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The advent of credit in the United States has provided citizens with a huge convenience. It has allowed individuals to purchase things based on their trustworthiness, rather than simply their bank account balance.

The ease of obtaining credit is not without its downsides, however. Many people wake up to find themselves deep in debt, struggling to survive. If you are currently feeling stressful levels of debt, then here are a few tips that could help alleviate the problem:

Many of our clients are active duty military or government employees or employees that work for defense contractors. As a result, many of these prospective clients will have either secret or top secret security clearances which are required for their jobs. A common question we get asked is “how will filing for bankruptcy affect my security clearance?”

The economy is extremely tough right now. It is not only in the backs of everyone’s minds, but it is also the #1 political topic, and for good reason. It seems like every single family has had to deal with financial hardship in some way, whether income was reduced, a job was lost, work hours were increased without pay increase, or a loved one came upon hard times.

There is one group who the economy has hit much harder than others though: Graduating students.

There are undoubtedly countless things going through an individual’s head as they go through the bankruptcy process, such as:

As citizens of the United States of America, we are indebted to our veterans and should do all that we can to assist those that are in need. As attorneys, we have an ethical obligation, as recommended by the American Bar Association, to contribute at least fifty hours of pro bono service per year. My law partner, Ron Sykstus, a veteran himself, has chosen to combine his ethical obligation with his desire to serve his fellow veterans.

When it comes to credit card debt, it’s all too common for individuals to get stuck in a never-ending, increasing debt spiral. An individual may start their credit history with a few fun purchases, but soon they find themselves unable to pay their balance off, which can eventually lead to needing to pay credit card bills with other credit card accounts.

This is a question that we get on a daily basis. We strongly urge and advise clients to obtain a copy of all three credit reports from the three main credit bureaus, Experian, Equifax and Transunion. You can obtain one FREE credit report each year from each credit bureau by visiting www.annualcreditreport.com or by phone at 877-322-8228. In our opinion, this is the best way to get your credit reports.

Virtually every person that comes to see us to talk about a potential bankruptcy filing asks us this question in one form or another. They may have been told by a friend that bankruptcy will ruin their credit. Another has heard that they won't be able to get new credit for 7-10 years. In short, most folks want to know how a bankruptcy filing will affect their credit.

The issue for a lot of married people considering bankruptcy is whether to file a joint case with their spouse or an individual case. You are not required to file a joint bankruptcy petition just because you are married. In most traditional marriage situations, there is a good bit of joint debt or both spouses already suffer from problem credit. A joint filing in this instance is usually the most economical household decision to make.

When a person’s job requires a security clearance issued by the federal government, they are required to submit a completed standard form (SF) 86 which is also known as the electronic personnel security questionnaire (EPSQ). Obviously, if no one has had any issues in their past, then completing this form is simple. The issue comes up and people get worried when they do have problems that have arisen in their past and they become concerned with how to address them on the security clearance form.