Judge Insists on Electronic Filing -- or Else! Kate Coscarelli - Star-Ledger Staff After a bruising 20-minute hearing before a Federal Bankruptcy Judge, a West New York Attorney agreed yesterday to learn how to file cases electronically or face sanctions. During a hearing in his Newark courtroom, Judge Morris Stern laced into Tomas Espinosa, who refused to follow rules requiring that matters be filed electronically. He has filed 80 matters since last year. "This is a tremendous burden on the Bankruptcy Court," the Judge said. "These are all matters that weigh on the Clerk's office at a time when the Federal budget for the judiciary is being cut, and we just can't do it." Earlier this month, Espinosa became the first Attorney in New Jersey called to Court to answer why he wasn't following the new rules. At yesterday's hearing, Espinosa said he had signed up for training for early September. "I appreciate that it is difficult in a smaller practice to mechanize, but on the other hand, it can only be to the benefit of your clients," Stern said. ________________________________________________________ FTC Blows Whistle on Consumer-Credit Scams Eileen Alt Powell - Associated Press It should not be surprising consumer credit is ripe for fraud, considering the big part it plays in Americans' lives. A new survey by the Federal Trade Commission in Washington found that three of the top four scams perpetrated on consumers involved credit. The most frequently reported fraud involved advance-fee loan scams, in which a telemarketer or mass mailer promises a consumer a credit card or loan in exchange for an upfront cash payment. Consumers who pay the money generally get nothing for it. Other credit-related scams include selling credit card insurance for hefty fees, even though federal law limits a consumer's credit card fraud liability to a maximum of $50; and promising to repair a consumer's credit record by getting information removed from their credit report or setting up a new one. "Those carrying a lot of debt are the ones most likely to respond to these frauds," said Pauline Ippolito, associate director of the FTC's economics bureau.