If you are experiencing creditor harassment in Minnesota you may have rights to sue the debt collector under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). This act prohibits creditors from using abusive or profane language when attempting to collect a debt from you. It also sets limits on the number of contacts a creditor can have with you, and limits the hours that a creditor can call. If you have retained an attorney to represent you in Minnesota the creditor must contact the attorney and may not contact your directly, if the contact you after the know you are represented by an attorney they are in violation of the FDCPA. If you have been harassed by a creditor give our office a call to see how we can help you deal with your debt.
Will I loose my car or house in a Minnesota bankruptcy?
March 2, 2012 By
In most areas of Minnesota a car is absolutely necessary. One fear individuals have when contemplating bankruptcy is that their automobile will be lost. The key to remember with a car that has a loan or lien is the debt is secured. Bankruptcy will discharge unsecured debts and will discharge your personal obligation on a secured debt. Bankruptcy will not strip a lien off a car. In the case of a car with a loan, so long as you continue to make payment in most cases you will keep your car. The bank does not want your car back in most case. In some odd cases a bank will want you to sign a reaffirmation agreement in order to retain your car.
In the case of a house located in Minnesota, the same thing goes, not only do you need a place to live but a bank does not want the house the bank wants you to continue to make timely payments. So long as you continue to make timely payments on your house you will keep it. Banks, especially in the case of houses, do not want them back, they would rather you keep making payments because the cost to foreclose is high. If you are behind on house payments a chapter 7 bankruptcy can temporarily stop the foreclosure. If you can bring the payments current the foreclosure will be canceled and the sheriff’s sale will be canceled. For individuals who are months behind a chapter 13 bankruptcy can allow a individual to catch up during the plan. If you have a second mortgage that is fully unsecured (the debt owed on the first mortgage is greater than the value of the house) a MN chapter 13 can strip the lien effectively brining a house that is underwater back closer to the surface.
Cars and Bankruptcy
February 29, 2012 By
If you sometimes wonder where does all my money go every month, you are not alone. In my experience doing bankruptcy and debt settlement work, I have found that one of the biggest expenses people have is vehicles. Vehicles are expensive to buy and maintain, and with the price of gas nearing $4.00 per gallon just to fill up your vehicle can be expensive. Buying a new vehicle may end up costing you more than you think if you factor in the cost of depreciation. If you purchase a new vehicle you have tax, title, license, gas, interest payments, principal payments, and depreciation.
A good site to determine just how much your car costs you per mile is www.edmunds.com, it gives you the true cost per mile of driving your new car, it may be good to check out before you purchase the car. In most cases once you factor in all the costs of a new car you will find that a decent used car is the better option, that has already depreciated, most cars depreciate the most in the first few years, and level off after that. A car is an expensive necessary evil, but you can reduce the cost of that car avoiding depreciation. I see a lot of clients budgets and the actual cost of car ownership is always surprising. The other potential side effect of car payments, is if you cannot afford the car, the lender will take the car back and then hold you responsible for the balance left after the car auction. If you are having budget issues our office can give you guidance to get and stay out of debt.
Who can garnish in Minnesota and how much can they take?
February 29, 2012 By
One of the biggest terrors a person can experience is the reality that a creditor has taken funds from a paycheck or from a bank account. In the case of a paycheck or wage garnishment a creditor is allowed to garnish up to 25% of disposable income (unless the garnishment if for child support). Only one wage garnishment is allowed at a time in Minnesota (even if two creditors have a valid garnishment, only one creditor can take 25% for a period of 70 days at which time the next garnishment may begin) Minnesota wage garnishments are controlled by Minn. Stat. 571.92.
In the case of wage garnishments (controlled by Minn. Stat. 571.91) a bank may obtain up to 110 percent of the amount owed to the creditor which can be the entire amount in your bank account, checking account and investment account. The big MN banks, Wells Fargo, TCF, U.S. Bank and Bank of America often charge a fee on top of the garnishment. The result of the garnishment and bank fees will often leave a bank account negative.
There are options to protect your income and bank accounts from creditors but you can’t delay. Once a creditor has taken a Minnesota judgment your wages and financial accounts are at risk. Doing nothing will ensure that the garnished funds will be lost forever contacting us can mean stopped garnishment and recovered funds.
Bankruptcy Lawyer In Minnesota
February 27, 2012 By
If you have more debt than you can handle you may need a Minnesota Bankruptcy Lawyer. You at least should get some information to make sure you make an informed decision when it comes to your financial future. Our office offers people help when filing for chapter 7 or chapter 13 bankruptcy, we help people achieve a fresh start through bankruptcy.
Tax Issues With Debt Settlement
February 23, 2012 By
If you are thinking about debt settlement the thing to watch out for is that you will owe taxes for the amount of debt that was forgiven as part of your settlement. An example of this is if you owe $20,000 on a credit card and they agree to settle with you for $10,000 you will owe taxes on the $10,000 that was forgiven. This means that when you are settling debt you need to budget for the eventual tax bill. This does not mean that debt settlement is not a good option in some cases, it simply means that you must be prepared for the eventual tax bill. This should be explained to every person before they embark on debt settlement. In fact Minnesota law requires this to be disclosed to potential clients before debt settlement can begin.
Minnesota Asset Protection In Bankruptcy
February 14, 2012 By
If you are thinking about filing for bankruptcy it is important to remember that you have a number of exemptions available to you. The first thing is that as long as you can keep making payments on your home, you will be allowed to keep your home. The only reason you would not be able to keep your home is if you exceed the homestead exemption. In Minnesota you are allowed to keep up to your retirement savings including IRA’s, 401k’s, and Pensions, the amount of the exemptions changes, so you need to contact an attorney to determine how much of your retirement you can protect.
If you file for bankruptcy the bankruptcy trustee will generally not be interested in your household goods or clothing, unless they contain collectibles or rare art work. In most cases used furniture does not have much value, unless it is considered an antique and a market is available to sell that furniture. Our office has not had many clients who have exceeded the household goods exemption under the federal or Minnesota exemptions available.
It is important to contact a bankruptcy lawyer to determine what property you can keep if you file for bankruptcy. The planning you do before filing for bankruptcy can help save you money after you file for bankruptcy, you have the right to maximize your available exemptions. In some cases you may be better off filing for chapter 13 bankruptcy to avoid having to liquidate non exempt assets, but our office can help you determine how best to protect your assets in the context of filing for bankruptcy.
Creditors Rights In Minnesota Bankruptcy
February 7, 2012 By
If you are a creditor of a person who has filed for bankruptcy in Minnesota Bankruptcy Court you have options to prevent that debt from being discharged. The most common option is to file a bankruptcy adversary proceeding to prevent that debt from being discharged. You also have the option of showing up at the Debtors 341 meeting. In most cases this option will not help much, since most bankruptcy trustees do not give much time to ask questions during this meeting, since they typically have five cases per half hour.
If after the 341 meeting you still have more questions for the debtor you will be able to schedule a deposition to ask more questions regarding the debtors schedules or financial information. After this deposition is typically when you would consider filing an adversary proceeding to make sure you have all the information needed to draft a strong complaint regarding your unpaid debt. The keep debts from being discharged you need to show recent credit card usage or fraud in applying for credit.
Minnesota Adversary Proceeding in Bankruptcy
February 6, 2012 By
If you have been sued in bankruptcy court in Minnesota it is generally called an adversary proceeding. It means that one of your creditors does not think you should be able to discharge your debt. The reason for this could be credit card use before the bankruptcy is filed, or a creditor thinks you did not fill out application for credit properly. In any case you need proper representation to make sure your can discharge the debt. If you have been sued give our office a call to see if we can help you.
How To Live On A Chapter 13 Budget
January 30, 2012 By
All of our clients who have filed for chapter 13 budget must live on that budget for between 3 and 5 years. A budget has to be created that is accurate and will allow you to make your regular payments and a chapter 13 plan payment. I sometimes suggest to clients that they take out the cash for food and other basic expenses and only use that cash per month, once the cash is gone you cannot spend any more money, otherwise you will be over budget, and will not be able to afford your chapter 13 plan payment. In some cases this type of budgeting will be something that has never been done before by our clients, but it is important in order to end up debt free at the end of the bankruptcy plan. Once you are in your bankruptcy plan you must stay current on your plan payments, or else the trustee can send a request that your case be dismissed. If your case is dismissed you need to start over again with payments.
