Heather Ellis Banks's blog

Did you receive a tax refund this year?  How did you spend it?  The average refund this year is approximately $3,000.00.  A recent article from CNBC offers advice on how we should spend our refund.  They offered a list of nine ways to get the most out of your 2016 tax refund.

I tend to be a nostalgic person.  I recall stories in my childhood told by my parents and grandparents about going downtown to the big department stores to shop at Christmas.  Everyone’s stories always included a visit to the candy counter.  I am not old enough to remember any of the downtown establishments they reminisce about except I remember Sears.  I remember it because of one thing, the candy counter.  The downtown location closed whe

Our Knoxville office, Bond, Botes & Lawson, recently began participating in a Veterans’ Legal Clinic.

Recent news reports indicate there are eight men in the world who hold the same amount of money as half of the world.  The organization Oxfam reports that in the U.S. 1% of the population controls 42% of the wealth.  Some notable names included in this group are:

Yet again there is more fallout from the Wells Fargo phony account scandal.  Numerous media outlets from the New York Times to the Wall Street Journal are reporting a new scandal linked to Wells Fargo.

One of the requirements when filing a bankruptcy is to complete a version of Bankruptcy Form 122 which is known as the “Chapter 7 Means Test Calculation” or the “Chapter 13 Calculation of Your Disposable Income.”  Debtors enter their income and expense information on this form.  The information is partially from the debtor’s records such as pay-stubs and some of the infor

A week does not go by when I talk with a client or prospective client about issues with their mortgage or their need to utilize the equity in their home and cannot.  News articles report the housing market continues to improve.  The Federal Reserve recently published an article entitled Resid

Is the cost of childcare a huge percentage of your budget?  The answer is probably yes.  The Economic Policy Institute recently released the results of a study that revealed the annual cost of childcare exceeded the average price of a year of in-state tuition at a public 4-year college in many states.

On August 22, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) took action against Wells Fargo Bank for illegal private student loan servicing practices that increased costs and unfairly penalized certain student loan borrowers.

In order to quickly stop a foreclosure or repossession, a great option is to file a Chapter 13 bankruptcy.  When filing a chapter 13, the court looks at the debtor’s income less his living expenses to determine what