You walk into bankruptcy to get rid of your mortgage. You walk out still owning real estate. How's that happen? It's almost a joke - when does surrender not mean surrender? It's not a funny joke, but one nonetheless. Here's the tip: when you surrender property...
Do you remember when 23andMe was the golden child of genetic testing? Millions swabbed their cheeks, eager to uncover ancestry secrets or health risks—until the hype faded, lawsuits piled up, and the company’s stock plummeted. Now, bankruptcy looms. If you’re a shareholder, you might be staring...
A 13 bankruptcy repayment plan does not necessarily mean that you must repay your debts in full. Don't be scared off by a chapter 13 bankruptcy payment plan. It does not mean you have to pay everyone back in full with interest. After all, if...
You may want to consider buying a car prior to filing your Chapter 13 bankruptcy case. Filing bankruptcy isn't a matter of going to your bankruptcy lawyer's office, plunking your money down, and signing a few documents. It involves planning. First, there's the obvious need to determine...
Payday loans can be dangerous forms of credit. Interest rates are astronomically high (according to an FDIC advisory, between 300 and 1000 percent when calculated annually), a significant number of payday loan customers take out multiple loans per year, and it's difficult to determine a...
Bankruptcy is a federal court process designed to help consumers and businesses eliminate their debts or repay them under the protection of the bankruptcy court. Bankruptcies can generally be described as "liquidation" (Chapter 7) or "reorganization" (Chapters 13). Under a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, you ask...
Bankruptcy can discharge income tax if certain conditions are met. One required condition is that returns must have been filed. Since tax law requires filing by a specific date, if not filed by that date any tax that is due will be exempt from discharge. The...
A chapter 13 bankruptcy is a plan to re-organize a debtor's liabilities and get a fresh start unburdened by mounting unsecured debt (credit cards, medical bills, etc.). Such a plan requires payments to a bankruptcy trustee. But how much are those payments? To a large degree...
After filing bankruptcy people are often interested in trying to rebuild their credit, and a Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy can be a good first step to repairing your credit. The information contained in your credit report is important and that information must be...
The first step in a bankruptcy filing is to determine the debtor's income in relation to the Current Monthly Income for your state. Assuming the debtor is above that, the more complicated Means Test must be performed. The outcome of that test will determine either if...
