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Termination by cause is a serious problem. Employers and employees have many reasons to separate ways, but the cessation of employment by cause is not a desirable result – for the employer or for the employee. The resolution for cause usually occurs when an employee makes a serious error in actions or judgement.
Termination for Cause
When the employment of an employee is interrupted by cause, the job is interrupted for a reason that is given to the employee and indicated in the letter of resolution.
The resolution by cause may occur for all actions that an employer considers serious of misconduct. Examples of such situations include these.
- Violation of the code of business conduct or ethical policy,
- Failure to comply with company policy,
- Breach of contract
- Violence or violence threatened,
- Threats or threatening behavior,
- Money or property,
- The Lie,
- The falsification of records,
- Extreme insubordination,
- The harassment,
- The lack of an alcohol or drug test,
- The conviction for some crimes, or, online pornography.
These are not the only reasons why an employer could fire an employee for cause. Every time I think I’ve seen it all, an employee proves me wrong. So an exhaustive list is impossible. If you intend to terminate an employee’s use by reason, you can talk to your lawyer about extraordinary circumstances or situations.
The resolution for cause is usually immediate when an employer has collected the necessary documentation and evidence.
The resolution meeting is held with the employee, the employee’s manager or the supervisor and a human resources representative.
If a job relationship is interrupted because of the cause, the employer will probably not have to pay compensation for unemployment. You may want to check with the Department of Labor in your state to understand the rules governing your relationship with your employees.
An employer who is terminating an employee for cause is discouraged from paying off any. This sends a double message that confuses the departing employee, confuses a jury into a subsequent lawsuit and sets a presumed villain for the employer.
Termination of work for cause, turn off an employee for cause note:
Susan Heathfield makes every effort to offer precise management, good sense and human resources ethics, employer and workplace advice on this site, but is not a lawyer. The content of the site should not be construed as legal advice. The site has an audience around the world and the laws and regulations on employment vary from one state to one state and from one country to another, so the articles cannot be final on everyone for your workplace. If in doubt, always ask legal advice. The information on the site is provided only by way of indication.
I am sure that in both Oregon and Washington anyway, there are still people who think of bankruptcy as the last refuge of the poor, something that you opt for when your income hits rock bottom such that you can no longer service any of your debt, but Who Files Bankruptcy in Oregon and Washington?
The reality is that in Washington and Oregon, bankruptcy is largely used by middle-income earners. In fact, the median income for bankruptcy filers is roughly $43,000, which is only $6,000 less than the national median. Nationally, bankruptcy filers are actually more likely to be employed than the rest of the population and more likely to be employed full-time.
Bankruptcy filers are also more likely to be veterans and less likely to be immigrants. One frightening common thread among bankruptcy filers is medical debt. One study has shown that medical debt is present in roughly sixty-percent of all bankruptcy filings. Moreover, nearly eighty percent of the bankruptcy filers who had medical debt actually had insurance. All told, over 1.6 million people with medical debt will file bankruptcy this year.
Frightening stuff. Bankruptcy isn’t really something that happens to someone else in another neighborhood because they messed up. It’s more likely your next-door neighbor who has worked the same job for years who got sick, missed a little bit of work and fell behind.
The fact is that most of us are just one or two missed paychecks away from having to file. What’s sad is that people too often blame themselves for the necessity of bankruptcy when the truth is that filing is most often beyond their control.
Please let us know If you would like more information about how bankruptcy can help you. We would be happy to set up an appointment for you at any of our offices in Oregon and Washington.
Schedule a Free Consultation with Your Portland Bankruptcy Attorney
When it comes time to file for bankruptcy, you need a compassionate and skilled attorney who will be able to guide you through the process as cleanly as possible. Northwest Debt Relief Law Firm, we can help you with filing for Chapter 7, Chapter 11, and Chapter 13 bankruptcy in Portland, Oregon. We will be there every step of the way to help navigate you through the often-complex and difficult bankruptcy process.
Give us a call at (503) 912-8809 to schedule a free consultation with one of our bankruptcy attorneys. If you have any other questions about bankruptcy, one of our attorneys will be more than happy to offer advice on your particular situation.
The post Who Files Bankruptcy in Oregon and Washington? appeared first on Portland Bankruptcy Attorney | Northwest Debt Relief.
Circumstances May Favor Chapter 13 over Chapter 7
Chapter 13 Bankruptcy May Be a Better Option and is a form of consumer bankruptcy that requires some form of repayment to creditors over a three to five year period. Most consumers that we meet in our Oregon and Washington offices come in believing that Chapter 13 is a repayment plan that will require them to pay everyone back over a certain period of time. In fact that is rarely if ever the case. While some debts may have to be paid in full, though usually at reduced interest rates, others can usually be written off and paid nothing. When then is Chapter 13 the appropriate form of bankruptcy?
Chapter 13 Is Appropriate In Seven Main Circumstances
1) Ability to Pay: If a review of your income and expenses reveals that you can afford to make some form of monthly payment to your creditors, you may be required to file Chapter 13 rather than Chapter 7. Your monthly plan payment would roughly equal the amount that you have left over after subtracting all your living expenses from your net income. Usually this means not paying much, if anything, back to your unsecured creditors.
2) Catch Up on Arrears: If you are behind on your taxes, mortgage, car payments of child support, Chapter 13 Bankruptcy provides you with a way of getting current immediately and repaying the back-owed amounts over three to five years interest free. This is often a very attractive option because under normal circumstances, you pay little, if anything, back on credit cards or medical debts while having a great mechanism for dealing with the stuff that you actually want to repay.
3) Stop Property Loss: While Chapter 7 might stop a repo or a foreclosure temporarily, the relief is fleeting; whereas, a Chapter 13 can provide a permanent solution which enables you to keep your property as long as you pay off the arrears on the mortgage over three to five years or pay off the car through your plan. This same principle applies to tax and child support garnishments.
4) Redo Loans: In Chapter 7 Bankruptcy, your choices are often limited to either giving up the car or signing off on a reaffirmation agreement, making your car loan an exception to discharge. In Chapter 13, you have options galore. First, under most circumstances, you can lower the interest rates and save yourself a ton of money. Second, if the car was financed over 910 days ago you can normally reduce the amount that you repay to the value of the vehicle. So if the car is worth $5000 and you owe $10,000 on it, you can reduce repayment to $5000. Not bad! Plus, unlike in Chapter 7 Bankruptcy, you aren’t stuck in the car forever. Maybe the car is great now but what about three or four years from now? In Chapter 7, you have no options once you reaffirm the vehicle. In Chapter 13, you can almost treat your car loan like the lease you always wanted: Drive it for a couple years and when it breaks down a bit, dump it. Under some circumstances, there are still more car savings if you got it in a trade in situation or your loan is really a title loan. Ask us about them.
5) Protect Property: When you file Chapter 7 Bankruptcy, only a certain amount of your personal property can be protected. In Washington and Oregon, the exemptions that protect your personal property are actually pretty generous, but that does not mean that they are always enough. If the exemptions are not sufficient, the property that is not protected can be sold off by the Chapter 7 Trustee. Who needs that? In Chapter 13, nothing is ever at risk. If you have $5000 worth of stuff that can’t be protected it usually just means that you will have to pay back at least that amount to your unsecured creditors over three to five years. This allows protection of homes that might have more equity than is protected by a homestead exemption, or a treasured family heirloom.
6) Your license: Chapter 13 is usually a much more effective tool when you need to get a drivers license back. If your license is suspended because of back owed run-of-the-mill driving and parking tickets, the filing of a Chapter 13 Bankruptcy will normally allow you to march on over to the DMV with your paperwork and get your license back. This does not seem to work with a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy filing.
7) Attorney Fees: It’s not always possible to come up with the attorney fees to file Chapter 7 Bankruptcy. The no attorney fees before filing Chapter 7 Bankruptcy does not really exist. Not an issue in Chapter 13. As long as you qualify and have part of the filing fee for the court($185 in Oregon and $100 in Washington), there is no legal obstacle to getting your case filed.
Conclusion
Chapter 13 Bankruptcy is not just a backup in the event that you don’t qualify for Chapter 7. It is often the superior choice.
Contact Us Today
While dealing with financial complications can be overwhelming, Tom McAvity can help you manage your unique circumstances. If you have additional questions regarding bankruptcy, contact Northwest Debt Relief Law Firm by calling (503) 828-0964 to schedule your personal consultation.
The post Why Filing For Chapter 13 Bankruptcy May Be a Better Option for You appeared first on Portland Bankruptcy Attorney | Northwest Debt Relief.
Circumstances May Favor Chapter 13 over Chapter 7
Chapter 13 Bankruptcy May Be a Better Option and is a form of consumer bankruptcy that requires some form of repayment to creditors over a three to five year period. Most consumers that we meet in our Oregon and Washington offices come in believing that Chapter 13 is a repayment plan that will require them to pay everyone back over a certain period of time. In fact that is rarely if ever the case. While some debts may have to be paid in full, though usually at reduced interest rates, others can usually be written off and paid nothing. When then is Chapter 13 the appropriate form of bankruptcy?
Chapter 13 Is Appropriate In Seven Main Circumstances
1) Ability to Pay: If a review of your income and expenses reveals that you can afford to make some form of monthly payment to your creditors, you may be required to file Chapter 13 rather than Chapter 7. Your monthly plan payment would roughly equal the amount that you have left over after subtracting all your living expenses from your net income. Usually this means not paying much, if anything, back to your unsecured creditors.
2) Catch Up on Arrears: If you are behind on your taxes, mortgage, car payments of child support, Chapter 13 Bankruptcy provides you with a way of getting current immediately and repaying the back-owed amounts over three to five years interest free. This is often a very attractive option because under normal circumstances, you pay little, if anything, back on credit cards or medical debts while having a great mechanism for dealing with the stuff that you actually want to repay.
3) Stop Property Loss: While Chapter 7 might stop a repo or a foreclosure temporarily, the relief is fleeting; whereas, a Chapter 13 can provide a permanent solution which enables you to keep your property as long as you pay off the arrears on the mortgage over three to five years or pay off the car through your plan. This same principle applies to tax and child support garnishments.
4) Redo Loans: In Chapter 7 Bankruptcy, your choices are often limited to either giving up the car or signing off on a reaffirmation agreement, making your car loan an exception to discharge. In Chapter 13, you have options galore. First, under most circumstances, you can lower the interest rates and save yourself a ton of money. Second, if the car was financed over 910 days ago you can normally reduce the amount that you repay to the value of the vehicle. So if the car is worth $5000 and you owe $10,000 on it, you can reduce repayment to $5000. Not bad! Plus, unlike in Chapter 7 Bankruptcy, you aren’t stuck in the car forever. Maybe the car is great now but what about three or four years from now? In Chapter 7, you have no options once you reaffirm the vehicle. In Chapter 13, you can almost treat your car loan like the lease you always wanted: Drive it for a couple years and when it breaks down a bit, dump it. Under some circumstances, there are still more car savings if you got it in a trade in situation or your loan is really a title loan. Ask us about them.
5) Protect Property: When you file Chapter 7 Bankruptcy, only a certain amount of your personal property can be protected. In Washington and Oregon, the exemptions that protect your personal property are actually pretty generous, but that does not mean that they are always enough. If the exemptions are not sufficient, the property that is not protected can be sold off by the Chapter 7 Trustee. Who needs that? In Chapter 13, nothing is ever at risk. If you have $5000 worth of stuff that can’t be protected it usually just means that you will have to pay back at least that amount to your unsecured creditors over three to five years. This allows protection of homes that might have more equity than is protected by a homestead exemption, or a treasured family heirloom.
6) Your license: Chapter 13 is usually a much more effective tool when you need to get a drivers license back. If your license is suspended because of back owed run-of-the-mill driving and parking tickets, the filing of a Chapter 13 Bankruptcy will normally allow you to march on over to the DMV with your paperwork and get your license back. This does not seem to work with a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy filing.
7) Attorney Fees: It’s not always possible to come up with the attorney fees to file Chapter 7 Bankruptcy. The no attorney fees before filing Chapter 7 Bankruptcy does not really exist. Not an issue in Chapter 13. As long as you qualify and have part of the filing fee for the court($185 in Oregon and $100 in Washington), there is no legal obstacle to getting your case filed.
Conclusion
Chapter 13 Bankruptcy is not just a backup in the event that you don’t qualify for Chapter 7. It is often the superior choice.
Contact Us Today
While dealing with financial complications can be overwhelming, Tom McAvity can help you manage your unique circumstances. If you have additional questions regarding bankruptcy, contact Northwest Debt Relief Law Firm by calling (503) 828-0964 to schedule your personal consultation.
The post Why Filing For Chapter 13 Bankruptcy May Be a Better Option for You appeared first on Portland Bankruptcy Attorney | Northwest Debt Relief.
Foreclosure in Salem, Oregon is a process where your lender eliminates your ownership interest in your real property. The lender does this through a foreclosure sale that is held at a published place, (usually in front of the Marion County Courthouse) and time,. Once the foreclosure sale has taken place, you no longer own the real property and you will have to vacate the property within ten days of face eviction proceedings.
If your lender is threatening foreclosure, it means that you are seriously in default on your mortgage and really are in danger of losing your property. There are two separate kinds of foreclosure: judicial and non-judicial.
In a judicial foreclosure, the foreclosure process is initiated through an actual lawsuit filed in the Marion County Circuit Court. Once a judicial foreclosure complaint has been filed, the lender will serve you with a copy of the complaint and a summons. Once you have been served, it is imperative that you meet with a lawyer as quickly as possible, as there is a fairly limited period of time to keep the lender from obtaining a default order of foreclosure.
In non-judicial foreclosure, the lender does not file any paperwork with the court. It just records a Notice of Default and Election to Sell in the Marion County real property records. The Notice will be served upon you and all other occupants of your real property by certified mail and US first class mail. The Notice will describe all the specifics of the loan default, including the total amount owing. Moreover, the Notice will list the time, date and location of the foreclosure sale. Once the lender formally starts the foreclosure process by filing a notice of default, you typically will have a few days short of four months to resolve the issue or you will lose your house.
Given how much easier it is to complete the non-judicial foreclosure process, It is fair to ask why would any lender foreclose on a Salem area property through judicial foreclosure. The reason is that some lenders don’t have any choice. Non-judicial foreclosure is only available if there is a trust deed rather than a mortgage.
Bankruptcy is often a great solution for stopping any kind of Foreclosure in Salem, Oregon and if a lender is foreclosing on your Salem area home, it is an option that you should immediately explore with an attorney rather than waiting until the last minute. I can’t count how many times we have been contacted for the first time on the day before a foreclosure sale. Sometimes we can help on that kind of an emergency basis and sometimes we can’t. We can almost always help if we are given a little more lead time.
Bankruptcy is a great solution for foreclosure because it stops foreclosure in its tracks. Once the case is filed, you have the option of slowly paying off the amount that you are behind, interest free, over a three to five year time period. You can even opt to pay most of the amount that you are behind out of a later refi or sale of the property. There are great options in bankruptcy that you can only discover by talking to us. Contact our offices today.
If you don’t stop the foreclosure, a date, time, and location of the sale will be set for sale, the Trustee will announce the property being sold. Anyone with enough cash on hand to make the purchase at the time of sale can show up and bid on the property.
The Trustee is usually authorized by your lender to enter a minimum bid equal to the amount owed to the lender. This enables the lender to buy the property for the amount of money the lender is owed on the property. This insures that the lender will not have to take a loss on the day of the foreclosure sale.
If you don’t want the property sold, there are ultimately only four routes to keep the foreclosure from being completed: (1) cure the default, also called “reinstating” the loan, (2) pay off the loan in full, (3) negotiate an extension with the lender, or (4) file for bankruptcy.
Under Oregon law, the Trustee has to stop the foreclosure sale if you pay the loan current at any time prior to the fifth day before the foreclosure sale. Paying the loan current means catching up on all missed payments, late charges, foreclosure fees and costs, and the lender’s attorney’s fees. For most Salem area homeowners, reinstatement just isn’t going to be an option
You can try to reach an agreement with your lender to stop the sale. Each lender has its own unique programs and methods, but a common thread is that if the lender is even amenable to making an agreement, you should be prepared to make a big lump sum payment up front and an installment payment arrangement to cure the remaining arrears.
You can also file bankruptcy. Again, if you can afford to start making your mortgage payment and either catch up, interest and penalty free, over a period of years or make small monthly payments on the arrears for a few years, then make a lump sum payment, bankruptcy is often the best tool not only for stopping a foreclosure sale but in giving you a practical way to catch up. Of course there are a number of added benefits to bankruptcy. First if you have any other debt bankruptcy gives you a great mechanism for paying off the creditors that you want to pay, namely, your mortgage and often pay little or nothing to your unsecured creditors.
Remember that once the foreclosure sale is held, you have run out of options. Ownership and title of the real property was transferred from you to the new owner at the foreclosure sale. Under Oregon law, you have 10 days after the date of the foreclosure sale to move out of the property. After that time, the eviction process begins.
Schedule a Free Consultation and Stop Your Foreclose in Salem, Oregon with Your Bankruptcy Attorney
When it comes time to file for bankruptcy, you need a compassionate and skilled attorney who will be able to guide you through the process as cleanly as possible. Northwest Debt Relief Law Firm, we can help you with filing for Chapter 7, Chapter 11, and Chapter 13 bankruptcy in Portland, Oregon. We will be there every step of the way to help navigate you through the often-complex and difficult bankruptcy process.
Give us a call at (971) 600-2828 to schedule a free consultation with one of our bankruptcy attorneys. If you have any other questions about bankruptcy, one of our attorneys will be more than happy to offer advice on your particular situation.
The post Foreclosure in Salem, Oregon appeared first on Portland Bankruptcy Attorney | Northwest Debt Relief.
Foreclosure in Salem, Oregon is a process where your lender eliminates your ownership interest in your real property. The lender does this through a foreclosure sale that is held at a published place, (usually in front of the Marion County Courthouse) and time,. Once the foreclosure sale has taken place, you no longer own the real property and you will have to vacate the property within ten days of face eviction proceedings.
If your lender is threatening foreclosure, it means that you are seriously in default on your mortgage and really are in danger of losing your property. There are two separate kinds of foreclosure: judicial and non-judicial.
In a judicial foreclosure, the foreclosure process is initiated through an actual lawsuit filed in the Marion County Circuit Court. Once a judicial foreclosure complaint has been filed, the lender will serve you with a copy of the complaint and a summons. Once you have been served, it is imperative that you meet with a lawyer as quickly as possible, as there is a fairly limited period of time to keep the lender from obtaining a default order of foreclosure.
In non-judicial foreclosure, the lender does not file any paperwork with the court. It just records a Notice of Default and Election to Sell in the Marion County real property records. The Notice will be served upon you and all other occupants of your real property by certified mail and US first class mail. The Notice will describe all the specifics of the loan default, including the total amount owing. Moreover, the Notice will list the time, date and location of the foreclosure sale. Once the lender formally starts the foreclosure process by filing a notice of default, you typically will have a few days short of four months to resolve the issue or you will lose your house.
Given how much easier it is to complete the non-judicial foreclosure process, It is fair to ask why would any lender foreclose on a Salem area property through judicial foreclosure. The reason is that some lenders don’t have any choice. Non-judicial foreclosure is only available if there is a trust deed rather than a mortgage.
Bankruptcy is often a great solution for stopping any kind of Foreclosure in Salem, Oregon and if a lender is foreclosing on your Salem area home, it is an option that you should immediately explore with an attorney rather than waiting until the last minute. I can’t count how many times we have been contacted for the first time on the day before a foreclosure sale. Sometimes we can help on that kind of an emergency basis and sometimes we can’t. We can almost always help if we are given a little more lead time.
Bankruptcy is a great solution for foreclosure because it stops foreclosure in its tracks. Once the case is filed, you have the option of slowly paying off the amount that you are behind, interest free, over a three to five year time period. You can even opt to pay most of the amount that you are behind out of a later refi or sale of the property. There are great options in bankruptcy that you can only discover by talking to us. Contact our offices today.
If you don’t stop the foreclosure, a date, time, and location of the sale will be set for sale, the Trustee will announce the property being sold. Anyone with enough cash on hand to make the purchase at the time of sale can show up and bid on the property.
The Trustee is usually authorized by your lender to enter a minimum bid equal to the amount owed to the lender. This enables the lender to buy the property for the amount of money the lender is owed on the property. This insures that the lender will not have to take a loss on the day of the foreclosure sale.
If you don’t want the property sold, there are ultimately only four routes to keep the foreclosure from being completed: (1) cure the default, also called “reinstating” the loan, (2) pay off the loan in full, (3) negotiate an extension with the lender, or (4) file for bankruptcy.
Under Oregon law, the Trustee has to stop the foreclosure sale if you pay the loan current at any time prior to the fifth day before the foreclosure sale. Paying the loan current means catching up on all missed payments, late charges, foreclosure fees and costs, and the lender’s attorney’s fees. For most Salem area homeowners, reinstatement just isn’t going to be an option
You can try to reach an agreement with your lender to stop the sale. Each lender has its own unique programs and methods, but a common thread is that if the lender is even amenable to making an agreement, you should be prepared to make a big lump sum payment up front and an installment payment arrangement to cure the remaining arrears.
You can also file bankruptcy. Again, if you can afford to start making your mortgage payment and either catch up, interest and penalty free, over a period of years or make small monthly payments on the arrears for a few years, then make a lump sum payment, bankruptcy is often the best tool not only for stopping a foreclosure sale but in giving you a practical way to catch up. Of course there are a number of added benefits to bankruptcy. First if you have any other debt bankruptcy gives you a great mechanism for paying off the creditors that you want to pay, namely, your mortgage and often pay little or nothing to your unsecured creditors.
Remember that once the foreclosure sale is held, you have run out of options. Ownership and title of the real property was transferred from you to the new owner at the foreclosure sale. Under Oregon law, you have 10 days after the date of the foreclosure sale to move out of the property. After that time, the eviction process begins.
Schedule a Free Consultation and Stop Your Foreclose in Salem, Oregon with Your Bankruptcy Attorney
When it comes time to file for bankruptcy, you need a compassionate and skilled attorney who will be able to guide you through the process as cleanly as possible. Northwest Debt Relief Law Firm, we can help you with filing for Chapter 7, Chapter 11, and Chapter 13 bankruptcy in Portland, Oregon. We will be there every step of the way to help navigate you through the often-complex and difficult bankruptcy process.
Give us a call at (971) 600-2828 to schedule a free consultation with one of our bankruptcy attorneys. If you have any other questions about bankruptcy, one of our attorneys will be more than happy to offer advice on your particular situation.
The post Foreclosure in Salem, Oregon appeared first on Portland Bankruptcy Attorney | Northwest Debt Relief.
Chapter 13 is famous for two things. Saving Your Home and Being Complicated. Saving Your Home With a Chapter 13 Bankruptcy can be a very tedious process and here are some of the situations below.
In the short term, Chapter 13 can stop foreclosures and other creditor actions (much like a Chapter 7). However, unlike a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, Chapter 13 bankruptcy involves a plan of getting caught up with your creditor, namely your mortgage. The automatic stay that stops foreclosure is great but temporary. What is special about Chapter 13 is the long term plan that gives you the room you need to get back on track and keep your home.
Given the complication of Chapter 13 bankruptcy, it is really vital that you have not just an ordinary bankruptcy lawyer, but a really good bankruptcy lawyer who is experienced with Chapter 13 bankruptcy.
If you have had a hardship gotten behind on mortgage payments. Chapter 13 could be the solution for you. You want to keep your home but you need time to catch up with the unpaid back mortgage payments (called mortgage arrears). Sometimes the banks are so aggressive that they make it impossible for people who could otherwise afford their mortgage to stay. Chapter 13 bankruptcy is for these situations.
Helpful Example:
Lets say your monthly mortgage payment is $3,000 and you are six months behind on payments ($18,000). Your bank is giving you some impossible catch-up plan where you have to pay $5,000 per month for nine months. You can’t afford it. Chapter 13 is your solution. So long as you can afford the chapter 13 plan payments, you can pay your regular mortgage and pay the $18,000 arrears over a FIVE YEAR PERIOD. That means you pay your mortgage and you pay an extra $300 per month in a chapter 13 plan. You can get caught up and keep your home.
Now imagine you also have $30,000 in credit card debt, but you can only afford to pay $300 per month in your plan. You might ALSO be able to totally eliminate your credit card debt in addition to saving your home!
Get Rid Of Your Second Mortgage
Another way Chapter 13 bankruptcy is great is that it sometimes enables you to strip (remove) a second mortgage. This is very complicated and again requires a real expert.
Stripping your second mortgage requires a separate motion with the court. A motion is the legal term for a written legal request. Different courts have different ways of describing and organizing the process of getting rid of a second mortgage. Also there are a lot of complicated steps. Not everyone can do this.
The basic process is as follows:
File Chapter 13 bankruptcy
File a motion or other ‘request’ for a hearing with a judge
The hearing with the judge is where you will explain to the judge why she should remove the second mortgage from your house.
Make sure to give proper notice to the creditor
Attend the hearing with the judge and argue your case
Prepare and submit the order to be signed by the judge. The order is the judge’s demand that the second mortgage company remove its claim from your home and that the mortgage company forever goes away.
Generally speaking, you cannot remove a second mortgage if your house has equity. You can only remove the second mortgage if the first mortgage is equal to or greater than the full value of the house. AND, depending on your state, your second mortgage might have to impair an exemption before it can be removed.
Schedule a Free Consultation with Your Tacoma Bankruptcy Attorney
When it comes time to file for bankruptcy, you need a compassionate and skilled attorney who will be able to guide you through the process as cleanly as possible. Northwest Debt Relief Law Firm, we can help you with filing for Chapter 7, Chapter 11, and Chapter 13 bankruptcy in Washington State. We will be there every step of the way to help navigate you through the often-complex and difficult bankruptcy process.
Give us a call at (253) 780-8008 to schedule a free consultation with one of our bankruptcy attorneys. If you have any other questions about bankruptcy, one of our attorneys will be more than happy to offer advice on your particular situation.
The post Saving Your Home With a Chapter 13 Bankruptcy in Washington appeared first on Portland Bankruptcy Attorney | Northwest Debt Relief.
Chapter 13 is famous for two things. Saving Your Home and Being Complicated. Saving Your Home With a Chapter 13 Bankruptcy can be a very tedious process and here are some of the situations below.
In the short term, Chapter 13 can stop foreclosures and other creditor actions (much like a Chapter 7). However, unlike a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, Chapter 13 bankruptcy involves a plan of getting caught up with your creditor, namely your mortgage. The automatic stay that stops foreclosure is great but temporary. What is special about Chapter 13 is the long term plan that gives you the room you need to get back on track and keep your home.
Given the complication of Chapter 13 bankruptcy, it is really vital that you have not just an ordinary bankruptcy lawyer, but a really good bankruptcy lawyer who is experienced with Chapter 13 bankruptcy.
If you have had a hardship gotten behind on mortgage payments. Chapter 13 could be the solution for you. You want to keep your home but you need time to catch up with the unpaid back mortgage payments (called mortgage arrears). Sometimes the banks are so aggressive that they make it impossible for people who could otherwise afford their mortgage to stay. Chapter 13 bankruptcy is for these situations.
Helpful Example:
Lets say your monthly mortgage payment is $3,000 and you are six months behind on payments ($18,000). Your bank is giving you some impossible catch-up plan where you have to pay $5,000 per month for nine months. You can’t afford it. Chapter 13 is your solution. So long as you can afford the chapter 13 plan payments, you can pay your regular mortgage and pay the $18,000 arrears over a FIVE YEAR PERIOD. That means you pay your mortgage and you pay an extra $300 per month in a chapter 13 plan. You can get caught up and keep your home.
Now imagine you also have $30,000 in credit card debt, but you can only afford to pay $300 per month in your plan. You might ALSO be able to totally eliminate your credit card debt in addition to saving your home!
Get Rid Of Your Second Mortgage
Another way Chapter 13 bankruptcy is great is that it sometimes enables you to strip (remove) a second mortgage. This is very complicated and again requires a real expert.
Stripping your second mortgage requires a separate motion with the court. A motion is the legal term for a written legal request. Different courts have different ways of describing and organizing the process of getting rid of a second mortgage. Also there are a lot of complicated steps. Not everyone can do this.
The basic process is as follows:
File Chapter 13 bankruptcy
File a motion or other ‘request’ for a hearing with a judge
The hearing with the judge is where you will explain to the judge why she should remove the second mortgage from your house.
Make sure to give proper notice to the creditor
Attend the hearing with the judge and argue your case
Prepare and submit the order to be signed by the judge. The order is the judge’s demand that the second mortgage company remove its claim from your home and that the mortgage company forever goes away.
Generally speaking, you cannot remove a second mortgage if your house has equity. You can only remove the second mortgage if the first mortgage is equal to or greater than the full value of the house. AND, depending on your state, your second mortgage might have to impair an exemption before it can be removed.
Schedule a Free Consultation with Your Tacoma Bankruptcy Attorney
When it comes time to file for bankruptcy, you need a compassionate and skilled attorney who will be able to guide you through the process as cleanly as possible. Northwest Debt Relief Law Firm, we can help you with filing for Chapter 7, Chapter 11, and Chapter 13 bankruptcy in Washington State. We will be there every step of the way to help navigate you through the often-complex and difficult bankruptcy process.
Give us a call at (253) 780-8008 to schedule a free consultation with one of our bankruptcy attorneys. If you have any other questions about bankruptcy, one of our attorneys will be more than happy to offer advice on your particular situation.
The post Saving Your Home With a Chapter 13 Bankruptcy in Washington appeared first on Portland Bankruptcy Attorney | Northwest Debt Relief.
By 
Alicia Adamczyk Millennials are putting off marriage, have you heard? And while some talking heads would have you believe smart phones and video games are largely to blame, I’d posit it’s more likely a consequence of the combination of crushing student loan debt and low-paying jobs that has defined life for many people in Generation Y. Who wants to shell out for a wedding when you can barely afford your monthly student loan payments?
But if you do get married, you definitely need to consider how your and/or your spouse’s loans will affect the other. Take this question, from Kathryn:
If you’re on an income driven plan as part of loan forgiveness, does your partner’s income become considered your own income if you get married?
Here’s what you need to know.
TaxesEssentially, the answer to your question, Kathryn, is yes. If you or your spouse have student loans and you’re enrolled in the Revised Pay As You Earn plan, your monthly loan payment will increase, because the plan bases your payment off of your combined adjusted gross income.
For the other three income-driven repayment plans, you can avoid this if you file your taxes separately. But you’ll miss out on the other tax benefits of filing jointly. You’ll want to ask your tax preparer which is better for your individual situation, but it’s likely filing jointly and accepting the higher monthly payment.
That’s having an impact on when and if people get married, according to Travis Hornsby, founder of Student Loan Planner. “There’s a lot of people who are getting spiritually but not legally married because of this,” he says. “People are having ceremonies but not turning in their certificates for tax purposes.”
Additionally, you may lose the student loan interest deduction, which allows student loan borrowers to deduct up to $2,500 of the interest paid on their loans from their taxable income. You don’t qualify for it if you and your spouse earn more than $160,000 combined (you do not qualify for the deduction if you file separately).
Other Factors
But there are a lot of other things to take into consideration, finance-wise, when you have loans and get married.
“Everyone getting married these days needs to have a money conversation about loans, and it needs to happen before your engagement,” says Hornsby. “Be honest, say how much debt you have and your plans to pay it off.”
One example: credit. While your spouse’s loans do not affect your credit unless you’re a co-signer, according to NerdWallet, “if your spouse takes out a student loan during your marriage and then defaults, creditors in some states can go after both of your wages and assets—or, if you file jointly, your tax refund.”
And if you’re in the market for a new house, the biggest factors to take into account are your debt-to-income ratio, down payment, salary, credit history, assets, etc., the biggest being your DTI, says Mike Brown, managing director of Comet, a company that offers student loan refinancing advice. If your only debt is student loans and you make a decent income, you’ll probably be ok. If one of you has a ton of debt, though, the spouse with the lesser amount should apply for the mortgage, says Brown.
One rule that makes paying your mortgage more manageable: “Your house should be no more than two times your joint income if you have debt,” says Hornsby. “You don’t want tons and tons of debt.”
Divorce
If you get divorced, things get, well, complicated. You may have to split the debt with your spouse, regardless of whose it is, depending on when it was acquired, says Kathleen Campbell, a Registered Investment Advisor based in Fort Meyers, Florida.
If you incurred the debt before the marriage, that’s your responsibility to pay off (and the same goes for your spouse). “So even if a couple was together for years before marriage, with the expectation that future spouse A’s income would cover spouse B’s loan payments, if spouse B incurred the loans prior to marriage, then they are spouse B’s responsibility forever,” says Campbell.
But if the debt was acquired post-marriage, things “get murkier.” “That becomes more of a legal question, depending on state laws, how the money was used, earning power of both parties, how long the degree was used during the marriage, and other factors,” she says. “So it’s a case-by-case situation when it was incurred after marriage and is still in just one spouse’s name.”
If you’re a co-signer, you’re likely on the hook, unless your spouse refinances. “The co-signed obligation is a contract between the signer and the lender, not between spouses, so that’s a firm contract,” says Campbell. “It definitely could be possible to refinance the loan in only one spouse’s name, assuming that spouse has the income and credit history to entice the lender to refinance. That could all be part of divorce settlement discussions.”
If you’re really worried, create a prenup that stipulates what happens to the debt. Then you’ll have one less thing to worry about.
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Gordon Tanner is a lawyer and Air Force veteran who currently serves as the Advocate general of aeronautics. He had an active role and civil roles in aviation and is passionate about leadership. Gordon holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Alabama and his JD at the Vanderbilt University School of Law. Then he continued to serve in the JAG body as an active agent in the Air Force.
Here are some insights on Gordon and the work he does as a general consultant for the Air Force.
1. What did you want to be when you were a boy? Do you always want to be a lawyer?
I had no idea what I wanted to be when I was growing up. I knew I wanted to be a leader in some field. The public service was important to me from a First age. I knew we were put on earth to do more than make money (or spend). My parents, my church and the community have taught me the importance of leaving a better place because you’ve been there. I also believe in our country. For me, it was important to make a difference. It wasn’t until the university that I realized that being a lawyer could create those kinds of opportunities.
This time of discernment persists also in the law school. Many of my classmates seemed very confident of their career path and legal specialties. Not me. The law school was a time to consider the full range of opportunities offered by legal practice and to choose the ones that most reflected my personal goals.
2. Was it always your plan to join the military?
No. My first experience with the military was through the ROTC, a compulsory course for my first two years in college. While a member of ROTC, I competed and received a full scholarship, which came with an active service commitment of four years. I worked as an active Air Force officer and lawyer for those years. After that, I chose to stay in the aeronautical reserve part-time, while I entered the practice of private law with a large legal firm based in southeastern United States.
As a uniform and civil advocate of Air Force I have been deeply honored to work with uniformed service members around the world who have put their lives online every day to preserve our liberties.
3. You are the Advocate general of the Air Force. What exactly does that mean?
The Director general of the Air Force is a presidential appointed, which requires confirmation of the Senate. The General Council is both the first legal officer and the main official of the Air Force ethic. Like the other lawyers, the Office of the General Council serves its client, the Department of the Air Force, providing its members with counsels and counsels, impartial and independent, a careful defense and a creative solution of the problems, on mission The Air Force to “fly, fight and win in space and cyberspace.” As a general counsel, they supervise around 1 500 lawyers worldwide engaged in specialist practices by law of acquisition to space law.
It is also important to understand that the general counsel is included in the most advanced political discussions in aeronautics. The “critical thinking skills” that we have learned in law school are just as important to make sensitive national policy decisions as in providing articulated legal advice.
4. What is a typical day like for you?
As with most lawyers, there is no typical day. That said, my day always starts with security briefings classified on world events in the previous 24 hours. Then I see the main newspapers and social news media for the elements related to my work. I spend a little time each day meeting with senior aviation leaders-both civilians and uniforms-as we develop policies to improve the lives of our planes and their families, the readiness of balance for the fight today with our preparation To the challenges of the future and finally to make sure that we make every dollar for the sake of our nation and its taxpayers.
My program often includes meetings with members of the Congress and the Senate to discuss the pending legislation affecting the Air Force, as well as issues related to finance and the Air Force’s policy requirements. Finally, I travel around the world to talk to our planes and their families to make sure we are doing our best to provide the support they need to do their job.
5. What are you reading?
The Hidden History: The Secret Origins of the First World War
by Gerry Docherty and Jim Macgregor. This book defines a theory of the historical and social movements and the figures that set in motion the forces that triggered the First World War. Many of Mideast’s current conflicts have arisen from the way the region was divided and organized into states-nations after World War I. The origins of the First World War and its consequences affect us now much more than I had realized. 6. What advice could you give to young lawyers or law firms?
First, beware of debt. If you have student loans or other debt, pay it off as quickly as possible. I know too many young lawyers who are forced to do jobs that they simply don’t want because they are deeply indebted and bound by “golden handcuffs.” “Get your financial home so you can have the choice to do what’s important to you.
Once you have checked your financial situation, don’t put out the opportunity to do the important things in your life. While we are all surrounded by social pressures to act in certain ways or do certain things, it is your life, and you are responsible for it. Claim. Life is “cliché” is not a test of dress “is completely true. If you do not take the opportunity and focus on your goals now, you may find that you are following your dreams too late and will never be reached.
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