Bankruptcy may be a better solution, for a consumer with too much debt to pay, than a negotiated settlement with the creditors. Debt settlement companies will probably not tell you this, but you could end up owing tax if you settle with your creditors for a discount rather than discharging debts in bankruptcy. The IRS [...]
June 2009
It is not uncommon for debtors to have attorney fee claims against themselves and/or future property of the estate. The most common example is an attorney fee lien agreement on a personal injury case. In the event of recovery in those cases, the attorney typically receives 33% or more of the gross settlement or judgment. [...]
Congress established the Office of the U. S. Trustee as part of the Bankruptcy Reform Act of 1978 to act on behalf of the executive branch and regulate or supervise certain aspects of the bankruptcy process. According to the official website the US Trustee program consists of the Executive Office for U. S. Trustees (EOUST) [...]
A big mistake that we make is that we believe that we are indestructible. Not Superman indestructible, but we don’t believe bad things happen to us. We do know that uninsured medical bills are a major cause of bankruptcy. Yet we fail to take advantage of the insurances available to us to save on the premium and we [...]
After you file a bankruptcy case, you may get a letter from a company that makes it seem as if you have to use their company to take the Financial Education Course that is required by bankruptcy law. You do have to take a second course, now that you have filed, but you don’t have [...]
Why is it that consumers and small business owners see bankruptcy as a mark of shame to be avoided at all costs when bankruptcy is touted as a new beginning and a positive step for corporate America? Is there really anything different about “bankruptcy” when the debtor is General Motors than when it is Joe [...]
