Blogs

I have written previously on the Top Ten security clearance issues and problems that I see in my law practice.  It gets a lot of views at our web site so I thought I would come up with a Top Ten list as it relates to VA disability claims filed by military veterans.   

The U.S. civil court system was designed to handle a wide range of non-criminal cases, ranging from family disputes to substantive contract breaches, property disputes and more. However, over the past several years, the civil courts in most states have been overrun by debt collection cases against consumers. 

Many people struggling with debt fear losing their housing. That concern runs deep, and not just for those who are purchasing homes and fear foreclosure. Although the process and the financial impact is different, eviction can be just as traumatic as foreclosure. And, the eviction process typically moves much faster, leaving a renter little time to make alternate arrangements. That is challenging under any circumstances, but especially when financial resources are limited.

Short answer: yes. The real question is whether you want to.  

A married person can file bankruptcy alone or jointly with his or her spouse. The better option depends on circumstances such as:

Many people wait too long to file bankruptcy. We have reported before that the average person who files for consumer bankruptcy has been struggling with debt for two to five years before making the decision. That’s a long time to live with financial stress, and often means a lot of hard-earned money down the drain in the form of interest and late fees. Delaying a bankruptcy filing can also have consequences such as foreclosure, wage garnishment and automobile repossession. 

Usually, people filing bankruptcy want to make sure they can include certain types of debt. Debts that can’t be discharged in a Chapter 7 case or included in a Chapter 13 repayment plan can limit the effectiveness of a bankruptcy filing. And, of course, everyone wants to be in a stronger financial position after bankruptcy, with as little debt as possible. 

Still, people considering bankruptcy sometimes ask whether they’re required to list all of their debts in the bankruptcy filing. Some reasons a bankruptcy petitioner might not want to list debt include: 

Many Americans are concerned about the high cost of care if we get seriously ill with COVID-19. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the median hospital stay for a COVID-19 survivor who is admitted is from 10-13 days. That is a big bill, even for many with insurance. For the uninsured or those with very high deductible plans, the debt could be crippling. 

We keep hearing that we’re all in this together, but one group seems not to have gotten the memo: scammers. It’s no surprise, when you consider the huge number of scams targeting people facing foreclosure and in other types of crisis. As of the end of April, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is reporting tens of thousands of Covid-19-related complaints. So far, the bulk of these complaints have been from the hardest-hit, most populous states.

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York reports that U.S. consumers ended 2019 with record-high debt. In the 4th quarter of last year, household debt climbed $193 billion, to a total of $14.15 trillion. Mortgage debt accounted for about $120 billion of the increase and 68% of the total. The remainder was attributable to: