Bankruptcy & Credit: Confusion

Many small business owners will have a family member or close friend co-sign for them on a business loan or the purchase of a major asset, such as a house or car.  If you fall behind on the payments and decide that bankruptcy is the right option for you, be aware that filing bankruptcy will only wipe out YOUR personal liability on the debt.  If your parents or friends provided their guarantee to a creditor that they would pay the debt if you could not, they will likely receive a nasty demand letter from the creditor whose debt you discharged.

One of my Chapter 7 clients has an interesting living situation. The couple sold their home when the husband retired and purchased a motor home. The motor home which can park on a rental lot and hook up to utilities....

When considering bankruptcy as a solution for your unmanageable expenses, it is important that you realize bankruptcy, Chapter 13  is supposed to alleviate the financial strain you are currently in.  You should leave your attorney’s office in a better position than wh

Worried what people will think if you file bankruptcy?

As a person who regularly checks his credit report, I was surprised a few years ago when one of the credit bureaus reported that I had filed for bankruptcy.  This was not true; I was only eighteen or nineteen at the time, and had no reason to file.  It was actually a family member of mine who had filed for bankruptcy.  Adding to the absurdity of the situation was that the bankruptcy had been filed in 1995, when I was only 7 years old.  Despite the inherent nonsense, I still had trouble convincing the representative of the credit bureau over the phone that the bankruptcy did not actually bel

People often buy cars for their children or for an elderly parent. When they do so, some of these people put their own names on the car title to get lower insurance rates or to reflect their own contribution to...

Thursday, June 28th, 2012 the Supreme Court decided it was constitutional to mandate health insurance.  This blog is not about my opinion – rather it’s what this decision can avoid.  So many people have had to file bankruptcy, Chapter 7 to get rid of their unsecured debt, and/or Chapter 13 to ultimately save their home because they could not afford to pay their medical expenses.  Devastating illness for many families has resulted in devastating bills.  It truly is heartbreaking to see folks who have worked hard all their lives and consequently had to file bankruptcy to get out from under th

Real estate investors and some bankruptcy trustees are looking for ways to make money off your upside down homestead. Many Chapter 7 debtors with upside down homesteads do not utilize their homestead exemption on their bankruptcy petition because there is...

A great number of us use our bank for everything: paychecks are on direct deposit; pay credit cards, mortgage payments and utilities bills electronically.  Some bills are setup for automatic payment and others are scheduled manually.  We are familiar with on-line banking;  an understanding of how our bank’s online software works and have mastered its applications. The thought of changing how we use our bank account or worse the thought of actually changing banks is an enormous pain.  Sometimes, in preparing to file your bankruptcy it is often necessary.