Our Bankruptcy Legal Services Can Protect You From Debt Collectors

We offer bankruptcy legal services and do so to help our clients get out from under mountains of debt.  Whether you got in over your head due to a job loss, medical emergency, divorce or some unforeseen circumstance, debt can build quickly.  When it does, families that would otherwise pay their bills often find themselves choosing between whether to pay the car note or keep juggling credit cards.  Once the debt collectors start making calls, this can create a toxic and stressful situation that can often be too much to handle.  Fortunately, we can help

Debt Collectors – The Ugly Truth

They aren’t nice.  Let’s face it, the banker that you got your car loan from may have been a saint. If you have stopped paying, there’s a good chance that the debt collectors have or will step in.  These individuals are trained in how to extract money out of people that usually don’t have any.  Through coercion and threats, they often get people to make a payment, at times to their detriment.  A perfect example of this is someone that spends the grocery money paying a bill simply to make the phone stop ringing.  If you have ever been in this situation, you can understand how incredibly stressful it can be to feel pushed into a corner with no way out.  Some debt collectors have gotten so abusive in their practices that Preet Bharara, the U.S. Attorney of Manhattan said, that there is an investigation of “an absolute epidemic of abusive debt-collection practices”.  This investigation currently involves the Federal Trade Commission, FBI, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.  In other words, if you are being harassed by debt collection agencies, you are not alone. 

As a provider of bankruptcy legal services, we can help.  If you are trying to stay afloat while dealing with debt collection calls, we recommend that you call our office right away.  We can sit down with you, discuss your financial and debt situation, and then create a plan for how to move forward.  There are two main types of bankruptcy that you can file – a Chapter 7 where the debt is wiped out or a Chapter 13 where you pay back a portion of what is owed over time.  Both types of filings must be approved by the court, making hiring an attorney essential to your case.  Simultaneously, once you have filed for bankruptcy, the debt collectors have to leave you alone.  While going through the process, they will have the opportunity to make a case in court for why you should be forced to pay some or all of your debts.  By going through the court system, they cannot go to you directly. Additionally, the judge’s ruling stands.  That means that if the court approves your Chapter 7 or 13, your creditors must abide by the decision.  This leaves them with no recourse to continue to pursue you, as long as you follow the judge’s orders.

If you are tired of the phone ringing and want to make it stop, engage our bankruptcy legal services so that you can stop getting those angry phone calls. 

Information on Taxes and Tax Refunds from a Chapter 7 Attorney

As a Chapter 7 attorney, I help a lot of people to get out from under debt so that they can regain control of their life.  The ability to file for bankruptcy is paramount to the ability to start building again.  Whether you previously lost your job, had unexpected medical bills or family troubles, debt can pile up quickly.  While bankruptcy can give you a fresh start, it can be difficult to understand the process.  As such, I am asked a lot of questions, some of which involve taxes.

Tax season is here, and while most people have already filed their taxes, things like a tax refund becomes an issue to be sorted through.  After all, when filing for bankruptcy, all of your assets are potentially up for grabs by the bankruptcy trustee.  As an attorney, I can help you to identify what pieces of property or what assets are exempt from inclusion.  You can continue to keep ownership of things that are exempt, without needing to buy them outright.

Can I keep my tax refund in a bankruptcy?

As a Chapter 7 attorney, I am regularly asked this question, and the answer is, it depends.  When you file for bankruptcy, all of the assets you have prior to filing are subject to the bankruptcy and can be used by the trustee to help pay unsecured debts.  While we can help to get an exemption for some of your assets, in general, if you have an asset it can be tapped.  Even though taxes were taken out of your check on a bi-weekly basis, that refund could become an asset that the trustee will use.  Whether or not they do, typically depends on timing. 

Everything that you earn, make, or receive after filing for bankruptcy are assets that you can keep.  This prevents creditors from coming after you in the future, asking for more money or for another asset to be sold.  Since tax returns can take a while to process, this could create a situation where the trustee wants to include it.  For example, if you were to file for bankruptcy after filing your taxes, but before receiving your refund, they could ask about it and include it in your assets.  If, however, you have not yet filed your taxes, they would be unlikely to seek inclusion of your refund or at least all of it.  For example, if you file for bankruptcy in the middle of the year, any refunds you were due from money paid to the IRS prior to filing could be used by the trustee.  Money that you paid in after filing bankruptcy would technically be yours.  In this way, your tax refund could be split, or the trustee may not seek to include it at all.  In the years following filing for bankruptcy, any money that you pay to the IRS and subsequent refund would be yours entirely.

If you need further clarification, feel free to call the office and speak with a Chapter 7 attorney today.