As Americans grapple with an increasingly burdensome household debt-load and rising household-related expenses, I find that one of the most commonly asked questions is as follows: “Is there a morally correct way of dispensing with a burden which simply cannot be shouldered for very much longer?”  Short Answer: Bankruptcy, when used in the right context [...]

Debtors report receiving credit applications after bankruptcy, often from the same lenders whose debts were discharged. A study of empirical data collected from post-bankruptcy debtors by University of Iowa Associate Law Professor Katherine Porter concludes that creditors repeatedly solicit debtors with everything from credit cards and live checks to car loans and mortgages. Professor Porter [...]

One way to deal with unaffordable student loan payments is an Income Contingent Repayment Plan (ICP), where the monthly payment will vary with your income, as low as zero, and the unpaid balance will be forgiven at age 65. You will have accruing interest and the public reporting of the debt, and you may [...]

It is not true that people can’t get credit for 10 years if they file for bankruptcy. Credit can be given as soon as someone files a bankruptcy case. Creditors are free to lend money, or not to lend money, to whomever they chose.
There is nothing in the bankruptcy laws that forbid people [...]

Chapter 7 and 13 are the two most common types of bankruptcies filed by non-businesses.  They are very different in the way they work, and there are advantages and disadvantages to both.
A Chapter 7 is often called a straight bankruptcy since it discharges all dischargeable debts.  It’s a one-shot deal usually, and after four to [...]

Your employer provides access to a retirement plan and has life insurance as part of a benefits package, but you don’t take advantage of it. What? Yes, it costs money an it will reduce your take-home pay, but consider the advantages: cheap term life insurance will pay death benefits to your dependents [...]

Except for Monroe and Washtenaw Counties, (which are held in Ann Arbor) Chapter 7 341 hearings for the Eastern District of Michigan, that is, Detroit, are held in the building at 211 West Fort in downtown Detroit.  A Comerica bank takes up most of the lobby.
The building takes up the block bounded by Fort Street [...]

The Bankruptcy Court knows what you have because you tell them. You are required to list all your assets on your bankruptcy petition. You must disclose all property that you own. That means anything that is yours.
Once your bankruptcy case is filed, you are under the jurisdiction of the United States Bankruptcy [...]