Are you facing difficult financial decisions? Bills piling up? Trying to figure out how to pay for Christmas gifts? As fun and joyous as the holiday season is supposed to be, the money aspect of it can be very stressful. No one really wants to think about their financial problem especially during this time of year. This article is designed to help you prepare if you are contemplating bankruptcy in the next few months. The Do’s and Don’ts Do: Use some of your federal income tax refund First, many people find it helpful to file bankruptcy around the time they…Read More
Archives for November 2017
Steps to Take to Overcome Bankruptcy
Entrepreneur magazine published an article last year about how entrepreneurs rebound from filing bankruptcy and move forward with their lives. After reading the article I believe the recommendations are solid for individuals who have filed or are considering filing. My Thoughts on the Recommendations Face your financial problems head on. The worst thing you can do is bury your head in the sand and believe the issue will go away. An experienced bankruptcy lawyer can help you understand what you are facing and help you see your situation without the emotions that affect your judgment. Turn a lemon into lemonade….Read More
What You Should Do If You Become a Victim of Identity Theft
Recently, a family member of mine started receiving calls from various financial institutions to verify his information from his recent credit applications. He never applied for credit from any of these financial institutions. Someone had stolen his identity and was applying for various credit cards and loans in his name. Oddly enough, this particular family member never uses credit for anything so he never felt the need to check his credit report for any errors… until now. After pulling his free annual credit report through annualcreditreport.com, he discovered various recent inquiries from financial institutions. He discovered he was a victim…Read More
Many Older Americans Are Turning to Bankruptcy for Financial and Emotional Relief
The golden years are turning out to be not very golden, unfortunately, for many Americans. This is something that I have noticed in my own law practice. Over the last several years, I have seen a trend in more older and retirement age folks having to seek bankruptcy assistance. Why Is This Happening? Medical Debt I think there are several reasons for this trend of older Americans turning to bankruptcy for financial assistance and relief. One thing, and also one of the top three reasons in my opinion why anyone seeks bankruptcy advice, is due to medical debt. For some,…Read More
What are Some Bankruptcy Myths?
I love my law firm of Bond and Botes, my law partners, my law associates, my employees and the practice of Consumer Bankruptcy very much. It is a great thing to love what you do and who you do it with and I am so blessed to get to do just that every day. I also love my clients and solving the financial problems they bring to our offices at Bond and Botes each day. It is so refreshing to have a client leave our office with a smile when unfortunately, they arrived in desperation and tears. Oftentimes we are…Read More
Beware of Predatory Lending While Shopping for the Holidays
The biggest shopping weekend of the year is fast approaching! Black Friday will kick things off on November 24th before we move onto Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday. Many people across the nation will be out shopping for holiday gifts, and the urge to spend is stronger at this time of year than in any other season. Unfortunately that urge is what can make us easy targets for “predatory lenders”. Predatory Lending Predatory lending is any lending practice that imposes unfair or abusive terms and that convinces a borrower to accept a loan that the borrower doesn’t really need…Read More
XCOR Aerospace Files for Bankruptcy
XCOR Aerospace, an innovator in the aerospace industry, has filed for bankruptcy. XCOR is a private spaceflight and rocket engine development company based at the Mojave Air and Space Port in Mojave, California, and in Midland, Texas. There are also locations in Amsterdam and Hong Kong. XCOR is best known in the aerospace industry for a suborbital space plane that was announced in 2008. They designed “Lynx” to carry a pilot and one space flight participant. The company intended for Lynx to take off from a runway and fly into a suborbital arc, landing back on the runway after the…Read More
Episode 24 – Next Lawyer Up with Ron Sykstus featuring Greg Reeves
This episode of the Next Lawyer Up podcast features attorney Greg Reeves. Greg Reeves is a Decatur, Alabama native, a good guy and a very talented lawyer. I have known Greg for a number of years through his legal work. Coincidentally, his father Bobby Reeves, who is also a great guy, has been our landlord at our Decatur, Alabama office for many years. Greg is an excellent personal injury trial lawyer who also serves as a teacher and mentor for other trial lawyers. He also served his community as an elected member of the Decatur, Alabama City Council for a number of years. I enjoyed…Read More
Warning Signs Continue for Subprime Auto Loan Crisis
Back in April of this year, I wrote about the rising number of delinquency and default rates in the subprime auto loan market. Since then, the warning signs are still flashing. According to data recently released by the New York Federal Reserve, 6.3 million Americans are late on their auto loan payments by 90 days or more. A recent Washington Post article pointed out that number is up about 400,000 from one year ago. Even though the unemployment rate is theoretically falling, data has shown that delinquency rates have been ticking up since earlier this decade. So, What Gives? There is a…Read More
“Hot Yoga” Chain Twisted Up in Bankruptcy
I have to confess that, upon beginning this blog, I had no idea what “hot yoga” was. At first I thought it might be reference to Paris Hilton attending a yoga class. “That’s hot,” y’all. Apparently it is a yoga class where the heat is cranked up to over 100 degrees while the yoga enthusiasts practice their calling. “Hot Yoga” and Its Founder The appropriate name is Bikram yoga, which was created by yoga instructor Bikram Choudhury. Bikram yoga has grown into a multi-million dollar yoga chain. However, Bikram Yoga has recently been under fire for its controversial training methods…Read More
