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When you find yourself overwhelmed with debt and you decide enough is enough, you are ready to file for bankruptcy. There are a number of bankruptcy lawyers who are qualified to help you get the relief you are seeking. But, of course then comes the important task of choosing who you want to establish a [...]
There are a million places to get your credit report. Let’s make it free and easy, shall we?
You know you need to check your credit report regularly so you hit the Internet in search of a site.
You can pay for the report or get it for free. But figuring out which site to use can drive you nuts.
In fact, a Google search for “free credit report” returns over 630 million results.
Here’s where to get your credit report quickly and easily.
Getting A Free Credit Report
If you’re in line for a free credit report, you can go to each of the nationwide consumer reporting companies (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion) and get your credit report at no charge.
That’s like driving 35 on the freeway. It will get you there, but not quickly or easily.
To order your free annual credit report just take one of these three simple steps:
- Log on to www.annualcreditreport.com
- Call 1-877-322-8228, or
- Complete the Annual Credit Report Request Form and mail it to: Annual Credit Report Request Service, P.O. Box 105281, Atlanta, GA 30348-5281.
In order to get your free annual credit report you will need to provide:
- your name
- your address
- Social Security number
- date of birth
- all previous addresses within the past two years
The website I listed is the only official one maintained by the three major credit reporting agencies under the federal credit reporting laws. Any other site claiming to offer you a free credit report should be viewed skeptically.
Paid Credit Reports
If you can’t get your credit report at no cost, you’re going to need to pony up and pay some money. A consumer reporting company is allowed to charge you up to $10.50 for a copy of your report. This doesn’t count any additional charges such as credit scores, which can cost more.
To pay for a copy of your credit report, you can go to any of the following places:
- Experian: www.experian.com
- TransUnion: www.transunion.com
- Equifax: www.equifax.com
Which Credit Report Better, Free Or Paid?
There is no difference between a credit report from one of the above paid sites as opposed to one received from the free repository.
The free credit report site is maintained by the same companies that will sell you a report.
If you can get the free one, do it. And if you can’t, then you’ll need to pay.
How To Easily And Quickly Get Your Credit Report Without Being Ripped Off 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.
Bringing you the most up-to-date news, tips and blogs throughout the web. Here’s your Bankruptcy Update for June 06, 2013 A County in Alabama Strikes a Bankruptcy Deal Alton’s SWI Energy files Chapter 11 bankruptcy Dance New Amsterdam files for bankruptcy
Even if you file your taxes late you can still file bankruptcy. When you begin the filing process you are required to provide documentation about your finances, debt, and monthly income. Your tax returns are necessary for a matter of reasons. Tax returns, including federal and state tax information, should be accurate for verification purposes. [...]
By John Clark
Jefferson County, Alabama, the largest municipality to file for bankruptcy in American history, may be able to leave bankruptcy court soon, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal.
Sources indicate that J.P. Morgan Chase, the county’s biggest creditor, has tentatively agreed to a debt reduction deal that would save the county hundreds of millions of dollars.
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Jefferson County Inches Closer to Bankruptcy Exit
Sources say Jefferson County, which made a series of poor investment decisions in an effort to upgrade its aging sewer system, may soon be able to regain its financial footing, thanks to some timely debt relief in bankruptcy court.
According to reports, the county has agreed in principle to a deal with its creditors, who are collectively owed roughly $3 billion in debt, most of which is tied to the municipality’s crippled sewer system.
The proposed bankruptcy plan would allow Jefferson County to unload $1.2 billion worth of debt. In addition, a group of hedge funds and private equity firms have agreed to help refinance the rest of the debt.
Interestingly, sources note that the gamble by the investment groups may represent a historically large bet on a municipality. But the groups were willing to gamble that Jefferson County will eventually be able to repay the debt.
Residents of Jefferson County, however, may feel a bit of pain. Over the next four years, local sewer rates will increase at an annual clip of seven percent, according to sources.
The bankruptcy exit plan will be reviewed by a federal judge later this week, but sources do not expect the county to officially exit bankruptcy until the end of 2013.
Investment Firms Take Big Gamble on Municipal Debt
Sources emphasize that the investment groups who purchased roughly $900 million worth of debt could stand to make significant gains from the deal. But they could also take a massive loss.
The county, however, is thrilled with the arrangement. According to Kenneth Klee, Jefferson County’s bankruptcy attorney, the proposed plan would cost $200 million less than the last proposed refinancing deal, which was offered in 2011.
According to reports, the proposed deal required months of intense negotiations between investment firms, insurers, and officials representing the largest county in Alabama.
And the hero of the deal may be J.P Morgan Chase, which reportedly agreed to forgive about $842 million in debt. Of course, the plan has not yet been finalized, so residents of Jefferson County would be wise to wait before celebrating a bankruptcy exit.
If you’re filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, you may want to keep your car or your home. Luckily, you’ve got a few options.
When you file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection you’re looking to wipe out debts and keep as much of your property as possible. For you, that may include a home or car.
You’ve got a few things to consider, and some options to help accomplish your goals.
Is It Safe?
When you file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection you get to keep property if the equity can be exempted.
For a house, you’ll want to get a fair market valuation or appraisal so that you know how much it’s worth.
If it’s a car you’re looking to keep, make sure you look up the value before filing.
From there, you can see if there’s an exemption to cover the difference between the value and amount due on the mortgage or car note.
Here are some of the useful items on this site about bankruptcy exemptions:
Option 1 – Reaffirmation
Reaffirmation is a new promise to pay a particular debt in spite of the bankruptcy filing.
It’s as if you and the creditor both pretend as if your bankruptcy never happened at all.
Once you sign a reaffirmation agreement and it’s approved by the bankruptcy court, you know for sure that you can keep the property after your Chapter 7 bankruptcy is cover.
Option 2- Redemption
Let’s say you want to keep the car but it’s worth less than the amount due on the loan.
You can ask the court to require the lender to give you clean title in exchange for you paying the current value of the property.
There are limits to how this gets done, but if you can get your hands on a lump-sum payment then it may save you a tidy amount of money.
Option 3 – Surrender
Don’t feel like making payments anyone? Just tell the creditor to pick up the car or foreclose on the house.
That’s “surrender.” It doesn’t mean you’ve given up title (the lender still needs to repossess or foreclose in order for that to happen), it just means you’re offering to give it back.
Once the Chapter 7 bankruptcy discharge is issued by the court, your obligation to make payments is wiped out.
Option 4 – Do Nothing, Keep Paying
Why sign a document or cough up big money you don’t have?
In the old days, you could simply do nothing and continue making payments after your Chapter 7 bankruptcy. The lender got paid, you kept the car or house. It was a classic win-win situation.
Not necessarily so anymore, though. Depending on the type of property, the lender and the specific facts of your case it may not work for you to keep making payments and hope to keep the property.
You and I will need to talk about this option if that’s the one you want to take. The last thing I want to see is a situation that blows up in your face, spoiling your plans.
Image credit: maclauren70
Options For Keeping Your Home Or Car After Chapter 7 Bankruptcy 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.
Hiring a bankruptcy attorney to help you complete the filing process is often recommended to ensure a successful outcome. Many who claim they are unable to pay on their outstanding debt will wonder how they can afford legal representation. This is a common reason why debtors will try to file for protection on their own [...]
Under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, a debt collector is specifically barred from contacting a consumer where the debt collector knows that the consumer is represented by an attorney with respect to the debt and can reasonably ascertain the attorney’s contact information unless the attorney fails to respond within a reasonable period of time to the collector. While the FDCPA is not clear as to what constitutes a reasonable period of time, at least one court rejected the argument that an attorney had to respond within fourteen days. The legislative history of the Act itself suggests that it was never contemplated that an attorney would have less than a week to respond to a collector.
The fact is once a collector learns that an Oregon or Washington consumer is represented by our law firm, the collector must deal exclusively with our attorneys and the consumer may not contact you even to confirm that you have retained us or to provide other legal notices.
If you live in Washington or Oregon and you don’t want to hear from collectors anymore it is likely time to retain an attorney. Contact one our Oregon or Washington offices today so that we can help. I will look forward to hearing from you.
The original post is titled Collector is Contacting Me But I Hired An Attorney , and it came from Oregon Bankruptcy Lawyer | Portland, Salem, and Vancouver, Wa .
Your credit report is one of the most important documents out there. As a financial resume of sorts, you should take care to watch it closely.
It drives me nuts when I find out my client hasn’t taken a look at his credit report for … well, in so long he can’t even remember when the last time was that he saw his credit report.
After all, this is a document that amounts to a financial resume – where you’ve been, how you’ve paid back debts, and what you’ve been doing with your life for the past decade or better.
It’s like getting your bills every month and shoving them into the sock drawer. All of your bills. For a decade.
Probably not a good idea. Here’s why.
Your Credit Report Could Uncover Identity Theft
When you look at your credit report, you can make sure there aren’t any questionable accounts listed.
If there’s an account you don’t recognize, you may be the victim of identity theft. Monitoring your accounts to be sure that there isn’t anyone playing fast-and-loose with your credit history is always a good idea.
Nip Credit Report Errors In the Bud
About 40 million Americans have errors on their credit reports, according to a 2013 study.
Mistakes happen – it’s a fact of life. When it comes to credit report errors that may be a bad account, an incorrect address, or even a wrong employer.
Getting those mistakes fixed can be easy or difficult depending on the nature of the mistake, but one thing’s for sure – you can’t take corrective measures if you don’t know about the issue.
Know Before You Apply
You never know when you’re going to need your credit report. Not only do potential creditors check your credit, so do employers, insurance companies and a landlords.
Checking your credit report gives you a window into what those folks are going to see. If there’s a problem, better to know in advance so you can take steps to explain the issue and get it resolved quickly.
How Often To Check Your Credit Reports
Under federal law, you can get a free credit report from each of the three nationwide credit reporting companies (Equifax, Experian and TransUnion) once every 12 months.
It’s your choice whether to get the reports all at once or one at a time, and different folks have different opinions on which way to go.
Some people say that you should get one credit report from each of the major bureaus every four months. In doing so, you can monitor your credit file at no cost more frequently throughout the year.
I usually get my own free credit reports once a year from all three bureaus because it’s easier to sit down and handle any errors all at once. I don’t need to think about sitting down every four months to worry about my credit.
Whichever way you handle the free reports, I recommend that you get the free ones whenever possible. You should also get your credit reports from all three major bureaus (and pay for them) whenever you:
- are looking for a new job;
- are looking for a new place to rent;
- are considering getting a new mortgage (purchase or refinance);
- get a strange phone call about an unpaid debt; or
- are thinking about a new car.
Keep your records clear, double-check for errors, and you’ll be less likely to suffer from needlessly difficult times in the future.
Image credit: AlphaTangoBravo / Adam Baker
Why Check Your Credit Report (And How Often) 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.
Many of my bankruptcy clients are in sales and are paid on commission. When you file bankruptcy it is important to understand how the bankruptcy code treats commission payments and how you can protect your commissions. The important thing to understand is that if you work with a good Seattle bankruptcy attorney you can protect your future commissions. You should not let the fear of losing your future commissions prevent you from filing bankruptcy.
The biggest area of misunderstanding and concern is how commissions are characterized. You probably think of them as a paycheck, which makes total sense. However, the Bankruptcy Code treats them as an asset. They are an asset because they are an interest in property that you are entitled to receive in the future. The good news is that assets can be protected.
The first thing you have to understand is when a commission becomes an asset. As you know, the sales pipeline is full of customers and potential customers. Just because you have someone in your sales pipeline doesn’t mean that you will get a commission from them or that the commission will be part of the bankruptcy estate. The commission only becomes an asset when you are legally entitled to receive that commission.
Your legal entitlement to the commission is determined by state law. Typically, it arises when the sales contract is signed. In some industries, your legal entitled to a commission only arises when a deal closes. As you know, contract signing and deal closing can sometimes be separated by days, weeks, or even months. During that time a deal can fall through. I am familiar with commission structures and the law governing commissions in real estate, insurance, lending, vehicle sales, outside sales, and inside sales. Additionally, I will work with you to understand your commission structure. The purpose of knowing the law relating to commission income and understanding commission structure is to set up a bankruptcy petition that protects your future commissions.
Once I have analyzed your commission structure, we can setup a bankruptcy filing plan that protects those commissions. The first step is to look at all of your assets and determine how much future commissions can be protected. The second step is to time the bankruptcy petition so that you minimize the future commissions that are actually assets. I work very closely with my clients to determine when to file the case.
The other thing to keep in mind is that your exemptions come first. This is important, because you may not be able to collect all of the commissions that you list on your bankruptcy petition. For example, a sale may not close. The fact that a sale doesn’t close does not reduce your exemption, it reduces the amount available to the trustee.
The bottom line is that sales commissions and sales income can be protected in bankruptcy. If you are concerned about your financial situation contact David Fuller – an experienced Seattle bankruptcy attorney – about how bankruptcy can give you a fresh start and who can protect your future commissions.
The post Sales Commissions In Bankruptcy appeared first on Bankruptcy Attorney Seattle and Kent.
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