Recent Blog Posts
When It Comes To Federal Student Loans, Florida Is A Low-Debt State
professional job and the financial security that comes with it. The promises of college as the path to a middle-class lifestyle ring increasingly empty. Many first-generation college students are in a worse financial position than their parents, due to the skyrocketing cost of tuition and the labyrinthine student loan repayment system. Many former students… Read More »
Medical Debt In Florida Is As Bad As You Think It Is
No matter how cautious you are with money, one accidental injury or serious but temporary illness can throw your finances into disarray. Unpaid medical bills represent a substantial portion of Americans’ debt burdens, especially in the income brackets where qualifying for a home mortgage or even most car loans is beyond most people’s reach. … Read More »
Discharging Debts In Bankruptcy After Creditors Have Already Started Garnishing Your Paychecks To Collect Them
Bankruptcy is an efficient way to make debts disappear. Almost any kind of debt, with the exception of alimony, child support, court-ordered fees and fines, tax debts, and some student loans, can vanish into thin air; in other words, bankruptcy can make most consumer debt simply go away. Most people struggle for years before… Read More »
The Head Of Family Exemption And Florida Wage Garnishment Laws
As frightening as it sounds, the court can give permission to a creditor to take money out of your paycheck before your hard-earned money even reaches your bank account. Just as the law requires your employer to withhold certain amounts of money from your paycheck for taxes, a garnishment order requires your employer to… Read More »
Creditors (And Trolls Impersonating Them) Can Now Contact You On Social Media
Until last month, what was the worst kind of message you could have received on social media? Any message that begins “hey, hun” is pretty bad; although there is probably someone somewhere who talks that way in real life, anyone who begins a Facebook message is probably trying to recruit you into a multi-level… Read More »
Good Riddance To Overdraft Fees
Anyone who has ever lived paycheck to paycheck has probably lamented that, unless you are wealthy enough to carry a hefty bank account balance at all times, banks charge you fees to use your own money. It is just one of the many obstacles to getting out of debt. Overdraft fees have been a… Read More »
Do You Fit The Profile Of A Typical Bankruptcy Filer?
You have probably heard all the stereotypes about people who file for bankruptcy. There’s the guy who makes extravagant purchases and invests in business ventures that have little chance of success and then, instead of paying up, declares bankruptcy when the bills come due. Then there’s the guy who declares bankruptcy after a divorce,… Read More »
Can Bankruptcy Save You From Florida’s Kafkaesque Public Benefits System?
Anyone who thinks that people who receive public benefits are lazy has never tried to collect unemployment insurance, pandemic-era rental assistance, or Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits. Trying to get the money that you qualify to receive is as much work as most jobs. In Britain, where the social safety net is much… Read More »
When Your Mortgage Forbearance Is Ending, But You’re Still Broke
Many of the solutions that the federal government and private businesses offered to financially distressed consumers during the COVID-19 pandemic were meant to be short-term, but the pandemic has proven to be anything but that. Even though some programs ended up getting extended or renewed, the temporary generosity of the private and public sectors… Read More »
The Six Types Of Bankruptcy In Florida
Just as Florida recognizes six types of alimony, it also recognizes six types of bankruptcy filings. Most people you know who have filed for bankruptcy probably filed for chapter 7 or chapter 13 bankruptcy, because these are the categories of bankruptcy protection that apply to individuals. If you know someone who filed for bankruptcy… Read More »