Bankruptcy Blog
Posted on Feb 7, 2012 By Catherine Winter
The title of this post is misleading - because when filing bankruptcy, there is no picking and choosing which debts to discharge. When you file your bankruptcy petition, you are required to honestly ...
Continue reading "Selecting Which Debts to Discharge in a North Carolina Bankruptcy" »
Posted on Feb 6, 2012 By Catherine Winter
One of the best benefits of filing bankruptcy is the automatic stay. It prevents creditors and debt collectors from harassing the debtor in an attempt to collect their money. While the automatic stay ...
Continue reading "How Co-Signers and Co-Debtors Are Treated in Bankruptcy" »
Posted on Feb 5, 2012 By Catherine Winter
It's not infrequent for people to consider bankruptcy because of high credit card debt. Whether it be because of a loss of a job, unexpected bills, or even underemployment, people have been using ...
Continue reading "Will My Credit Cards Get Taken Away If I File Bankruptcy?" »
Posted on Feb 4, 2012 By Catherine Winter
You're not going to like the answer - it depends. Here are the facts: A bankruptcy is going to stay on your credit report for between 7 and 10 years You will likely get credit offers very early on ...
Continue reading "How Many Points Does A Credit Score Drop When You File Bankruptcy?" »
Posted on Feb 3, 2012 By Catherine Winter
We've all probably done it before - written a check when we thought there was enough money in the account only to find out there wasn't and the check bounces. When that check bounces, it's ...
Continue reading "How Bad Checks Are Handled in North Carolina Bankruptcy" »
Posted on Feb 2, 2012 By Catherine Winter
Once a debtor has made the decision to file bankruptcy , he/she is usually anxious to get the process rolling and receive the discharge of debts. Much of the speed of the bankruptcy process will ...
Continue reading "How Long Does Chapter 7 Take in North Carolina?" »
Posted on Feb 1, 2012 By Catherine Winter
If you are considering filing for bankruptcy , chances are that you have multuple creditors and that at least some of them have not been paid or are at the risk of not being paid. When you file, you ...
Continue reading "What If You Forget A Creditor In Your Bankruptcy Filing?" »
Posted on Jan 31, 2012 By Catherine Winter
We've all seen the commercials and heard the radio ads - companies offering to settle your debts for pennies on the dollar. But how do these companies really work? Typically debt settlement ...
Continue reading "Choosing Bankruptcy Over Debt Settlement" »
Posted on Jan 30, 2012 By Catherine Winter
Chances are, if you are like most Americans you have either bought or sold something on eBay or Craig's List. But if you are deeply in debt and are considering bankruptcy, you probably never ...
Continue reading "eBay and Craig's List Are A Bankruptcy Filer's Best Friend" »
Posted on Jan 29, 2012 By Catherine Winter
As you can imagine in our current economic times, law firms are getting a lot of phone calls about bankruptcy. When we get calls, debtors will law out their economic situations, their goals, the ...
Continue reading "The Cost of Filing Bankruptcy in North Carolina" »
Posted on Jan 28, 2012 By Catherine Winter
The majority of business in the United States are separate entities from the individuals that started or run them. For example, Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook are not the same entity from a legal ...
Continue reading "How Will Chapter 7 Affect A Sole Proprietorship?" »
Posted on Jan 27, 2012 By Catherine Winter
Debtors that are considering filing chapter 7 bankruptcy are entitled to certain exemptions to protect personal property. One exemption of North Carolina exemptions is that they offer what is called a ...
Continue reading "The Wildcard Exemption in North Carolina" »
Posted on Jan 26, 2012 By Catherine Winter
You've been working with your mortgage company for weeks to see if you qualify for their secret loan modification program. It's Friday, and all of the sudden they tell you that you don't ...
Continue reading "Emergency Bankruptcy Petitions to Stop Repossession or Foreclosure" »
Posted on Jan 25, 2012 By Catherine Winter
Creditors will try a lot of things to try to get money owed to them. One thing they can do it get a judgement against you, formalizing the fact that you owe them money. A judgement can be a powerful ...
Continue reading "Freezing, or Levying, of Bank Accounts in North Carolina" »
Posted on Jan 24, 2012 By Catherine Winter
There are a group of debts that generally not dischargeable in the bankruptcy process . One of those is student loans. In most cases, student loans are not dischargeable as a result of a bankruptcy. ...
Continue reading "Can Bankruptcy Help With Student Loans?" »
Posted on Jan 24, 2012 By Catherine Winter
Do you wear your grandmother's pendant every day? Never take off your engagement and wedding rings? Debtors are often concerned about what will happen to their jewelry if they file bankruptcy. The ...
Continue reading "What Happens to My Jewelry in a North Carolina Bankruptcy?" »
Posted on Jan 23, 2012 By Catherine Winter
It's not unusual for debtors to see a debt on their credit report that has been "charged off." What does that mean? Charging off a debt is basically a bookkeeping practice that allows a ...
Continue reading "What Does It Mean When A Debt On My Credit Report Is "Charged Off?"" »
Posted on Jan 22, 2012 By Catherine Winter
Creditors will do almost anything to get their money. Hopefully the things they do are legal. Sometimes the things they do aren't - violating the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act . But one of ...
Continue reading "Civil Judgements for Debt" »
Posted on Jan 21, 2012 By Catherine Winter
People are often worried that their wages will be garnished to pay their debts. Luckily in North Carolina, there are only a few circumstances by which wages can be garnished. Under North Carolina law, ...
Continue reading "Wage Garnishment in North Carolina" »
Posted on Jan 20, 2012 By Catherine Winter
North Carolina federal courts are divided into three districts: Eastern, Middle and Western. Within each of these districts is a breakdown of divisions that represent a listing of counties. Each ...
Continue reading "Bankruptcy Courts in the Eastern District of North Carolina" »
Posted on Jan 19, 2012 By Catherine Winter
People make the decision to file bankruptcy when their debts have become so overwhelming that they can't keep up with them any more. Many creditors take the step of obtaining judgements in order ...
Continue reading "How Judgements Are Handled in Bankruptcy" »
Posted on Jan 18, 2012 By Catherine Winter
In this economy, many people are behind on paying their taxes and when considering bankruptcy, they wonder if tax debt is dischargeable.Wiping out tax debt is not black and white, but in general, it ...
Continue reading "Wiping Out Tax Debt in Chapter 7 Bankruptcy" »
Posted on Jan 17, 2012 By Catherine Winter
Once the decision has been made to file bankruptcy, most people are anxious to get the process underway and get their discharge. The speed of the process depends on what type of bankruptcy you are ...
Continue reading "How Long Does It Take to File Bankruptcy?" »
Posted on Jan 16, 2012 By Catherine Winter
Chances are that if you're considering filing bankruptcy , your credit score has already been damaged. Usually, this is due to delinquent payments on mortgages, car loans ore credit cards, or even ...
Continue reading "How Long Does It Take To Rebuild Credit After Bankruptcy?" »
Posted on Jan 15, 2012 By Catherine Winter
When a debtor files a bankruptcy case, the debtor receives two things: 1) The "automatic stay," or termination of collection efforts by creditors while the case is in process 2) The ...
Continue reading "I've Filed Bankruptcy Before. Can I File Again?" »