Probably half a dozen times per week I meet with someone who has been notified that their next check is going to be a quite a bit lighter – wage garnishment. If you are living paycheck to paycheck finding out your wages are going to be garnished is terrifying. Here in Arizona once a creditor obtains a judgment against you they can take up to 25% of your paycheck. And what is most surprising is that for many of the people I meet with this is the first time they [...]
After your bankruptcy case is filed, if everything has been done right, the rest of your chapter 7 bankruptcy should be smooth sailing. You must remember – millions have gone through this process before you. The bankruptcy court has developed a streamlined process that can handled tens of thousands of cases per month in each state! My approach to a bankruptcy case is to be as thorough as possible prior to filing. If we file detailed information with the bankruptcy court then the process will likely be more smooth because [...]
Credit scores. They rule our world but so little is known about how they are calculated and how we can make them better. In my law practice I have been looking for someone I can refer clients to who can help them as they try to increase their credit score and deal with bad credit. I have found that person. Debbie Oliver is the owner of I Clean Ugly Credit and knows her stuff. After meeting with Debbie I knew I had to have her on the show to discuss [...]
“Can I go to jail for not paying my debts?” I get this question all the time. And my answer has always been “no”. There are a lot of other terrible things than can happen but jail is typically not one of them…until now. I came across an interesting New York Times editorial about how more and more people are being sent to jail when they can’t pay their debts. This seems strange because debtor’s prisons were outlawed in 1833. Further, the United States Supreme Court has ruled that you [...]
Finding good, solid, reliable information on the Internet is tough. There are thousands of websites, blogs, and videos out there, all claiming to be the authority on dealing with debt. The information you relay on in dealing with your debt problems can have lasting consequences – both good and bad (and some downright disastrous!). So how do you know where to turn? I have been working as an attorney in fields related to debt (bankruptcy, collections, etc.) for about a decade. And during that time I have come across some websites [...]
Many people will obtain a copy of their credit report and feel a sense of relief when they see that a certain debts have been charged off. This sense of relief comes from their understanding that once a creditor decides to charge off a debt that they can no longer pursue it. So, a charged off debt means no more collection calls and certainly no more risk of being sued, right? Not right. In fact, it is totally wrong. The decision to charge off (or “write off”) a debt is [...]
The answer is no. You are not going to go to jail because you can’t pay your debts. In ages past if you coudn’t pay your debts you would be put in debtor’s prison, however the U.S. government abolished debtor’s prisons in 1833. Some unscrupulous debt collection agencies will threaten that you will be arrested for not paying them the money they are seeking. If this happens to you it is a good idea to speak with a consumer attorney to see if the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (“FDCPA”) [...]
Online Legal Services Reduce the Cost of Litigation Just as you are settling in to watch the evening news or catch up on the latest episode of Modern Family you TiVoed, you get a knock at the door and get hit with legal papers from a process server. You have officially been served. The debt that you haven’t heard from in a while and were hoping would just go away has reared its ugly head in the form of a lawsuit. When clients come into meet with me for bankruptcy [...]
Usually with my bankruptcy blog posts I go over some aspect of the bankruptcy process, however today I thought I would write on an issue that I see in nearly every bankruptcy consultation I do. Guilt. Almost everyone I meet with expresses embarrassment/disbelief/guilt over having to go through the bankruptcy process. I think much of this stems from widely held beliefs by the public in general that bankruptcy is symbol failure or someone trying to game the system. I have found the exact opposite to be true. As I sit [...]
When I meet with clients for a bankruptcy consultations it usually goes without saying that the collection calls are going non-stop. In fact, it is not unusual to have a few calls to their cell phone while they are in the bankruptcy consultation with. As I have mentioned in previous articles, when you file bankruptcy the calls will stop, as will garnishments, lawsuits, collection letters, etc. However, it is important to understand that the phone calls will generally not stop until the bankruptcy case is actually filed with the bankruptcy [...]
When it comes to hiring a bankruptcy attorney you have a lot of choices out there. No doubt that prior to finding my website you surfed through various bankruptcy attorney’s websites and have read what they have to say…so why should you hire me?
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We are a Debt Relief Agency. We help people file for bankruptcy relief under the Bankruptcy Code. The services, benefits, or assistance we provide in connection with consumer debts may involve bankruptcy relief under the Bankruptcy Code.