Bankruptcy Information
July 22nd, 2008 at 12:00am
Under Bankruptcy Information
Question:
Something that one of the resident attorneys here said, that “all” collectors lie, got me thinking. I’d like to know, what are the biggest lies that a collector has told you, or someone you know? My biggest has to be the time a collector was trying to get my approval to transfer my debt from my account his company owned, to another of my credit card accounts. I had explained to him that I was disabled and no longer able to work, and was consulting with an attorney about filing for bankruptcy. He then informed me that “that” was impossible, because I would not be able to file for bankruptcy as long as I still had ANY available credit on ANY of my credit cards. Ookkkk…..sure…. I can just see the run to stores now, with folks frantically maxing out all of their credit cards before filing. That made NO sense whatsoever, having to get further in debt to get OUT of debt?? I told him so, and further told him that “that” may be the rule in his state, but my attorney!
had said bankruptcy rules vary from state to state, and I would be sure to seek his opinion on this latest “fact.” Haven’t heard from that particular collector since….. So what are some of your stories??
Answer:
Well being a collector for a phone company I get all the time that people are dying, cancer, anything and they all need their phone. I tell them to have the water checked in their area cus everyone seems to have some crazy ailment. Some woman told me her phone could be a “Critical account” meaning we can’t disconnect because her daughter has asthma. I know “we” don’t lie alot (hehhee) but those collection agency collectors will. I had this guy tell me he would throw me in jail if I didn’t mail a payment. It was like for a magazine sub or something like that. Customers will tell you they’ve been unemployed for 2 months. How are you getting by? So you’re not eating or paying rent? So bottom line. Collectors may lie but I think customers lie more I have b!
een unemployed since November 1st. My family has been getting !
by by ea
ting and paying rent with unemployment compensation that I get. Then I will probably need to take a job locally here that pays a little less than unemployement compensation. Hopefully you never end up in a situation like I am.
By admin
August 4th, 2008 at 12:00am
Under Bankruptcy Information
Question:
I am considering filing for bankruptcy in Georgia and have two questions. 1. Can a second mortgage be discharged? 2. If your spouse is on the credit cards and bankruptcy is filed single, do the credit card companies try to collect from ones spouse?
Answer:
The lien usually can’t be wiped out in a Chapter 7, although the personal obligation can be. This means that if you want to keep the property, you have to keep paying the second, but if you don’t and they foreclose, they can’t come after you for any deficiency. Depending on the circumstances, you might want to look at a Chapter 13 to strip off the lien. Generally speaking, yes. 1 no 2 yes
By admin
July 14th, 2008 at 12:00am
Under Bankruptcy Information
Question:
I am going in for my hearing and I’m nervous. Is Sears going to come after me? I have a lawyer, so there should be no problems. I have the flu and feel awful as well as the nervous feeling of going to court. Any thoughts or comments are appreciated. Wish me luck.
Answer:
I know it’s too late now to offer any help (I have the flu too), but I’m sure it went fine. The vast majority of my clients find the 341 far more terrifying in the anticipation than in the actual event. You won’t hear from the collection agencies; the bankruptcy prohibits them from contacting you. If AmEx or any other creditor plans to contest your discharge, they would contact your lawyer. In this case, no news is good news. Wait for the bar date (the date creditors have to file objections); if it passes, you’re home free.
By admin
January 11th, 2008 at 12:00am
Under Bankruptcy Information
Question:
I am currently living in Europe and I am not a member of the military. If I file Chapter 7 do I have to physically attend the meeting or can I have a lawyer represent me? Perhaps an even more relevent question is: Can I even file when I am not residing in the US? Thank you.
Answer:
I have filed for a number of people who live outside the US. Generally (but depending on which trustee the case is assigned to) it is not necessary to return to the US for the 341 meeting. If I can help in this matter, please feel free to e-mail me privately.
By admin
February 14th, 2009 at 12:00am
Under Bankruptcy Information
Question:
I’m considering refinancing and there are some good deals out there,
but they’re from companies I never heard of (probably brokers). On
another thread, there was split opinion on whether it matters who you
get your mortgage from.
I can think of some bad things that could happen. But am I just being
paranoid? Here are examples. Tell me if they really happen.
1) you’re not credited for a payment and this appears on your credit
history as a delinquency
2) they require an impound account, and they don’t pay your
taxes/insurance on time. You’re charged a late fee as a result
3) you call regarding a problem (like #1 or #2), and you’re put on
hold forever or can’t reach them at all.
There’s quite a difference between the rate of lesser known lenders
and the well-known ones (50 basis points). I need to decide whether
it’s worth the risk.
Answer:
Thats why you should go to a local homestead Society, a loan company tha
that is made up of peeople who put their money into the homestead with
the wish of someday buying a house and the ones that borrow are buying a
house. The one i went with in 1971 was in business since 1800’s and
went through the depression and survived….. the rate for me back then
was 7.5 % for 25 years… i did not have any points…… they are still
in business, they always paid the taxes and insurance from my escrow
account on time and when it was getting low i would receive a notice
that i would need X dollars to bring it up to anticipate the
tax/insurance payments.. you see its their money there were
protecting…Nice people to deal with and they always answered the phone
and i could go there and talk to them if needed as they were in a one
story building with no hidden offices, president of the homestead was
right there in sight as you entered the business…………………
alot of local savings and loans went out of business in the late 70’s to
80’s with the scandals and the fed. govt. had to pay off these bad
loans, not these people, they did not have any bad loans. they did the
right thing and are still running a good business….. i suggest that
you look for one and use one and save yourself some grief.
By admin
March 9th, 2009 at 12:00am
Under Bankruptcy Information
Question:
I have a couple legal questions, and I think the situation is fairly simple,
so I’d rather not spend money I don’t have paying a lawyer to answer my
questions…
My ex and I got into a timeshare while we were married. In the divorce it
was awarded to him, along with the remaining balance on the “loan.”
Recently he notified me he was going to stop paying on it because he never
uses it.
Current dh and I are filing bankruptcy this week. I have heard that just
because the debt was assigned to my ex, that doesn’t mean the loan company
can’t come after me since he’s stopped paying.
I’ve been listening to you all talk about quit claim deeds, would one of
these help me?
Should I just put the account on the bankruptcy papers?
If I made out a “bill of sale” to my ex backdated to the time of the divorce
when the timeshare was awarded to him and the debt for it assigned solely to
him, would that make it so I wouldn’t be liable?
Any other suggestions?
Answer:
I’m not a lawyer and this opinion is worth what you’re paying for it -
if your name is still on the loan, you’re liable for the debt in the
eyes of the lender.
I don’t think a quit claim deed will do a thing for you - the deed is
proof of ownership and that has nothing to do with any loan that might
or might not be outstanding.
> If I made out a “bill of sale” to my ex backdated to the time of the divorce
> when the timeshare was awarded to him and the debt for it assigned solely to
> him, would that make it so I wouldn’t be liable?
I doubt it would make any difference - and it would be fraud as well.
By admin
July 4th, 2009 at 12:00am
Under Bankruptcy Information
Question:
I am wondering if refinancing will make any sense for me at this time.
I am looking to reduce my monthly payments.
Any suggestions or recent experiences with interest rates.
Any recommendations on how to go about finding the best lender?
Answer:
You’re not going to find anyone willing to refinance your car at better
than a 3.9% rate. Car loans are currently in the high sixes to low sevens
for new car purchases. You probably have a promotional rate, which no one
is going to beat to do a refinance. If you want those “zero percent” loans
that you’re seeing on TV, you’ll have to buy a new car. What’s the repayment period? If you got the special 3.9% rate based on a 3
year repayment period and are stretched for the payment, you might be able
to refinance the balance owed over another 4 years or so and lower your
payment, but you’ll certainly end up paying a lot more in the long run.
Otherwise, even if you could find a low rate, it’s now a two year old car
(2002’s out or due out shortly) and, depending on finance period, you will
likely owe more than it’s worth. In addition if it was new when you bought
it, you were probably able to finance over a longer period than you can now
with a used car. I’ve refinanced before through credit union when stretched
for cash. Not sure how eager banks or finance companies are for such a
deal.
By admin
July 6th, 2009 at 12:00am
Under Bankruptcy Information
Question:
I am trying to decide if I should move my $10,500 car loan at 9.75% to
a credit card that promises 3.99% until the loan balance is paid off.
Here is my situation: After looking at my credit report and adding up
all the revolving credit limits, it comes to about $44,000. I
currently have about $9,700 of that limit used.. $9,000 on a credit
card and $700 on a store card. I figured that in the next year I can
save $700 or so in interest, over $1000 in two years by making the
switch.. I plan on selling the car in the next two years.
Will it hurt my credit score if I do this? What are the implications?
Answer:
Are you sure that you can do this? Is there any “cash advance fee”
or similar fee?
I don’t know your particular offer — I couldn’t, since you gave no
details beyond the above — but the usual thing is to transfer
balances from other credit cards.
Read the fine print VERY carefully. Look for “gotchas” like their
reserving the right to jump your interest rate up to 20%+ if you’re
even a day late on a payment.
As for your credit score, it would depend on the credit limit of the
new card. If your new card has a limit not much greater than the
loan amount, then paying off the loan and opening the credit card
should make little or no difference. I have ATT(Citibank) and BankOne cards and get those “coveeeeeeniece”
checks for 2.99% or 3.99% for the life of the loan AT LEAST once a month.
No transcation fee, etc.
Also, if your credit rating is good they wouldn’t THINK of raising
your rate. Last year because of change in jobs and direct pay snafus
I missed my BankOne payments twice within a couple months. Not only
didn’t they raise my rate from they even refunded the late charge.
It all depends on your credit rating and payment history.
So, if the OP’s got good credit, a good history and is responsible with
his payments there’s not go for it.
By admin
March 17th, 2009 at 12:00am
Under Bankruptcy Information
Question:
I have opted out of receiving mailings from all companies I deal with,
credit bureaus and Direct Marketing Association lists and I do not subscribe
to any magazines, yet I received massive amounts of junk mail at the new
address when I bought a new home.
Apparenty, junk mailers collect info about home sales from public records.
Is there any way of blocking your name and address from being given out for
the purpose of mass mailings?
Answer:
I have access to the County Assessor’s data for any parcel in
California - it’s part of the public records, and you can go to the
courthouse in any county in the state - and most likely any state in
the union - and look up the same information used to mail those offers
to you. Can you also get the social security numbers of the owners of
the real estate? If criminals can get millions of social security
numbers by anonymous browsing through public records, the
amount of fraud resulting from that should cause enough of a
public outcry to change the laws about access to public records. Not on the databases I have access to - just stuff like the amount of
the first and second mortgages, balance due, intrerest rate, and other
stuff that a lot of people would be surprised about
By admin
August 15th, 2008 at 12:00am
Under Bankruptcy Information
Question:
I want to file ch 7 in Tennessee but do not know the laws on BK Ch7. going to see a lawyer but would like to know what TN lets you keep. Want to keep a car and a truck and 2 credit cards. wife is not going to be filling
Answer:
You can’t keep the credit cards, unless they have a zero balance when you file (and even then they may be canceled when the credit card company pulls your credit report). You are required to list *all* debts and claims against you. A list of the TN exemptions may be found at http://www.cyberstation.net/~paralegal/tn.htm. I have written a Bankruptcy FAQ which should answer many of your questions about what is involved–it may be found at http://users.erols.com/lawyer/FAQ/br_faq.htm.
By admin
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