Bankruptcy – Not the Only Answer
Bankruptcy is not the only answer when you run out of money. Debt is a multiple-choice test. The best answer will bring you the greatest benefit in the shortest amount of time. The best answer is not the same for everybody. It depends on your circumstances—whether you are a homeowner, how much equity is in your home, if you are unemployed, if you are retired, if you are raising children or a caregiver for a family member, or if you have a medical hardship. There are a lot of different variables that can put a person in debt and/or make it difficult to get out of debt. Thus there is no single right answer for everybody. Bankruptcy is just a tool in my toolbox. Depending on your circumstances, other choices might include a short sale on your house, mortgage modification, forbearance, or assistance from Florida’s Hardest Hit Fund. In some cases, bankruptcy is the best option for the situation. Before you file bankruptcy, seek competent legal advice to help you review your alternatives, and to ensure you understand beforehand the long-term consequences of bankruptcy. Read More
Financial Flu
When better living through chemistry does not work, there is always the legal system. An attorney may not help you feel better, but legal counsel could help you retain as much credit as possible in a personal financial crisis. Have you had headaches and nausea recently, and maybe incessant ringing in your telephone plus a stuffy mailbox clogged with notices from the bank or creditors? These could be symptoms of something other than flu. Take precautions available so you do not have to suffer the worst of the symptoms of your money malady. Seek competent legal counsel to learn what choices you have that may lead to better financial footing for your future. Read More
Budget for 2013
New Year’s Resolution: Make a Budget. Everybody wants to be thinner and wealthier. What you cannot bring about in diet and exercise could be affected by your Bankruptcy Trustee. You can take the first step: make your own budget (before a Bankruptcy Trustee makes it for you). If you have not already filed bankruptcy and hope not to, a budget can help you stay on track for your spending and saving goals (it does the same thing after you file for bankruptcy as well). If you can talk, text, and chew gum, you can make a budget. For online budget calculators and financial considerations, go to http://www.myfloridacfo.com/YMM/Calculators/default.aspx. Read More
Personal Credit Crisis
Money can’t buy happiness, but it sure makes misery easier to live with. Credit is the same way. Credit is not something you can see, feel, hear, smell, or tastes, but it can have a big effect on the tangible items of your life, like a car or a house. Your credit helps determine what (and if) you can buy, and how much a loan is going to cost you in interest. To qualify for a loan, creditors look at your payment history, credit use, length of credit history, and your credit accounts including new applications for credit. They want to know how thin your credit is spread and how much it covers so they can make a risk assessment of the likelihood of you paying them back. Lenders need to loan money—that is what they are in business to do—but it does not work if they do not get paid back. Generally the higher your credit score, the more money you can borrow and the lower the interest rate at which you will have to pay it back. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) suggests you build credit by paying your bills on time, pay down outstanding balances, and stay [...] Read More
Commercial Appeal to Dealing with Debt
When you cannot pay your bills, you get depressed. When you get depressed, you go to seminars. When you go to seminars, you feel like a winner. When you feel like a winner, you go to Vegas. When you go to Vegas, you lose everything and have to sell your hair to a wig shop. Do not sell your hair to a wig shop…there are other ways to deal with debt. Being in the red is the new black for many Americans. Those who spent big thinking their smart phone afforded them to order “endeeve” salad, or those who relied on debt to stabilize their expenses as wages dropped widened the gap between the 1% and the other ninety-nine. Meanwhile, the rich get richer and the have-nots have less. Whether you are behind on your mortgage or slouching into credit card debt, there are legal choices. Consulting an attorney could save you money and credit. Do not sell your hair if you do not have to. Seek competent legal guidance instead. Read More
Where Does the Money Go? Make A Budget
Just because you qualify for a loan does not mean you can afford it. A budget is useful in all kinds of situations from bankruptcy to short sales…and prior to finatural disasters. The State of Florida offers a variety of financial calculators to avoid money meltdowns at http://www.myfloridacfo.com/YMM/Calculators/default.aspx —everything from budgeting for a baby to debt consolidation and retirement planning. These free online calculators can help you set your goals…and pay for them. If money trouble gives way to legal trouble (or is about to), talk to an attorney to help you find your balance. Happy home economics! Read More
Debt & Judgment
You may not be as misfortunate as you think, and that could cost you. Sometimes people come into money: you could win the lottery, inherit a fortune, or simply land a decent-paying job. Such good luck could be bad news if you have a judgment waiting to collect. A judgment may not mean much when you are broke and cannot afford to pay, but it will cost you later if you do come into money. A judgment is a lien good for twenty years. Often creditors seek judgments not because they expect to collect right away. Should you come into money within that twenty-year timeframe, you may never see it. That judgment means the creditor can garnish your account without warning—whoosh! It is gone! Just when you thought you were turning things around, you are back to very little money. Seek good legal counsel if you are facing a judgment or heavy monetary fine. A legal defense may be able to fit the penalty to your best possible outcome. Read More
Branching Out to New Economic Growth
April is National Financial Literacy Month…do you know where your money is? Maybe some of it went to the IRS, but not everybody is fortunate enough to pay taxes. For those with overwhelming debt, financial literacy may be a novel idea. Financial illiteracy—at the individual and corporate level—has been blamed as part of the backing for our current economic crisis. To understand the root of the problem is fine, but to find the solution, you may need to branch out. Consult competent legal counsel to learn what your options are. Whether you are in a mortgage debt debacle or a small claims calamity, a defense attorney may be able to evaluate your situation with you, and help you determine a growth pattern towards optimal results. Money does not grow on trees and neither does credit. Financial recovery starts with good decisions based on good information. Do not be stumped by debt. Seek legal counsel to help you make a plan that fits your past with the best possible future. Read More
Talking to Chuck’s Daughter
“Talk to Chuck,” the ad slogan of Charles Schwab is moving to the next generation. Chuck’s daughter, Carrie Schwab-Pomerantz, is a certified financial planner and president of the Charles Schwab Foundation…and she co-authored a book with her daddy titled, “It Pays to Talk.” Not much of a conversation if there is nothing to talk about. Financial illiteracy has been branded as one of the causes of our current economic debacle. How can you make good decisions about your money if you do not know much about your money? The same is true even in foreclosure. According to Schwab-Pomerantz, financial literacy starts at home; for some people, that education begins with home foreclosure. However, even a crash course could be helpful. If you are in foreclosure, the more you know can help with what you owe. Talk to legal counsel about your situation to learn what legal options may be available to you. A Foreclosure Defense may be able to lessen your financial burden by mitigating loss. Read More
Evergreen & Bankruptcy
The ultimate goal of Bankruptcy is to be as evergreen as a plastic Christmas tree, but in the meantime, you have to endure a series of hard winters on spending. Bankruptcy is not designed for a deciduous lifestyle. You cannot squander your money annually and cry “Bankruptcy!” like it is a season of the year. Bankruptcy should be a sign of recovery, but it starts at the stump of your credit. You can only file Bankruptcy every so many years, and in the meantime, you are supposed to use the timber of your fall to build new credit. Going green is a nice notion, but it is a gradual process. Bankruptcy keeps creditors off your greenbacks, giving you a chance to recover your portfoliage, adding growth rings to your trunk to support your expenditure branches. Bankruptcy stops foreclosure in most cases, but it is not an action to be taken lightly because you have to come back from a hard freeze on spending. Read More