Archives for 2014

Bankruptcy Trustees If you live in Chicago and file a chapter 13 bankruptcy, the trustee appointed to your case is either going to be Marilyn Marshall or Tom Vaughn. Although each trustee follows the same bankruptcy laws and processes, each has a different standard or structure when it comes to confirming cases. In general, cases are more likely to be confirmed if you have trustee Vaughn. This is because the trustee is a little more forgiving when it comes to making amendments. The trustee understands that the debtor and the debtor’s attorney are doing everything they can to get a case confirmed. The debtor wants to start repaying his creditors. The attorney wants to get the case confirmed + Click Here For Read More

People are understandable concerned about obtaining credit after filing for bankruptcy.  It is a real concern for many people.  We have become so used to credit and the leeway that it provides in making purchases.  The good news is that you will be able to obtain credit within a very short time after filing bankruptcy.  You can start with a secured card.  This is where you put a certain dollar amount on account at a bank and in exchange for that they give you charging privileges up to that amount. You can also try and purchase a vehicle shortly after filing. Although the interest rate may be higher than if you never file, you will be able to start getting positive reports to the three major + Click Here For Read More

If you have no assets and your sole income is Social Security, then you may not have to file chapter 7 bankruptcy. It really depends upon your level of stress and aggravation that you can handle. Creditors are going to attempt to collect on a debt until they realize that they have no means to actually collect on the debt. What I mean to say is this: if a creditor is seeking an outstanding debt of $15,000 due to a credit card charge, the creditor is going to pursue collection on that debt. The creditor may even file a lawsuit and obtain a judgment. The creditor then may seek what's known as post-judgment collection efforts. It is at this time that the creditor will first realize that there + Click Here For Read More

I am seeing any increase in potential bankruptcy clients who have parking tickets owed to the city of Chicago on their creditors list. It seems that it's hard to live in the city of Chicago and not be subject to the wrath of parking tickets. And when you don't pay those tickets on time, the dollar amounts double. Eventually, you can be subject to a boot on your vehicle as well as a suspension of your driver’s license. Chapter 13 bankruptcy will undo the suspension, take you off of the boot list, and allow you to repay a portion of your parking ticket debt over a three to five-year period. This debt for parking tickets which is non-dischargeable in a chapter 7 bankruptcy case, can be paid + Click Here For Read More

Most people are under the misconceptions that if they file for bankruptcy, then they will lose all of their property. This is simply not the case. Most people who file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy retain all of their personal property. That is because the state of Illinois provides exemptions as it related to personal property. This means that a certain value of property is protected while going through the bankruptcy process. The transcript of the video below talks about the specific dollar amounts in greater detail Jesse Barrientes: Some people have bigger boxes, Dave, and some people have smaller ones. So what property then can I continue to keep in a Chapter 7 bankruptcy? Talk about a + Click Here For Read More

In the past, if you were behind on your mortgage payments and did not want to keep your home, you had the ability to surrender it without much concern. Everything changed however at the start of 2014. The mortgage debt forgiveness relief act was not extended into 2014. This means that if you surrender your home, you may be hit with a huge tax known as cancellation of debt or debt forgiveness. This amount has to be added to your taxable income in the upcoming year.   If you do a short sale, you will still be hit with a taxable event because of the cancellation of debt. In prior years, short selling a home was a way to avoid a mortgage deficiency as well as a taxable event due to + Click Here For Read More