Personal Bankruptcy Advice
If you are experiencing serious financial problems,
there are several things that you need to consider.
Many of the people that I have counseled over the years
have waited longer than they should have before seeking
professional advice. The consequences of waiting too
long to seek proper advice can be severe and irreversible.
One of the biggest mistakes that people make is continuing
to struggle to make payments on debts that they have
no realistic possibility of ever paying off. Many people
use their retirement savings from IRAs or other qualified
retirement programs in which they have invested for many
years. The funds in these accounts are generally protected
from creditors and can be safeguarded during a bankruptcy
proceeding. Once the money is taken out of the fund and
paid to creditors, it is too late to get it back and
nothing can be done to restore those saving that should
be available for your retirement years.
Contact me for Florida personal bankruptcy advice.
Another common and irreversible trap that many people
fall into is allowing a collection agent to talk them
into taking a second mortgage or home equity line of
credit to pay mounting bills. While there are limited
circumstances where this can work and can be advisable,
it can also create a situation where the home that should
be safe and secure from creditors in Florida is suddenly
at risk of being lost in a foreclosure.
Many people will also try to “outsmart” the
system by transferring title to property, giving property
away (or selling for far less than actual value), or
paying debts to individual creditors such as family members,
business partners, or friends before seeking advice.
These actions may be considered “preferential payments” or “fraudulent
transfers” and can result in very serious and negative
consequences. The law allows the Trustee in bankruptcy
to attack these transactions. The costs of dealing with
these situations can be very high and can result in the
denial by the court of any relief whatsoever in bankruptcy.
There are many companies that advertise that they can
reduce your debt to one low monthly payment and get you
out of debt painlessly. Other companies advertise that
they can clean up your credit report up for a fee. Beware
of both of these claims. While there are some legitimate
credit counseling and debt management organizations,
in recent years there have also been many that have been
investigated for fraud, consumer misrepresentation, and
criminal activities. I have met countless people through
my practice that have paid thousands of dollars to these
companies only to find that very little of that money
made its way to their creditors and that their debt situation
has improved little if at all. Concerning the credit
report cleaning companies: there is no legal way to simply
clear your credit report of legitimate negative reports
other than the payment of those debts or the effect of
a bankruptcy over time.
These are just a few of the things that you should keep
in mind if you are in serious financial distress.
The most important advice that I can give is to get
the advice of an experienced professional before things
get worse . There are legal steps that can be taken to
get you back to a financial fresh start and begin rebuilding
a sense of security and peace
Contact me for Florida personal
bankruptcy advice. |
