Columbus Bankruptcy Lawyers

As the third Bankruptcy in Indiana reader question of the week, I was asked “What are the Indiana bankruptcy exemptions for a joint bankruptcy?”

That is actually an “educated” question, because not many people know that although the federal bankruptcy code provides a list of exemptions, and although in many states debtors have the choice of using their state law of these federal rules, in this state the law requires those filing personal bankruptcy in Indiana to use the exemptions found in Indiana state law. (As a longtime debt consolidation lawyer offering bankruptcy services in Indiana, I was privileged to have helped write that list of Indiana exemptions.) Beginning with the year 2010, by the way, our Indiana exemptions are set to be adjusted for inflation every six years. 

Going back to our reader’s question about filing a joint bankruptcy, I have several comments:

• The exemptions apply to each debtor separately.  That means that when two people joint personal bankruptcy in Indiana, it’s generally true that the exemption amounts can be doubled.
   
• Most good bankruptcy attorneys in Indiana will agree that, in actual practice, they find that almost all people facing bankruptcy own only the kind of property that is exempt.
   
• As debtors filing personal bankruptcy in Indiana, if either one of you  separately - or if together - you own any asset that is worth more than the exemption amount (the equity you have in it),  the exemption will apply, but the bankruptcy trustee could still force the sale of that asset, giving creditors whatever amount of the proceeds exceeds the exemption.  In other words, exemptions protect only the equity you have, not the entire value of each asset.
   
• The Homestead Exemption in Indiana is $17,800 (make that double if spouses are co-owners of the home. For other real estate owned, the Indiana exemption is $9,350, or $18,700 for jointly owned property. (This is called the Wild Card Exemption.) $350 is exempt for each of you for non-tangible property such as bank accounts or tax refunds.

One of the most pervasive myths about bankruptcy, claims one of the Columbus bankruptcy lawyers who works in the Zuckerberg bankruptcy law offices, is that if you’re married, you must both file bankruptcy.  I wanted to be sure and tell our reader that’s not necessarily true.  Certainly, in cases where husband and wife have a lot of debt, it could save money for them both to file, but they don’t have to do that.  Deciding whether to file jointly or not can be complicated, so it’s best to get good legal advice early on. Remember, you’ll want to take maximum advantage of those Indiana exemptions!

This is my week for answering questions posed by Bankruptcy in Indiana readers.  With tax season approaching, many visitors to the Zuckerberg bankruptcy law offices are getting protective about the tax refund dollars they’re expecting. “If I file personal bankruptcy in Indiana” this week’s reader asks, “Will my refund dollars be seized by the bankruptcy court?”

Before I can answer that question, I would need to ask this reader a question of my own: Which of these three describes your situation?

a) You’ve already gotten your refund and you still have the money.
When you file individual bankruptcy in Indiana, the tax refund money must be reported as part of your assets on the bankruptcy paperwork I help you file with the court.  It will be up to the court to decide whether you get to keep it to pay living expenses or not.

b) You’ve gotten your refund and already spent the money or will have spent it before you file.
The bankruptcy court will need to know how you spent that money – did you use it for essentials or on luxuries? If it was luxury, the court will not look favorably on your petition, saying you should have used the money to pay your debts.

c) You’re expecting a tax refund, but will not have received it by the time you file Indiana bankruptcy.
The bankruptcy court will need to know you’re expecting the money and will decide if you can keep it for essentials or insist you use it towards your debts.

Looking at your situation from a different vantage point, I want to share with you that, after 25 years as a debt consolidation lawyer offering bankruptcy services in Indiana, I’m used to seeing clients wait for their tax refund in order to be able to pay the legal fees for filing personal bankruptcy in Indiana. Without that money, they couldn’t afford to file!

Even if that describes your situation, I’d still urge you not to wait, but to go ahead and have an exploratory meeting with an experienced bankruptcy attorney to get a plan of action in place.

As my Columbus bankruptcy lawyer colleagues are fond of saying, taxes and bankruptcy are definitely related, but it’s a complicated relationship.  Things will work a whole lot better if you have a plan!
 

From time to time, Bankruptcy in Indiana readers will pose questions on matters I believe other readers will want to know about. So, this week, I’m devoting all three of my articles to answering readers’ questions.

Today’s question relates to wage garnishment in Indiana, but it’s especially timely, because the reader is worried not about his paycheck from work being garnished, but about the unemployment benefits he’s been receiving since he lost his job. I’ve been hearing a lot about this lately.  In fact, one of the Columbus bankruptcy lawyers who works in the Zuckerberg bankruptcy law offices there tells me she’s hearing just this question, just about every day.

Generally speaking, under the new bankruptcy laws of Indiana, income that can be garnished includes:

• Salary
• Commissions
• Hourly wages (or daily or weekly wages)

Now, as I tell clients when they come to me for Indiana bankruptcy help, not all of your pay can be garnished.  The most that can be taken is 25% of your income OR whatever amount of disposable income that is more than 30X the federal minimum hourly wage.  (Whichever of these two numbers is greater is the maximum that can be garnished.)

Going back to our reader’s specific question about whether unemployment benefits can be garnished, the general answer is “No”.

But, as all good bankruptcy attorneys in Indiana know, there are several important exceptions to that “no” answer when it comes to wage garnishment and even when it comes to the garnishment of unemployment benefits:

• Child support debt
• Alimony debt
• Debts owed to the state of Indiana
• Criminal fines

Filing individual bankruptcy in Indiana is a way to put a halt to all collection efforts, including garnishment.  For those without work who are collecting unemployment benefits, the most common form of personal bankruptcy they can file is bankruptcy Chapter 7.  That’s because, under Chapter 13 bankruptcy law, the debtor must have enough income to sustain a debt repayment plan.

The bottom line answer to today’s reader question about whether he’s lose his unemployment benefits is “Probably not!”.

Valentine’s Day has come and gone, but the many myths about couples and money persist throughout the year.  In fact, one of the questions most asked of all good bankruptcy attorneys in Indiana is this:

Must married couples both file bankruptcy, and should they file together or separately?

So, even though weeks have passed since Valentine’s Day, I’ve decided to devote today’s Bankruptcy in Indiana article to couples and their credit, debunking some common myths about marrieds who file personal bankruptcy in Indiana.

 

As Constitution Guru explains, “When a married couple face bankruptcy, they can file jointly, one can file while the other one doesn’t, or they can file separately at the same time.”

And, as one of my Indianapolis bankruptcy lawyer colleagues stresses to our clients,  there is a legal theory called “joint and several liability”.  What that means is that when a married couple have joint debts (such as a credit card in both names), each one is liable for repaying the total debt.

For my part, as a debt consolidation lawyer offering bankruptcy services in Indiana for so many years, I often need to explain that, when a married person files individual bankruptcy in Indiana and any debts are discharged (forgiven) by the bankruptcy court, that discharge will apply only to that person’s separate debt, not to jointly held debts.

A related myth that Sandra Block writes about in USA Today is that if husband and wife keep their finances separated, then one’s poor credit history won’t have any effect on the other person.  The fact is, Block explains, while credit scores don’t get merged when you get married, “lenders will look at both spouses’ credit reports from all three credit bureaus.”

The Indiana lawyers for bankruptcy in all four Zuckerberg bankruptcy law offices deal with situations where only one spouse is filing personal bankruptcy in Indiana.  Especially when it comes to cases filed under Chapter 13 bankruptcy law, they know the non-filing spouse’s income needs to be included in the bankruptcy paperwork.

Along with the many myths concerning married couples filing bankruptcy Chapter 7 in Indiana, there is one misunderstanding that my Columbus bankruptcy lawyer colleague tells me she’s asked again and again: Is it better to file bankruptcy prior to a divorce or after the divorce is final? That’s going to have to be the subject for another Mark Zuckerberg article, but suffice to say that divorce may break up a couple legally, but financially they are still tied to each other when in comes to filing either individual bankruptcy or small business bankruptcy in Indiana!
 

“Nation refuses to Read Headline” is one headline that got the attention of one of my Columbus bankruptcy lawyer colleagues.  In fact, all of the Indiana bankruptcy attorneys who work in the Zuckerberg bankruptcy law offices spent a good part of the day talking about it!  The Washington Post headline began:

                             “4-Year-Old Girl Forced To…”

Millions of Americans, according to a feature writer from The Onion, confirmed they quickly closed their laptops or folded away their newspapers because “there was no possible ending to the headline they could tolerate.” Readers simply could not bear to go about their day with the sort of horrifying news hinted at in that headline.

In my more than twenty-five years as a debt consolidation lawyer offering bankruptcy services in Indiana, I know the psychology.  We humans don’t like to confront ugly realities, particularly when those realities involve us and our finances.  In my profession, I see proof of this every single day.

For every one hundred people, for example, who come to see me to get help stopping foreclosure or student loan debt help or payday loan debt help, I know there are five hundred others who aren’t asking for the help they desperately need. Not only are those folks not coming to my bankruptcy law offices, they’re not coming to anybody’s office to get advice! It’s as if they can’t deal with the rest of the “headline”.

Now, that news about the 4-year-old whose adorable photo was next to the Washington Post headline, awful as it was, had to do with somebody else other than the reader who closed his or her laptop or who folded up his or her newspaper.

But for all those people for whom filing personal bankruptcy in Indiana could be their only ticket to a fresh financial start, it’s their own story they’re refusing to “read”. The pre-bankruptcy symptoms are there, but we refuse to heed the all-too-obvious diagnosis and take steps to obtain debt relief.

When debt overwhelms, don’t just continue with your day, hoping the problems will disappear. At the Zuckerberg bankruptcy law offices, we aim to help you continue with your LIFE!

With all the effort to help stop foreclosure coming out of the four Zuckerberg bankruptcy law offices, I could really relate to the paragraph I read in the New York Times the other day:

“While the entire process of seeking a mortgage modification is complicated and time- consuming, few elements are as maddening as the inability to get through to a representative…’I just keep getting passed from one person to another,’ complained one homeowner. ‘Nobody is willing to talk to me.’”

Well, as debt consolidation lawyers with more than twenty-five years’ experience, my Indiana bankruptcy lawyer colleagues and I are not only willing to talk to you, we’re willing to help you talk to your bank or mortgage servicing company!

Unfortunately, as New York Times reporter Nelson Schwartz observes, there is “doubt whether a settlement will eliminate mortgage ills” (referring to new government standards for how mortgage companies deal with consumers). From my vantage point as a lawyer for bankruptcy in Indiana, there’s good reason to doubt.

Using Chapter 13 bankruptcy law, many homeowners can prevent foreclosure.  But the longer they wait to take action, hoping against hope for a mortgage modification from their lender, the narrower a range of choices they have. As one of my Columbus bankruptcy lawyers pointed out, the late fees and penalties that pile up during the wait make it difficult to “cure” the arrearage on mortgage payments through a Chapter 13 debt repayment plan.

Time is of the essence as we work to help stop foreclosure.  And, when medical debts pile up along with late mortgage payments, even those with good jobs may find themselves in need of payday loan debt help or student loan debt help.

So, even as “government officials prepare to unveil new standards for how banks treat millions of Americans facing foreclosure,” this Indianapolis lawyer for bankruptcy has plenty of doubts remaining about how much help those standards will prove to be.

“The promise of a single point of contact has emerged as a crucial element in the settlement,” explains the New York Times article.  Perhaps, I might suggest, the best guarantee of a “single point of contact” might be attorney Mark Zuckerberg!

There’s nothing like a true life story to get a point across, and that’s why this week I’m devoting all my Bankruptcy in Indiana articles to actual court cases as summarized in a recent issue of Consumer Bankruptcy News.

As part of providing Indiana bankruptcy information, I need to stress that exemptions make up a very, very important part of the new bankruptcy laws of Indiana. I know, because, back a number of years ago, I (as a longtime debt consolidation lawyer in Indiana) was called upon to help write that exemptions portion of the law in our state. When an asset is “exempted”, that means the debtor is allowed to keep it, and that resource does not need to go towards repaying creditors.

Well, in one Wisconsin bankruptcy case, an interesting question arose about an exemption.

• A young woman named V. was injured in an auto accident. She suffered no permanent damage, and did not lose any wages.  However, she could not pay the medical expenses of more than $6,000.
   
• While V. had filed a personal injury claim which she valued at $10,500, she could not be sure she’d ever get that award.
   
• Meanwhile she was being harassed by her creditors, so V. decided to file personal bankruptcy under Chapter 13 bankruptcy law, five months after her accident.
   
• The question before the bankruptcy court was whether the projected proceeds of the personal injury claim should be included in V’s projected disposable income (in figuring out how much she could afford to pay on her debt repayment plan.)
   
• The court ruled in favor of allowing V. to proceed with filing individual bankruptcy.
   

My colleagues in the four Zuckerberg bankruptcy law offices understood the reasoning behind this decision, but I want to explain to readers of Bankruptcy in Indiana what this is all about.
Anyone seeking Indiana bankruptcy help must understand that the facts about one’s financial situation need to be set out in the bankruptcy paperwork.  All of the known facts must be included in that bankruptcy petition – what assets you have, what debts you owe, what money you have coming in from income or investments, or rentals – ALL income. The dispute here centered around whether V. $10,500 from the personal injury settlement should have been included.

In this case, though, as one of my Columbus bankruptcy lawyer colleagues pointed out, V. had applied for a settlement, but really had no way of knowing how much, if any, of that money she would actually receive.  That’s why the court did not penalize her for not including the settlement money.

Bankruptcy law, for both individual bankruptcy in Indiana and small business bankruptcy in Indiana, can be complex, but today’s highlighted “lesson from court” is rather simple:

It all centers around providing accurate, complete, and honest information to the bankruptcy trustee.  In fact, a very large part of the work I do in both bankruptcy Chapter 7 in Indiana and in cases like V.s involving Chapter 13 bankruptcy law, lies in gathering, organizing, and presenting facts!  Just the facts.  ALL the facts..

Twenty five years is a long period of time. Over all those years in practice as a debt consolidation lawyer offering bankruptcy services in Indiana, I’ve been doing a lot of learning – and a lot of teaching. I lead courses for Indiana lawyers for bankruptcy, lecture all over the country, and helped write a portion of Indiana bankruptcy law.  And what I’ve found through all of this is that there’s nothing like true life stories to get a point across.

That’s why, this week I’m devoting all my Bankruptcy in Indiana articles to actual court cases as summarized in a recent issue of Consumer Bankruptcy News.

When an individual or perhaps a married couple visits one of the Zuckerberg bankruptcy law offices, they usually want our help filing personal bankruptcy in Indiana or possibly small business bankruptcy in Indiana.  The question these clients came to discuss typically begins with the word “should”  (“Should we file?”)  Rarely do potential filers consider the possibility that the court might not LET them file bankruptcy in Indiana!  In today’s true life story, we learn about that…

Facts of the case:

• Pennsylvania debtors Mr. & Mrs. W. intended to file under Chapter 13 bankruptcy law.
   
• One of their creditors, a Mr. D., tried to prove to the court that the W’s did not deserve to have the debt they owed him discharged through bankruptcy.  Mr. D. wanted to sue the couple directly.

The “tests”:
Just as happens in cases of individual bankruptcy in Indiana, the court applied a number of “tests” to help decide if the couple should be allowed to gain bankruptcy relief.

• Were the debtors living extravagantly?  The answer was “no”, so they “passed” that test.
  
  (One function my Columbus bankruptcy lawyer colleagues and I serve is helping our clients gain better control of their budgets, not only in order to qualify for Indiana bankruptcy, but so that they can successfully emerge from bankruptcy and get onto a better financial path.)
   
• Did the debtors fully and accurately disclose all their financial affairs?  The court found that the wife had “passed the test”, but that the husband had made some less than truthful statements and had concealed some information.
   
• The court then looked at the most important “test” of all - fairness. Realizing that the couple did not have enough money to pay Mr. D. even if he were to be allowed to sue them, and realizing that Mrs. W. would suffer if her husband did not also receive a bankruptcy discharge, the court decided that fundamental fairness is the most important principle of all, and the bankruptcy was allowed to proceed.

After having offered Indiana bankruptcy help to literally tens of thousands of people, there are two things I know to be true:

1. Justice, as we’re fond of saying, isn’t perfect.

2. The new bankruptcy laws of Indiana are designed to offer debtors the chance for a fresh financial start while treating both debtor and creditor as fairly and equally AS POSSIBLE!

It’s bad enough for anyone when family medical bills are spiraling out of control while they can’t work or can’t find a job, and they’re trying desperately to help stop foreclosure on their home. .   But what really makes me indignant is when that happens to veterans who deserve better after having served our country.  And, when it’s senior citizens who are the veterans showing up at the Zuckerberg bankruptcy law offices, it’s an even sadder situation.

That’s why I, a debt consolidation lawyer offering bankruptcy services in Indiana, want to remind readers of one very important benefit that not every veteran knows about. The program I’m highlighting today in Bankruptcy in Indiana is called Aid and Attendance Pension Benefit, and, as one of my Columbus bankruptcy lawyer colleagues reminded me, goes all the way back to 1952, when Congress created the Department of Veteran Affairs.

Why, you may ask, does it fall to a lawyer for bankruptcy in Indiana like me (and to elder law attorneys and financial planners) to spread the word that these benefits are available to veterans and to their surviving spouses?  Why isn’t the VA telling people about them?

Well, as someone who makes a tremendous effort to spread Indiana bankruptcy information, I was just plain shocked to learn the answer to that question: Fact is, the VA has a “non-information” policy.  Even though the VA must set aside funds every year, they are under no obligation to inform potential recipients that they qualify for benefits!

So here I am, dealing with veterans needing payday loan debt help and sometimes student loan debt help, desperately in need of more income, and I learn that, nationally, $22 BILLION a year in veterans’ pension money goes unspent because many vets are complete unaware the program exists!

That’s just one more big reason I hope that Hoosiers (and disabled or senior veterans in particular) will consult with an Indiana bankruptcy attorney at the very first signs of financial difficulty, and not wait until things have gotten so bad they can’t stand it any more!

When I’m helping clients prepare to file either bankruptcy Chapter 7 in Indiana, or to file using Chapter 13 bankruptcy law, a good number of the decisions I discuss with them center around income. And that’s precisely where the VA Regular Aid and Attendance pension could play such an important role.  Here are some general features of the program:
 

• It’s meant for veterans (or their surviving spouses) who need another person in their home to help them with activities of daily living, such as help with eating, bathing, dressing, handling financial affairs, taking medications, etc.. The program also covers blind people.
  It’s easy to see how such a pension might help veterans who file Chapter 13 bankruptcy to keep up with their 3-5 year debt repayment plans and successfully emerge from bankruptcy.
   
• The veteran or spouse is in an assisted living facility or nursing home.
   
• The benefit is a monthly pension to help with non-service-related disabilities (in other words, they don’t have to have sustained the damage in the course of serving in the military).
  It’s easy to see how having this kind of income can save homes and help stop foreclosure!
   
• The veteran can have served in World War I or II, the Korean War, the Viet Nam war, or in the Persian Gulf war.
   
• In 2012, the benefit can be as high as $1703 per month (tax-free) per veteran (as much as $2019 for a married veteran).

Anyone can see how these monthly pension amounts could make an enormous difference to veterans struggling with debt.  Fortunately, the good bankruptcy attorneys in Indiana have no “non-information” policy!

One lesson that’s become clear over my years as a debt consolidation lawyer and bankruptcy lawyer in Anderson is that each situation is different. The new bankruptcy laws of Indiana set out the general rules, but sometimes bankruptcy judges need to make adjustments in order to fit the circumstances.  And what I’ve found is that telling the stories of these unusual rulings helps my Bankruptcy in Indiana readers and my clients understand the way the bankruptcy process works.

Ninety nine times out of a hundred, when a client who owns a home visits one of the Zuckerberg bankruptcy law offices, that client will want us to help stop foreclosure on the home. (Whether that is going to turn out to be the best tactic in that situation is up for discussion, but homeowners’ first instinct is to do everything they can to keep the house).

So, it was very unusual and interesting when one of the Columbus bankruptcy lawyers who is my colleague read about an interesting case where a debtor was actually begging the court to have the bank foreclose on her home!

To help readers understand what happened here, I need to offer a reminder:
A home mortgage is a secured loan.  The house itself is the collateral for the money the bank lends you.

 Here’s the general sequence of events:

• Sheryl’s home was damaged in a flood.
   
• S. filed bankruptcy Chapter 7 and most of her debts were discharged.
   
•  She moved into a new home.
   
•  Meanwhile, the mortgage lender on house #1 changed the locks, posted “No trespassing” signs, but did not officially foreclose. 
   
• The homeowners’ association fees were not being paid, and late fees were being charged.
   
• Sheryl sued the lender, demanding that it either foreclose or sell the ruined property.

Here is where the unusual part comes in:  The bankruptcy judge ruled that Sheryl’s case could be re-opened so that the trustee could sell the property and pay the homeowners’ association. The court reasoning was that Sheryl was being asked to make payments on a debt to which she no longer had any real connection, she was unable to make a fresh financial start (which is what bankruptcy is all about)!

All good bankruptcy attorneys in Indiana  know that this outcome is very, very rare.  The new bankruptcy laws of Indiana, for example, do require the owner of any home to remain responsible for homeowners’ association fees.  Plus, as I said earlier, homeowners who want to help stop foreclosure need to try and qualify under Chapter 13 bankruptcy law, not bankruptcy chapter 7.

I certainly can’t guarantee that all bankruptcy judges will provide such unusual interpretations of the law. But, as a longtime practitioner of Indiana bankruptcy law, I was gratified to learn about this one case of individualized attention!
 

As you might imagine, a debt consolidation lawyer like me who also offers Indiana bankruptcy help has seen both the good and the bad side of credit and loans.

Today, I thought I’d share with my Bankruptcy in Indiana readers my thoughts about four types of credit.  #1, #2, and #3 can all have a place in your budget, and all three are probably tools you used responsibly before things began going wrong.

#1   Non-installment credit. This is the kind of credit available in some stores, especially the kind you visit frequently, and in country clubs.  Several of the attorneys who work in the Zuckerberg bankruptcy law offices, for example, have lunch with clients or friends at their club, signing a receipt each time, then getting one bill at the end of the month for all their purchases during the past month.

#2   Installment credit.  This is the sort of loan you’d used to buy, say, new furniture or new appliances.  As both a consumer and as an Indiana attorney for bankruptcy, I've seen lots of people taking advantage of no-payments-for-six-months type offers.  Then, if you pay the entire amount before the due date, there’s no interest charged.

#3   Revolving credit. Most credit cards use revolving credit. You’re given a limit, and you can use the credit to buy anything you like at any point in time up to that limit.  You have to make periodic payments, and with each one of those, you’re replacing that credit.

#4 Payday loans.  People who come to our offices needing payday loan debt help from an Indiana bankruptcy lawyer are usually in the worst kind of trouble.  On the surface of things, payday lending sounds like a great idea – you borrow just enough cash to tide you over until your next paycheck.  The way payday loans work is, you write a personal check payable to your lender for the amount they’re advancing you plus a fee. But the reason my  colleagues the Anderson, Bloomington, Indianapolis, and Columbus bankruptcy lawyers and I so strongly caution against payday loans is that the extensions tend to be absolutely disastrous for borrowers, with annualized rates on some payday loans going as high as 400%!

Don’t for a moment assume that, after 25 years helping tens of thousands of residents file personal bankruptcy in Indiana, that we oppose all borrowing. Exactly the opposite is the case.  Credit and loans have an important place in your budget.  In fact, one important aspect of emerging from individual bankruptcy in Indiana (and I mean either bankruptcy Chapter 7 or filing under Chapter 13 bankruptcy law in Indiana) is to re-establish credit.

No, it’s not #1, #2, or #3 type credit I’m worried about – it’s #4. You’ve tried your best to handle credit responsibly, but your financial pressures have been mounting. You think perhaps a payday loan might be a convenient way “hang in there until things turn around” – please don’t. 

I offer help to stop foreclosure, student loan debt help, and help filing bankruptcy in Indiana.  But when it comes to payday loan debt help I often say – Watch out for payday lenders. They’re the ones getting paid and you’re the one going into deeper trouble! 
 

Author and financial planner Leslie Greenman poses an interesting question to single Baby Boomers: Should you go out with someone who’s filed bankruptcy?

As a debt consolidation lawyer with twenty five years’ experience offering Indiana bankruptcy help, I’m not sure I want to get into offering advice to the lovelorn.  However, I thought Greenman has some valuable observations to offer:

• “Given the past few rocky economic years, personal bankruptcies have mounted….And one offshoot is that some of the people who cross into your dating radar may be card-carrying members of the Chapter 7 bankruptcy club.”

Good call.  Even considering only the clients of the Zuckerberg bankruptcy law offices, where we’ve helped tens of thousands of individuals file personal bankruptcy in Indiana, some of those are certainly single, and some are bound to connect with each other.
 

• “When a large corporation files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, it’s business as usual without a cloud or taint hanging overhead…But personal bankruptcy says something else.  It says ‘loser’….or, at least, it used to.”

Correct.  One of the common myths about bankruptcy in Indiana is that only deadbeats file bankruptcy.  Of course, readers of these Bankruptcy in Indiana articles know better. Most filers are far from losers, having handled their finances responsibly until some combination of divorce, job loss, and medical costs became too much to handle without help.

• Greenman goes on to concede that very point. “Are they damaged goods who should be avoided, or just someone who…deserves a second chance?” she asks. “What matters,” she concludes, “are the circumstances that led to your suitor’s financial mess.” She’s ready to forgive people if illness and medical expenses were the underlying reasons behind a bankruptcy. She has little patience for “those who lived high on the hog until bill collectors caught up with them.”

At the Zuckerberg bankruptcy law offices, of course, we’re here to help no matter WHAT the underlying causes are the practice of bankruptcy law in Indiana, the vast majority of those filing individual bankruptcy in Indiana were NOT “high on the hoggers”!

In discussing Greenman’s comments with my colleagues the Columbus bankruptcy lawyers, we all agreed with her that “The ideal date in the bankruptcy pool is someone who owns up to the problem and has a plan to move forward.”

In fact, we concluded, that might be the perfect description for the ideal bankruptcy client – someone who owns up to his or her problems and is ready to take action to move forward!

For twenty five years I’ve been helping Indiana debtors seek protection.  You see, protection is the whole point of the new bankruptcy laws of Indiana – they’re designed to protect honest debtors from harassment by creditors.

I polled all the Indiana bankruptcy attorneys who work in the Zuckerberg bankruptcy law offices to see what they see as the main point of personal bankruptcy in Indiana.

• Anderson bankruptcy lawyers chose: 
  Buying time for debtors to recover from problem situations beyond their control.
  
• Indianapolis bankruptcy lawyers chose:
  Offering debtors a chance for a fresh financial start.
  
• Columbus bankruptcy lawyers chose:
  Protecting honest debtors from harassment by creditors.

So, what exactly makes the difference between creditors just trying to get what’s due them and those who break the law? I thought it might be useful to my Bankruptcy in Indiana readers to present this list of “no-no’s” – things debt collectors are forbidden to do:

Creditors can’t “inflate”. In other words, they can’t ask for more than you owe, or add extra fees onto the sum.

Creditors can’t “pester”.  They can’t call before 8AM or after 9PM or on Sunday, and they’re not allowed to call you at work if you’ve asked for that not to happen. (And here’s an important one for after bankruptcy:) They can’t call twice, once they’ve been told the debt has already been discharged in bankruptcy.

Creditors can’t be violent.  They can’t do intentional damage either to your possessions or to your reputation.

Creditors can’t threaten.  They can’t hold over your head promises to sue, to garnish wages, or to wreck your credit score.

Creditors can't “gossip”. They can’t disclose your debt to a third party.

If these things are happening despite the law, your next step might be to inform the Indiana Attorney General’s office or the Better Business Bureau.  But, if that doesn’t help, it’s time to call a bankruptcy attorney in Indiana. And it doesn’t matter if you used a bankruptcy lawyer for filing individual bankruptcy in Indiana or if you took the do-it-yourself route.

If a creditor is breaking the law, it’s time to strike back.  After all, you filed bankruptcy to gain protection from creditors, protection you’re not getting.  When the courts discover that rules are being disregarded and disrespected, you might even qualify for financial damages. 

There’s a law against post-bankruptcy discharge debt collections, but some creditors still don’t get the point. After 25 years helping tens of thousands of debtors file personal bankruptcy in Indiana, I’m finding more and more that it’s not always over when it’s over.

The way it’s supposed to work is that, after you’ve emerged from individual bankruptcy in Indiana and some or even all of your debts have been discharged, creditors are required to report zero debt.  That allows your credit report to recover, and allows you to make that fresh financial start that Indiana bankruptcy is all about.

The bankruptcy discharge “recipe” calls for:

• You’re released from liability on any debt for which you received a discharge.
  
• Creditors are barred by legal order from making any collection efforts.
  
• Creditors are not allowed to harass or threaten you.
  
• Creditors can’t sell your already discharged debt to another collection agency.
  
• Creditors can’t give a negative report about you to a credit bureau.

OK, as all of us attorneys in the Zuckerberg bankruptcy law offices are often asked, so what if that’s not what happens? What are we supposed to do next, debtors ask?

 First, contact those creditors in writing, informing them that the debt was discharged in your bankruptcy proceedings.  If that doesn’t work, call your lawyer for bankruptcy in Indiana! This is what you should do whether or not you used the help of an Indiana bankruptcy lawyer to file in the first case, because, now that your creditor has broken the law, it’s time to get serious.

My colleagues the Columbus bankruptcy lawyers have been following creditor harassment cases around the country, reporting that courts are taking a very strong stand against creditors who break the rules.  In fact, it’s not unusual, they report, for courts to award  damages to debtors for lost wages, attorneys’ fees, and even “emotional harm”.

The new bankruptcy laws of Indiana (including both bankruptcy Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 bankruptcy law) are designed to bring your old financial life to an end and offer you a chance to start over on a better track.  When that doesn’t happen, the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act gives you legal rights to sue debt collectors who threaten, intimidate, or harass you.

I help debtors – I help stop foreclosure, offer payday loan debt help and even student loan debt help, all under the bankruptcy laws of Indiana.  But, when those very laws are being broken by creditors that threaten to undo all the good work I’ve done, I’m ready to take up arms!

I’m always happy to share glimpses of good news with my Bankruptcy in Indiana readers.  That goes double when it comes to news about jobs. Believe me, as a debt consolidation lawyer offering Indiana bankruptcy help, I’ve gotten real up close and personal with the effects of the recession.  Plain and simple, successfully emerging from individual bankruptcy in Indiana (whether we’re talking about bankruptcy Chapter 7 in Indiana or about people filing under Chapter 13 bankruptcy law) is all about having income from jobs.

• Sunshine Manufacturing, producer of tanning products, is relocating from Arizona to Indianapolis (my Indianapolis bankruptcy lawyer colleagues are thrilled about this), moving into a plan that will employ 220 full-time workers.
  
• Alcoa will be greatly expanding its aluminum-lithium alloy plant near Lafayette, Indiana.

But, you Bankruptcy in Indiana readers might ask, does that mean our unemployment rate has fallen?  Well…actually, no, not really yet. We’ve still got a long, long way to go to get everyone working who wants to and needs to work.

Whatever the number, though, the new jobs mean that at least some debtors will be able keep up their three to five year debt repayment plans under Chapter 13 bankruptcy law in Indiana.  At least some debtors who’ve filed bankruptcy Chapter 7 in Indiana will be able to regularly pay their bills and set aside an emergency fund.  For some debtors, their new jobs will mean I can help stop foreclosure on their homes.  For some debtors, it will mean that, with debt discharged through bankruptcy, they’ll have enough income, and that will let me offer student loan debt help. 

For this bankruptcy lawyer in Indiana, it’s been a long, long haul watching good workers lose jobs.  There may not be enough new jobs, but let me tell you, new jobs offer new hope for those emerging from bankruptcy in Indiana!  

Getting back to good is what it’s all about in my work as an Indianapolis bankruptcy attorney, and really what all the new bankruptcy laws in Indiana are designed to help you do. 

All my colleagues in the Zuckerberg bankruptcy law offices talk periodically with financial planners and loan officers at banks and mortgage companies, and I also read financial planning journals. The whole idea is to bring the most up-to-date approach to our work, which is offering  Indiana bankruptcy help.

Most people we talk to have more than one credit card, with some having quite a number of them. There seem to be two different schools of thought in terms of paying those off:

1. One financial adviser shared with my Columbus bankruptcy lawyer colleague that he tells clients to begin by paying off the card debts that carry the highest interest rates.
   
2. Many magazine advice columns, on the other hand, seem to lean towards paying off the cards with the smallest debts first (in order to gain a sense of accomplishment)m then turning your attention to larger debts.

After twenty five years of helping debtors prepare for filing personal bankruptcy in Indiana, and then helping them emerge from bankruptcy to make a fresh financial start, I have some important items to add to this list of ways to handle debt:

• It’s very, very important not to have any one credit card debt that is above 50% of the credit limit for that card. So, in choosing where to start, debtors must keep that over-arching rule in mind.
  
• As Steve Bucci points out in the book Credit Repair Kit for Dummies, there are creditors who don’t report to the credit bureaus at all, which means that payments made on those debts won’t help in terms of positive points on your credit score. Bucci lists credit unions, utilities, tradespeople, landlords, and insurance companies, who often don’t want to pay a fee to submit information to the credit bureaus.

As someone providing bankruptcy services in Indiana, I certainly don’t mean to imply these debts shouldn’t be paid, or that there won’t be negative consequences if you don’t (turning off utilities, evictions, harassment, etc.).  It simply means that when you’re creating a plan for getting out of debt, you want to focus on generating positive items to appear on the credit report.

• Rebuilding a credit score (either before or after filing personal bankruptcy in Indiana) is about showing you can be responsible in handling credit and that you’re making payments on time. Smaller purchases (hence more manageable repayments) can help you establish a positive repayment history quicker.

Having said all that, I suspect that if you’re reading this page, it may be that your credit standing is NOT in good shape and that your financial life has taken a downward path. Counseling on how to manage your budget may not be of little help now, because your bills are mounting every day.

Any experienced bankruptcy attorney in Indiana would be able to provide budgeting advice, but what you need to know is that an attorney is the ONLY person who can offer the legal advice you need to get you back to good!

You’ve all heard the expression “Less is more”, often in connection with fashion accessories or home décor.  Well, the means test for personal bankruptcy in Indiana is one example where less is a lot better than more!

The first step for moving forward with bankruptcy Chapter 7 in Indiana is meeting the “means test”.  “If you have too many means,” as Steve Bucci explains in Credit Repair Kit for Dummies, “you can’t declare Chapter 7.”

As a longtime debt consolidation lawyer offering Indiana bankruptcy help, one of the very first things we do with visitors to the Zuckerberg bankruptcy law offices is measure income, starting with look at the latest tax returns.

Next, as every lawyer for bankruptcy in Indiana knows, family income must be compared to the median income for families that size here in Indiana.

As the third step in the means test, we determine if you have “excess monthly income” (money coming in over and above allowable expenses as specified by the IRS).  If that excess is more than $166.66 per month, it’s too high for you to qualify for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. Why $166.66? Because that’s how much it would take to pay off $10,000 of debt over a five-year period of time.  Again, less is better, if what you want to do is qualify for bankruptcy Chapter 7.

Now, if you “passed” that third part of the means test (your excess income was NOT as high as $166.66 per month), the fourth step measures whether you have at least $100 per month excess income, and then whether that $6,000 ($100 a month for five years) would pay off 25% or more of your debt.  Once again, less is more.  Only if you cannot eliminate 25% of your debt by paying $100 per month will you qualify to file Chapter 7 bankruptcy.

If it doesn’t look as if you can quite pass the means test, I and my colleagues the Anderson, Bloomington, Indianapolis, and Columbus bankruptcy lawyers might advise you to try one other tactic that is allowed under the new bankruptcy laws of Indiana – giving charity. The law allows you to donate up to 15% of your income to your place of worship and to count that as a regular expense.  Sometimes that pushes the income down enough to satisfy the means test.

Whoever coined the phrase “Less is more” must have had the Indiana bankruptcy means test in mind!

What’s ahead when it comes to bankruptcy in Indiana?   In fact, what’s going on around our country?  (It’s easy to understand why I, as a debt consolidation lawyer offering Indiana bankruptcy help would be interested in statistics about bankruptcy, but why would you, readers of these Bankruptcy in Indiana articles, care about anybody else’s bankruptcy but your own?)

Well, for a number of reasons.  Remember the “ripple effect” I’m always discussing, the one where a company has financial problems and lays off employees?  Those employees then have no money to buy stuff, so the small business owners in the area are hurt.  Problems – and solutions to problems – are contagious.  Knowing what’s going on around you keeps you prepared to deal with whatever life dishes up. That’s why I think it’s so important for me, in these Bankruptcy in Indiana articles, to stay on top of news from around the globe and to encourage all my colleagues the Bloomington, Anderson, Indianapolis, and Columbus bankruptcy lawyers to read everything they can get their hands on and then share information.

Take the item from the Milwaukee Business Journal, for example, reporting that eastern Wisconsin bankruptcy filings declined by 7% in 2011, while at the same time quoting a local attorney who believes filing personal bankruptcy will increase in 2012, because people remain underemployed and because many homeowners will not be able to arrange mortgage modifications on their homes.

In our own four Zuckerberg bankruptcy law offices, we work hard to help people negotiate mortgage modifications, but the fact remains that Chapter 13 bankruptcy law in Indiana has proven to be a much more effective tool to help stop foreclosure.

A second article out of Washington State also notes that bankruptcy filings appear to have slowed down a little, but that a future jump is expected as bank try to recoup their losses from some of the foreclosures.

The statistics tell us there were 22754 cases filed in Southern District of Indiana in 2011, compared with 27394 the prior year.  But, as someone who’s helped tens of thousands of Indiana debtors make a fresh financial start by filing individual bankruptcy in Indiana, I believe we’re not nearly out of the woods yet.

An Indiana University study says that 46 million Americans are living below the poverty line, and that those numbers will continue to rise.  Although the recession is officially over, the scarcity of well-paying jobs will have the effect of increasing poverty levels.

Predictions won’t help you individually, but what I’m hoping is that knowing how widespread the problems are will help you realize that time is on your side only if you, early on, seek help in exploring different options. No, you may not be ready to actually file personal bankruptcy in Indiana or small business bankruptcy in Indiana, but, are you ready to get your own personal statistics (your “ducks”) in a row, ready to handle whatever the new year brings?

When it comes to bankruptcy in Indiana, I’ve learned after 25 years offering Indiana bankruptcy help, it’s not a matter of “poor– it’s a matter of “debt”.

As a debt consolidation lawyer, I often find my advice being sought not by shabbily dressed clients driving rattletrap cars, but by people who are used to extremely luxurious lifestyles. Some combination of job loss, divorce, medical emergencies, and the drop in real estate values forced them to face up to their spiraling debt situation and to seek Indiana bankruptcy help.

Usually, visitors to the Zuckerberg law offices come in feeling they’re very much alone.  Actually, though, that’s far from the case. That’s why, in these Bankruptcy in Indiana articles, I find it useful to highlight stories of very famous sports figures, movie stars, and political leaders who filed personal bankruptcy not because they were “poor”, but because their debts got the better of them.

One of the Columbus bankruptcy lawyers who works in the Zuckerberg bankruptcy law offices brought in an interesting story about something that happened only last month. A tycoon once called the richest man in Ireland was declared bankrupt by the High Court in Dublin. Sean Quinn, whose real estate fortune was valued at $6 billion just a few years ago, now has debts of approximately $3 billion.

This Sean Quinn saga makes for an interesting tidbit, to be sure, but is the story really valuable to “regular folks” in Indiana who need me to help stop foreclosure on their homes or who need student loan debt help? Here’s why I'm including this article as part of providing bankruptcy information in Indiana:

• The new bankruptcy laws of Indiana are designed to offer a chance for a fresh financial start, and that means every honest debtor regardless of the number of zeros after the numbers.

• Sean Quinn became a billionaire by taking risks in business. As every business person – and every Indiana small business bankruptcy lawyer – knows, not always do risks pay off as hoped.

There’s little pleasure in Sean Quinn’s bankruptcy,” remarks irishcentral.com, explaining that Quinn’s “downfall was as unexpected as it was dramatic.”  As all good bankruptcy attorneys in Indiana would agree, though, there may be no pleasure in ANY bankruptcy, but what there is, is RELIEF!

For years now in these Bankruptcy in Indiana articles, I’ve been reassuring readers that, contrary to popular myth, bankruptcy does not spell d-e-a-d-b-e-a-t.  In other words, filing personal bankruptcy in Indiana is not necessarily (and not even most of the time) the result of careless handling of one’s finances.  In fact, every one of us lawyers for bankruptcy in Indiana who works in any of the four Zuckerberg bankruptcy law offices is used to seeing just the opposite: bad things happening to very good, very financially responsible people.

In order to provide the very latest Indiana bankruptcy information to readers and clients, as you know by now, I read a lot – journals, magazines, newsletters, websites, books – you name it. And, just two weeks ago, I happened on the most amazing headline in Investment News:  “CFP Board Eases Up on Advisers Who Go Bust.”

I really hope that, once you “get” what this headline means, you’re going to find it as reassuring and comforting as I did.  Why? Well, for one thing, the very last people you’d imagine would be irresponsible with money are financial planning professionals, especially those who’ve devoted years of extra study to earn the CFP® (Certified Financial Planner) mark in order to offer even more comprehensive and thorough advice to their clients.

Up until now, as one planner explained to one of the Columbus bankruptcy lawyers who is my colleague, if planners filed individual bankruptcy in Indiana (or small business bankruptcy in Indiana, for that matter), they would have lost their CFP® certification.

As you may imagine, someone like me who’s been offering Indiana bankruptcy help for 25 years would be gratified to learn that situation is about to change. The CFP Board realizes that everything from unexpected medical expenses, a spouse’s job loss, or divorce to a general business downturn can negatively affect even the most responsible and financial savvy individuals. (I know this very well as I work to help stop foreclosure for very good people!)

The latest proposal is that, while a CFP® certificant must report a bankruptcy, there will be no disciplinary proceedings for a first bankruptcy.

Bankruptcy in Indiana, as I’ve always stressed to clients, readers, and even to my own colleagues, was never designed to be an escape hatch for deadbeats.  Quite the contrary, the bankruptcy safety net is for situations “when bad things happen to good people”. I’m so glad the CFP® Board has come around to seeing the same thing!