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Country music star Eddie Montgomery, known as one-half of the country duo Montgomery Gentry, ended 2013 by filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. The filing comes after the singer accumulated millions of dollars in liabilities following a divorce and failed business venture. The filing will be used to help pay off his liabilities while continuing performances [...]
The answer depends on what is the situation in your life right now. You may be struggling with credit cards, medical bills, personal loans or any other type of debt. Sometimes you have creditors calling you on the phone, harassing you at work or just sending you letters making your life miserable. At other times,+ Read MoreThe post Will Filing For Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Save My Life? appeared first on David M. Siegel.
People who file for bankruptcy and look for the credit counseling provider with the lowest price could be getting more than they bargained for.
Start Fresh Today, a company that offers Credit Counseling and Debtor Education bankruptcy courses, announced on December 11, 2013 a new product called SFT Plus Pak. According to a press release put out by the company, the product “helps advertisers get their marketing message directly to these very consumers who are rebuilding their financial lives.”
To read the press release, click here.
Among other things, SFT Plus Pak offers to marketers the ability to reach by direct mail approximately 100,000 Start Fresh Today consumers – those folks who put their faith in the company for their bankruptcy credit counseling and financial management certifications.
Here’s the video they released to talk about this wonderful product:
The company is giving marketers who target people coming out of financial difficulty access to Start Fresh Today customers.
When you get out of bankruptcy, your goal should be to remain debt-free and build up your financial position. Rather than facilitating this goal, Start Fresh Today is happily throwing you to the wolves in the name of further profit.
I get that the industry is experiencing a race to the bottom in terms of pricing, and that some excellent providers have gone out of business because of the downward pressure on pricing credit counseling and financial management certifications. Bankruptcy filings are down nationwide as is, and some providers are charging as low as $5 to do a certification.
Even if one company were to be able to do 100,000 certifications per year at $5 each, there’s very little profit after overhead and employees. It’s a bad business, and I sympathize.
That said, selling your list of bankruptcy customers to companies that specifically target them as subprime borrowing candidates leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
Maybe you’ll be disciplined enough to throw out the mail and resist the temptation of easy post-bankruptcy credit. Perhaps you’ll delete the emails and text messages from lenders who want to help you dig yourself back into the hole of debt.
I sure hope so. I hope you’ll take some smart steps to rebuild your credit after bankruptcy.
Related:
- Your Bankruptcy Was Discharged – Now What?
- How Long Does Bankruptcy Affect Your Life?
- Credit After Bankruptcy And The Five-Year Commitment
I know a lot of bankruptcy lawyers who have encouraged their clients to use Start Fresh Today for their credit counseling and financial management programs in the past.
The company has always done a fine job as far as I know, providing reasonable services at a reasonable price.
In spite of this, I won’t be using them anymore – nor will I recommend their services to other lawyers and people filing for bankruptcy.
Looking for a good provider of bankruptcy-related credit counseling and financial management? Here are a few that I trust and respect:
Buyer beware …
Picture is a screenshot of the YouTube video.
While having the ability to make payments on debt obligations is enough of a struggle alone, some debtors have to deal with an ex-spouse who has yet to start paying their share of the debt. You may have a divorce agreement that details that is responsible for making payments on certain debts, but it may [...]
We spend an awful lot of time with our mobile phones in our hand. At the same time, we don’t do much to keep our spending in line.
Thankfully, there are a host of free mobile apps to help you get your finances in order, save money, and do it all without putting down your phone.
Here’s a roundup of some of the best I’ve found for the Android platform, which is my operating system of choice.
Coupons And Deal Finders
Groupon. Groupon is the grand-daddy of deal sites, and the mobile app will help you get daily deals on activities, venues and restaurants in more than 500 cities. I’m a big fan of using Groupon when I travel, and have gotten lots of great deals while on vacation.
LivingSocial. LivingSocial is another deal-of-the-day service that seems to have a wider variety of discounts available.
Google Offers. If everyone else is doing it, so is Google. They’ve got a lot of nationwide offers that help when it comes time to shop for gifts.
RetailMeNot. I’ve been a user of this app since it came out. RetailMeNot gives you coupons and discounts from real, live retailers. If there’s a promotion in your area, you’ll get a handy alert. Very useful for when you’re out at the mall.
The Coupons App. This app gives you coupon savings and shopping deals at your favorite stores, restaurants and gas stations. Compare prices using a barcode scanner, get alerts, and more. This is a very cool app.
GasBuddy. Live in your car? Why pay more for gas than necessary? This app will help you track down the best deals no matter where you are.
ShopSavvy. Go to a store, scan the barcode with this app, and it will tell you if you can get a better deal online. Just like that.
Price Check by Amazon. Similar to ShopSavvy, you can scan a barcode and find out if Amazon has a better price. You can also pull up product descriptions and customer reviews.
Travel Apps
HotelTonight. You’re in a new place and need a hotel room the same night. Use HotelTonight to get a last-minute discount on unfilled rooms.
Priceline. Bid on a hotel room or a car and get up to 60% off list prices with this app. Why anyone pays retail for a rental car or hotel room is beyond my comprehension.
Kayak. Compare travel sites for a great deal on flights, hotels and car rentals. There are competitors, but I’ve been a Kayak fan for as long as I can remember.
Personal Finance Apps
Mint. This budgeting app, owned by Intuit (the folks behind Quicken and QuickBooks), helps you track income and expenses while staying in sync with your bank and credit card accounts.
Expensify. If you’re a business traveler, Expensify is for you. This app will help you track expenses, scan and save receipts, import bank and credit card data, and even enter mileage traveled and the other time-based expenses.
Manilla. Manilla allows you to manage your daily finances, household bills, travel rewards, magazine subscriptions and healthcare accounts all in one place. You can store your bills and statements, set up alerts to avoid late fees, and more.
Pick Your Tool Freely
The great thing about these apps are that they’re all free. Download them, use what you like, and jettison the rest.
The important part, of course, is to use something to make your life easier. These apps should help.
I was the third lawyer Lisa saw for a Virginia Bankruptcy Consultation Lisa had a Virginia Bankruptcy consultation with two well known bankruptcy lawyers. Then she came to see me. Both of those lawyers told her that her income was too high. She could not file a Chapter 7 bankruptcy. She would need to file […]The post Virginia Bankruptcy Consultation: Preparation Makes a Difference appeared first on Robert Weed.
When you file for bankruptcy, you’re at the mercy of the court and your lawyer. Why not make it easier to get up-to-the-moment information?
Bankruptcy is a court proceeding, and it’s a public one.
Court documents are filed electronically, and the public has access to those records.
That’s good news for you because it means you can get information without having to go through your lawyer.
Public Access to Court Electronic Records
PACER, an acronym for Public Access to Court Electronic Records, is the electronic public access service of United States federal court documents.
Behind a simple username and password login, you can get case and docket information from the United States Bankruptcy Court.
Information You Can Find On PACER
When you log into the PACER system you can get pretty much everything in the court’s database. That includes:
- your bankruptcy case number, filing date, and discharge or dismissal date;
- copies of all bankruptcy documents, including the Notice of Commencement and Discharge of Debtor;
- name of the judge and trustee;
- names and addresses of creditor attorneys who have filed appearances;
- copies of Proofs of Claims filed in your case;
- court date (time, date and location) information; and
- motions filed in your case.
PACER Costs And Sign Up Procedures
It doesn’t cost anything to sign up for PACER, but there’s a cost of $0.08 per page you retrieve. It’s not a large charge, but if you check the docket daily it can add up fast.
To sign up for a free PACER account, register by clicking here.
Why Sign Up For PACER?
If you filed for bankruptcy without a lawyer, you need to have a way to get information and data about your case. PACER is the only reputable and complete way of doing so.
Even if you have a lawyer, you may decide to sign up for PACER as a way of getting information more quickly. Once your bankruptcy case is closed, your lawyer may archive your file; getting copies of your paperwork may take some time.
Given the fact that it’s free to register and costs only a few cents per page, it makes sense to keep a PACER account in handy – just in case.
Here’s what happened when Jennifer reaffirmed her car loan with Apple Federal Credit Union. Jennifer filed bankruptcy with another bankruptcy lawyer here in Northern Virginia. She had a car loan with Apple Federal Credit Union, and she wanted to keep the car. So she reaffirmed the car loan. When you “reaffirm” a loan you take […]The post Don’t reaffirm your car loan with Apple FCU appeared first on Robert Weed.
If you’re married, you can file for bankruptcy without your spouse.
I could make this into a longer article, telling you a story or painting a broad picture.
But it’s not necessary.
There’s no law that requires you to file for bankruptcy with your spouse.
You don’t need your spouse’s permission to file for bankruptcy.
Your spouse’s social security number isn’t going to go onto your bankruptcy petition.
Your spouse doesn’t need to appear in court with you, and your bankruptcy won’t negatively impact your spouse’s credit score.
If you become my client, you can ask me this question again and again. I’ll tell you the same thing – again and again.
Of course, that doesn’t answer the question of whether you should file for bankruptcy without your spouse. For that answer, you’ll need to go through a laundry list of questions.
I can do that for $600.00!!!
About twice a day I get a call that starts the same way: How much do you charge for a Chapter 7? The question is simple, but the answer is complicated. What most individuals don’t understand is that a Chapter 7 isn’t a product that you pull down off the shelf and hand to a client. Attorney’s offer a service. In the case of a Chapter 7 that service involves filling out paperwork, attending court, and helping guide you through the process of getting a Chapter 7 discharge. This service is very different from client to client. For this reason I never quote a fee over the phone.
Once clients come to my office for a free initial consultation we sit down and go over the specifics of their case. We go over their assets, their debts and any potential issues that may come up in the case. The free initial consultation is meant to determine how complicated the case is meant to be and thus what services my firm will provide. Until this is done no attorney can give you a realistic quote.
Once my quote is given to the client I often hear one of the following statements: “another firm quoted me $500.00 over the phone” or “I met with an attorney yesterday that quoted me $600.00″. The first question that I have is “why didn’t you hire them?” The answer is usually either “I didn’t trust them” or “it didn’t feel right”. These are powerful feelings that one should generally listen to. The second question that I ask is “did they go over all the questions that we just covered?” The answer is generally “no”.
The bottom line is that the fees that an attorney charges are representative in part on his experience and the amount of work he intends to put into your case. Most attorneys charge between $150 and $250.00 an hour. If an attorney is quoting you $600.00 that means he is assuming that he will put approximately three to four hours worth of work into your case. For a Chapter 7 this just is not reasonable. The average Chapter 7 involves preparing and filing approximately 50 pages worth of documents with the court. It involves providing to the trustee 6 months worth of bank statements, 60 days worth of bank statements, recorded mortgages, recorded deeds, car titles, 401k statements, divorce judgments and other documentation. All of these documents should be reviewed by the attorney prior to filing the case to determine if their are any issues that could come up when the bankruptcy trustee reviews them. Simply preparing and reviewing all the documents that must be prepared, filed and or provided should take an attorney 3-4 hours. That does not include the time it takes to meet with the client or the time it takes to attend the 341 Meeting of Creditors with the client.
So what does this all mean? It means that an attorney who is quoting you $600.00 for a Chapter 7 filing is planning on cutting corners. They have to make up the time and money somewhere. That is why they don’t take the time to ask you all the questions necessary for a proper intake. They probably also don’t review the documents you provide them prior to sending them to the Trustee. They also probably have a paralegal prepare all the documents rather than an attorney.
Cutting corners means the same thing in every profession….mistakes. Mistakes in some professions are no big deal. In bankruptcy they can be catastrophic. Mistakes can cause a client to lose their home or car. Mistakes can lead to a client’s mother being sued for a preferential payment, or their grandmother’s bank account being drained because the client’s name was on her account. Mistakes can cost the client thousands of dollars all because they hired an attorney who told them they would “do it on the cheap” and save the client a couple hundred dollars off the cost of a qualified attorney.
Second Chance Legal Services is a bankruptcy law firm located in Madison Heights, MI. While we are located in Oakland County, we service Wayne, Oakland and Macomb County residents. As Detroit Bankruptcy Attorneys we specialize in helping individuals escape their burden of debt in order to get a fresh start on their bright future.
Because of our small size our clients get individual attention. You will have the same bankruptcy attorney throughout your case whether you are in a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy or a Chapter 13 Bankruptcy. Your attorney will help guide you through the bankruptcy process in order to help you get a successful discharge of your debt.
It is important to note that Macomb County Bankruptcy Attorneys, Oakland County Bankruptcy Attorneys and Wayne County Bankruptcy Attorneys all deal with the same judges and trustees. This is because all Michigan Bankruptcies are filed with the federal bankruptcy court in Detroit, MI. For this reason, it is important that you choose an attorney not by location but rather by how comfortable you feel with them when you meet. If you don’t feel comfortable with their knowledge, their experience or their demeanor you should seek out an attorney that you do feel comfortable with.
If you are interested in speaking with a Detroit bankruptcy attorney from Second Chance Legal Services, please contact our office at 248-629-6367 for a free initial consultation.
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