Author Archives: Jay Butchko
5 Signs it Is Time to File for Bankruptcy Protection
No one is eager to file for bankruptcy. Many people will do anything to delay the day of reckoning. Some will even sell their possessions, even their car, to put off a bankruptcy filing. However, financial stress takes its toll on people’s lives, leaving many people with sleepless nights and mounting bills. Below, we… Read More »
How Long Will My Chapter 13 Payment Plan Last?
Chapter 13 is an attractive alternative to Chapter 7 for many people. With a Chapter 13, you don’t give up any property. Instead, you contribute disposable income to your creditors for a period of years. At the end of this payment plan, any unpaid qualifying debt should be wiped out. Chapter 13 is ideal… Read More »
Real Estate Executive Convicted of Bankruptcy Fraud
Wouldn’t it be great to wipe out all debts and not lose anything in return? If you have few assets and are low income, then this might be the reality. However, higher-income people are likely to lose money in bank accounts or other assets in exchange for having debts elimination. The temptation to hide… Read More »
Should You Get a Credit Card after Bankruptcy?
When you file for bankruptcy, you probably assume that your credit score has been permanently shredded and that you’ll never qualify for a car loan or a credit card again. As many of our clients discover, however, this couldn’t be farther from the truth. Some of them are shocked to find out they have… Read More »
The Connection Between Losing Health Insurance and Bankruptcy
Market Watch has summarized the findings of a new study that analyzed Bureau of Labor Statistics data for over 12,500 people. The researchers found a strong link that should not be surprising to readers of our blog. In particular, they found that losing medical coverage, even briefly, increased the odds of filing for bankruptcy…. Read More »
Job Losses Related to Bankruptcy are Rising
Is the economy hot or cold? We ask that question a lot on our blog because the data is usually conflicting. Recently, we found out that the U.S. created a healthy 164,000 jobs for July 2019. However, we also learned that the Federal Reserve cut a key interest rate to apparently stimulate the economy…. Read More »
Barneys is the Latest Retailer to File for Bankruptcy Protection
The retail market continues to be roiled, and this time the latest victim is a high-end retailer, Barneys. There is no question that ecommerce has caused the retail sector to shrink. Instead of walking into a store, consumers can shop and order practically anything they want online, which is then delivered straight to their… Read More »
Which States Have the Highest Bankruptcy Rates?
Bankruptcy law is largely federal, so the same rules apply to everybody around the country. One interesting question is which states have the most bankruptcies. Of course, this will depend on population. No one should be surprised if California has more bankruptcies than Vermont, since California has a population almost 60 times as large…. Read More »
What to Do if a Creditor Tries to Collect on a Discharged Debt
Getting your debts discharged in bankruptcy will come as a relief. At last, the heavy burden of crushing debts has been lifted, and many of our clients report a renewed optimism as they confront the future. However, we have also heard from clients who have had creditors try to collect on a discharged debt…. Read More »
Bankruptcy’s Effect on the Economy
A recent article in Barron’s caught our eye. It focuses on how bankruptcy affects the overall economy and reports on research from three academics at Yale, Stanford, and Harvard Universities. The scholars compared how well the economy did in states that have bankruptcy rules that favor debtors compared to those states that favored creditors…. Read More »