According to the Internal Revenue Service, the average refund this tax season has decreased by 8.4%. This, of course, is mainly due to the recent changes in tax laws and the loss of certain tax deductions that were available in previous years. With the April 15th tax deadline right around the corner, this could potentially mean that you could be owing taxes when you really expected a tax refund. And if you already owe income taxes for previous tax years, you could be facing an even larger tax debt when the dust settles. With that said, you still have options, and the filing of a bankruptcy can help minimize your already existing tax debt. This blog will explore how bankruptcy can help you get rid of some of that tax debt.
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According to a recent study conducted by the Federal Bank Reserve of New York, 7 million Americans with auto loans were 90 or more days delinquent in 2018. More importantly, the study demonstrates that majority of those who were delinquent on their auto loans were low- to middle-income borrowers, under 30 years of age, and with subprime credit scores (credit scores of 620 and lower).
Filing for divorce is never an easy process. This can become more complicated when one of the spouses seeks to file for bankruptcy in the middle of a pending divorce proceeding. This blog will explore the factors that individuals need to consider if they’re looking to file for bankruptcy while their divorce proceeding is pending.
Filing for bankruptcy is never easy. In fact, it will probably be one of the most difficult financial decisions that one will make. If you have started considering whether bankruptcy is the answer for you, here are a few tips to help you decide whether bankruptcy is the next best step:
Individuals who are considering filing for bankruptcy may be concerned about the effect that the bankruptcy filing will have on their current job or future job offers. They may be asking: will my employer will find out about my bankruptcy? Can I be terminated because I filed for bankruptcy? Can I be denied potential employment because of the bankruptcy filing?
Section 525 of the United States Bankruptcy Code places limits on whether an employer can discriminate against someone because of a bankruptcy. Unfortunately, a lot of people looking to file for bankruptcy are misinformed or just don’t know the effects of a bankruptcy filing on current or future employment. Here is what you need to know:
Understanding the Different Types of Bankruptcy Retainers
Attorneys’ fees for a bankruptcy will always vary from attorney to attorney. For the most part, when you’re hiring an attorney to handle your bankruptcy case, you will be quoted a retainer amount plus the court costs associated with the filing. If the retainer is on an hourly basis, the client will be responsible to pay for services in excess of the retainer amount. If the retainer is for a flat-fee (or a one-time payment), there should be no additional charges by the attorney (with the exception of a few situations mentioned below). Regardless of whether the retainer is on an hourly basis or a flat-fee, the retainer amount should cover most, if not all, of the administrative aspects of the bankruptcy.
Considering filing for bankruptcy is never easy, in fact, it will probably be one of the most difficult financial decisions that one will make. Nevertheless, once the decision is made and people begin to experience the relief that bankruptcy provides, they see what it’s like to have a financial fresh start and a stress free life. But, when should one begin to consider filing for bankruptcy? If you’re unsure, here are some signs that will help you decide on whether maybe it is time to consider filing for bankruptcy.
If you are considering bankruptcy, you probably find yourself in a difficult financial situation caused by a combination of loss of income and high debt. If you have concluded that bankruptcy is the only way to breathe some life back into your financial situation, it is important to avoid common mistakes that can be detrimental to your bankruptcy case. The bankruptcy process is not an easy process by any means, but avoiding these common mistakes can mean a smoother bankruptcy process for you.
After the market crash of 2008, 2.6 million Americans lost their jobs, and 1.2 million properties were foreclosed in 2009 due to the recession. As a result, many of the mortgage lenders that accepted the government bail-out money were forced to offer loan modification assistance programs to help homeowners catch up on their mortgage arrears in an effort to avoid foreclosure.
Mortgage lenders to the rescue, right? Unfortunately, oftentimes theories don’t work as well in practice. The influx of loan modification applications inundated the offices of ill-prepared and understaffed mortgage lenders, causing most applications to be denied or overlooked without even being properly reviewed. The failure of these loan modification programs, coupled with loan modification scams, only perpetuated the increasing foreclosure rates. But Why?
Most individuals who find themselves in financial difficulty feel that bankruptcy is their last option. Unfortunately, this misconception often leads individuals to be preyed upon by the pseudo-legal debt settlement industry believing it to be an “alternative to bankruptcy”. These services, which may seem like the better choice, in truth, leave individuals believing that the creditors are stopped from collecting and that they are on the path to recovery. Nothing is further from the truth. The reality is this: in comparison to most debt settlement services, bankruptcy is almost always the best long-term option.
