If you have assets you want to keep, and a steady income, a Chapter 13 bankruptcy may be the answer. Under a plan of repayment, you almost always keep all your assets in exchange for a payment plan.

Chapter 13, which is reorganizing your finances, is commonly known as a “reorganization bankruptcy.” In Florida, this is one of the most common ways for people to possibly stop a foreclosure of a home, to catch up the arrears or get a mortgage mediation, or stop the repossession of a car, to get current on the loan.

Sounds good, but is it worth it?

The amount of your repayment plan depends on your disposable income. That is, the income left after necessary expenses each month. For example, if you earn $ 2,000 per month after taxes, and $ 1,500 of which are used to cover expenses, you have $500 of disposable income that could be used to make your monthly payment.

Sounds good, but Chapter 13 bankruptcy in Florida is not the right choice for everyone. There are a number of advantages and disadvantages, and it is important to understand this before you file your case. A bankruptcy attorney can review this with you and help you make the right decision.

You do not need to hire a lawyer … but is it worth the risk?

You can file a Chapter 13 bankruptcy in Florida without hiring a lawyer.  There is no legal requirement to have a mechanic fix your brakes either. You could change the brake pads, disks, and such … but it’s a very complicated job and even worse if you have not done before. One little mistake and you will probably end up smashing your car into a tree.

It is the same with the presentation of a bankruptcy case in court. The paperwork is very complex, and if you miss one little thing you can jeopardize your entire case. If this happens, you may not be able to present a new case and get the same level of protection.

It costs you nothing to sit and talk with an experienced attorney.

Some lawyers charge an arm and a leg to give you the time of day, but not us. Make an appointment, come and sit down to talk about your problems. Let’s think about your options (including bankruptcy alternatives) and develop a plan to make your future better than the present.

You probably have a lot of questions, and I want to answer them. You can contact me or call  888-399-0611 to set up a free consultation without obligation.

Before talking with me, I would like you to read these articles on my website:

Chapter 13 Plan Payments

Chapter 7 Bankruptcy

And when you’re done with that, please take the time to read my Blog.

Most people think of Chapter 7 bankruptcy when they think of getting out of debt, and that’s because it is the most common way to end your debt problems. Most people filing Chapter 7 will retain all their property, but that is because they were advised by an experienced bankruptcy attorney who knows how to handle cases in Florida – one of the characteristics of a good lawyer is to not let you declare a Chapter 7 bankruptcy unless it is right for you.

There are pros and cons to filing Chapter 7, and I can review this with you in order to help you make an informed decision to decide if you should file bankruptcy.

The Process of Chapter 7 Bankruptcy In Florida

Declaring bankruptcy is a partnership between you and your attorney. Working together, we will gather  the information about your income, assets and debts. You will need to identify your sources of income, review expenses, and work through any problem in your case to eliminate surprises.

You don’t want to declare Chapter 7 bankruptcy only to be surprised after filing

There are lots of forms to be completed in a Chapter 7 bankruptcy. In fact, the entire filing will be between 50 and 60 pages of information. Do not worry, you will not be sitting at your computer trying to solve it – that’s one reason why you hire a lawyer in the first place. We know what to disclose, and the right way.

Credit Counseling … but not the kind that you think

Before your Chapter 7 bankruptcy is declared, you will go through a credit counseling course with a provider approved by the court. It takes about 20 minutes to complete, and you can get it done by phone or internet. We provide all this information.

This is not the same type of credit counseling you see on TV. In fact, it’s just a formality. You can thank Congress for creating this law in 2005, it is 20 minutes of wasted time.

Once the case is filed …

At the time that the Chapter 7 bankruptcy is filed, you are given a case number. Assuming that you filed no other cases in the last 12 months, an automatic stay goes into effect, which prevents your creditors from taking any actions against you. There are limits to the automatic stay, but only in rare circumstances that I will address.

About a month after filing Chapter 7, will attend a meeting of creditors. Creditors are allowed to come to ask questions about your case.  But don’t worry, this rarely happens. The meeting is so routine that it usually only takes about 5 minutes and consists of questions that are written in a handbook for trustees by the government of the United States.

Objections to your bankruptcy would be raised and discussed at this point, and the judge would make any decision necessary. But the judge does not attend the meeting of creditors.

It costs you nothing to sit and talk with an experienced bankruptcy attorney

Some lawyers charge an arm and a leg to give you the time of day, but not us. Make an appointment to come and sit down to discuss your problems. We will map out all your options (including bankruptcy alternatives) and create a plan to make your future better than the present.

You should ask a lot of questions and I want to answer them. Please contact me or call 888-399-0611 to set up a free, no obligation consultation.

But before talking with me, I would like you to read these articles on my website:

Bankruptcy Information – The Basics

Chapter 13 Bankruptcy 

And when you’re done with that, please take the time to read my Blog.

You may think you do. But if you are one of many people who are:

• behind on mortgage payments;
• in the middle of a short sale;
• going through a strategic default; or
• filed bankruptcy and surrendered the home

you may not have the insurance coverage that you would think is normal to protect yourself from a loss, or worse, a lawsuit.

Most homeowners with a mortgage usually have an escrow account. An escrow account holds the extra amount you pay each month in your mortgage payment for the lender to pay your property taxes and homeowners insurance when they come due each year.

Property taxes come due in November of each year (to take advantage of the 4% discount).

Your homeowners insurance generally comes due in the same month each year for the month you initially bought the property.  I purchased my home in June of 2006, so my insurance is due in June each year.

If you are one of the many people who have an escrow account, but have stopped paying your mortgage for any reason, the insurance policy you are familiar with may have been canceled.

Once your insurance is canceled due to non-payment, the lender will issue their own insurance policy to cover the home. It is called a forced placed insurance policy. The lender has basically forced an insurance policy on your property.

But they problem for you is: it only covers the lender, it does not cover you.

If the house burns down, the insurance company will pay the lender for the loss. Your possessions? Not covered.

Someone trips and falls on your cracked driveway? You aren’t covered. The person can sue you for your “dangerous” driveway.

Far-fetched you say? Not at all.

Example one: I had a client sued by a mobile car detailer. He tripped on the driveway. Example two: Husband and wife clients were surrendering a property. They weren’t paying the mortgage, so there was no insurance coverage – not for them anyway. A neighbor’s son fell off their four-wheeler and broke his leg. They obviously were sued.

Those are extreme examples, but they certainly happen. I am more concerned with flood damage, fire, or theft.

Don’t turn an unfortunate situation regarding your home mortgage into a disaster – not knowing whether you are properly insured or not.

There is much confusion over what your homeowners association can do to you if you stop paying your dues.

It gets especially tricky when someone is not paying their mortgage or has filed bankruptcy.

Associations are feeling the pinch of the mortgage crisis too. When a significant number of owners in a community stop paying their dues, it can be a financial strain on the whole community. The money is needed for common areas, maintenance, reserves for future costs and expenditures.

But many people who have stopped paying their mortgage and maybe waiting for a short sale or a foreclosure to finish think that the HOA can’t do anything to them.

This is not true.

HOAs are starting to enforce their rights and foreclosing their lien against the property.

No, it does not wipe out the mortgage or mortgages on the property. It acts more like an eviction.

The homeowner who is not paying the dues can be forced out of the home. The HOA will likely then put a tenant in the property to pay the back dues and continuing dues. Any overage would then be turned over to the mortgage company.

See an article on an extreme example of an HOA foreclosure here.

People who have filed bankruptcy may be under the misconception that they are off the hook for all HOA dues.

This is also not correct.

Any dues that were owed up to the day a bankruptcy case was filed are discharged as no longer being personally owed. But dues that become owed after the bankruptcy has been filed are still personally owed – and the balance keeps rising.

This becomes a problem when a debtor in bankruptcy has surrendered the home and no longer lives there, yet the mortgage company will not finish the foreclosure. The association may be limited to how much they can recoup from the lender once the foreclosure is finished (read here).

So will your homeowners association come looking to you for the balance if you stop paying your HOA dues?

Get the advice you need in how best to exit your home mortgage and HOA dues from me.

By filing bankruptcy.

I may even be able to help you get some of the garnished funds back! I have been successful in making creditors who have taken funds from clients’ paychecks or bank accounts return the money.

But I can only get the funds back that were taken in the last 90 days. So time is certainly of the essence. You must act quickly.

The far better option is to consult with a bankruptcy attorney well before the garnishment happens.

I am amazed the number of people who ignore a lawsuit all the way through the end. There are many steps a creditor must take to garnish you.

First the creditor has to sue you in state court. Then the creditor gets a judgment. Then the attorney tries to execute the judgment and will inquire as to your financial situation through a Fact Information Sheet. Now the attorney knows about your bank accounts and employer, if he or she didn’t know already.

Then the attorney works on getting the garnishment to satisfy the judgment.

This doesn’t happen overnight.

You should understand your options well in advance of having a creditor take money from your paycheck or bank account.

Some people come to the realization that bankruptcy is their best option. But they are already being garnished, and don’t have any funds to spare to pay an attorney to help them. An endless cycle of not having enough money to get help to stop the garnishment that is taking the needed money. Round and round it goes.

When one of my clients has a garnishment, I want to file the case as soon as possible.

Immediately after the filing, I send notice to the court and to the creditor’s attorney informing both that a bankruptcy has been filed. This stops any further action in the lawsuit.

It also puts the creditor’s attorney on notice to not take any more funds if the garnishment is already in place.

Seek my advice before the lawsuit becomes a financial burden. Don’t fall into a garnishment trap that may make it difficult to pay for the help you need.

After waiting for my clients’ turns at some recent creditor meetings, people still think hiring the least expensive attorney is the best idea to get their financial well-being on track.

Have you seen the TV commercial about fixing a $5 haircut?

The idea is that the longstanding hometown barber sees a national chain open a cheap haircut storefront across the street.  The hometown barber obviously charges more. Luckily, it isn’t going well for the national chain, customers are coming out of there with awful haircuts.

Local barber goes to a print shop and gets a banner. It reads: We Fix $5 Haircuts!

National haircut chain goes out of business. Local barbershop stays in business.

Why does he stay in business? Because he knows how to do his job, do it right, and charge appropriately for it.

Now back to the actual creditor meetings the other day. The bankruptcy trustee was explaining to the attorneys and clients, as a group, about the missteps in their bankruptcy filings.

While there can be a certain amount of negotiation when it comes to unexempt assets, certain principles are straightforward.

Clients should have been warned in advance that certain tactics for protecting their assets probably won’t work. I wonder how many of the clients were hearing of the potential problem for the first time that day – rather than months before the case was even filed.

I don’t doubt that people who to me come for a consultation often go on other consultations with other attorneys. Some other attorneys charge more, others charge less.

But it is important to remember: there is more to choosing the right attorney than the fact that he or she only charges $5 for your “haircut”.

How much will it cost you in the long run if that $5 “haircut” can’t be fixed?

Please call (888) 399-0611 to see how I may be able to help you with your financial situation.

By filing bankruptcy.

I may even be able to help you get some of the garnished funds back! I have been successful in making creditors who have taken funds from clients’ paychecks or bank accounts return the money.

But I can only get the funds back that were taken in the last 90 days. So time is certainly of the essence. You must act quickly.

The far better option is to consult with a bankruptcy attorney well before the garnishment happens.

I am amazed the number of people who ignore a lawsuit all the way through the end. There are many steps a creditor must take to garnish you.

First the creditor has to sue you in state court. Then the creditor gets a judgment. Then the attorney tries to execute the judgment and will inquire as to your financial situation through a Fact Information Sheet. Now the attorney knows about your bank accounts and employer, if he or she didn’t know already.

Then the attorney works on getting the garnishment to satisfy the judgment.

This doesn’t happen overnight.

You should understand your options well in advance of having a creditor take money from your paycheck or bank account.

Some people come to the realization that bankruptcy is their best option. But they are already being garnished, and don’t have any funds to spare to pay an attorney to help them. An endless cycle of not having enough money to get help to stop the garnishment that is taking the needed money. Round and round it goes.

When one of my clients has a garnishment, I want to file the case as soon as possible.

Immediately after the filing, I send notice to the court and to the creditor’s attorney informing both that a bankruptcy has been filed. This stops any further action in the lawsuit.

It also puts the creditor’s attorney on notice to not take any more funds if the garnishment is already in place.

Seek my advice before the lawsuit becomes a financial burden. Don’t fall into a garnishment trap that may make it difficult to pay for the help you need.

After waiting for my clients’ turns at some recent creditor meetings, people still think hiring the least expensive attorney is the best idea to get their financial well-being on track.

Have you seen the TV commercial about fixing a $5 haircut?

The idea is that the longstanding hometown barber sees a national chain open a cheap haircut storefront across the street.  The hometown barber obviously charges more. Luckily, it isn’t going well for the national chain, customers are coming out of there with awful haircuts.

Local barber goes to a print shop and gets a banner. It reads: We Fix $5 Haircuts!

National haircut chain goes out of business. Local barbershop stays in business.

Why does he stay in business? Because he knows how to do his job, do it right, and charge appropriately for it.

Now back to the actual creditor meetings the other day. The bankruptcy trustee was explaining to the attorneys and clients, as a group, about the missteps in their bankruptcy filings.

While there can be a certain amount of negotiation when it comes to unexempt assets, certain principles are straightforward.

Clients should have been warned in advance that certain tactics for protecting their assets probably won’t work. I wonder how many of the clients were hearing of the potential problem for the first time that day – rather than months before the case was even filed.

I don’t doubt that people who to me come for a consultation often go on other consultations with other attorneys. Some other attorneys charge more, others charge less.

But it is important to remember: there is more to choosing the right attorney than the fact that he or she only charges $5 for your “haircut”.

How much will it cost you in the long run if that $5 “haircut” can’t be fixed?

Please call (888) 399-0611 to see how I may be able to help you with your financial situation.

Call (800) 555-5555 now to fix your credit score!

You have all seen the signs pushed into the ground at highway exits, stop signs, and traffic lights.

It is a great way for you to lose $250 and potentially harm your credit report more than the damage that has already been done.

First of all, do you know what is on your credit report at all? The three major credit reporting companies (Equifax, Experian, and Transunion) are required to give you a free credit report every year.

When was the last time you checked it? If you are like most people, you don’t check it. When you last applied for a car loan or a mortgage, you were told what your credit score was, and that was good enough for you. I have been guilty of that myself.

But I suggest to clients that they go to annualcreditreport.com and pull a free copy of their credit report every 4 months. But here is the important part: only request one of the credit reporting agencies each time.  That way you can take a peek every 4 months without paying. Also, don’t sign up for any of the offers they try to convince you to take. And, don’t use the company with the “catchy” jingles on tv that claims it is free… it isn’t free.

Back to the credit repair companies. Most of these are scams. They take your money and simply send dispute letters into the credit reporting bureaus.

This is to get the reporting of bad credit removed from your credit report, but it only is effective temporarily. When the creditor verifies the debt does exist (and the potential bad payment history) it will simply go back on your credit report.

If one is attempting to get a home loan, which can take time to approve and close, it is likely the lender will pull your credit again near the closing date. The lender will now notice the bad notations that were not there before and now the loan will become an issue.

You have every right to dispute errors on your credit report, and you should.

But most of these companies cannot possibly take the time to be careful when you are paying them only $250.

I can imagine they will blindly send letters to all creditors on your credit report. Maybe creditors that are reporting GOOD payment history will now stop reporting.

If you filed bankruptcy, and a creditor is misreporting a debt that was discharged, then you need to contact your bankruptcy attorney. The creditor must report $0 balance, discharged in bankruptcy, or it may be liable for damages.

It is important to be extremely careful when dealing with your credit. $250 should seem like too small an amount to pay to fix your credit. And if it worked, wouldn’t everyone have done it?

Be cautious and speak with an attorney before tackling your credit and debt issues.

Call (888) 399-0611 or contact me to have your questions answered.