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Archive for October, 2011
Employment issues after filing a Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy protection
No. All employers whether government or private are prohibited by federal law from firing employees whose bankruptcy becomes known to them while you are working for them. Once your employer learns of your choice of debt relief and, as a result, dismisses you from your job, you may have a bankruptcy discrimination case. But, be aware that if enough time passes and your employer can prove you were terminated due to valid reasons having nothing to do with bankruptcy then it is unlikely that your discrimination case will hold water.
No. Any private employer, who hired you before you filed, must completely ignore the bankruptcy in regard to any decision about your qualifications and suitability for career advancement. The only chance they have to consider your bankruptcy in an employment decision is when they agree to hire you in the first place.
Yes, see last question/answer. But to repeat, this applies only to private companies and their employees. If the job you are applying for is with a local, state, and federal government agency, your job application cannot be treated differently for employment consideration based on a bankruptcy. Of co
Affiliate Tax: The Affects On Interstate E-Commerce
A growing number of states are considering introducing and enacting out-of-state online seller tax laws known as affiliate taxes. Seven states have already enacted these laws and more are considering them. We take a closer look at what an affiliate tax means for your state and how it will affect you as an online merchant or affiliate marketer. Will you be affected?
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Wisconsin bankruptcies down by 9.5 percent
The total number of bankruptcies filed in Wisconsin in the first nine months of this year were 9.5 percent lower than in the same time period last year.
So far this year, 21,167 bankruptcies have been filed in the state of Wisconsin. In the first three quarters of 2010, 23,401 bankruptcies were filed across the state.
The most common type of bankruptcy filing has been Chapter 7 bankruptcy. Chapter 7 bankruptcy allows consumers to eliminate certain dischargeable debts like credit card debt, personal loans, leases, business debts, and more.
Bankruptcy experts say they have seen an increase in small business owners turning to Chapter 7 bankruptcy when their businesses experience financial troubles.
Before declaring bankruptcy, it is a good idea to consider alternatives if possible. New bankruptcy laws make it more difficult to produce than used to be. Bankruptcy can be on your credit card to a maximum of ten years. So it’s useful to look for alternatives for bankruptcy. Credit purchases can be a difficulty for many years after the filing for bankruptcy.
Before bankruptcy you should contact your creditors. Instead of this choice, you work on payment options with your creditors. In many cases they are very willing to work with you. It is to their benefit to keep you as a client. The lenders know that other possibilities will be more useful if you do not file for bankruptcy.
Bankruptcy alternatives are useful to think about before you hurry to file for bankruptcy. Read more…
Exhaust Alternatives Before Bankruptcy
Numbers and figures and due dates and phone calls and threatening letters can overwhelm and the next thing you know your are out of control and find yourself petitioning for personal bankruptcy. Doing so involves serious and long-term ramifications. You need to understand exactly what you are doing and why. When faced with this conundrum, examine the laws within the jurisdiction of your residence. It could very well be time to employ a bankruptcy lawyer. But wait, continue reading …
Consider the Alternatives
Before declaring bankruptcy, you must methodically research and consider all the opportunities available to you short of bankruptcy. Often, just looking at the alternatives can provide you with enough fortitude to start confidently looking around the bankruptcy ultimatum. After all, bankruptcy is a last resort. It is not a decision to toss off. The onus of bankruptcy is so great, be sure you sniff out every alternative, scour every work around.
Settling Your Obligations
One alternative would be an attempt to settle the debts. E Read more…
By now, everyone knows what Verizon, Sprint, and AT&T have to offer in terms of standard data, texting and talk plans for the new iPhone 4S. But what about the niche aspects of major carriers’ iPhone offerings? Not every consumer is content with plain vanilla utility and many, in fact, require certain supplemental features. With that being said, we took a look at how the aforementioned networks differ in terms of international usage costs, mobile hotspots and how “Night & Weekend” minutes are classified.
Night & Weekend MinutesIn our previous article examining the iPhone 4S, we noted that the three carriers offered calling plans in terms of how many “Anytime” minutes they provided: 450, 900, or “Unlimited.” Obviously, if you opt for the unlimited anytime minutes, the number of “Night & Weekend” minutes you get or when in the day these minutes begin doesn’t matter, but the same cannot be said for those of you that choose the two other options. So let’s take a clo
Filing Bankruptcy After Job Loss
Many American families rely on two incomes to pay the monthly bills and set a little aside as savings. When one income is unexpectedly reduced or eliminated, the family is thrust immediately into a crisis mode. Often there is not enough money to pay all of the family bills, so touch choices must be made.
The first thing to do is to be realistic and not overreact. It is important to use savings wisely during this time and to safeguard retirement. Spending these funds to maintain your lifestyle is not good financial management, and will have long-term consequences. In most cases a substantial amount of cash and all of your retirement funds can be protected if you need to file bankruptcy. Likewise, most assets are protected during bankruptcy, so it is not necessary to sell assets to pay creditors.
Second, prioritize your spending. This may mean eliminating or reducing certain “luxuries” like premium tv channels or inflated cell phone plans. Creditors must be prioritized also. For instance, it may be more important to pay the car payment instead of a medical bill. If
Most Chapter 7 bankruptcy cases that I handle in my area of Michigan are “no-asset” bankruptcy cases, meaning that, after I have exempted the filing individual’s personal assets from the bankruptcy estate created by the filing of the bankruptcy petition, there is nothing left available for the Trustee to liquidate (seize and sell off for cash) and distribute to creditors. In fact, the great majority of Chapter 7 bankruptcy cases filed anywhere are “no-asset” cases of this sort.
However, some cases are “asset” cases that do involve a transfer of assets from the filing individual’s ownership to the creditors whose debts he or she is discharging by way of the Chapter 7 Trustee assigned to the case, whose job is to do just that.
Sometimes, however, a filing individual does have more property or more cash assets in their possession than the exemptions in the Bankruptcy Code allow me to protect. (The exemptions
Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Primer
A Chapter 13 bankruptcy case is primarily used to repay all or some of a person’s debts. It is also known as a debt adjustment case, or a “wage earner’s plan.” Chapter 13 can stop a foreclosure or repossession and allow the individual time to make payments over three to five years, often even over the objection of a creditor.
If you are behind on a mortgage or car loan and is unable to catch up, Chapter 13 bankruptcy will give you time to restructure your debts and sometimes change the interest rates on your loans. Some upside-down vehicle loans can be “crammed down,” meaning the obligation is reduced to the value of the vehicle, and then paid over three to five years. Second or third mortgage debts can also be stripped off, if the amount of the first mortgage is equal to or more than the value of the home.
Chapter 13 differentiates between three types of debts: first, priority debts, including most taxes and child support, must be paid in full. Second, secured debts, debts secured by collateral, must be paid with interest over the life of the plan, or surrendered back to the creditor. Finally, un