May 18, 2012

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Yes bankruptcy can remove your credit card debts

If your credit card bills are due but funds are scarce, then  you’ must have been hit by the credit card bug, the one that breeds off your inability to practice wise money management. Don’t worry, its quite common in the US. According to Federal banks of Boston, the average credit card debt per household with credit card debt is $15,799 and approximately 609.8 million credit cards are held by U.S. consumers these days. Therefore, if your credit problems are gradually spiraling out of control then, you must know that you are staying at the dangerous late-payment territory. If this situation continues for long, and you can’t consolidate bills in any way, creditors can file a lawsuit against you and can attain right to garnish your wages, place a lien on your assets or can simply force you to file bankruptcy. However, bankruptcy could be a blessing in disguise for you, as it can give you a financial fresh start, by eradicating your existing debts or just by offering a convenient repayment plan. However under certain conditions creditors can stop the discharge of your debts.  Read on to know more in this regard.

Bankruptcy

If you file for personal bankruptcy like chapter 7 or chapter 13, you will no longer remain legally liable to repay the debt amount. Once you are declared bankrupt, neither creditors nor collection agencies can take any from legal action against you and have to cease all types of interactions regarding the discharged debt.

 

 Chapter 7 bankruptcy

Under a Chapter 7 bankruptcy plan, you usually liquidate all your non exempt assets under the supervision of a court appointed trustee and use the money to pay off the amount owed. Credit cards and other unsecured debt could be easily eliminated thorough bankruptcy. However consumers who are filing chapter 7 bankruptcy wont be able to file bankruptcy again before 7 years.

Chapter 13 bankruptcy

However, declaring chapter 13 bankruptcy help a consumer to keep their home and other assets in tact, which they might lose if they filed for a Chapter 7 bankruptcy. Under a chapter 13 plan you can liberate Credit cards and other unsecured debt as well. Here the debt could be paid back as per the federal bankruptcy court approved payment plan. If you have just filed a chapter 13 bankruptcy, you have to wait for at least two years from the release date of the bankruptcy to file bankruptcy again.

Consideration

However, creditors can challenge the credit card discharge in a Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy, if they consider the debt is incurred by deceitful means. In fact creditors can notify the Credit card debt as non-dischargeable, provided the information given on the credit card application are found to be scam or in case the debtor, who are not at all wiling to repay the loan misused the credit card. Fraud could be assessed by a number of ways. For example, if there is a sudden increase in the credit card’s usage just before filing for bankruptcy or incurring a huge bill right before filing bankruptcy or using the card to make large purchases when the debtor is experiencing a job loss. Under all these aforementioned situations it’s clear that the debtors are quite sure that the charges can be paid back I future, so they have incurred the credit card debt intentionally.

Filed Under: Bankruptcy Laws

Can chapter 7 bankruptcy help discharge student debt?

If you’re unable to repay your educational loan, then you mustn’t choose bankruptcy as the only option to get out of your stress soon. It’s because, a chapter 7 bankruptcy will only help you discharge your commercial debts. Educational loans are typically exempt from discharge in a chapter 7 bankruptcy. Try to look for a debt relief programs that can help you get out of debt. But if the debt repayment plan brings no help to your debt problems, then you can plead the judge of the bankruptcy court to help you discharge your debts. You have to demonstrate the bankruptcy court that you’re truly unable to repay your educational loan and your income will not improve in the future years. If the judge gets convinced, then he may discharge you remaining student debt.

3 Steps to follow

Read on to know the steps that you must follow to discharge your debts through chapter 7 bankruptcy.

  1. Fill out the form:

To start with your bankruptcy proceedings, you have to ask the clerk of the court to provide you a complaint form to file an adversary proceeding against your loan holder. Now, you must take your time to fill up the complaint form. During this process you must hire an experienced bankruptcy lawyer who will assist you in doing all the paperwork. After you have filled out the form, you must submit it to the clerk of the court.

  1. Submit proofs of financial hardships:

Now, you have to spend some of your time to gather proofs of your financial hardships. You have to show them that you have taken help of a debt relief program to repay your debts but were unable to do so. You have to provide them necessary documents such as your bank statements, paystubs, disability records, bill records and proofs of your payments to your lenders so as to prove that fact that, your educational loan payments are restricting you from enjoying minimum standard of living.

  1. Wait for the approval:

After you have provided the documents of your financial hardships, the judge will review your evidences. This will help him know that you’re truly unable to repay your debts through other means and bankruptcy is the only option. After he gets confirmed about your disability to repay your debts, he will finally discharge it.

Though a chapter 7 bankruptcy will help you get rid of your educational loan soon, but it will damage your credit score greatly. Thus, after you have cleared your entire obligations you must plan a budget and stick to it so as to save some part of your earning every month. Strings of savings will help you build up a great fund after certain period of time which you can utilize to manage any emergency situation.

Filed Under: Bankruptcy Laws, Debt Reduction

Damaging Corporate Images with the Internet

In trying to find customers and increase the size of their business, many small business owners are starting to turn to the online world as a place where it is simple to introduce new people to their business. This is an effective method, as the internet has become nearly ubiquitous in recent years, however the internet is more than just a gold mine of new eyeballs for your business. Your small business needs to create an online presence in order to establish a good online reputation.  One of the most important parts of any business is reputation management, and for small businesses this is a key component to growth.

Why your Online Reputation Matters

It is hard to find someone now who does not use the internet on a regular basis. As the internet has grown to become more popular, people have also developed more uses for the internet. At this point, creating a business without an online presence is almost no longer an option. If you don’t make an effort to create a good online reputation, then there will be no one out there to stop those who are on the internet to badmouth your company and give it a bad reputation.

Since many consumers use the internet to determine which businesses they should work with, this can have serious repercussions for your business’ bottom line. Online reputation management is a key component in growing any small business.

Google: The 800lb Gorilla

If there is one search engine that you want to please when creating your business’ online presence, it is Google. Google accounts for over half of the searches done on the internet, and if you cannot get ranked in Google results, your website might as well not exist.

Many websites get the majority of their traffic from Google, and if your website is not one of the first results when performing a Google search for your business, then you need to get to work. Google is an important part of managing your online reputation. Of course, you can’t cater solely to Google, but you must take it into consideration when building your website.

Filed Under: Bankruptcy Laws, Bankruptcy Myths Tagged With: , , ,

Getting Rid of Unsecured Debt Via Bankruptcy

An ever increasing number of consumers are struggling with an incredible amount of debt, and many individuals are finding themselves in a situation that seems utterly hopeless. The good news is however that there are options for consumers that need help managing their financial situation. Before a person simply gives up and accepts the fact that they are in dire straits, it only makes sense to learn more about how to file bankruptcy to get rid of unsecured debt.

The Internet can be used as an excellent resource to find more information on how to file bankruptcy, as most individuals need to learn how to get rid of unsecured debt at some point during their lifetime. With the high amount of interest that is often due on revolving accounts, the monthly payments can quickly increase and get out of hand. Credit cards can be a useful tool in managing finances, but they also can prove to be a challenge to an individual that does not have the ability to handle them appropriately. A bankruptcy filing can immediately wipe out the total amount of the balance, and a consumer can obtain a chance for a start fresh. Other types of bankruptcy will help an individual make payment arrangements and reduce the amount of money that they currently owe.

A common misconception is that a bankruptcy filing will cause an individual trouble with their finances for the next decade, but the simple fact of the matter is that most consumers that file would never be able to get out of the situation on their own. Future creditors will look at the behavior and activity after the bankruptcy, and a person can often obtain new credit fairly quickly after a discharge is complete. The steps involved with declaring bankruptcy vary due to state laws, and a person needs to seek professional assistance in order to know exactly how to proceed. In most cases, information about income and assets is enough to start the beginning stages. There are many different qualifications that must be met, and only an expert will be able to point an individual in the right direction. Using the internet to learn more about how to file bankruptcy to get rid of unsecured debt is an excellent place to start, and financial stability could be much closer than a consumer realizes.

Filed Under: Bankruptcy Laws