We are receiving reports from a growing number of members who filed claims in the GM bankruptcy, that they have been contacted by Tim Farkas, president of Beebles Investments, Inc., doing business at times as A-Loan, Co.

Although GMRA cannot give professional legal or financial advice, I’d like to address some of the questions and concerns that have come in from members who have been contacted by Mr. Farkas.

We are not sure exactly what Mr. Farkas is after as he has not returned our calls. But according to reports from GMRA members, Farkas is offering to buy claims and is advising the claimants to retain an attorney. Apparently, he is accessing personal contact information from the claim forms that are published on the Motors Liquidation Company (MLC) website.

GMRA does not recommend any dealings with Tim Farkas, based on a legal case found on the Web in which the claims against him in a real estate loan case include ‘unconscionability’ and ‘fraud.’ Here is a link to an Ohio Court of Appeals decision with more information: http://www.supremecourt.ohio.gov/rod/docs/pdf/10/2008/2008-Ohio-1839.pdf

‘Claims trading’ is a common occurrence in bankruptcy cases. If you are contacted, there is a “Buying and Selling Unsecured Claims’ tab on the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors website that gives pros and cons and publishes the names of known claims traders:http://dm.epiq11.com/GM2/Project/default.aspx?DMWin=009a78e2-58e1-4bfb-9492-882b3b3325d4

Despite our consultations with legal counsel involved in the GM bankruptcy case, we have not been able to get specific advice as to whether claimants should retain legal counsel. As a group, claimants are represented by the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors. The Committee website has a ‘Frequently Asked Questions’ tab, where they will add an answer to the question we posed to them -- “What is the next step in the process for claimants” -- watch for that.

As an interim answer, the claims process can be lengthy and complicated. It is governed by bankruptcy rules and includes a number of steps, including a “Plan of Liquidation.” The plan is required by the court to outline the Motors Liquidation proposal for settling the claims that have been filed. All claimants should receive a notice of the disclosure of the plan, but before that, they may also receive a notice of motions filed in objection to the claims.

Again, if you are a claimant, any information you provided on your claim form (name, address, email, phone and last 4 digits of your Social Security number) is publicly available on the MLC claims site, according to bankruptcy court rules. Your contact information is used to notify you of significant events involving your claim.

If you are concerned about your personal information being published, Motors Liquidation legal counsel has assured us that claimants will be able to remove certain personal information from public view. We will get back to you with information on how to secure your personal information as soon as we hear back from Motors Liquidation with details of exactly how to do that.

The GM bankruptcy is complex. If you are considering engaging an attorney, or even representing yourself, your representative should be well-versed in complex cases in order to be a formidable opponent to MLC’s legal counsel.

All the best –