean & Mexico, Central & South America, Asia, India, South Pacific, Canada, Africa, United Kingdom, France, Italy, Germany and Spain.

Travelers’ Choice Destinations awards honor top travel spots worldwide based on millions of real and unbiased opinions from TripAdvisor travelers. Award winners were determined based on a combination of travelers’ favorite places and overall destination popularity.

“Millions of TripAdvisor travelers around the globe have helped identify the world’s top travel spots,” said Barbara Messing, chief marketing officer for TripAdvisor. “The Travelers’ Choice Destinations awards not only recognize some of the most beloved travel destinations worldwide, but serve as inspiration for millions of travelers looking to plan their next trip.”

2011 Travelers’ Choice World Destinations:

1. Cape Town, South Africa
2. Sydney, Australia
3. Machu Picchu, Peru
4. Paris, France
5. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
6. New York City, United States
7. Rome, Italy
8. London, United Kingdom
9. Barcelona, Spain
10. Hong Kong, China

2011 Travelers’ Choice U.S. Destinations:

1. New York City, New York
2. Honolulu, Hawaii – CLICK HERE for Bkassets.com Hawaii Timeshares!
3. San Francisco, California
4. Las Vegas, Nevada
5. Lahaina, Hawaii – CLICK HERE for Bkassets.com Hawaii Timeshares!
6. Kailua-Kona, Hawaii – CLICK HERE for Bkassets.com Hawaii Timeshares!
7. New Orleans, Louisiana
8. San Diego, California CLICK HERE for Worldmark Points on Bkassets.com!
9. Sedona, Arizona
10. Seattle, Washington - CLICK HERE for Worldmark Points on Bkassets.com!

For the complete 2011 Travelers’ Choice Destinations lists, sponsored by Audi, go to www.tripadvisor.com/TCDestinations.

There’s no secret that the economy is the pits and reputation is everything especially when it comes to financial institutions, a new report from Forrester Research shows that America’s biggest banks are the least trusted banks in the country.

Forrester asked approximately 4,500 people if they agree with the following statement: “My financial provider does what’s best for me, not just its own bottom line.” Ranking 50 financial services firms across the United States, some of the largest firms were the least trusted.

With the percentage of respondents who agreed with that statement ranging between 33% and 16%, the bottom seven of this year’s rankings were, in order, Bank of America, Chase, Capital One, TD/Commerce, Fifth Third, Citibank and, at the very, very bottom, HSBC.

This has been the case for the past seven years and things don’t look like their getting any better.

Read more at WalletPop.

Photo Courtesy of The Red Cross

Wyndham Rewards members can now use their points to support Haiti Relief efforts. The Charitable Donation Rewards program from Wyndham allows members to donate their points toward gift cards for the cause of their choice.

Over 100 national charities are participating and right now everything in the ‘Disaster Relief’ category will go to the Haiti Relief effort. Charities in this category include: American Red Cross, AmeriCares, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and Magen David Adom.

Check out our current auctions for Wyndham Points!

Here’s a great article from The Real Estate Investment Blog from November 2008 by Aubrey. She speculates about the future of real estate value at the beginning of the haywire market.

There’s some great insight here, but I wonder if it’s still true today. Let us know what you think in the comments.

Do these things really need to happen before we can get back on track in the real estate industry? Have we done any of this yet? When do you think value will bounce back?

When will the nation’s property values begin to appreciate again? This is the $64,000 question that real estate professionals, investors, and mortgage professionals would like to know. The truth is nobody can accurately predict the return of the real estate market.  Like everyone else, I can’t predict the end of this crisis either, but what I can do is tell you what will have to happen to facilitate that change. The answer is quite simple: America must reinvest in herself once again. Without an investment, real estate is as worthless as the Dollar is today.

Think back, or read a history book, about how families in the ’40s and ’50s used to buy homes. Young couples lived with Mom and Dad during the “courtship” prior to getting married, until they had saved 20% to put down on their “dream home”. They made an investment in America, (i.e. the American dream). In the years that followed we have devalued that investment in lieu of credit and the easy access to it. Property values rose artificially and our nation became addicted to credit.

The value of the dollar has been demolished due to the same principle. When we place value in assets based on their ability to be easily bought and sold versus the value that has been invested in the asset, we devalue its worth. For example, two years ago I could have bought an $800,000 house (and I assure you that I cannot afford a house that expensive). The owner of that asset (the $800k house) placed value on his asset based on the availability of buyers like me who could buy the home. The problem is, this homeowner probably had less than 5% invested in the home. Where do you think that homeowner is today?

Had he put 20% down on his home, he would then own a valuable asset in which he has a real investment. This outlay of cash forces him to buy and sell his home in the same manner he would move an $800k investment around in the stock market – very carefully. Thus, the home has REAL value. However, having bought the home with little or no money down, the asset became disposable and so follows the real estate market.

So, as I said earlier, I cannot predict when the real estate market will bounce back, but I can tell you what needs to happen before it does. America needs to reinvest in herself by getting back to solid buying and selling principles. This strengthens home values, which encourages investors who employ builders who employ carpenters, painters, real estate agents, loan officers and so on. America was built on the “American Dream” which has turned into the “American Nightmare”; she can only be rebuilt by hard working Americans, not by Wall Street.

Aubrey Clark is a Syndicated writer, author and editor for Direct Banc, a low interest rate credit card directory.His current project outlines how to choose the best Airline Miles Credit Card and how to maximize the benefits when using it.

By Michael Elson and Diana P. Zitser

In yesterday’s world where the stock market was solid and the unemployment rate was standard, bankruptcy had a negative stigma attached to it. Many people thought that hiring a bankruptcy attorney was a last resort in coping with financial difficulty. However, from the standpoint of today’s plummeting economy, where foreclosures are the norm and significant debt is the standard of living, many people in financial debt are now resorting to bankruptcy as a starting point. As the economy continues to tumble, attorneys report the number of bankruptcies filed in recent years increases almost twofold in many parts of California. Debtors’ fear of credit harm due to filing bankruptcy may be significantly outweighed by the benefits to their estate of filing bankruptcy.

Filing for bankruptcy provides numerous benefits to debtors depending on the type of bankruptcy filed. Some of the most crucial benefits include eliminating a second mortgage, a complete hold on any foreclosure proceeding or lawsuit, and discharging most or all debts. Bankruptcy is broken down into numerous sections with the most common ones for individuals being Chapter 7 and Chapter 13.

Chapter 7 is also known as liquidation. Under Chapter 7, a trustee is appointed to collect all the debtors’ applicable assets into a central trust estate, convert those assets into cash, and distribute the proceeds to the proper creditors. Those assets which are not applicable are considered exempt and are kept by the debtor. It will be the debtor’s bankruptcy attorney who will help classify certain estate assets as exempt. Individuals may be completely discharged from personal liability for dischargeable debt, which is established through application of a “Means Test,” which is a test used by courts and lawyers to determine bankruptcy qualification.

On the other hand, Chapter 13 is geared towards those debtors with a continuous source of income. Chapter 13 allows debtors or their attorney to propose a repayment plan to pay outstanding debt to creditors. Debtors benefit from the repayment plan by retaining valuable assets in their estate, such as their home.

Ascertaining whether a debtor should file for Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 depends on several factors including but not limited to a debtor’s income, the type of assets they own, the amount of debt incurred, and whether they qualify for one chapter over the other. However, since each debtor’s circumstance differs, achieving the best results in filing for bankruptcy will likely require advice from a qualified lawyer, who will protect your assets to the highest extent legally possible.

The information in this article is from Diana P. Zitser, a Los Angeles bankruptcy attorney, loan negotiator, and State Bar certified specialist in family law, divorce, child custody and spousal support. For estate planning, asset protection, including living trusts, she is closely affiliated with Attorney Michael Elson, the editor of this article, who is an estate attorney in Los Angeles and provides estate and asset protection planning, including LLCs, corporations, family limited partnerships, and various trust instruments.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Michael_Elson