Archive for the ‘bankruptcy’ Category
Monday, April 30th, 2012
Reasons not to Discharge Debts through Bankruptcy
People get discouraged when their monthly payments are not sufficient to wipe out their debts. Some of these people file bankruptcy online when they are unable to pay off their debts through the non profit debt settlement programs. Their credit scores drop by 200-250 points after filing bankruptcy. Moreover, they are not able to save all their assets through bankruptcy. This is why many financial experts discourage people from filing bankruptcy.
To justify the above statement, here are few strong reasons that bankruptcy was and will never be the best option to regain the lost financial peace.
Forget the credit cards: Make yourself acquainted with the use of cash every time you step out of your home since filing for bankruptcy will take away all your credit cards. You’ll feel the actual pain when you are struck with any sort of emergencies where you need some ready cash but it will be a distant dream to get that. Moreover, bankruptcy courts will liquidate a part of your savings to meet the tax obligations and pay the creditors. So, in this case you’ll loose both the credit cards and your emergency funds.
Jeopardize your credit score: Bankruptcy will appear on your credit report at least for 10 years. It is one of the biggest reasons that FICO scores drop drastically. Seeing such a stigma on your credit report, future creditors will be extremely wary to lend you any money.
Pay for the secured debts: There is no way you to escape the payments for secured debts like student loans or child support because these financial obligations are non-dischargeable even if you go bankrupt. Debts incurred from incidents like credit card fraud are also non-dischargeable.
Loose assets: You stand to loose many of your luxurious goods, second car, vacation home, stocks and various other investments because bankruptcy courts sell these items to discharge your debts. Though you are allowed to keep your principal home and other essential assets, yet its not that easy to part with the belongings you are dependent on.
Appear on the public records: Your bankruptcy will be recorded in the court documents. Bankruptcy proceedings are recorded as public documents, so your details will find place in it too. Any one investigating your financial history will get an easy access to those documents.
Therefore, it is better to get the help from a non profit debt settlement company to discharge your debts than opting for bankruptcy.
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Thursday, October 13th, 2011
You might be one of the millions of people who believe
that filing bankruptcy is the only way to conquer debts.
But is it a fact or a myth? Here is some truths you might
not know about bankruptcy.
There are different bankruptcy laws in the US that
determine the different types of bankruptcy. One type is
Chapter 7 bankruptcy. In 2005 the laws of Chapter 7
bankruptcy were changed, making the whole process almost
impossible to accomplish. This is actually one of the
faster ways to starting anew. However, there are several
disadvantages you also should know about before you
decide to file. You will lose your privacy as you will be
forced to divulge your remaining assets to pay any
remaining balances to creditors, even if you don’t want
to. All decisions making authority will be given to the
court and you will lose all control over your money.
On a different note, Chapter 13 bankruptcy is easier to
qualify for. This is another type of bankruptcy which
will also take over the control of your finances and
assets. True the people in the courts might have more
knowledge and experience in handling these sort of
matters, but no one wants to give away their rights,
power, and money to someone else. You will also be
obligated to pay them for these “services” and will be
bound to pay them regardless of the turnout. Is this the
kind of solution you want?
There is a better option to be free from debt. Use a
knowledgeable, experienced service provider to guide and
assist you in beating debt! This allows you full control
of your finances and offers step-by-step counseling,
techniques, and materials to guide you out of your
financial troubles. What you really need is a long term
solution for debt resolution not just a “quick fix” that
will haunt you and your credit for years to come.
Audio Podcast
Tags: Bankruptcy reform act
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Tuesday, July 26th, 2011
Chapter 13 Bankruptcy provides a way for individuals with a regular source of income to pay off their debts over a period of time and under the supervision of the Court and a trustee. Corporations and partnerships may not file under Chapter 13. Individuals may file only if their unsecured debts do not exceed $336,900.00 and their secured debts do not exceed $1,010,650.00. A plan specifying how each creditor will be paid is filed with the petition or immediately after. Payments are made to the chapter 13 Trustee who makes distribution to creditors according to the provisions of a confirmed plan. Depending on what the debtor is able to do, the debts may be paid back in whole or in part.
Audio Podcast
Tags: 13 bankrupcty, bankruptcy, chapter 13 bankruptcy
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Friday, April 15th, 2011
For many people, bankruptcy has seemed like the only way out of difficult financial situations, but before people consider bankruptcy they ought to contemplate what it will truly cost. Many times understanding the true costs will lead people to look for another solution. Before making a choice to move forward in bankruptcy for yourself you should at least consider more than just the costs for the initial filing of the bankruptcy. You should consider the other fees that will inevitably come about such as unexpected filing fees and unforeseen lawyer fees. Also, it is important to know that bankruptcy filing fees have gone up as part of the recent Deficit Reduction Act. The filing fees were $200 for a Chapter 7 and $185 for a Chapter 13 filing, but now they have gone up to $300 and $325 respectively.
In addition many bankruptcy filers will find that they are required to make changes to their case or proposal by adding items or actions, which will increase cost slightly. And you will have to pay for missing financial records and writing faulty checks to keep from adding to the bill.
In general, just filing for a bankruptcy case can cost you in ten ways:
1. Attorney fees
2. Credit counseling
3. Petition fees
4. Reopening fees
5. Amendment fees
6. Likely Conversion from a Chapter 7 to a Chapter 13
7. Splitting fees
8. Abandonment of property costs
9. Withdrawing the reference fees
10. Miscellaneous Trustee fees
You should know that you will be paying much more than those items. For the next 10 years you will have to pay a higher interest rates on all loans you are able to obtain. If you want to purchase real property such as a home, you will certainly have to shop the sub-prime market, which automatically by design means higher interest rates from lenders.
You will also pay increased insurance premiums as insurance companies glance at your personal credit history and notice the bankruptcy remarks on your credit. People with bad credit and especially bankruptcy remarks on their file are considered more likely to issue a claim therefore they are charged a higher premium.
You may be required to sell your home, automobiles and personal belongings to straighten out your debts with creditors. You may find that even after your debt obligations are satisfied and your credit history is on the way to repair, you will still be powerless to secure credit from your earlier lenders. Most lenders will keep the information on file for ten years from the moment in time the bankruptcy is discharged, not from when it was filed.
Bankruptcy isn’t something to be taken lightly without due consideration. There is no doubt about it, it will cost you a lot of money and lost sleep. These kind of reasons is why if you are able to find a way to avoid bankruptcy, you should. Under the new law established in October 2005, you will be required to attend a credit counseling class to be able to file for bankruptcy. You will have to pay for this, usually $50 to $75 per session.
It is not mandatory that you have an attorney to represent you in bankruptcy, but the paperwork can pile up fast and overwhelm you especially if you are not familiar with all the legal terms and requirements of the court. There can be a broad range of fees for attorney services, but you can expect to spend at least $1200 for competent legal counsel.
Generally, the total fees for the first filing itself, credit counseling, and attorney fees can run anywhere from $1200 to $3,000. If you shop around, you ought to be able to cover all the costs for about $1,500.
But of course just paying the costs does not relieve you of your debt, not by a long shot. If you are required to move into a Chapter 13 filing, you will be forced to pay your creditors back typically between 40 and 60 cents on the dollar, plus the court appointed Trustee fees.
Don’t be fooled, bankruptcy is something that is difficult to recover from, both emotionally and financially. So, when looking into the bankruptcy pro’s and con’s be sure to look at it not as a way to start over, but a long pause in your life. Nothing will be the same in your finances, everything will change. You should make a good effort to avoid it. The total Cost of bankruptcy is just too much to be a temporary fix for your financial troubles.
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Tuesday, March 1st, 2011
As more and more persons find themselves out of work or working for lower wages than they had in the past they may find themselves in financial difficulties. With the economy the way it is these days if one looses his employment, it is particularly challenging to find a replacement job, and it is not unusual for one to take a pay cut if he is to work at all. Lower financial resources can bring about problems with creditors, creating an urgent need for asset protection so that their assets are not lost all together while they are working their way out of the difficult situation in which life has placed them.
Many think that filing bankruptcy is the only way to deal with a financial situation such as this. When one consults with a bankruptcy service or attorney they will often be told it is their only option. This, however, is not necessarily true and in some instances bankruptcy can actually cause one more trouble than not, because in a bankruptcy there is no asset protection from creditors. In fact, your assets will usually be used to help satisfy the creditors. This is especially upsetting as a court-appointed trustee will make these types of decisions for you with little regard to your personal wishes. This makes bankruptcy a less than ideal solution for most people.
What people need is a way to obtain asset protection from creditors while they work at ways to resolve their debts. A reputable company, which specializes in asset protection and knows the ins and outs of the laws and how to use them to help protect one’s assets, can accomplish this task. A service of this type can provide the legal documents needed to stop creditors from being able to place liens on assets or garnish wages.
If one uses the right service, he can also get help in reducing his debts. These services can help by requiring creditors to provide validation that their claims are legitimate. By doing this, one can gain the upper hand when dealing with a creditor, which can make negotiations go a bit smoother. Those working in this type of service are familiar with the many laws that can effect the various situations one may be facing. This can be of great benefit in helping one to get back on track. On the other hand, bankruptcy firms and lawyers generally only know the laws in regards to bankruptcy, which often is not sufficient.
Tags: bankrpucty, bankruptcy attorney utah, bankruptcy debt relief, credit card debt reduction, debt help bankrpucty, debt reduction help, plan b scam
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Monday, January 17th, 2011
Secret 3
Bankruptcy, settlement and lawyer sponsored debt assistance or relief programs are brands, not a solution. These systems are nothing but a payment plan, without regard to your individual level of risk; these systems are based only on what all your creditors command you pay. The reality about bankruptcy is that because of the new legislation from October 2005, the only people that qualify for a discharge in bankruptcy are those that have nothing to lose anyway. Bankruptcy is a system formed by creditors that will allow all of your creditors to sue you at the same time once you file. Bankruptcy attorneys won’t tell you these facts since they spend their whole career getting educated on how to file bankruptcy and that is all they know how to do. The frightening truth about filing bankruptcy is that it is the same as being sued by all of your creditors at the same time. It is mandatory that you list all creditors, even your uncle from whom you borrowed $300 last year and then you are required to inform them in writing of your bankruptcy filing. Each of your creditors will then file a verification or proof of claim (another word for a lawsuit) against you and the trustee will require you divulge all of your earnings, income, possessions, and real property, assets and then they come to a decision on what to sell and who will be paid first, all without your authorization and all in a very public fashion. It is degrading and humiliating and last for ten years! Envision standing at the front of an open court with complete strangers, often hundreds of strangers, and reviewing your financial restructuring plan by going through what you have and how you propose to pay all of your creditors! All that you discuss and everything you have on file as required by the rules of the court will be public information and open for all people to review for generations to come.
Furthermore, you will pay $3,000 to $5,000 dollars in legal and filing fees and be forced into a 3 to 5 year monthly pay back schedule. If you fail to make your all your monthly payments, all your debts will be converted into to due in full and must be paid at once, you’ll be unable to finish your bankruptcy filing and have to pay taxes on the remaining balances to creditors and will have the judgments on file from the proof of claims that were filed.
You probably had thought before reading this blog post that paying to settle your credit card debt was a way out. Settlement companies are the opposite. Instead, the truth is that you are heading right into a corner where you will be trapped by the very monster you’re trying to stay away from. The settlement scheme was created by the banking system to persuade people to pay more than they would without it. It will drain your savings and cash streams and your delicate personal credit will be destroyed. Settlement also creates additional tax burdens for unpaid balances, depending on whether or not you make it to the finish of the three or five year program. Settlement companies also slap you with hidden charges of a massive 15% of your total debt. To make things worse they conveniently avoid explaining to you that some creditors like Citibank and Amex will not settle with anybody. Also, they avoid telling you that they hold your money for over a year prior to considering a first settlement offer to any creditor. Because of this you will have to deal with the bill collectors calls, harassing letters and any lawsuits.
Is it any wonder that debt settlement is outlawed in at least seven states? In fact debt settlements fees have recently been regulated and are now governed by the Federal Trade Commission. Still though in a typical example; imagine someone with $60,000 of credit card debt who is promised by a settlement service that she can eliminate half of it. If she stays with the three year payment commitment, she could perhaps pay her way debt free, in addition to losing her cash reserves. However, along with the service she is charged 15% of his total debt ($9,000)! So if she pays her way out of debt with her cash savings, she pays $30,000 plus $9,000. But wait that is not the end of it. You might think $39,000 free yourself of $60,000 of debt is a good deal, but wait until you get a 1099 and have to pay a tax on the unpaid balances. You’d be left with a tax bill on $21,000 the next year!
What is more frustrating is that no creditor has any legal responsibility to stop calling (without the proper notification), just because you are working with a settlement company. Creditors will continue to harass you by phone, and your credit history will continue to suffer. Yes, don’t believe or presume that paying off your debts will fix your credit. There is one more fact you must consider, a large growing number of creditors actually have written company policies stating that they must decline to accept settlements from anyone, Citibank and American Express are just two examples. Other examples include Capital One and Discover, and the list seems to be growing.
Bankruptcy is nothing more than a mechanism that allows huge corporations to unload their risk and debt liabilities onto the working class people, consumers, who can never file a Chapter 13, and never qualify for a Chapter 7 discharge unless they have nothing in the first place.
Settlement is just another way to be trapped in a payback plan; you’re left with bad credit, no cash or savings and more taxes burdens and it will cost you 15% of your total debt to get into this poorer situation.
Tags: debt help los angeles, debt money, debt resolution, debt restructuring, financial debt
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Friday, January 14th, 2011
When one finds themselves in financial troubles they may not know what to do. It seems that the only way out of financial difficulties is through filing bankruptcy, but this is not necessarily the answer. Bankruptcy laws have changed and it is now harder to qualify for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. Chapter 13 bankruptcy does not always provide the protection one really needs. Bankruptcy does not protect a person from wage garnishments or stop debt lawsuits. In addition, it will give control of one’s finances to a third party who will do what they feel is best despite your wishes.
This can be an unsettling way to deal with a tough situation. When one has lost their job or income they need help in stopping payments and stopping debt lawsuits that can garnish their wages and other assets. There are many ways that one can accomplish this, but in order to be successful at it, one may find that they need the help of those who have had experience in such matters and can help to create the legal documentation that will do so. This can be a difficult task for someone who does not know the legalities of the situation.
Using a service can help you in dealing with creditors and in stopping debt lawsuits. A good service will make a credit collection agency prove their claims which can be difficult for them to do if they have acquired the debt from another company. In addition this can also stop lawsuits that really have no basis. A good service can also help you in getting your creditors to lower the amounts you owe and help in establishing a payment plan that you can work with, one that you are involved in creating and therefore that goes along with your wishes. This can be a tremendous benefit in gaining control of your finances.
There are many services that claim to be able to help by counseling you in your finances and consolidating your debts. In some cases this can be beneficial but to get the maximum benefits one needs to be able to stop debt lawsuits and protect their assets. They also need to find ways to decrease their debts while lowering the payments that they have to make. When one is looking for such a service it is important to determine exactly what they offer and how much experience they have in handling such matters. This can be your best decision in determining what will work the best in your situation.
Tags: debt elimination, debt help solution, debt relief solution, debt settlement solution, eliminate debt, help with debt
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Monday, October 18th, 2010
Bankruptcy is the same as being sued by all of your creditors within 30 days. Your trusted attorney that you worked so hard to retain will want a $1500 retainer fee just to look at your Bankruptcy and then once you have paid the attorney you will begin to be told what will be done with your property and income. You will have no power to negotiate with your attorney or the courts and you will be treated like a child.
(I’ll bet not one attorney will tell you that only those who have nothing to lose will qualify for a Chapter 7, meaning that they should not have filed bankruptcy in the first place.)
Expect to get into a Chapter 13 payment plan; even if your attorney files under Chapter 7, eventually it will be removed into a Chapter 13! If you don’t believe me, check the court records to see how many petitions were removed by an order of the court.
A common mistake people may make is to file for bankruptcy to save their home from foreclosure. The problem here is that in most cases the bank will request a removal from the bankruptcy proceedings, courts will usually grant, and the bank will continue with the foreclosure.
Oh yea, and the two bankruptcy marks will remain on your personal credit for 10 years.
Tags: avoid bankruptcy, bankrupctcy lawyer, bankrupcty cons, bankrupcty exemptions, bankrupcty lose car, bankrupt, bankruptcy advocates, bankruptcy attorney los angeles, bankruptcy court records, bankruptcy courts, bankruptcy lose home, bankruptcy problems, bankruptcy proceedings, bankruptcy property, card credit debt, chapter 13 bankruptcy, chapter 13 payment plan, chapter 7 bankruptcy, consumer debt, credit card debt bankrupcty, credit card judgement, debt busters, debt freedom, debt lawyer, debt money, debt restructuring, filed bankruptcy, freedom financial services, loan settlement, meeting of the creditors, pay debt, settling
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Tuesday, August 10th, 2010
Seems the only options these days are hurting homeowners……. Weighing the legal and financial repercussions after a short sale, foreclosure or bankruptcy filing.
Pros and Cons of Short Sales, Foreclosures, Bankruptcies
Short Sale:
Pro: Allows the alleged lender to recover at least some of the debt.
Pro: Give the borrowers personal and moral satisfaction feeling he has done the best he can.
Con: If it is not a personal residence, the borrower could be subject to taxation on the amount forgiven.
Con: Typically is not enough to pay the first mortgage in full. Seconds still out could have judicial recourse.
Con: Takes a lot of work and agreement by the lender.
Con: The borrower cannot buy another house for two years.
Foreclosure:
Pro: Don’t have to do anything, just walk away.
Con: Will prevent the borrower from getting a real estate mortgage for seven years.
Con: An unsecured second lender could sue for judgment.
Bankruptcy:
Pro: Chapter 7 is a way to cancel credit card and all other debt and avoid foreclosure.
Con: May lose certain personal assets such as expensive cars and jewelry.
Con: Name is published in the newspaper; send of shame
Con: The cost (attorney costs, $1,000 and up, filing costs, about $300)
Con: Can only be declared once every eight years.
Con: May still use credit cards, but have to pay in full every month.
A short sale is when a home is sold for less than the amount the homeowner allegedly owes the bank. The transaction requires the bank’s approval and a buyer but is one way to avoid foreclosure or bankruptcy.
Bankruptcies and pre-foreclosure notices have more than doubled and more then tripled in many areas. Seems it’s a losing situation all around.
Before going down the road toward short sale, foreclosure, or even bankruptcy consider a dispute and complete produce the note strategy as outlined in the book “23 Legal Defenses to Foreclosure, How to Beat The Bank” and do the research for yourself, and see if there is better solution to rectify this situation.
Email me at assistance@planbclientservices.com for a FREE complete 20 page report on this topic.
Tags: debt arbitration, debt consultants, debt control, debt finance, debt free plan, debt negotiators, debt reduction programs, debt rescue, foreclosure report, freedom financial, get debt, live debt free, nationwide forceclosure, New York Credit Card Debt, no more debt, short sale options, too much debt
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