Bankruptcy Information

Why do banks want to lend money to consumers? Because banks make massive profits on those loans.

Right now, banks are interested in getting credit card money “on the street”.  In fact, their willingness to make credit card loans is at a 17-year high.

Consumers, God bless ‘em, don’t appear to want to play that game this week.

Because the unholy trinity of job losses, foreclosures, and inflation have done a pretty good job of educating consumers that credit card debt is an anvil around their neck, especially when they want to think about retirement.

Besides, consumers are aware that the friendly banker turns into an unfriendly collection company, or a vicious law firm, faster than a blond turns into a werewolf on “True Blood”.

Tags: Banks Want, Want

 Have you heard of Judicial Estoppel?  Well, you need to if someone owes you money and you’re thinking of suing while contemplating bankruptcy. The doctrine of Judicial Estoppel generally prevents a party from prevailing in one phase of a case on an argument and then relying on a contradictory argument to prevail in another phase. What this means is that what you disclose on your bankruptcy papers become public record in a legal proceeding; a judicial record.  So, if you’re owed money or have a potential creditor harassment suit and you fail to list these potential claims on your bankruptcy papers and later file suit, that subsequent lawsuit can be dismissed on a judicial estoppel theory.

A recent 6th Circuit case, White v. Wyndham Vacation Ownership, 617 F.3d 72 (6th Cir. August, 2010) illustrates this point.  The question presented before the court was whether the failure of the debtor to disclose in her schedules, a sexual harassment claim she had was grounds to dismiss the harassment case on the basis of judicial estoppel.  Th

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Tags: Estoppel, Judicial Estoppel

It isn’t easy to get accepted for a loan after bankruptcy. Earlier, financial institutions would not even accept the application for a loan for a minimum of 10 years following your debts were discharged by bankruptcy court. But nowadays, you may get sanctioned for a loan merely one year after bankruptcy discharge, as long as your financial condition has improved.

Getting a bank loan after bankruptcy

Financial institutions prepared to offer bankruptcy credit would impose an interest rate that is far more than what you would have paid before bankruptcy. Accompanying fees are also higher than the normal rate. You are also expected to furnish a co-signer as extra security and also pledge a collateral. Banks would want this so that they may reduce their risk. You don’t have any choice regarding this if the bank loan is your only funding option.

Getting a merchant cash advance easier than a bank loan

Merchant cash advance (MCA), also called a business cash advance, is a revolutionary funding alternative that has helped many businesses in getting over the bankruptcy blues. Read full post…

Tags: Bankruptcy, Bankruptcy Discharge

Top Ten Most Popular Bankruptcy Posts of the Month

• Bankruptcy Arizona: Do Rising Gas Prices Threaten the Recovery?An article at KTAR.com asks the question, do rising gas prices threaten the recovery? It’s a very nice article by reporters Sandra Haros …
• If Oil Prices Drop, Shouldn’t Gas Prices Go Down? Well, I Guess Not!Ryan Franklin, reporting for an ABC Affiliate, tells us that oil prices have dropped, which is certainly true, and that gasoline prices cont…
• Airline Bankruptcy Cases Flying Down the Runway?I’ve seen Airline Chapter 11 Cases, up close and personal. They tend to be very large, and they’re fairly high-impact cases, because they’…
• Hey, Give Heidi a Break, Okay? Itemize your Furniture!Here’s the deal: when you fill out your forms online in our computerized system, there will come a point when you are finished, and you will…
• Bankruptcy Arizona: How Do I Fill Out the Bankruptcy Schedules, Bankruptcy Statements, and Bankruptcy Lists: How Do I Fill Out the Forms?This is designed to help my clients fill information into their forms.

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Tags: Bankruptcy Posts, Month, Top Ten

I’m a member of a Credit Union and have several accounts with them.  I’ve heard of this mysterious ‘cross-collateralization’ CLAUSE and thought I would do some investigation so we can all sleep better.  Arizona Bankruptcy Attorney John Skiba wrote, Bankruptcy, Credit Unions & Cross Collateralization Agreements, over at JDSupra, which provides a very brief and technically incorrect overview of Credit Union’s dirty little tricks to get you to pay all your debts owed to them.  What we all need to know is, Can they get away with it?

The term cross-collateralization is not an agreement on its own, but rather it is a clause contained in other agreements that you might enter into with your credit union.  A contract clause is a term or condition that is written into the agreement that becomes part of the contract.  The trouble with these nasty little clauses is that credit unions are the only entities that think they’re a good idea and these clauses are not disclosed to the consumer and buried in the fine print or what we call ‘boilerplate’ language. I lik

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Tags: Credit Union, Union