Category Archives: Bankruptcy
Inside the Underwater Car Loan Epidemic
This month, the CNBC website published more bad news about American consumers and their car loans. We already knew that vehicle prices are beyond almost everyone’s budgets, but good luck getting to work in Florida without a car. Likewise, we already knew that, even when we work around the clock, and our job and… Read More »
The Ugly Truth About Filing for Bankruptcy Before Age 30
By now you have heard all the gloom and doom about how the current generation of young adults have had debt hanging over their heads since the minute they entered the workforce, if not earlier, and it will continue to follow them around for the rest of their lives, even if they live to… Read More »
Unpleasant Truths About Bankruptcy and Taxes
When you decide to file for bankruptcy, you can feel the emotional burden being lifted off of you even before the court discharges a penny of debt and even before you are sure of where you can get the money to pay for the bankruptcy filing. Bankruptcy will not solve all of your financial… Read More »
Can Debt Relief Make Your Retirement Plans a Reality?
For as long as you can remember, your future plans have not extended beyond the next payday. You spend every pay period scrambling to make the next installment payment on your debts. If you are among the lucky few, you signed up years ago to have your employer deposit a small portion of each… Read More »
Can You Discharge Student Loans in Bankruptcy?
The good news is that everyone has the right to discharge unpayable debts in bankruptcy, but the bad news is that not all debts are eligible for discharge. In general, it is easy to discharge debts that you owe to private lenders, such as credit card companies and hospitals, but if the creditor is… Read More »
Social Media Accounts and Your Business Bankruptcy Case
Court decisions issued over the past 15 years are full of evidence of the ways in which social media has destroyed interpersonal relationships and the reputations of individuals and companies. If a time traveler read court decisions that reference social media activity, though, it would also be obvious to him or her that social… Read More »
Frequently Asked Questions About Chapter 13 Bankruptcy
The vast majority of bankruptcy filings by individuals take place under chapter 7 or chapter 13 of the bankruptcy code. The shorthand descriptions of the differences between these two types of bankruptcy filing commonly used in the media do not tell you all the details about how the case will go if you file. … Read More »
4 Bummers About Bankruptcy
No one goes to bankruptcy court expecting that filing for bankruptcy will feel like taking a victory lap, but many applicants go into the bankruptcy process with an excess of optimism. Bankruptcy will take away some of your debts, but only if you hold up your end of the bargain, and even then, you… Read More »
Should Retirees Declare Bankruptcy?
Retirement is supposed to be a time when you can walk away from the rat race and stop worrying about money. Federal programs such as Social Security and Medicare are designed to protect seniors from poverty. In practice, though, the law gives companies a lot of leeway to impose heavy financial burdens on consumers;… Read More »
Denial of Discharge in Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Cases
The best-case scenario in a chapter 7 bankruptcy case is that the bankruptcy court discharges all of your eligible debts and does not liquidate any of your assets. When this happens, you get to keep your house and your car, and the court discharges your credit card debts and your old medical bills. Therefore,… Read More »