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This week, NBC News released an investigative report about the Equifax credit reporting agency. In this report, it is stated that employers disclosed employment and salary information to Equifax who in turn sold it to debt collectors and other financial institutions. It is alleged that Equifax has access to over 190 million employment files covering roughly one-third of American citizens.

Casey Anthony filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy relief last week.  This young mother, who was accused of and acquitted in the death of her 2 year old daughter, Caylee, listed $792,000 in liabilities in her bankruptcy schedules to be discharged, including debts for her lawyer fees, federal income tax and court fines and costs.  Will she be able to discharge these debts?  A Chapter 7 bankruptcy

In the majority of cases where the court denies a chapter 13 plan, it is because a debtor did not comply with requirements outlined by your attorney or the court.  In order for your chapter 13 plan to be confirmed, you must:

Simply stated, a reaffirmation agreement is an agreement that a debtor in a chapter 7 bankruptcy enters into with a creditor that reaffirms or re-obligates the terms of the original contract with that creditor. Reaffirmation agreements are applicable in Chapter 7 bankruptcy.  If there is no undue hardship to you, you may have a creditor that you want to continue to pay after filing a chapter 7 (straight) bankruptcy.

For some reason, although it may be in their best interest to do so, people avoid meeting with bankruptcy attorneys.  Folks that do come in to see us often tell us that they put off doing so for days,weeks or even months.  In many cases, we could have done a lot more to have helped them if they had come in earlier.  Our clients tell us that they were embarrassed about  calling our office to schedule an appointment.  They felt like it meant they were a failure.  If they just waited a little bit longer, things would get better.  Instead, things often got worse.

I often have clients in my office who are worried that they owe too much money to file for bankruptcy.  They believe that they will not be allowed to file because of the amount and types of debts that they owe.  Most of the time worrying about this is futile since the debt limits outlined for chapter 13 are set very high in comparison to most debts owed by individuals.

 
First of all, if you are contemplating filing any form of bankruptcy it is imperative that you are up to date with filing all of your federal tax returns with the Internal Revenue Service and it is strongly recommended that you keep legible copies of all of your federal tax returns that have been filed.

Reclaiming Your Vehicle

When a creditor repossesses a vehicle, you may have an option to reclaim possession of your vehicle. While it is not the case in some states, in Mississippi you may be able to regain possession if you act quickly and are properly insured. Since every case is different, it is essential to meet with an experienced debt relief attorney as soon as possible.

Since the housing market crash began in 2008, we have seen the rise of mortgage loan modifications as a tool to help troubled homeowners stay in their homes.  If a homeowner qualifies, the loan modification can be a great way to catch up monthly mortgage payments that are behind and actually reduce the regular monthly payment.  However, the process for obtaining a loan modification is often frustrating and has led a lot of homeowners to turn to companies offering assistance with the loan modification process in