It was reported earlier this week that former seven-time Pro Bowl defensive lineman filed for chapter 7 bankruptcy. While it is nothing out of the ordinary for a retired professional athlete to file for bankruptcy, there are things we can learn about bankruptcy, and chapter 7 bankruptcy specifically from Mr. Sapp’s case. #1 – Bankruptcy Can Happen to Anyone In his bankruptcy schedules Mr. Sapp reported income from various sources in the total amount of $115,000 per month! For those of you with a calculator that is nearly $1.4 million [...]
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Most people that I meet with for a bankruptcy consultation have at least one car payment. A common myth about bankruptcy is that you can keep your vehicle and eliminate the debt. Not true. If you owe money on a car you must continue to pay the monthly payment or the bank will be able to repossess the car – even if you are filing for bankruptcy. Chapter 7 bankruptcy offers you three options on ways to deal with the debt on your car. You can keep it, surrender it, [...]
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If you have been sued by a debt buyer like Midland Funding, LVNV, LLC, Portfolio Recovery or any of other companies out there your initial reaction is probably that you want this to go away and go away now. Before making any decision take some time to evaluate your options. If you live in Arizona you have 20 days from the day you received the complaint and summons before you have to file a response with the court. Take that time to make a sound decision. So what options do you [...]
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I deal with bankruptcy issues all day long. I think about bankruptcy. I read about bankruptcy. I file bankruptcies. And because of this sometimes I am afraid that I may lose sight of the fact that my clients simply don’t. My goal as a lawyer is to provide my clients with information about the bankruptcy process and then guide them through their court filing – hopefully with as little pain as possible. In reviewing how I do this I have come up with five tips that will help you and your [...]
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Yesterday I received a telephone call from a person who was looking into filing bankruptcy. She made it very clear from the get-go that price was the main concern when it came to choosing someone to help her with the bankruptcy filing. I understand that. If you are needing to file bankruptcy money is obviously tight and you want to get the best deal possible. While I am all for bargain shopping in most areas, one area where I would not recommend going with the lowest price out there is with [...]
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We sat there in my office, large stack of bills on one side of the table and a half dozen judgments on the other side. The credit card bills had not been paid in some time and the judgments were a few months old. After some preliminary discussion on the debts and bankruptcy process the person sitting across from me asked if I thought bankruptcy was a good option. They expressed how much they didn’t want to file for bankruptcy and hoped to deal with their debt problem another way. [...]
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A few days ago the attorney general for West Virginia filed suit against Midland Funding, LLC, one of the largest debt buyers in the country. In the complaint against Midland Funding the attorney general claimed the Midland was filing lawsuits against consumers with false and unreliable mass-produced affidavits. These affidavits were often the only form of “proof” that the debt was owed by the person who was being sued. Here in Arizona I meet and talk with people on a daily basis who have been sued by Midland Funding or [...]
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This may seem like a random topic to write on but lately it has come up a few times. As I have mentioned in many other articles, after you file for bankruptcy you are required to attend a Meeting of Creditors with your attorney and bankruptcy trustee. While this meeting is generally short and nothing to be overly concerned about your attendance is mandatory. For people who have physical limitations, illness, or are otherwise home bound this can cause a lot of worry. For instance I have had clients who [...]
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One of the first questions I get when I meet with people is if they will qualify for a chapter 7 bankruptcy. If you have been researching bankruptcy you have likely learned that in order to file for chapter 7 bankruptcy you have to meet certain income requirements. Specifically, you cannot make more than the median income for a household of your size. For example, in Arizona if you have a household size of 4 your gross income (before taxes) can not be more than $61,267 a year or $5,106 [...]
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I meet with clients on a regular basis that have been sued by a debt buying company on an old credit card debt. If you have had the misfortune of being sued, you know that the process server provides you with a copy of the Complaint and Summons. In Arizona, you have 20 days from the day you are served with the Complaint and Summons to submit a written response to the court. The written response is called the “Answer”. How you answer a lawsuit can have lasting implications in your collection lawsuit. [...]
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