4 Misconceptions About Credit Card Debt
1. You only need to pay the minimum each month. Your credit-card bill will show the total amount you owe and a minimum payment, typically about 4% of your bill. Paying at least the minimum payment by the due date keeps you current and helps your credit score, a key way lenders grade your financial behavior. […]
4 Ways to Raise Your Credit Score Quickly After Filing Bankruptcy
Damage control. Make sure all the accounts you included in your bankruptcy are listed as such and show $0 balances if you filed Chapter 7. If a creditor continues to report the account as delinquent –which they shouldn’t- your credit score will suffer.
Ten Things Bankruptcy Court Won’t Tell You
1. Personal bankruptcy is not just for the poor. Linda Johnson, an entrepreneur in Georgia, built a life around her six- figure income. But when her new business collided with the credit crunch, Johnson found herself facing a financial fate she never anticipated. “It’s a far way to fall,” she says. Meet the new face of […]
8 More Financial Slip-ups to Avoid
1. Raiding your 401(k). Don’t think of retirement savings as “now” money. It’s moneyyou’ve got to save for later. “Some people use their IRAs, and wind up in bankruptcy,anyway.” Even if you end up having to use it post bankruptcy, it will go a lot further towards survival of your family after bankruptcy;
Other Don’ts in Preparing to File Bankruptcy
1. Don’t leave out bank, checking, savings, brokerage, credit union accounts.2. Don’t use your credit cards.3. Don’t take credit cards cash advances.4. Don’t use convenience checks.5. Don’t make balance transfers.6. Don’t pay debts to family.7. Don’t pay debts to friends.8. Don’t tell a creditor you intend to pay.9. Don’t leave assets of any kind off of your paperwork.10. Don’t fail […]
4 Ways to Keep Your Stuff
1. Confirm a chapter 11 or chapter 13 plan under §1123 & §1129(a) although both are ride with too many complications to address here. 2. Redeem it. Special rules apply to certain vehicles but essentially the debtor is entitled to buy the property from the estate at a value determined by the court, Say a debtor owes […]
Supreme Court Justices Hear Lien Stripping Cases
On March 24th, The Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the cases of Bank of America v. Caulkett and Bank of America v. Toledo-Cardona. Ever since the 11th Circuit turned Chapter 7 lien stripping on personal residences on its ear, Bank of America has been desperate to get the arguments involved in these cases before the U. S. […]
Ten Dumbest Things NOT to Do Prior to Filing Bankruptcy
1. Don’t tap your retirement funds. One frequent mistake made by people in financial trouble is to take money out of a 401k plan or IRA in order to pay things like credit card debt. Retirement funds like 401Ks and IRAs are protected from both creditors and bankruptcy trustees. Creditors can’t take the money, and there […]
Plan confirmation and Res Judicata
A confirmation order may only be revoked if it was procured by fraud. 11 U.S.C.§ 1141. And as long as creditors knew or should have known of the treatment they would receive under the plan, and the plan conclusively determines how the claims in question will be handled, creditors cannot come later to complain. The […]
Five Signs You are Headed for Bankruptcy
1. Denial. It’s been tough, but looks like we made it!” Really? Take a look around. Have you taken any time to think about the future and what it might contain? What contingency plans do you have if your situation suddenly goes very wrong? Bankruptcy is never a first choice, but it may be the only […]
