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Hiding assets and personal property when filing bankruptcy not only jeopardizes the outcome of your case, you may face criminal prosecution and your debt may not get discharged. Not withholding details about personal property cannot be stressed enough as doing this may hurt your chances of discharging debt in subsequent bankruptcies. Many debtors fear they [...]
Eighty percent of success is showing up, according to Woody Allen. So, too, in matter concerning debt collection lawsuits.
You owe a debt to a credit card company. You fall behind, and the credit card company sells the debt to some other company.
Happens all the time, don’t look so shocked.
The company buys the debt for something on the order of 25% of the outstanding debt. In exchange for the right to collect, they get a computer file with your name and other information.
What the debt buyer does not get is a copy of the application, old statements, or charge slips. In other words, no proof that is admissible in a court of law.
Debt Buyers File Thousands Of Lawsuits
Debt buyers are in business to collect overdue bills, and they pay millions of dollars each year for the ability to do so.
When people don’t pay voluntarily, the debt buyer sues. And because there are a lot of accounts out there, the big players file lots of lawsuits.
In fact, last week I was in Chatsworth (which is where the Los Angeles collection lawsuits are heard) I stood next to a process server who was filing a stack of lawsuits about 12 inches high. Conservatively, that’s about 250 collection lawsuits.
For a single day. And a single debt buyer.
Remember, They Don’t Have The Goods
It doesn’t take much for someone to sue you for money – just a check for a filing fee an a few pieces of paper. Legally you’ve got to have a good faith belief in your ability to win the case, but there’s nothing saying that you’ve got to have lock solid proof in order to walk into court.
That’s the problem – the debt buyers don’t have proof.
They have no proof of the amount due.
They have no proof of whether the numbers are correct.
They have no proof that the debt they bought is yours.
They have no proof. Period.
Don’t Let Them Roll Over You
If you’re sued for a debt, you need to show up – just like Woody says.
Get a lawyer, or do it on your own. File an Answer, and do it on time. Make the debt buyer prove the case.
But don’t ignore the lawsuit. Because if you do, there’s a 100% chance that you will lose.
Image credit: Luiz Fernando / Sonia Maria
Why You Should Remember Woody Allen If You’re Sued For A Debt 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.
Janice Dickinson, 58, also known as the world’s first supermodel, filed for bankruptcy protection after owing creditors close to $1 million. Her creditors include the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and unpaid bills from plastic surgery performed by multiple doctors. Dickinson is known as one of the most successful models in the world when her modeling [...]
In the state of Washington, your Chapter 13 Plan Payment may be largely dictated by how you fare on the Means Test. In simplest form, the completion of the Means Test calculation determines how much you can afford to pay back to your unsecured creditors. This number is derived by taking a six month total of your gross income and then subtracting a series of both real and IRS approved deductions. One of the major IRS approved deductions is the “Car Ownership Allowance.”
The problem is you don’t get the Car Ownership Allowance deduction without a car payment. So if we take two bankruptcy filers and one has a car payment and the other doesn’t, they might each ultimately have the same payment for the same period of time, but one of them is going to pay off a car during that time period and the other one is going to pay more money to her credit cards.
This is not to say that you should immediately head out to the car lot to buy a car prior to filing. You should always consult with your attorney before making this purchase because there are additional factors that determine whether purchasing a car will have any significance on the amount that you will have to pay back in your Chapter 13.
At the same time, if you are driving a beater now and you see yourself needing a car within the next two years or so, buying the car prior to filing is probably going to be a much smoother and cheaper process than waiting until after the case has been filed.
Again, the key is checking in with your attorney prior to heading out to the car lot. Please feel free to give me a call anytime at either 206-674-4559 or 503-860-6868 if you have any questions at all, thanks.
The original post is titled Buying a Car Before Filing a Chapter 13 Bankruptcy in Washington , and it came from Oregon Bankruptcy Lawyer | Portland, Salem, and Vancouver, Wa .
In Lynchburg, VA, James Gordon Fields, 47, recently plead guilty to multiple charges of fraud including bank fraud, aggravated identity theft, false statements made pertaining to a loan, and false statements made under oath during bankruptcy proceedings. Fields was a fugitive on the run for over a year after admitting he ran from authorities when [...]
Chapter 7 is a liquidation fresh start type of bankruptcy whereby a person who has very little in the way of assets and a lot of unsecured debt can file a Chapter 7 and get a fresh start. Under Chapter 7, debtors typically keep all of their properties such as houses, cars, personal belongings provided+ Read MoreThe post What’s the difference between a Chapter 7 and a Chapter 13 bankruptcy? appeared first on David M. Siegel.
Filing bankruptcy differs from law firm to law firm, from city to city. The only thing that remains constant is the filing fees with the court. At the time of this writing, the filing fee for a Chapter 7 bankruptcy is $306. The filing for a Chapter 13 bankruptcy is $281. Chapter 7 bankruptcy fees can vary anywhere from $750 in a simple case up to $3000 in a complex case or a corporation case. The level of experience of your bankruptcy attorney is what you want to look for, not necessarily the lowest price. Going with the lowest price can often get you a lesser service, a lesser attorney and open up your case to potential problems.
I’ve been practicing bankruptcy for over 21 years. I have seen all kinds of things happen between my clients; other clients that came to me after another attorney handled their case. I’ve heard stories from the trustees; I’ve been in court and heard from the judges. I’ve read on the subject for 21 years. Trust me when I tell you, you do not want to go to a bankruptcy attorney simply based on price. You want to make sure that the attorney that you hire has the requisite experience knowledge and ability to take the information that you provide and ask you the right questions, by the way, and put that into a bankruptcy petition which is going to pass the scrutiny of the trustee and the court. There is nothing worse than seeing someone who was with another attorney file a bankruptcy case and then lose property. There are certain prebankruptcy requirements that must be fulfilled. There are certain activities that must be done before you want to file a bankruptcy and you want to have a seasoned attorney to help you. So don’t go just on price.
As far as Chapter 13 bankruptcy cases are concerned, the courts in this area have what they call a Model Retention Agreement. The Model Retention Agreement basically states that attorneys can charge a certain dollar amount at the time of this writing it’s $3500 total over the life of the case, and the attorneys do not have to itemize for their time. This flat fee arrangement is the arrangement that 95% of all bankruptcy attorneys in this area use because it’s reasonable, it’s fair and it provides for a great value to the client without the attorney having to document time and go for the court for approval of their fees. So Chapter 13 fees, under the Model Retention Agreement, are basically going to be the same for most attorneys.
With that being said, that does not mean that all the law firms are equal. You want to make sure that the attorney you hire for Chapter 13 is experienced in Chapter 13 and handles Chapter 13 bankruptcy cases on a daily basis. If you go and meet with the attorney and ask specific questions to garner what they have in terms of understanding, you will be in a better position to make a determination on which attorney you want to hire to handle your Chapter 13 bankruptcy case.
The Chapter 13 plan payment is based on a number of different factors and each case is different. First, we have to look at the income and the expenses of the debtor. Income is based on all sources of income, whether it is employment, unemployment, workers comp, disability, child support, maintenance, investment income, rental income, support from family members; any sort of income must be calculated in a Chapter 13 under Schedule I. We then look at Schedule J which are the monthly expenses that the debtor incurs; everything from rent, mortgage, auto payment, insurance, food, clothing, utilities. You name it, if you are spending it per month, charity, church payments, childcare, tuition, IRS installment payment; it all must be listed under Schedule J. The difference between Schedule I income and Schedule J expenses will determine what you are required to pay under a Chapter 13 repayment plan.
We also then must look at what you are actually paying back. How much do you have in mortgage arrearages? How much are you paying back on a financed vehicle? Do you have student loans debt? IRS debt? Child-support debt? Miscellaneous credit card debt? We look at all those different factors to determine whether or not the amount you have available per month is enough to fund a Chapter 13 plan that will pay back either all or a portion of your debt over time. If you don’t have the ability to pay back the proper amount, then a Chapter 13 case will not be feasible. If you have the ability to pay back more than what’s required, you will only be required to pay back what you actually owe.
So there are a number of different factors that go into play on how much you’re going to pay and for how long and importantly, what percentage on the dollar are you going to pay back to general unsecured creditors. This is a complicated formula. You need an expert or a Chapter 13 bankruptcy attorney who practices every day in this area. Do not go to someone who is not familiar with Chapter 13, your case will be a disaster.
There are two prongs that have to be satisfied for Chapter 7 for the most part. Firstly, you must be either under the median which is the dollar amount per family size that the government has set; or if you are over that median, you must pass the means test which is a mathematical formula based on all of your income and expenses, showing that you don’t have the ability to repay your creditors over time.
If you can satisfy those two requirements under Chapter 7, then you make it to the next prong which basically says, do you have the ability, income minus expenses, to pay your creditors. If you are showing a surplus, then it is quite possible that Chapter 13 might be required. If, however, you are breaking even or if you are losing money each month and you are under the median or you otherwise pass the means test, then you don’t have the ability to reorganize your debt and you will be granted a fresh start.
Now, you must not have filed a Chapter 7 bankruptcy and received a discharge within the last eight years. You must provide your most recent federal tax return and you must provide two months worth of paycheck stubs or other proof of income prior to your case being filed. You also must take a credit counseling session before the case is filed and then after the case is filed, you must take a two-hour financial management class. Provided you can satisfy those requirements, then you will qualify for a Chapter 7. In the event you do not qualify for Chapter 7, your attorney will advise you as to how Chapter 13 can work for you.
You’ve filed your chapter 13 bankruptcy paperwork and submitted your schedules and payment plan. The meeting of creditors is completed and you’ve answered the trustee’s questions. The next step in the process is your confirmation hearing. In some courts, the confirmation hearing will happen on the same day as the meeting of creditors. In [...]
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