'Serially abusive filer' | Bright Ideas

• Paul Stenstrom of Tarpon Springs, Florida, is among the most recent Americans to have discovered the brightest side of federal bankruptcy law, having lived in his mortgaged home basically free of charge from 2002 until 2013 by using the law to stave off foreclosure.

Even though none of his 15 petitions was ever approved, he followed each one immediately with another petition, and it was not until 2013 that one judge finally declared Stenstrom a "serially abusive filer," barring further petitions for two years -- at which point his bank was able to conclude the foreclosure.

Upon expiration of the two-year period in September 2015, Stenstrom quickly filed another bankruptcy petition -- to keep from being evicted from the townhouse on whose rent he is four months behind. [Tampa Bay Times, 11-21-2015]

• In October, once again, police (this time in Liyang in eastern China) arrested a man whom they accused of stealing women's underwear, prolifically, with a device likened to a fishing rod, enabling him to reach into windows and extract goodies. The suspect, 32, admitted to a three-year scheme, and in his van police found 285 bras and 185 panties. [The Guardian (London), 10-24-2015]

Comment by clicking here.