In the course of managing a bankruptcy-centered law practice, one notices that certain themes tend to recur. One of the things that seems, repeatedly and quite understandably, to make the blood of credit managers in bankruptcy cases boil, is the prospect of being sued for a 'preference' while they are already stuck with a bad account receivable. This seems to many vendors to be the ultimate outrage.

"In the wake of the recent and very substantial changes to the nation's bankruptcy laws, the most significant beneficiaries are likely to be commercial landlords." So says Warren R. Graham, a bankruptcy lawyer with 25 years of experience, much of it representing both landlords and tenants in large Chapter 11 reorganizations.

"Most of the public attention, in the enactment of the new law, has been paid to consumer matters and credit card debt, given that the prime movers for the new legislation were consumer credit issuers," says Graham.

So the statistics are finally starting to emerge, and nobody but the spokespersons for our real estate brokerage industry, our debonair denizens of denial and flagrant fanners of fantasy can gainsay the obvious: the housing market is softening, and it is doing so quickly and rather dramatically. Prices are softening, unsold inventory is rising quickly, and new construction is clearly on the decline.

"A weakening housing market, together with other financial currents in the U.S. Economy, represents the potential final impetus to a 'Perfect Storm' brewing over the American Middle Class, and, without luck or prompt legislative action, may lead to disaster, especially for homeowners." So says Warren R. Graham, a New York Bankruptcy Attorney. The other prevailing currents threatening to collide over the heads of an unsuspecting public, claims Graham, include rising interest rates, limited recourse to bankruptcy relief and the virtual elimination of usury and other restrictions on credit card issuers.