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Archive for the ‘Bankruptcy Help Articles’ Category
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
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
How to arrange funds quickly? Use personal loans!
A credit risk, with multiple defaults of old loans is certainly a huge barrier to have some funds from traditional lending institution. When people with less than perfect credit apply for a new loan, lenders quickly reject their applications. However, due to intense competition on the credit market, some lenders are offering you secured and unsecured personal loans despite your credit risk.
But the approval of the loan application will come only after assessing your repayment capacity as you should be able to return the loan you need. Read more…
L.A. Law Star’s Ex-Company Enters Bankruptcy
A publicly traded movie production company turned DVD renter once led by “L.A. Law” actor Corbin Bernsen has filed for bankruptcy in California.
The company, Public Media Works, said its failed effort to jump into the movie-rental kiosk business forced to it file for Chapter 11 protection last week in Riverside, Calif.
That business plan was a marked departure from its previous role as a production company for films Bernsen directed, including “Donna On Demand” and “Car Pool Guy.”
Best known as Arnie Becker in the iconic 1980s law-firm drama, Bernsen was formerly the chief executive of Public Media and as recently as September 2010 held stock in the company and served as a consultant, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission.
Bernsen, who now plays Henry Spencer in the USA Network series “Psych,” stepped away from the top leadership role in 2008 after he sold a portion of the company, SEC filings said.
A representative of Bernsen’s current production company, Team Cherokee Productions, declined to comment when reached Tuesday. Bernsen wasn’t made
What’s the Big Deal? And How Much it Really Costs the Buyer
The offer seems simple: a way to obtain a quick cash loan with a promise to pay principal and interest by a certain date. One loan is secured by a post-dated check; the other by a car title. A valuable, needed convenience? A trap that leads to cash being siphoned off income to pay lender instead of other bills? Either way, payday and car title loans are extremely expensive way to rent money for short term use.
Take a look at the details and you decide whether the benefit is worth the cost.
You have a bank account with a low balance, but a payday that’s coming in a week or two. You could really use a “cash advance” on that payday of, let’s say, $100 and so you go to a payday lender. Here’s how your loan works:
- You’ll need to show proof that you can cover the check like pay stubs and bank account information.
- For $100 cash, you write the store a check for about $120 and the store will not cash your check for an agreed upon date in about a week or two.
- You get $100 in cash and when the store cashes your check upon the agreed date, it keeps the extra $20 as the fee for the loan.
Establishing Credit Following Bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is not the end of your financial future, it’s the beginning! Many people are afraid that filing Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy will disqualify them from ever getting a mortgage. That fear is simply not based in fact. People a lot like you are astonished at just how quickly they are able to re-establish their good credit following a personal bankruptcy filing. Many Legal Helpers clients have commented that had they known a secure financial future was possible, they would not have struggled for years before pursuing their bankruptcy. Although bankruptcy filings remain on your credit report for ten years, most people will notice improvement of their credit scores in as little as a year after the completion of their case.
Why Rent-to-Own??
Why would anyone pay double or triple to rent appliances, furniture or electronics or pay triple-digit interest rates for these same items that they could purchase from a “big-box” store, on-line or even at the “mom-and-pop” store in their neighborhood?
Those are the questions posed by a Consumer Reports study that showed that many consumers are doing just that when they deal with a rent-to-own company instead of a traditional retailer.
In her financial column on www.washingtonpost.com, Michelle Singletary points out examples from the Consumer Reports study of the absurdity of going the rent-to-own way: “Would you buy a $600 computer knowing that it would cost you nearly $1,900 after less than a year’s worth of payments? How about
According to new statistics from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of New York, new bankruptcy filings have fallen 19% in June 2011 compared to the same month in 2010. Significantly, since the beginning of the year, bankruptcy cases in Western New York have sharply decreased from those of a year ago, against trends seen across the U.S.
By contrast, bankruptcy filings across the country for the first half of this year have declined only 8%, according to the American Bankruptcy Institute and reported by Jonathan D. Epstein on www.buffalonews.com.
The reason behind the national decline in bankruptcy cases seems to be the reaction of both individuals and businesses, which have reduced their spending to avoid or ease financial difficulties. Western New York has also noted the same decline in spending; however this area of the country has not been affected as greatly by the recent recession as other parts of the country.
A bankruptcy attorney from the area states that, “’Consumers are reducing their overall household debt, and they are not using credit.’”
Most of the area filings for both individuals and businesses were made under Chapter 7 of the U.S. Ban
Pasquinelli Homebuilding LLC, a nationally known homebuilder based in Chicago’s southwest suburb of Burr Ridge, has filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy liquidation, “succumbing to the difficulties that beset the firm in the housing crash” according to Todd J. Behme writing for Crain’s Chicago Business . The real estate company, founded in 1956 by brothers Bruno and Anthony Pasquinelli, estimates that it has slightly over $10 million to $50 million in liabilities with approximately $500,000 to $1 million in assets. They estimate from 10,001 to 25,000 creditors.Pasquinelli Homebuilding was a townhouse pioneer, morphing into a national developer under the Portrait Homes brands.“But like other local homebuilders, the housing crash whacked Pasquinelli, with multiple foreclosure suits hitting the company in recent years,” Behme writes. In 2010, Harris Bank sued the two brothers, accusing them of improperly taking $87 million out of the business from 2005 to 2009. They alleged Read more…