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Credit After Bankruptcy: Why Choose a Secured Credit Card Offer
Virtually everyone I meet with to discuss the filing bankruptcy is worried about future credit. Is it possible to reestablish credit after filing bankruptcy? It is. It might take a year or two after bankruptcy to rebuild your credit score, but imagine how long it will take if you continue to struggle with your existing debt. One good way to start rebuilding your credit score after bankruptcy is by getting a secured credit card.
Unsecured or Secured Credit Cards after Bankruptcy?
When looking for a credit card after bankruptcy, you will receive piles of credit card offers from different companies. Choosing the right card can be a daunting task. Should you apply for a secured credit card or an unsecured credit card? Secured credit cards are often better deals than unsecured cards because the fees and interest right are usually lower that the unsecured cards you can qualify for immediately after a bankruptcy.
What is a Secured Credit Card?
A secured credit card requires a cash deposit as collateral for the credit line. Your credit limit is either the amount of your deposit or some percentage above that amount. Secured credit cards are designed for people with a poor credit score, such as bankruptcy. They may charge higher fees, but in many circumstances, they will less expensive.
Top Tips for Finding a Secured Credit Card after Bankruptcy
1.            Check the fees involved with the credit card offer, because regular payments such as annual fees or processing fees may have to be made. Remember, annual fees differ significantly between various banks.
2.            Apply for a secured credit card that doesn’t charge an application fee.
3.            Because the card is secured by a deposit, you should not have to pay a high interest for a secured credit card you get after bankruptcy.
4.            Make sure that the credit card company reports your payment history to the three credit bureaus. If they don’t, it will not help rebuild your credit.
5.            The company should not report that you are holding a secured card to the bureaus, which can adversely affect your credit score.
6.            Watch out for companies that use deceptive practices. Research the company and make sure that it does not have a history of consumer complaints.
Bouncing back from a bankruptcy does not have to be hard. My firm offers our clients free enrollment in a 14 Week Program that will teach you how to rebuild your credit the right way and how to re-establish your credit after a bankruptcy.
Original article: 6 Tips for Getting a Credit Card After Bankruptcy©2013 Arizona Bankruptcy Lawyer. All Rights Reserved.The post 6 Tips for Getting a Credit Card After Bankruptcy appeared first on Arizona Bankruptcy Lawyer.

Bankruptcy Lawyer - Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Lawyer Jordan E. Bublick has an office in Miami and has over 25 years of experience in filing chapter 13 and chapter 7 bankruptcy cases. His office is located in Miami at 1221 Brickell Ave., 9th Fl., Miami and may be reached at (305) 891-4055. www.bublicklaw.com  

Florida statute 222.11 generally provides for certain exemptions of "disposable earnings" of a head of family and non-head of family in three different situations as follows:

• All of the disposable earnings of a head of a family of $500.00 or less a week are exempt.
• Disposable earnings of a head of family greater than $500.00 are exempt unless the person has agreed otherwise in writing (also cannot exceed 15 USC 1673)
• Disposable earnings of a person that is not a head of family is exempt to the extent of 15 USC 1673

15 USC 1673 generally limits the amount that can be garnished to 25% of the individual's disposable earnings per week. Exempt earnings that are deposited into a bank are exempt for six months if the funds can be traced to and identified as earnings.

The determination of whether a person is the "head of family" is based on the totality of the circumstances.

"Earnings" is defined to include compensation paid in money for personal services or labor whether denominated as wages, salary, commission, or bonus. Disbursements from a family owned business may not constitute "earnings" unless there is a formal arms length employment agreement and if the disbursements are characterized as "profits." Commissions and bonuses may constitute earnings even if the person is labeled an independent contractor if his activities are essentially a job, he is supervised, and not in the nature of running a business. But commissions have been held not to constitute earnings if the person is free to make his own business decisions and solely responsible for expenses incurred in the operation of his business. A return on an equity investment is not earnings.

Lost wages have been held to consitute earnings where the settlement properly identified them as earnings.

According to the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure, the party objecting to exemptions has the burden to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that a debtor is not entitled to the claimed exemption. If the objecting party establishes prima facie evidence that the exemption should be denied, the burden shifts to the debtor to establish that the exemptions are legally valid.Jordan E. Bublick is a Miami Personal Bankruptcy Lawyer with over 25 years of experience in filing chapter 13 and chapter 7 bankruptcies. Miami Personal Bankruptcy Lawyer Jordan E. Bublick has filed over 8,000 chapter 13 and chapter 7 cases.

As many readers of our Cooler e-mails and blog posts are aware, one of the hottest current topics in personal bankruptcy is the treatment of rent–stabilized leases in Chapter 7 personal bankruptcy cases. Earlier this month, the New York Times had an excellent front page article entitled “Widow's Bankruptcy Case Poses Risk to Rent-Stabilized Tenants.” The case is captioned Santiago-Monteverede v. Pereira and involves 79 year old Mrs. Mary Veronica Santiago-Monteverede, who has lived in a two bedroom rent stabilized apartment in the East Village for 50 years and is paying monthly rent of $703, while the market rate for the unit would be $2,000 to $2,500 per month.
Ms. Santiago-Monteverede filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy to discharge $23,000 of debt, none of which was owed to her landlord. Her landlord made an offer to purchase her lease from Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Trustee John S. Pereira, which he accepted.  The sale of the lease was subsequently challenged by Ms. Santiago-Monteverde’s attorneys.  The U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York and the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York both ruled in favor of the Bankruptcy Trustee, and the case is now pending before the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals, where oral arguments were held on September 23rd.
This is the first Chapter 7 personal bankruptcy rent–stabilized case to reach the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals. Please keep monitoring our Cooler e-mails and blog, and when the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals issues a decision and order, we will report on it. Again, debtors who live in apartments with rent–stabilized leases need to proceed with extreme caution in deciding whether to file for bankruptcy. Jim

Bankruptcy Lawyer - Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Lawyer Jordan E. Bublick has an office in Miami and has over 25 years of experience in filing chapter 13 and chapter 7 bankruptcy cases. His office is located in Miami at 1221 Brickell Ave., 9th Fl., Miami and may be reached at (305) 891-4055. www.bublicklaw.com  

In 2007, the Bankruptcy Court issued its decision in the case of In re Willis, 07-11010-BKC-PGH (S.D Fla. 2007)(Hyman, J.) which reviewed the IRA exemption in bankruptcy or the unfortunate lack thereof due to "prohibited transactions."

Although the bankruptcy code generally provides for the exemption of IRAs in bankruptcy, this exemption may be lost if the bankruptcy court determines that the IRA has lost it tax exempt status by engaging in "prohibited transactions." The IRS's initial favorable determination of an IRA is as to its form and is different from a bankruptcy court's review of the conduct under the plan and the loss of tax exempt status.

The bankruptcy code provides in section 522(b)(3)(C) for the exemption of "retirement funds to the extent that those funds are in a fund or account that is exempt from taxation under section 401, 403, 408, 408A, 414, 457, or 501(a) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986." The bankruptcy code also provides a rebuttable presumption that retirement funds are exempt if a favorable determination is received from the IRS. The bankruptcy code further sets forth a certain analysis if the retirement funds have not received a favorable IRS determination.

A bankruptcy trustee or creditor may attempt to rebut the presumption of exemption provided by the bankruptcy code for retirement funds that received a favorable determination by presenting evidence that the retirement fund was improperly operating under the applicable IRC provisions. In the In re Plunk decision, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals held that the bankruptcy court is permitted to reach an independent decision regarding a retirement plan's qualified status and is not bound by the IRS's previous determination. In re Plunk, 481 F.3d 302 (5th Cir. 2007). The Plunk court explained that there was no risk of conflicting decisions as the IRS's determination was only as to the retirement plan's structure while the court would be reviewing alleged misconduct that could disqualify the plan.

Section 408 of the IRC generally provides that IRA's are exempt from taxation unless "prohibited transactions" are engaged in by the owner or beneficiary of the IRA. If prohibited transactions are engaged in, the account ceases to be a qualified IRA as of the first day of the taxable year where a prohibited transaction is engaged in. Prohibited transactions includes a sale of property, the lending of money, and the transfer of income or assets by the plan to a "disqualified person" which is defined as a fiduciary of the plan such as any person who exercises authority or control over the plan.Jordan E. Bublick is a Miami Personal Bankruptcy Lawyer with over 25 years of experience in filing chapter 13 and chapter 7 bankruptcies. Miami Personal Bankruptcy Lawyer Jordan E. Bublick has filed over 8,000 chapter 13 and chapter 7 cases.