Articles Posted in Debt Settlement

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There is current legislation before both the US Senate and US House of Representatives that would allow private school loans to be discharged in bankruptcy, as most of them were before the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005. Legislators are reasoning that there is a strong interest in not allowing federally backed student loans to be discharged in bankruptcy, but these reasons do not apply to private school loans and so they are rethinking the laws. The New York Times wrote an interesting article on the topic.

To see if your loans qualify for discharge, contact a Jacksonville Bankruptcy Attorney today to discuss your situation.

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In Florida, a statute of limitations puts a limit on the amount of time for which you are liable for a debt. For an oral contract, the limit is 4 years. For a written contract or promissory note, the limit is 5 years. On a revolving balance contract, such as credit card, the statute of limitations is 4 years.

If you think that you do not owe a debt because the statute of limitations has run out, contact a Jacksonville Consumer Law Attorney at 904-685-1200 for a free consultation to find out.

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When you file for Chapter 13 bankruptcy, you will pay off your debts through a Chapter 13 Plan that lasts anywhere from 3-5 years. A Chapter 13 Plan allows a debtor to catch up on most any debt, including mortgage arrearages, owed taxes, missed payments on vehicles, HOA dues, legal fees, fines owed to the city or state, and more.

Your unsecured creditors might also get some payments through the Chapter 13 Plan. If they will and how much will they receive is determined by your means test and the amount of unexempt property that you have. Any amount of unsecured debt that you have over this amount will be discharged at the successful conclusion of your Chapter 13 bankruptcy. For example, if you owe $20,000 in unsecured debt and your case only dictates that you must repay $5,000 to unsecured creditors, the $15,000 balance gets discharged or forgiven when you successfully complete your Chapter 13 Plan. If your case dictates that no money must be paid to unsecured creditors, then the entire balance of $20,000 would be forgiven.

To see how a Chapter 13 Plan would be structured for your specific situation, contact a Jacksonville Bankruptcy Attorney today for a free consultation.

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Whether or not you qualify for a Chapter 7 bankruptcy does not depend on what type of job you have, what your profession is, whether it is full-time or part-time, or whether it is seasonal employment or not. The question is not what type of job you have, but rather what your income is. To qualify for a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, your Jacksonville Bankruptcy Attorney will look at your income over the prior six months and compare it to the median income for your area. This is called the means test. If you pass the means test, your income is less than the median. If your income is over the median, then you still can qualify for a Chapter 13 bankruptcy. To see if you qualify for a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, call a Jacksonville Bankruptcy Attorney today at 904-685-1200.

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The average student loan debt for a four-year degree is over twenty-three thousand dollars. Many people understandably want to get rid of this debt. However, student loan debt is very difficult to discharge in bankruptcy.

Generally, student loan debt is nondischargeable unless the debtor can prove he or she would suffer an “undue hardship”. Whether or not you are suffering an undue hardship is up for the court to decide, but it’s important to realize that this is a relatively high standard to show. Courts often look at whether you made a diligent effort to pay the debt, find a good paying job, and reduce your living expenses. In actual practice, almost the only way that you are going to get your student loans discharged through bankruptcy is if you are permanently disabled, with no opportunity or ability to get a job to repay your student loans.

If you are in debt and are thinking of filing bankruptcy, contact a Jacksonville Bankruptcy Attorney to discuss what debts can ben discharged and whether filing is right for you.

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If the debt was properly listed on your bankruptcy schedules and subsequently discharged, the creditor no longer has the right to collect that debt from you. If the creditor is continuing to harass you, you should have your Jacksonville Bankruptcy Attorneywrite a cease and desist letter to the creditor. This usually cures the problem and the creditor will stop contacting you. If, however, the creditor continues to try and collect the debt, this is illegal and your Jacksonville Bankruptcy Attorney will file a complaint against them for possible discharge violations, FDCPA violations, FCCPA violations, and/or FDUTPA violations. Often times attorneys will take these cases on a contingency basis, meaning that you and the attorney would each get a share of the monies recovered, so that you would not have to pay any legal fees up front. If a creditor is harassing you, contact a Jacksonville Bankruptcy Attorney today to discuss your options.

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One of the first questions new clients ask me as a Orange Park Bankruptcy Attorney is if filing for bankruptcy will negatively affect their credit. There is no completely clear answer to this question, but I tend to lean towards yes, it will affect your credit.

A bankruptcy will appear on an individual’s credit report for ten years. However, the odds of obtaining credit after a bankruptcy discharge are very good. In fact, some credit card companies target individuals right after a bankruptcy discharge because the credit card companies know they have a clean slate.

To learn more about bankruptcy and the possible effects on your credit contact an Orange Park Bankruptcy Attorney today to schedule a free consultation.

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bankruptcy-thumb-250x186-1907.jpgThere are many reasons that it would be advantageous to file for bankruptcy, but here are some of the most common reasons:

1. The first reason to file for bankruptcy is to stop a foreclosure sale. Filing for bankruptcy immediately stops a halts a foreclosure suit against you. This can give you time to reorganize your finances, try to sell your home, negotiate a modification, or find another place to live. Your chapter 13 Plan can let you catch up on your arrearages over a 5-year time span and so cure your default. If your home has been foreclosed upon, bankruptcy might be a good option for you.

2. Filing for bankruptcy not only stops a foreclosure suit, it halts almost all legal actions taken against you, such as a garnishment or auto repossession. If your auto is in danger of being repossessed, filing for bankruptcy will keep the creditor from doing so. You can value your auto in the bankruptcy and pay only fair market value to the creditor. This means that if you owe $20,000 on your auto and it is only worth $10,000. you can pay the $10,000 to the creditor through your bankruptcy and own the vehicle outright after your Plan is completed.

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As of 2005, every debtor who wants to file for bankruptcy must complete two credit counseling requirements. The first class is called credit counseling and must be done within the 6 months prior to filing for bankruptcy. The second class is called debtor education and must be completed after you file for bankruptcy. In a Chapter 7, the debtor education course must be completed within 60 days after the first date set for the meeting of creditors in your case. In a Chapter 13, the debtor education course must be completed before the last payment is due under your Chapter 13 Plan.

If you have a bankruptcy question, or if you would like to discuss a consumer law issue with a Jacksonville Bankruptcy Lawyer, call 904-685-1200 today.

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As you probably know, credit rating agency Standard & Poor recently downgraded the United States’ credit rating from AAA to AA+. S&P also gave the US a negative outlook, which means S&P could downgrade the US again within the next two years to AA+. S&P is not the only rating agency, however. Moody’s and Fitch both left their AAA ratings in tact, but said they might reconsider those ratings at a later date.

But what does this mean to you? Aside from the increased political bickering on TV and in Washington, the downgrade could have some negative side effects for the American consumer.

First, we may see a rise in inflation. This is due in large part to the slowing economy and rising amounts of currency in circulation.

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