I recently met a client who first learned that she had been sued when she received a post card in the mail from the court indicating that a default judgment had been entered against her.  Frequently I meet clients who first learn of a judgment when their paychecks or bank accounts become garnished.  “How can they garnish me when I never had a chance to go to court!” is the common complaint.

Texas entrepreneur Samuel Wyly has filed for bankruptcy on Sunday, stating he does not own the assets to pay roughly $400 million in penalties for an overseas fraud scheme.
According to the Chapter 11 petition, Wyly stated he had assets and debt between $100 million and $500 million. He attributed his debt to the “massive costs of investigations and then litigation” by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

I recently met a client who first learned that she had been sued when she received a post card in the mail from the court indicating that a default judgment had been entered against her.  Frequently I meet clients who first learn of a judgment when their paychecks or bank accounts become garnished.  “How can they garnish me when I never had a chance to go to court!” is the common complaint.

In the modern era, debt is not a simple matter between you and your creditors.  Anyone who has ever rented an apartment, applied for a credit card, or tried to set up payments on a new car knows that credit scores play a significant role in determining whether you will be able to obtain credit.

Photo by: torbakhopper at Flickr

Would allowing private students to be discharged in bankruptcy really solve the problem?
The CFPB (as well as just about anyone else who thinks about student loans on a regular basis) recognizes that the private student loan market is a lion’s den for students who need to borrow for higher education.

This Friday will mark nine years since the bankruptcy laws were last changed. That law known as BAPCPA which stands for Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act was really designed to prevent those who have the ability to pay from getting out of their obligations under chapter 7 bankruptcy. The credit card companies lobbied+ Read More

Historically, people who have experienced crushing debt have faced seemingly endless harassing phone calls from debt collectors.