Bankruptcy Blog Archives

Is debt consolidation a good alternative to filing bankruptcy? With the various economic issues facing many Americans today—such as the increase in credit card debt, the decrease in the value of homes, and the surge in the unemployment rate—there are many companies offering debt consolidation services.  You likely have seen or heard various advertisements for [...]

Unfortunately, yes, if your house was sold on the courthouse steps, it is too late to file bankruptcy to save your home.  When your house has been sold at an auction, this generally means that your mortgage company has completed the foreclosure process and someone else now technically owns your home, because they bid to [...]

If you have more than one mortgage, what bankruptcy can do for you depends on if you have a first and second mortgage on your primary residence or if you have more than one property with a mortgage, with the first property being your primary residence and the other properties being investment properties or vacation [...]

Payday loans are cash advances which are a short-term loan made at a high interest rate. Payday loans are typically made for a relatively small amount of money, but because of the high interest rates (which may be as high as 300 percent) the debtor may find that they are unable to repay the balance [...]

Mortgage debts are secured debts. What happens if you stop making mortgage payments? Does the lender have the legal right to garnish your wages? Collecting Secured Debt Payments Mortgage lenders have a variety of techniques they can use to pursue debt repayments: reporting the late payments to the credit bureaus, calling you at home and [...]

What is Wage Garnishment? Wage garnishments are used by creditors to subtract money directly from a worker’s pay check to pay for debts owed by the debtor. There are only four states that do not allow wage garnishment for credit card debt; they are North and South Carolina, Pennsylvania and Texas. State laws, however, have [...]

Many first time bankruptcy filers ask this question, “If you do not have the money, can you include legal costs in a bankruptcy?” The answer to the question is that it all depends on the type of bankruptcy you file, the bankruptcy court, and your lawyer. The type of bankruptcy you file might influence legal [...]

This question was posted recently on our bankruptcy forum: “Can a retained lawyer stop a judgement enforcement attempt before the actual bankruptcy is filed, and how much time between when an attorney is retained before the case must be filed? If you originally had credit card debt and it has been resold numerous times, must [...]

Technically, yes, you can file for bankruptcy regardless of how little debt you owe, as there is not a legal minimum debt requirement in the bankruptcy law for either a Chapter 7 (i.e., debt liquidation) or Chapter 13 (i.e., debt reorganization) bankruptcy.  However, before you file for a bankruptcy for a small amount of debt, [...]

If you have more debt than you can afford to pay, you may be evaluating if bankruptcy is an option you should pursue to alleviate the debt burden you are dealing with.  After all, you have likely seen in the news various reports on the economic difficulties that many are experiencing and how bankruptcies are [...]