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A Michigan man may face more than 20 years in federal prison after pleading guilty recently to charges related to money laundering and bankruptcy fraud. Adrian Hassan Tageddine, 42, of Dearborn Heights, admitted to authorities he hid assets including cash and luxury vehicles when he filed for bankruptcy in 1999. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) agents [...]
Peter Morici, an economist and professor at the Smith School of Business, University of Maryland, claims that forgiving student loan borrowers of their debts will lead only to more bad decisions.
There’s a move in Washington to do something about student loan debt. Senators propose freezing student loan interest rates. Federal agencies issue reports. And, of course, there’s the rolling tide of bills to get private student loans rendered dischargeable in bankruptcy cases.
No wonder: not only is there more than $1 trillion in student loan debt outstanding, but people have finally woken up to the fact that a college degree doesn’t buy you a ton of access to a well-paying job.
Morici argues that letting borrowers of student loan debt off the hook will do nothing but condone their bad financial moves and make the problem worse.
Students, he says, don’t choose the right majors; rather than science and math, they pick majors like English and Philosophy rather than courses of study that lead to gainful employment.
Spoken like a guy who’s forgotten what it’s like to be a college student.
What Morici doesn’t realize is that students go into college in part because they’re told that it’s the only way to achieve greatness. From early in life, kids are taught that it doesn’t matter if they know what they want to do – they’ve got to hit college as quickly as possible.
Once they get to the door of higher education, they’re shown an enormous bill along with an offer of student loans. Of course they sign on the dotted line and accept the money – everyone has been telling them that they have to do so.
Mom and dad, teachers and other authority figures tell you that you’ve got to go to college.
The college tells you that the only way to afford it is to take on student loan debt.
In other words, everyone in your life has essentially been telling you that you need to take out student loans or your future is going to be terrible.
Once you get to college, you’re told to try out different classes until you determine a major. You’ve got time, after all – sample from the menu before settling on a main course.
English, philosophy, and all the liberal arts classes come first. You can go to a scientific major but you won’t unless you intend to go into a field related to that major.
At 18 years old, there’s a pretty good chance that you’re not in a position to make that sort of commitment.
There’s the problem. You’ve been sold on student loan debt as the bedrock of a bright future, yet the university into which you place your trust fails to deliver value commensurate with your financial obligations.
Forgiveness of student loan debt, therefore, merely shifts the burden back to those best able to bear it in the first place.
If universities want to remain able to offer loans, they need to produce graduates who don’t seek to discharge their obligations. Too high of a discharge or default rate jeopardizes their ability to offer new loans, after all.
In order to keep funding new loans, therefore, universities are placed in the position of counseling students on the effects of taking out student loans. Not only that, they become responsible for educating their students effectively and making a real effort to place graduates in employment situations that offer a salary significant enough to pay off that student debt load.
If there are no jobs for graduates, the hallowed halls of education need to change.
Costs need to be brought in line with the market reality.
The course of study needs to adapt to the world in which we live.
Students must be taught exactly what they’re getting themselves into when they sign up for a student loan.
Student loan forgiveness forces the university’s hand, it doesn’t encourage more bad decisions on the part of America’s next generation.
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Does Student Loan Forgiveness Encourage Bad Decision-Making? was originally published on Consumer Help Central. If you're seeing this message on another site, it has been stolen and is being used without permission. That's illegal, a violation of copyright, and just plain awful.
There technically is no age limit or restriction for filing a personal bankruptcy. You have to be an individual and you have to be in a certain jurisdiction for a certain amount of time. You don’t have to be an adult, you don’t have to be 18, and you don’t even have to be 15. There is no age limit. However, it makes sense if you are not going to be someone who can incur debt or credit unless you are an adult. Credit card companies are not going to issue credit cards unless you are over 18. You are not going to be able to enter into a valid contract in most states unless you are 18. So technically, there is no age limit or restriction.
However, we typically see clients that range from 20 years old to 70 years old, depending on the situation. The majority of clients are somewhere between those two ages and it is something that we can help with no matter what age you are. But keep in mind, there is no age restriction, there is no age limit and there is no particular dollar amount that you must be at for a Chapter 7.
If you are thinking of filing a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, I recommend that you hire an experienced attorney who handles bankruptcy on a day to day basis. I am a member of the American Bankruptcy Institute. I have over 21 years of experience. I have spoken and written extensively on the topic and I have counseled more than 10,000 individuals and families with regard to debt. I am also a certified counselor with regard to the personal financial management class and I go through budgets on a day-to-day basis, going through income and expenses and advising clients on how they can better themselves by making subtle changes to their budget and the way they spend money.
If you are looking to file a bankruptcy, make sure you interview a qualified bankruptcy attorney who will give you advice on which chapter is best and how it all works. You don’t want to go to an attorney who is going to put you in a chapter that makes the attorney more money. You want to go to an attorney who’s going to put you in a chapter that helps you. You can feel confident when you come into my office that you are going to receive a lot of literature on the subject. You’re going to be able to watch videos. You’re going to be able to read from prior clients as to how their experience was.
There is no particular debt limit that you must have in order to file a Chapter 7 bankruptcy. It really depends upon the particular person and their particular situation. I have had clients who have wanted to file a bankruptcy over a $5000 debt. I have had other clients who had $100,000 worth of debt and were fighting against filing a Chapter 7 and getting a fresh start. You have to determine whether or not you feel you can either pay your debt back over time or whether or not you need a fresh start to be able to survive.
The rule of thumb that I use is typically the six month rule. I advise my clients that after six months of making payments, if you have not put a serious dent in your debt, if you are just simply paying minimum payments or eat if you don’t see your debt going down, then Chapter 7 is probably a good solution for you to get out of debt once and for all and get back on your feet. If, on the other hand, you feel you have the ability to repay the debt in six months, or make a serious dent in the debt, then maybe you don’t want to file a Chapter 7 and you don’t want to take the hit on your credit.
If you are someone who has available money per month, maybe you lost your job and now you are back working, maybe you were ill and now you are back healthy, well then a Chapter 13 is a good way to repay your debt. There is no minimum debt that you need to have to file a Chapter 13 but there are some maximum amounts. If you exceed those maximum amounts of secured and unsecured debt, then you will not qualify for Chapter 13 and you will be forced into a Chapter 11. Your attorney will be able to sit down with you and advise you as to which chapter is best, how it all works and come up with a payment plan to get your case moving forward.
Parking tickets sound like a debt that you could easily eliminate, right, because it’s just a bill for a parking ticket. You didn’t purchase anything. It sounds like it’s unsecured. There’s no property they can take back or repossessed if you don’t pay. However, parking tickets are a fine to the government or municipality and by that fact, they are determined to be non-dischargeable.
In a Chapter 7 bankruptcy case, you have a window of time of approximately 3 or four months where if you have parking tickets, your license will not be suspended during that period of time. However, if you don’t make arrangements to pay off that debt during that window of time and you receive a bankruptcy discharge, it is then that the creditor can then come after you for those non-dischargeable parking tickets. Coming after you can involve suspending your license, getting a judgment against you and possibly picking you up on a body attachment if you don’t appear in court several times.
Under Chapter 13 bankruptcy law, the parking tickets are paid through the Chapter 13 repayment plan. Again, Chapter 13 will allow you to repay the debt in full or less than in full. However, if you pay less than in full, please be aware that you are going to owe the amount that wasn’t paid through your Chapter 13 once your case is over. If you really want to play it safe, make sure that you are paying back 100% of your parking tickets through your Chapter 13 bankruptcy case. If you are filing a Chapter 7, do your best to pay off the debt owed to the parking tickets within that 110 day period or enter into some form of installment payment plan with the creditors so that after your bankruptcy case, your license will not be suspended and you will not be subject to a boot on your car.
Typically student loans are going to be non-dischargeable. A non-dischargeable debt is a debt that is not going to be eliminated in a bankruptcy case. Student loans are the type of debt that are typically non-dischargeable except for extreme hardship cases. In my 21 years of practice, I have never had an extreme hardship case+ Read MoreThe post Can my student loans be discharged in bankruptcy? appeared first on David M. Siegel.
Got an email this week from Martindale-Hubbell, publishers of the famous Martindale Hubbell lawyer directory and also Lawyers.com. They told me my clients rated me in the top one percent in client satisfaction. “Less than 1% of the 900,000+ attorneys listed on martindale.com and lawyers.com have been accorded this Martindale-Hubbell honor of distinction.” They also wanted to sell me “this commemorative wall [...]The post Virginia Bankruptcy Lawyer Robert Weed gets Martindale Satisfaction Award appeared first on Robert Weed.
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Chapter 7 bankruptcy eliminates unsecured debt such as medical bills, credit card debt, and payday loans. In order to understand whether you qualify is by reviewing your eligibility factors. The most effective way to learn if you qualify includes discussing your situation with an experienced bankruptcy attorney. Meeting qualifications of the means test and providing [...]
In America we don’t just own a house, we own a home. That is part of the America Dream. Because of that fact, Americans have a unique emotional attachment to their house. Whether to save a home becomes more than a business decision with dollars and cents, but instead an emotional decision regarding a homeowner’s past, present, and future. However, the reality is that in order to keep your home you must be able to make your payments. As the economy in America went from bad to worse many Americans were unable to save their homes.
Now that the economy is starting to improve more and more Americans are able to find work for the first time in months or years. They are now in a position to save their home from the delinquent payments that they have missed. However with large delinquencies and mortgage companies that are more interested in the bottom line than the American Dream, many with the means to save their home do not have the know how.
For individuals who find themselves facing foreclosure, there are a few options that can be used to help save their home. First, individuals can negotiate a forbearance agreement with the mortgage company, placing the delinquent payments on the back end of the loan. Second they can negotiate a mortgage modification that lowers their interest rate, spreads the loan out up to 40 years and reduces their payments, all while bringing the mortgage contractually current. Finally individuals can file for Chapter 13 Bankruptcy protection.
Which option is right for any individual client involves a fact specific analysis that focuses on the individual circumstances of each specific home owner. If a loan modification can resolve all of the financial instability that was caused by the prolonged unemployment it may very well be the best option for the client. However, if there is additional debt and financial instability the home owner may find themselves in a situation where a Chapter 13 Bankruptcy could reduce or eliminate unsecured debt, strip off and release second or third mortgages and bring the first mortgage contractually current over a period of 3-5 years. Only a qualified bankruptcy attorney with knowledge of both mortgage modification and Chapter 13 Restructuring options can best advise you on a way forward.
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