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The answer is immediately – really.

Virtually every person that comes to one of our offices seeking assistance with their financial problems is concerned with the impact that a bankruptcy filing will have on their credit.  This is, of course, a valid concern.  People whom we assist have often been dealing with collectors and credit issues for quite some time.  They have put off coming to see us because of their concern about the impact that a bankruptcy filing will have on their credit.

When you have a debt that has been reduced to a judgment amount within a state court proceeding, that judgment can be filed with the probate court of the county in which you reside. The result of this filing is that it is now a judgment or judicial lien that will attach to any equity in real property that you currently own or any real property that you may acquire in the future. The ultimate ending is that the debt for this lien must be resolved by payment or some method before you can sell or transfer your currently owned real property or in most cases purchase new real property.

Most of the time an IRA or Roth-IRA is protected or exempt by both Federal and State Exemption Laws.   The Tennessee exemption law is found at T.C.A. §26-2-105 and provides that as long as the retirement plan is qualified by the Internal Revenue Code the funds are exempt from any and all claims of creditors, except the state of Tennessee.   The Federal exemption which is found at 11 U.S.C.

The IRS requires lenders to report cancelled debts.  When a lender cancels a debt, the amount cancelled is deemed income to the individual taxpayer who received the benefit of the cancellation.  Thus, an individual taxpayer would have to pay taxes on the income (amount of the cancelled debt). This is NOT TRUE, however, if the individual discharged the debt in bankruptcy.

There are two different types of 1099 forms that you may receive after filing for bankruptcy, they are:

Chapter 13 is considered the debt consolidation chapter of the bankruptcy code for individuals with regular income.  As such, a debtor is paying back creditors over an extended period of time through a three or five year repayment plan.  Debtors are often concerned about whether they will be required to turn over their tax refunds each year during this Chapter 13 repayment plan.  The short answer is maybe.

Alabama has a good consumer law for any consumer to use if he or she has been wronged by a business. Alabama statute section 8-19-1 provides for the Alabama Deceptive Trade Practices Act. This law states, as its legislative intent under section 8-19-2, that “the public health, welfare and interest require a strong and effective consumer protection program to protect the interest of both the consuming public and legitimate business person.”

Jefferson County, named in honor of Thomas Jefferson, was established on December 13, 1819, by the Alabama Legislature.  It currently has more residents than any other county in the State of Alabama.  At the time the 2010 census was conducted, the county’s population was 658,466.

YES! You can use bankruptcy to stop a foreclosure on your real estate. If a foreclosure is imminent and you wish to keep your home, the most common form of bankruptcy used to stop a foreclosure is called Chapter 13. Chapter 13 is a form of bankruptcy that works similar to, and is often referred as, debt consolidation. The premise is to take all of your debt and put it into one monthly payment plan.

This week, NBC News released an investigative report about the Equifax credit reporting agency. In this report, it is stated that employers disclosed employment and salary information to Equifax who in turn sold it to debt collectors and other financial institutions. It is alleged that Equifax has access to over 190 million employment files covering roughly one-third of American citizens.

Casey Anthony filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy relief last week.  This young mother, who was accused of and acquitted in the death of her 2 year old daughter, Caylee, listed $792,000 in liabilities in her bankruptcy schedules to be discharged, including debts for her lawyer fees, federal income tax and court fines and costs.  Will she be able to discharge these debts?  A Chapter 7 bankruptcy