Getting good legal advice is the most important factor in filing for bankruptcy successfully. In the past, some individuals attempted to go through the process by themselves. You may even have some friends or relatives who claim that they declared bankruptcy without a lawyer several years back. However, times have changed, and so has the bankruptcy statute.
In 2005, Congress passed a law which created some changes in the bankruptcy code. Many bankruptcy attorneys have criticized this law because they claim it is bad for consumers. Meanwhile, many members of Congress defended the law because they believed that some were taking advantage of the bankruptcy statutes and getting rid of their debts much too easily.
For better or for worse, the changes in the bankruptcy law are with us (at least for now). The reason that this is so important is that the bankruptcy code has become much more complex as a result of this new law. The law is so complex that even many lawyers struggled to figure out exactly what it meant. Judges will probably be making various rulings on the law and try to interpret its meaning for years to come.
This is why legal counsel is absolutely required if you decide to declare bankruptcy. However, not just any lawyer will do. As we have already stated, keeping up with the bankruptcy laws and their corresponding court rulings can be a nightmare for anyone not specializing in bankruptcy law.
This is why we highly recommend that you pick the lawyer who specializes in bankruptcy law. A bankruptcy law practice aims to keep up with all of the latest developments and offers you the best shot for a successful bankruptcy filing.
Every case is different, and your bankruptcy case will likely have its own challenges and unique circumstances. That’s why you need a specialist in the law to help you decide the best course of action for you and your family.
Debt reduction companies are well aware of those facts, which work in favor of mitigating debts. The companies can suggest you real and effective ways of evading debts for the time being and ways of getting out of it. Even if you cannot avoid the whole debt once in all, there are ways of reducing the burden of debt to a great extent.
Debt is possible through debt counseling. The companies suggest you to go for counseling with the creditors. The companies personally get involved in the whole thing and ensure that they speak on behalf of you with the creditors. Once you negotiate with the creditor, you come to a settlement, which is possible to reduce your burden to great extent. At the same time, the process does not leave any worry from the side of the creditor.
Another most effective process is debt consolidation. The debt companies suggest you debt consolidation, which helps you use one single loan to meet the other loans and also the interest rates. This is the most effective process of mitigating various loans and interest rates. Through this process, you are just left with one loan and one single interest rate.
Have a consultation with debt reduction companies, which can suggest the most beneficial ways of getting rid of debts. The most effective part of taking advice from experts is that you can reduce the burden of debt to great extent without having to worry about the outcome. At the end you are assured that, you are in safe hands.
Getting tangled in a debt trap can give nightmares to even the ‘Monks of Tibet’ who are known for their composure and mental toughness! This is something you will definitely not want to happen. If you feel that you are in a tight situation like this, you ought to seek debt reduction help, which will suggest intellectual ways of overcoming the liabilities.
Bankruptcy law is the governing laws that say what happens in the bankruptcy process, who can file what type of bankruptcy and every other detail involved in filing bankruptcy. It is important that you are serious when filing bankruptcy and that you make sure your completely understand the process.
An Establishment of Bankruptcy Law
The United Bankruptcy Code is the law that regulates and establishes bankruptcy. This is a federal law and bankruptcy is held in federal bankruptcy courts. Federal bankruptcy judges hear bankruptcy cases.
States get involved on some level with the process. Each state has one or more bankruptcy courts to hear resident cases. Additionally, exemptions are established under federal law, but states also have exemptions that can be chosen instead of the federal exemptions.
Variations of Bankruptcy Law
There are many variances in the bankruptcy laws that can be confusing. Here are some top things you should know about:
Exemptions – Exemptions are assets that are protected. You will have a federal list and a state list. You have to choose one or the other. The idea is to go with the one that protects the most of your assets.
Different types of bankruptcy – There are many different types of bankruptcy. Individuals usually either file Chapter 7 or Chapter 13. In any case it is important to understand the difference. You also have to make sure that you qualify for the chosen type under the new laws.
The New Bankruptcy Laws
New laws were designed to help reduce the number of bankruptcies being filed and to help prevent abuse of the system. These new laws made several changes.
One of the best known changes is the new requirement of credit counseling. This is done two times during the process. The first time is to help a person make sure they should file bankruptcy and that an alternative is not a better solution. The second session helps the person to be a better consumer and learn about being responsible with credit.
Another major change is the limitation on who can file Chapter 7. This limitation makes a Chapter 7 based on income. Those making too much have to file a Chapter 13.
If you are planning to reduce your debts, it is best to search for a reputable debt reduction service. You can opt for a debt reduction program that many companies offer to reduce your monthly payments or consolidate multiple debts into a convenient one-time payment. You can even expect them to take up the matter of lowering interest rates, and late fee reduction or waiver with your creditors. Such matters can be managed efficiently by reputable debt reduction agencies only.
How to find a debt reduction agency is an easy task, but you need to find a debt reduction program that helps you get rid of debt in a legal way. You will have to consider a number of factors before finalizing a debt reduction agency that will suit your purpose. When you think that, you cannot manage debts on your own; discuss the matter with a certified counselor recommended by your financial company.
A counselor will be able to recommend some reputable debt elimination companies to help you reduce your debts. Working with lesser-known companies has its shortcomings like hidden fees, and certain ambiguous clauses that work in their favor.
Finding the right reputable debt elimination companies can take long, which may test your patience. Do not fall into the trap of lesser-known companies just because of their impressive PR efforts or promotional strategies. You can also approach your local Better Business Bureau, Consumer Protection Agency, or your state Attorney General who can suggest you the right companies for debt reduction and or debt elimination.
You may also seek the information from the Attorney General’s office whether debt reduction agencies need a license to operate in the state, and whether the company you intend dealing with has a license or not.
Over the last few years, bankruptcy laws have seen major change. In the old days, you could simply decide to file bankruptcy on a whim. If things were going semi-bad for you and you wanted to start over, you could do so easily. It didn’t really take that long and you got a fresh start pretty soon afterwards.
Today, this is merely a pipe dream. With all of the changes that have come into bankruptcy law recently, people view it as a completely different animal now. What new rules does bankruptcy have and how do they affect you?
For one thing, bankruptcy takes special circumstances in order to file. Being stupid with your credit card and racking up $30,000 worth of debt probably isn’t going to qualify anymore. You need something really bad to happen in order to file bankruptcy. We’re talking a death of someone significant, an injury, something completely unexpected, etc. You can no longer just wake up one day and decide to file bankruptcy. It takes a seriously legitimate reason.
One of the more significant changes involving bankruptcy laws is the waiting period. If you file bankruptcy, several years must pass before you can file again. In the old days, you could do it much more frequently and you could do it more times. Now, you have to wait a lot longer, depending on which type of bankruptcy it is.
Besides this, only certain types of debt are even considered for bankruptcy. In previous years, you could basically wipe your whole slate clean. It was a total annihilation of your debt. Now, there are several types of debts that will not be erased. Even if you file bankruptcy, you’ll probably be liable to repay certain debts. This is no longer a clean slate device as it once was, except in extreme cases.
Another vast difference in new bankruptcy laws is that you must be approved by a bankruptcy judge before you can even file. This means that you have to get all of your most compelling evidence gathered up and go before a judge. Then, depending on the judge’s discretion, they will decide whether or not you can file for bankruptcy. This means that you can no longer decide on your own whether or not you want to file. Someone else has to physically approve it before it can go through. If they think that your circumstances aren’t bad enough or could have been avoided, you are still going to be on the hook for your debt.
Debt negotiation or settlement is negotiating a reduced payoff of your debt with the creditor. Working on your debt problems, a debt negotiator can make you pay 50% or less of the principal on your debt.
Modern day living and plastic money makes it easy to fall prey to debt. There have been rising number of bankruptcy in developed countries compared to the Third World. Blame it on the lifestyle! Everybody wants relief from debt problems, but few address their problem to a debt negotiator until they go bankrupt. Bankruptcy gives immediate relief from the debt problem. But its ill effects last for years in procuring new loan.
So, debt negotiation is the best way out. You can step into debt negotiation plans on your own resource or can take financial help from debt consolidation loan. There is no easy answer to bad debt. You must take advice from a debt counselor. For future benefits you should ask service of a reliable negotiator in order to resolve unpaid and unsecured debt. Because successful debt negotiation enables a business to continue trading.
On a debt management program, it’s important for people to know that there might be dire results of contemplating the agreed settlement plan. So, one must consider the negotiation fees and penalty for leaving the negotiation program. Though after entering a debt negotiation program you transfer some amount of legal action to the third party. Still your creditor can take legal action against you.
Taking the help of a debt negotiator is not the last word. If you have it in you can directly contact your creditor, address your problem and ask for reducing the payment. But professional debt negotiators will make you job much easier. And may come up with much reduction on principal.
As applying for loans, credit cards and other forms of credit are easier to come by, so are the bankruptcy rates in the United States. In a ten year period, between 1994 and 2004, bankruptcy rates in the United States nearly doubled. The government’s reaction was to take a closer look at reasons parties were filing for bankruptcy, new laws were instated to ensure that individuals and businesses had valid reasons for applying for bankruptcy.
One of the primary laws regarding bankruptcy that was passed in the United States in 2004 is the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act. This law just went into effect in October 2005, but has already caused quite a stir in the financial and bankruptcy law arenas. Besides making it more difficult to qualify for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, or complete bankruptcy, the law imposes stricter rules and budgets on Chapter 13 debtors.
A major change the law makes throughout the United States is the need for debtors to have filed tax returns for four years in a row before qualifying for bankruptcy. As well, dischargeable debts, or those debts where personal liability is taken away by the court system, is more difficult to come by. The Act requires that debtors prove good reason for dischargeable debt and is even requiring more debtors to take responsibility with non-dischargeable debt budgets.
As far as the two major types of bankruptcy laws are concerned, Chapter 13 bankruptcy is that which allows the debtor to keep some assets upon proving only limited debt and a steady income. This bankruptcy is excellent for those debtors who have gotten themselves into major financial difficulty but still have means of paying for some assets. The court will set up a repayment schedule and budget that allows for full repayment of mortgages or cars within three to five years.
If repayment is simply not an option, the bankruptcy law requires that a debtor will file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. This is often referred to as complete liquidation of assets, except for exempt items. Exempt items in a bankruptcy hearing are determined by the court and are usually items that are a necessity, such as a car or work related items. As well, the courts will distribute debts into two categories: non-dischargeable and dischargeable debt.
Non-dischargeable debts also fall into two categories: non-dischargeable due to wrongful conduct on the debtor and non-dischargeable due to public policy. Wrongful misconduct by the debtor could mean theft or laundering money while public policy could include child support payment or court related judgments.
As applying for loans, credit cards and other forms of credit are easier to come by, so are the bankruptcy rates in the United States. In a ten year period, between 1994 and 2004, bankruptcy rates in the United States nearly doubled. The government’s reaction was to take a closer look at reasons parties were filing for bankruptcy, new laws were instated to ensure that individuals and businesses had valid reasons for applying for bankruptcy.
One of the primary laws regarding bankruptcy that was passed in the United States in 2004 is the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act. This law just went into effect in October 2005, but has already caused quite a stir in the financial and bankruptcy law arenas. Besides making it more difficult to qualify for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, or complete bankruptcy, the law imposes stricter rules and budgets on Chapter 13 debtors.
A major change the law makes throughout the United States is the need for debtors to have filed tax returns for four years in a row before qualifying for bankruptcy. As well, dischargeable debts, or those debts where personal liability is taken away by the court system, is more difficult to come by. The Act requires that debtors prove good reason for dischargeable debt and is even requiring more debtors to take responsibility with non-dischargeable debt budgets.
As far as the two major types of bankruptcy laws are concerned, Chapter 13 bankruptcy is that which allows the debtor to keep some assets upon proving only limited debt and a steady income. This bankruptcy is excellent for those debtors who have gotten themselves into major financial difficulty but still have means of paying for some assets. The court will set up a repayment schedule and budget that allows for full repayment of mortgages or cars within three to five years.
If repayment is simply not an option, the bankruptcy law requires that a debtor will file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. This is often referred to as complete liquidation of assets, except for exempt items. Exempt items in a bankruptcy hearing are determined by the court and are usually items that are a necessity, such as a car or work related items. As well, the courts will distribute debts into two categories: non-dischargeable and dischargeable debt.
Non-dischargeable debts also fall into two categories: non-dischargeable due to wrongful conduct on the debtor and non-dischargeable due to public policy. Wrongful misconduct by the debtor could mean theft or laundering money while public policy could include child support payment or court related judgments.
The real estate deals are booming and so is the entire industry. This undoubtedly has shown the boom factor to the real estate attorneys too. As a matter of fact, it essentially doesn’t matter to these attorneys whether or not this industry is booming. Since it is obvious that shelter is one of the fundamentals for livelihood, there exist property sellers and property buyers at all times and in every case making real estate attorneys to be always in high demand. There are various methods how the real estate attorneys are showing their expertise. Below are a few of the services the attorney’s of real estate, provide you with:
1) Property Dispute: A highly apparent scenario where these attorneys are involved is during a property dispute. They help in getting disputes concerning property being resolved by means of litigation etc. They also help in selling of disputed properties in some cases so that the money received from the same could be used for various settlements among people involved.
2) Tenancy disputes: Any dispute concerning landlords and tenants is solved by an attorney of real estates.
3) Property Settlements in cases of death: The properties of the deceased are commonly handled by real estate attorneys.In these cases the properties are sold off to that the heir’s accounts could be settled.
4) Divorce Settlements: These attorneys assist property disputes in general cases of divorce especially when the owners are joint.
5) No broker: When people are not very comfortable with having a broker to deal or sell their property, they entrust such real estate responsibility to a real estate attorney. A few attorneys take such tasks.
6) Working as Advisors/Consultants: Quite many attorneys work for several real estate investors. The real estate investors think it as a good option to hire an attorney as these attorneys can often have smooth transactions done for the investor. An attorney of real estate would do it appropriately and correctly in a much quicker and professional way. Time is always short for a real estate investor due to which he would get more time as the attorney would handle good deals.
Among the other stressful problems you have to deal with when filing for bankruptcy, choosing a lawyer is one more thing you need to consider. It is important, especially with the recent changes to the bankruptcy law code. The law has become more complex, and filing bankruptcy without a lawyer is simply not feasible these days.
However, not just any lawyer will do. We recommend that you consider choosing a bankruptcy law practice rather than going with a general law practice. You need a lawyer who specializes in bankruptcy and understands the new bankruptcy code in all its details.
The new bankruptcy law is so complex that even lawyers have a difficult time keeping up with it. I say “keeping up with it” because the law is actually still evolving. There are many provisions in the law which are unclear, and judges will have to sort this out in the coming years. This is why it is so important to choose a lawyer who keeps up with new developments and knows exactly what is going on in the field of bankruptcy law.
It may not be impossible to find a competent lawyer who handles various types of cases including bankruptcy. However, you should seriously consider choosing a specialist who knows the bankruptcy law well. This will allow him to study your situation more closely and recommend what is best for you. Visiting a bankruptcy law practice helps ensure that the lawyers really give you the best advice available.
Make sure the lawyer is able and willing to study your case in detail. Every bankruptcy case is different, and you need to know whether bankruptcy is best for you. Try to find the best bankruptcy lawyers possible.
You may actually want to pay a lawyer his hourly rate during the first consultation in exchange for an honest opinion. If the first appointment is free, the lawyer is more likely to persuade you that bankruptcy is the best course for you (since that is the only way he gets paid). Bankruptcy lawyer fees are expensive, but choosing bankruptcy when it’s not the right option for you could be more costly in the long run.
Jeffrey Cancilla 