Help Stop Foreclosure

As I've emphasized often before in Bankruptcy in Indiana, it's really all about jobs. Whether it's qualifying to file under Chapter 13 bankruptcy law in Indiana, or whether it's getting back on one's financial feet after filing bankruptcy Chapter 7 in Indiana, it comes down to having income to keep the bills paid. That's why it's been so important for me, as a debt consolidation lawyer, to keep my clients and readers updated on the employment situation in our state.

• Ports, I'm learning, are helping a lot.  A new study I read about in Inside Indiana Business suggests that Indiana's three ports contribute $5.4 billion to Indiana's economy each year, accounting for more than 43,500 jobs. To me that says clients will have a better chance to successfully emerge from personal bankruptcy in Indiana.
  
   
• Solar panels are helping, too. Fort Recovery Construction & Equipment is expanding its SolarAg division, creating up to 120 new jobs in the next three years. To me that means clients who've filed small business banakruptcy in Indiana will have a better chance at getting business back on its feet.
   
• Green is good. The Indiana Department of Environmental Management is awarding $500,000 in grants to create hundreds of new "green" jobs. With the "ripple effect" that can have, that could help stop foreclosure in many cases, and help clients make a fresh financial start after filing individual bankruptcy in Indiana.
   
• Parking helps.  Dallas-based ACS will operate Indianapolis' public parking system, and that will create 200 new jobs, according to Mayor Greg Ballard.

While the four Mark Zuckerberg bankruptcy law offices are in Indiana's Southern District, including the Columbus bankruptcy lawyers who help serve the entire southern part of the state, I'm always interested in news from every part of the state. As an attorney who's provided Indiana bankruptcy help to tens of thousands of individuals and families, including those filing small business bankruptcy in Indiana, I know how the economy in one part of the state, and even the economy of neighboring states, affects jobs in the Southern District.

As I write this, I also realize that there are two important unknowns when it comes to jobs in Indiana: One has to do with the GM stamping plant in Indianapolis and whether it will remain open, and the second has to do with Navistar phasing down operations in Ft. Wayne. As an Indianapolis bankruptcy attorney, I know many, many jobs are dependent on the outcomes in these two situations. All the Indiana bankruptcy lawyers who are my colleagues are on the alert for news about these two companies.

The overall employment picture is showing signs of recovery; Indiana added 13,000 private sector jobs in July. Mark Everson of the Indiana Department of Workforce Development reported that Hoosiers make up 2% of the U.S, population, yet we captured 9% of all new jobs in the nation in July. To me, what that says is fewer individuals will need payday loan debt help.

Right now, I can tell by the requests I'm getting for payday loan debt help, student loan debt help, and help with mortgage modifications, that we're far, far, from being "out of the woods" when it comes to jobs in Indiana. Still, hopeful employment reports like these cheer me because I know these new jobs will make it possible for more people to make a fresh financial start after emerging from bankruptcy in Indiana! 

"My job is to serve as a human shield." is one of the 12 things good bosses believe, according to Robert Sutton as quoted in the Harvard Business Review. Sutton goes on to explain what he means. Good bosses protect their people "from external intrusions, distractions, and idiocy of every type".

As I read the article, I couldn't help thinking that Mark Zuckerberg's job is to serve as a human shield! In fact, I wondered if Sutton, Professor of Management Science and Engineering at Stanford University, wasn't referring to all the good bankruptcy attorneys in Indiana.   It's certainly true that a good portion of our effort in Indiana bankruptcy law goes towards helping clients who have turned to us for Indiana bankruptcy help overcome distractions and focus on a plan of action for the future.

Is bankruptcy Chapter 7 in Indiana the right decision?  Would filing under Chapter 13 bankruptcy laws be more appropriate to the situatioin? Let's focus on getting all the information together to help in the decision process. Let's measure the problem, but focus on the solution, I urge.

Bill Gross, founder of the world's largest bond fund, said a wise thing: "Loss of confidence is perhaps the most dangerous thing. A patient with hope, most doctors will agree, has a better chance of recovery." As I help clients prepare to file individual bankruptcy in Indiana, one of the primary ways I need to serve as a "human shield" is to move my clients' minds away from self-blame and towards hope for the future.. 

I think any debt consolidation lawyer would agree with my message to debtors seeking Indiana bankruptcy help: "Don't blame yourself. Don't blame others in your family. Use the safety net provided by the new bankruptcy laws of Indiana to buy time to plan for the future. Spend your emotional energies fofocused on the chance for the fresh financial start that filing personal bankruptcy in Indiana has to offer."

Do you need help to stop foreclosure? Do you need help understanding how personal bankruptcy in Indiana works?  You're certainly not alone, I explain to debtors who turn to me for help. I have worked with literally tens of thousands of individuals, I explain.  I understand you never thought you'd be here, I say, but here you are. Let the new bankruptcy laws in Indiana go to work to help you make a fresh start.

Meanwhile, I say, let's get your mind off the distractions and get you ready to make good, informed decisions about your financial future.

• payday lenders
• high-fee debt settlement agencies
• credit repair and foreclosure prevention services.

Whether or not filing individual bankruptcy in Indiana is the recommended course of action in any one person's case, or whether small business bankruptcy in Indiana should be filed as well, our mission is to help debtors understand their options and be shielded from distractions of bill collectors' calls and letters.

Looking back on all the many years I have worked alongside my colleagues as a debt consolidation lawyer, and on all the lectures I've given for ongoing education to other bankruptcy attorneys in Indiana, I cannot think of a better description for the work we do than "human shields"!

For someone who never wanted to be a real estate lawyer, I've needed to know an awful lot about real estate.  That has been the case more than ever in the most recent part of the close to 25 years I've served as a debt consolidation lawyer offering bankruptcy services in Indiana.  Falling real estate prices have been the subject of headlines and have caused problems for bankruptcy clients in Indiana who need my help to stop foreclosure.

As I've written in many earlier Bankruptcy in Indiana articles, under the new bankruptcy laws of Indiana, filing Chapter 13 bankruptcy can often help stop foreclosure when second mortgages are discharged by the bankruptcy court.  However, first mortgage debt is not dischargeable in bankruptcy, so for clients filing bankruptcy Chapter 7 in Indiana, the process will not help them stop foreclosure.

The current administration has been offering cash incentives to mortgage services companies who agree to help homeowners remain in their homes.  I, along with the Anderson, Bloomington, Indianapolis, and Columbus bankruptcy lawyers who work in the Zuckerberg bankruptcy law offices have been called upon to help stop foreclosures by helping our clients prepared the mortgage modification paperwork so they can try to qualify for these mortgage lender programs.

According to the Indianapolis Star, "nearly $83 million in Federal funds is available to help unemployed Hoosiers avoid foreclosure on their homes. And now, there's a new foreclosure prevention program, called Hardest Hit Fund, which just this month was extended to 17 states, including Indiana.  A related program, the Emergency Homeowners Loan Program, administered through HUD, provides zero interest loans of up to $50,000 for qualified unemployed - or underemployed - people. Every one of the good bankruptcy attorneys in Indiana who works with me stays on constant alert for new programs coming out to help stop foreclosure.

Meanwhile, as one of only a dozen Certified Consumer Bankruptcy Specialists in our state, there are various ways I am able to be of help (along with the other Indiana bankruptcy attorneys in the four Mark Zuckerberg bankruptcy law offices:

• I help by analyzing a homeowner's financial situation
   
• I am used to  having skilled property appraisals run
   
• As a bankruptcy attorney in Indiana, preparing debt-income ratios for the applications for help is an area of expertise for me
   
• To achieve mortgage modification, I and my colleagues help by negotiating various mortgage compromises on behalf of clients.

Sheriffs' sales have become a bigger and bigger part of the stories shared by clients who turn to me for Indiana bankruptcy help. Indiana has a three-month waiting period before a sheriff's sale can be triggered, with the only exception being residential real estate that has been abandoned.

As part of my mission to offer bankruptcy information in Indiana to my readers and clients, (as wekk as to the attorneys around the state of Indiana whom I help educate on the new bankruptcy laws in Indiana), it's important for me to include real estate matters in the mix. No getting away from it - nowadays, a bankruptcy attorney in Indiana needs to know a lot about real estate!

In my Bankruptcy in Indiana articles, the "ripple effect" is a term I've often used to explain how, in our economy, everything is inter-related.  When a large company closes its doors or lays off workers, the effect "ripples" out to suppliers and to small stores and service businesses all over the state.

That's why, as a debt consolidation lawyer who offers bankruptcy services in Indiana's southern district, I am still always alert for news from the northern part of our state.  I was happy to learn two pieces of news:

• Biomet, the orthopedics manufacturer in Warsaw, plans to add 278 jobs over the next two years.
   
• U.S. Steel is moving forward with a $220 million project in Gary which will create approximately 500 temporary construction jobs. 

With Zuckerberg bankruptcy law offices in 38 counties, tracking Indiana employment statistics has become a mission for me and my colleagues the Anderson, Bloomington, Indianapolis, and Columbus bankruptcy lawyers.  All of us closely follow unemployment insurance claim statistics as well, and help our Indiana bankruptcy clients use the resources provided by the Indiana Department of Workforce Development.

Unemployment in Indiana has continued to hover around 10%, with job loss continuing to be one of the three leading causes of bankruptcy in Indiana along with divorce and uninsured medical costs.

In providing bankruptcy information in Indiana, I always emphasize the fact that our state pays unemployment benefits for a maximum 26 weeks.  With federal extensions (part of the administration's overall stimulus plan), Hoosiers can receive benefits for a total of almost two years.

That's not as simple as it sounds, though, because, as a worker reaches the end of one extension, he or she can't move to another until Congress has approved the next extension.

Related to all this, I fnd, is the fact that many more people need my help stopping foreclosure on their homes in addition to bankruptcy services in Indiana.  Bottom line - it's still all about jobs!

As a debt consolidation lawyer and Indiana lawyer for bankruptcy, I wear quite a number of different hats in the course of my work.  Almost always, though, helping clients file personal bankruptcy in Indiana comes around to preparing for "meetings" and "tests".

When I say "meetings, I mean the creditors' meeting which takes place within 20 to 40 days of the time a bankruptcy in Indiana is filed.  The meeting is presided over by a trustee appointed by the bankruptcy court, either in an office or a room in the courthouse.  All the creditors to whom the debtor owes money are invited. (In reality, it's rare for creditors to actually show up at the meeting.)  You attend this meeting along with your Indiana bankruptcy attorney.  The whole idea is to give the creditors a chance to ask questions about the bankruptcy paperwork you've turned in.  While the creditors may or may not choose to attend the meeting, the debtor must attend.

Any discussion about what debtors can reasonably be expected to pay towards their debt comes down to the "test", meaning the Indiana means test. This is the measure the bankruptcy court uses to determine of someone's eligible to file bankruptcy in Indiana, and to decide if Chapter 7 bankruptcy is available to them, or whether they need to file under Chapter 13 bankruptcy law in Indiana. 

As an Indiana lawyer for bankruptcy, then, I'm always working with the numbers.  Where do the number standards come from?  First of all, they are national standards, sometimes adjusted for regional differences, and they originate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Consumer Expenditure Survey.  Periodically, of course, those numbers are adjusted for inflation. The numbers are stated in terms of number of people in the family.  There are specific numbers for a one-person household, a two, a three, or a four-person household, and then an amount to be added for each additional person over four.

You might say that one of the main tasks that I and my colleagues in the four Mark Zuckerberg bankruptcy law offices have in the course of our work is numbers.  We help gather numbers, we need to know the current laws concerning those numbers, and then, using the numbers, we prepare the paperwork which categorizes and analyzes those numbers for each client.  In fact, one of the Columbus bankruptcy lawyers from my office there pointed out that, even if clients aren't filing bankruptcy in Indiana, and we're negotiating with their mortgage companies to help stop foreclosure, or maybe we're offering payday loan help, it's still all in the numbers.

After more than two decades of being an Indianapolis bankruptcy attorney, I agree and disagree.  Yes, "The Meeting "and "The Test" involve numbers.  All of our work involves numbers.  What's it's really all about, for me, though is not the numbers, but the people.  Our greatest satisfaction comes from turning what look like negative numbers into a positive - the chance for a fresh financial start for real people in Indiana!

Even though I'm an Indiana lawyer for bankruptcy, it often happens that clients come to talk with me who are far from certain that filing bankruptcy in Indiana is the best thing for them.  Sometimes, people just want my advice as a debt consolidation lawyer.  Or perhaps they want my help to stop foreclosure on their home.

Needless to say, the subject of just how bankruptcy in Indiana works comes up in the discussion, and invariably that comes around to the Indiana means test.  The means test is a standard by which the court determines if someone is eligible to file bankruptcy in Indiana, and which type of bankruptcy they qualify for.

As part of providing Indiana bankruptcy information, I explain that, if your income is less than the median income earned by Indiana residents during the last six months, you could probably qualify to file either Chapter 7 bankruptcy, or you could file under the new Chapter 13 bankruptcy laws of Indiana.  If your income is less than the median, on the other hand, Chapter 13 could be your only option.

Once I've explained the means test to my clients, my next step as a bankruptcy attorney in Indiana is to explain that federal law actually sets standards for each kind of expense.  There are allowable amounts that people who file bankruptcy in Indiana are allowed to keep for their own use, to support themselves and their families, before they're expected to make debt repayments.  For example, one reader asked about his family of six, and was told that the allowance would be around $1900 a month for food, housekeeping supplies, apparel and services, personal care products and services, and miscellaneous.

Well, there's an allowance for car expenses as well, which include lease payments or car payments, gasoline, and maintenance.  In the Midwest region, for example, the monthly vehicle allowance is $210 for one car, $420 for two.

One of the Columbus bankruptcy lawyers from the Zuckerberg bankruptcy law offices there brought an interesting case to my attention.  In this court case, debtors had filed Chapter 13 bankruptcy and had claimed a vehicle allowance as part of their allowable expenses.  The thing was, though, they both owned their cars free and clear.  The question before the court, then, was - could they still claim the car expense allowance and use the money for other expenses?

The court's answer was, very simply "yes".  These two debtors had no monthly car loan to pay or lease obligation, either prior to filing bankruptcy or now, but they were allowed to claim an allowance for avehicle expense anyway!

Goes back to what I was saying yesterday - all's fair in bankruptcy!
 

After almost twenty-five years as a debt consolidation lawyer offering bankruptcy services in Indiana, I must say some things never change.  The field of bankruptcy law has undergone changes, sure, but the new bankruptcy laws in Indiana are still founded on the same basic principles.

One basic step in the bankruptcy process is pre-petition credit counseling.  The rule is that debtors must seek credit counseling at least 24 hours prior to filing bankruptcy.  (All of the clients who work with me or with my associates the Anderson, Bloomington, Indianapolis, or Columbus bankruptcy lawyers  who work in the Mark Zuckerberg bankruptcy law offices are helped through the credit counseling process in timely fashion.)

Today's case study, which happened in California, shows what can happen when the credit counseling requirement is not completed:

• C. filed Chapter 13 bankruptcy on November 30, 2009.
   
• C. asked for a waiver of the credit counseling, because his bankruptcy was an emergency, meant to stop the foreclosure on his home.
   
• C. explained that, 45 minutes prior to the foreclosure's scheduled time, he'd contacted a credit counseling agency.  He'd been told the counseling session would take at least 45 minutes to complete.  Since C. had no time to wait, he went ahead and filed bankruptcy.
   
• The bankruptcy court turned down C.'s request.  Their reasoning: The imminent foreclosure was an emergency, however, debtors need to show that they requested the counseling session at least five days prior to filing.
   
• C.'s bankruptcy case was not accepted by the court.

Since the purpose behind my blog is to offer bankruptcy information in Indiana, here's the most important piece of information I can possible bring to the attention of my Indiana bankruptcy clients and blog readers: 

Don't wait until it's too late.  Seek legal help at the very first signs of a financial downslide. Allow time for the bankruptcy safety net to work.

C.'s bankruptcy failed for one reason only - he tried so hard to save himself from foreclosure and bankruptcy that he waited too long for bankruptcy to save his home.  As someone who's advised tens of thousands of Hoosier individuals, families and small business owners on how to help their situation through the new bankruptcy laws of Indiana, I know what a crushing - yet probably unnecessary - disappointment this case must have been for C. and his family.

Each of the steps leading up to bankruptcy has a purpose - and each has its proper timing and paperwork that must be submitted. Going through the process in good time and in good order is the way to get relief through bankruptcy in Indiana!

It's interesting how stories I covered in Bankruptcy in Indiana are surfacing once again.  Yesterday I wrote about Michael Vick and the new developments with his case since he filed individual bankruptcy two years ago.  Vick, of course, is not at all typical of the everyday working folks whom I help file personal bankruptcy in Indiana.  As a debt consolidation lawyer who offers bankruptcy information in Indiana, though, I used the Vick case to illustrate how a bankruptcy trustee supervises the whole process until the debtor emerges from bankruptcy.

Another celebrity about whom I wrote is actor Nicolas Cage, who filed bankruptcy last year, also in another state far away from where I offer Indiana bankruptcy help. Last winter, when I first began to discuss the Cage bankruptcy with the Anderson, Bloomington, Indianapolis, and Columbus bankruptcy lawyers in the Zuckerberg bankruptcy law offices, Cage had already lost four of the homes he owned to foreclosure. Since so many of our clients turn to us to help stop foreclosure on their homes, that celebrity story was a way for me to illustrate how filing individual bankruptcy in Indiana can sometimes help stop foreclosure.

Well, just a couple of weeks ago, I heard news about Nicolas Cage's properties again.  His Las Vegas mansion (owned by the mortgage lender after the foreclosure) has just been sold.  So, why was filing bankruptcy not effective in preventing foreclosure in Cage's case?

First, remember we're talking about multi-million dollar properties, so that may have been a factor.  But Nicolas Cage also owed multi-million dollar tax debts.  In 2002, 2004, and 2007, he failed to pay his income taxes, and so the IRS filed liens against his real estate.  As a longtime bankruptcy attorney in Indiana, I need to point out that one of the big myths about bankruptcy is that it is totally ineffective when it comes to taxes.  That's not true at all. In the four Zuckerberg bankruptcy law offices, we get rid of old income tax bills for clients all the time. In fact, one of the big bankruptcy services in Indiana I've been able to provide is in the area of back taxes for personal bankruptcy and for small business bankruptcy in Indiana.

The thing about taxes, though (and the law is different in different states) is that income taxes more than three years old qualify for forgiveness under the bankruptcy laws of Indiana. Cage claimed he was given bad financial planning and tax planning advice.  Some sources claimed he spent too lavishly, and that ultimately led to the foreclosures and the bankruptcy.

Could Cage have saved his home through bankruptcy?  Maybe.  The main thing to keep in mind is that it's crucial, at the very first signs of financial trouble, to get expert legal advice!

 

One of the big recurring themes of Bankruptcy in Indiana is based on an old country song - "Looking for Love in All the Wrong Places".  As a debt consolidation lawyer offering bankruptcy services in Indiana for close to 25 years, I see people looking for financial help in all the wrong places.  People with serious debt problems obviously need help, but with late fees and penalties piling up and creditors calling them at work and at home, time is of the essence. The theme I keep emphasizing is how crucial it is to get expert legal advice quickly.  Whether of not filing individual bankruptcy in Indiana is the recommended course of action, an experienced bankruptcy attorney in Indiana can help debtors understand their options, select a course of action, and get started on a plan before the situation escalates and is out of control.

While I would never imply that there is one solution that fits all debtors, here is a list of the kinds of help that often turns out to be from the "wrong places":

Credit repair services.
The Federal Trade Commission has started to crack down on many companies promising "credit repair", telling debtors that their debt can be cut in half, or that they can remove bankruptcy, slow pay history, repossessions, and collections, from their credit report. In many cases, debtors allow the credit repair services to deduct money from their bank accounts, and then no services were ever provided!

Foreclosure prevention services.
Scammers often collect upfront fees from homeowners, promising to negotiate with mortgage lenders on their account. The Indiana Attorney General has issued warnings about this very type of scam.  As a longtime bankruptcy attorney in Indiana, I can tell you for sure: No one can guarantee that your lender will be willing to change your mortgage terms.  If you would like help negotiating a mortgage modification, at all four Zuckerberg bankruptcy law offices, we offer no-cost, no-fee, no-obligation discussion of foreclosure prevention options.

The sad truth is that many people put off the idea of filing personal bankruptcy in Indiana by looking for help in all the wrong places! 

When you're writing about a topic or teaching something in "installments" over a long period of time, what happens is you develop themes. Even though I've been a debt consolidation lawyer offering bankruptcy services in Indiana for more than twenty years, this whole "theme thing" came up only when I began writing Bankruptcy in Indiana five days a week over the past three years. You see, even though, counting the articles I've had printed in Indy's Child and other publications, there've been more than 750 different articles, they're all different. Yet they all relate in some way to Indiana bankruptcy help. 

I was sort of musing about this the other day, realizing that, over the past three years:

• The laws have been changing all along. (As just one example, the amount of income a debtor is allowed to keep for his or her own use keeps going up with inflation.)
   
• Different court cases have been changing the way the laws are interpreted.
   
• Many large corporations have filed bankruptcy, with some going totally out of business.  (This has had a "ripple effect" on small business bankruptcy in Indiana, not to mention on workers and consumers.)
   
• The economy has undergone a major struggle, causing many job losses.
   
• The housing market has been in a severe downturn, causing many foreclosures. A much bigger part of my work now relates to negotiating mortgage modifications and using Chapter 13 bankruptcy law in Indiana to help stop foreclosure.
   
• We've been in wars all through this period of time, which has made working with military benefits important to my work

If I wanted to continue this list for another page or two, I could. Along with the Anderson, Indianapolis, Bloomington, and Columbus bankruptcy lawyers who work in the four Mark Zuckerberg bankruptcy law offices , there's been no shortage of work, that's for sure, and no lack of things for me to write about during these past three years. 

But what I realized is that I have a set of ideas that I think are important for people to know and understand when in comes to bankruptcy in Indiana.  Without planning for it, these ideas have kept cropping up in my mind and in my articles writing, and that's what I mean when I say I have "themes".

So, for the next couple of days, at least, I've decided to offer "theme reviews". That way, whether you just know someone who really needs to explore filing personal bankruptcy in Indiana, or whether it's you that needs a better understanding of how bankruptcy works, it'll be these key ideas that rise to the forefront.

If I could get across just one theme about bankruptcy, it would be this:

Filing bankruptcy in Indiana does not mean you're a deadbeat.  It doesn't mean - at least not in the majority of cases I've been seeing - you were irresponsible with your money.  It doesn't mean you don't know how to run a business.  So, what does it mean?
 

• Bankruptcy became the only viable choice when circumstances got beyond your (really anyone"s) ability to control them.  Usually, the stories I hear in my Indianapolis bankruptcy law office are about a combination of job loss, family medical expenses, and perhaps divorce.
   
• You're a parent and you did all you could to help your adult children who had lost jobs and who were fighting medical setbacks.
   
• You're the adult child upon whom an aging or an ill parent depended and you just couldn't handle hanging on to the job and handling those responsibilities and make the financial situation work at the same time.
   
• Your small business was caught in the "ripple effect" when your biggest buyer went bankrupt.

The theme, then, (and it's carried through for me from my very first article) is that bankruptcy is a safety net.  You hope you won't ever have to make use of it, but you're glad it's there.  You're not a loser, but you need help getting back to being a winner.  That's where you'll find Mark Zuckerberg, at the junction of debt and debt-in-check, extending Indiana bankruptcy help.
 

Sometimes not losing what you already have is all the "win" you can hope for. That's a lesson I've been learning over the past two years, anyway.  A big part of my offering bankruptcy information in Indiana is helping readers and clients get updates on hiring and firing around the state.  As a debt consolidation lawyer offering bankruptcy services in Indiana for close to 25 years, I know how closely personal bankruptcy in Indiana and the availability of jobs in Indiana are tied to each other.

The big "keep what we have" news is that the Indianapolis Navistar plant is going to remain open after all, after being slated to close two weeks ago.  This decision doesn't create any new jobs, but it does save a couple thousand of them.  And, when it comes to workers who've filed individual bankruptcy in Indiana and who depend on income from their jobs to help make planned debt payments (under Chapter 13 banrkuptcy law in Indiana), it can make a huge difference.

Another company 's employees aren't quite so lucky in terms of keeping their jobs.  Norwood Promotional Products is leaving the state of Indiana and moving to Florida.  One of my colleagues in the Indianapolis Zuckerberg bankruptcy law offices reported that all 57 remaining Norwood employees will lose their jobs by year-end.

On a more positive (but longer term) note, Heritage Crystal Clean, Inc.oil refinery is locating a facility in Speedway, bringing 75 new jobs within the next two years..  Meanwhile, Smart IT Staffing, Inc. is expanding in Indianapolis and will create 80 new jobs in those same two years.

One of the Columbus bankruptcy lawyers in the Zuckerberg Bankruptcy Law Offices is a big race fan.  He's been following news about IZOD Indy Car Services, which has big manufacturing expansion plans, and will be hiring more technical staff.  (I'll keep you posted here at Bankruptcy in Indiana.)

For me, as an attorney offering Indiana bankruptcy help, there's another slant on all this news about Navistar staying open and all the planned hiring by other companies.  One kind of assistance I'm asked for just about every day is help stopping foreclosure on people's homes. The foreclosure situation in Indiana, while not as bad as other states, hasn't gotten much better this year.  Chapter 13 bankruptcy law in Indiana can help stop foreclosure.  The problem is, you can't file Chapter 13 without having an income, and that means we have to have jobs!

Before, during, and after bankruptcy - it still boils down to keeping jobs, and to keeping those jobs coming!

There are only a few things that make me really angry, and scams targeting people who already have their share of financial troubles is near the top of the list.  As a debt consolidation lawyer offering bankruptcy services in Indiana for close to 25 years, I've seen any number of schemes and scams.  Of course, there have been even more than the usual number of scams because of the economic downturn.  The ones around Indiana have included:

• Free credit report scams
• Foreclosure prevention scams
• Nigerian 419 scams
• credit rebuilding services

I've got all my colleagues (the good bankruptcy attorneys in the Indiana Zuckerberg bankruptcy law offices in Anderson, Bloomington, and Indianapolis, along with the Columbus bankruptcy lawyers in my offices there) on the lookout for scams.  In fact, part of my mission in writing Bankruptcy Indiana is to alert readers and Indiana bankruptcy clients about scamsters and about looking for financial help in "all the wrong places."

If you suspect a scam, it's a good idea to check with the Indiana Attorney General's office. One scam, started a few years ago, but has recently been happening here in Indiana all over again is the "Shopping Spree" Scam.  The original scam consisted of consumers receiving phone calls promising them shopping sprees at Walmart worth $200-$500 in exchange for shopping at Walmart and reporting on the experience.  The real motivation was getting the bank account numbers of the victims.  


The thing that really gets to me as a lawyer for individual bankruptcy in Indiana, is that when people are already worried about their financial situation, it's very easy for scamsters to sidetrack them into thinking they can earn valuable prizes that can help them avoid filing bankruptcy in Indiana.  Instead, they become victims of a scam and that hurts their situation even more!  That's why, every time I hear about a new scam, I immediately issue a warning. With so many people out of work and desperate for help stopping foreclosure on their homes, the last thing anyone needs is losing money on a Walmart shopping spree scam.

Anyway, the latest version of the shopping spree scam has a new twist to it. An envelope arrives in the mail bearing what looks like a state unemployment agency seal.  Inside is a check and a letter. The letter invites you to be a "mystery shopper" at Sears or Wal-mart, saying you'll be part of a state-funded program to help the unemployed make money. You're told to deposit the check in your bank, then spend some of the money at the store, and keep some for your "work". The check is counterfeit, but your bank doesn't discover this immediately, and you're on the hook for everything you spent at the store! As any debt consolidation lawyer can tell you, now you're even deeper in debt!

AARP explains that there do exist legitimate "mystery shopper" jobs.  But, for the real thing, you get paid after you do the work, not before! The message that I've been trying to convey for the past three years in Bankruptcy in Indiana is this: At the very first signs of financial trouble, it's best to seek experienced financial advice.  Looking for help in all the wrong places (sometimes even Wal-mart is the wrong place!) is going to do you any good - and it may do a lot of harm!


 

Interesting headline: "Golf course's bankruptcy is a sign of industry's pain". After close to 25 years as a debt consolidation lawyer offering bankruptcy services in Indiana, I couldn't help thinking that most of the time, when a person files individual bankruptcy in Indiana, or when an entrepreneur files small business bankruptcy in Indiana, it's a sign of the economy's general pain. 

So, am I saying that individuals and small business owners have played no part in causing their own financial difficulties?  Am I implying that every bankruptcy is simply the result of the recession we've just endured?  Of course not.  What I am saying is that many, many of the tens of thousands of Hoosiers that have turned to me and to the good bankruptcy attorneys in Indiana who are my colleagues in the four Zuckerberg bankruptcy law offices have a history of being very responsible in handling their finances. Did they make any mistakes?  Given 20/20 hindsight, certainly.  Did they buy "too much house" and now need help stopping foreclosure?  In some cases.  Did they sock away too little in their emergency funds?  Sure, but that probably could be said of most of us.

The reality is, the recession has hurt employment, and that has meant more people without income to cover their bills and without adequate health insurance when medical disaster strikes their families.  As a longtime Indiana bankruptcy attorney, I'm always debunking myths about bankruptcy, in particular the myth that bankruptcy in Indiana is only for "deadbeats". 

No, what's true is that it's often a combination of factors such as job loss and medical expenses that is so difficult for even financially responsible people to overcome.
The Legends Golf course in Franklin, Indiana is actually a good example of what I mean.  When Legends first opened twenty years ago, the economy was in a far different place than it is today.  Jim Fazio had a worldwide reputation as a designer of golf courses. Former Indiana U. basketball coach Bobby Knight was one of several big-name investors. By 2005, plans were being made for an entire community to be built around Legends with condos and luxury homes.

Then, two big "hits" came: rainy springs and summers - and the recession.  Suddenly there were more golf courses than golfers to play on them… The rising costs of fertilizer, grass seed, and fuel added to Legends' financial problems, because in such a competitive environment, costs couldn't be passed along to users of the course.

Playing the coulda, woulda, shoulda game isn't going to do any good.  Instead, Legends filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy to "give the course time to address its finances, hold off paying debts and remain in business while the owners work out a plan".

Coulda's, woulda's, and shouda's don't do any good for individual bankruptcy in Indiana, either.

When I began three years ago writing these Bankruptcy in Indiana articles, I wanted to help folks who know they need to do something about their debt situation, and who think they might be ready to get help getting started!

Tracking Indiana employment statistics is like riding an emotional roller coaster. As a debt consolidation lawyer offering bankruptcy services in Indiana, I keep reading everything I can get my hands on about the job markets in our state.  And that has meant seesawing between "hot" and "cold", said and happy, hope and despair.  For every piece of news, it seems there's always what news commentator Paul Harvey used to call "the rest of the story"!

Just yesterday I quoted Ball State University's Michael Hicks saying he sees Indiana "starting to see the light of recovery." I reported new job opportunities coming in Columbus and Ft. Wayne.  All this is true and good news, because income from well-paying jobs is key to successfully emerging from personal bankruptcy in Indiana.

But, at the same time as the Columbus bankruptcy lawyers who work in the Zuckerberg bankruptcy law offices there are calling my attention to all the jobs being created by Cummins Engine and NTN Driveshaft, and at the same time the good bankruptcy attorneys in Indiana who work with me in Anderson are telling me about Saratoga Potato Chips coming to Ft. Wayne and hiring lots of workers, I'm also reading in the Indianapolis Star about thousands upon thousands of unemployed Hoosiers who have lost their jobless benefits in the last month.

In Indiana, the state pays unemployment benefits for a maximum of 26 weeks. Federal extensions have made it possible to receive benefits for a total of 99 weeks (almost two years).  But the way the system works, as a worker reaches the end of any one extension period, he or she can't move on to the next until Congress passes new legislation.   There are simply a lot of people looking for jobs.

What this has meant on a daily basis for me as a longtime bankruptcy lawyer in Indiana, is a lot more people needing help to stop foreclosure on their homes, a lot more people needing student loan debt help, and even a lot more people needing payday loan debt help in Indiana. The saddest situation, from my point of view, is when someone has filed under Chapter 13 bankruptcy law in Indiana and then, because of losing a job and then losing unemployment benefits, failing to keep up with the debt repayment plan.  Often individuals need to "redo" their bankruptcy as Chapter 7 bankruptcy.

Unemployment definitely represents the sad, low, cold, and despair dips in the Bankruptcy in Indiana roller coaster ride!

 

After close to 25 years as a debt consolidation lawyer offering bankruptcy services in Indiana, I'm used to phone calls from desperate people. In recent days, though, I've been getting three and four calls per day, all with the same sad story to tell about failed attempts to complete a mortgage modification process.  These are people asking for last-minute help filing individual bankruptcy in Indiana (under Chapter 13 bankruptcy laws in Indiana) to help stop foreclosure on their homes.

Most of the time, the clients have been working diligently with their mortgage companies, mailing in many, many pages of financial information forms, talking on the phone to representatives of the lender, (sometimes being told their paperwork has been lost and having to start all over again), and then, just as they thought the end was in sight - boom! The homeowners answer the doorbell to find a sheriff with a foreclosure notice!

Oh, how angry that makes me! I wish only that these poor people had visited one of the four Zuckerberg bankruptcy law offices earlier.  That way, we would have begun gathering the paperwork needed to file under Chapter 13 bankruptcy law in Indiana nice and early in the game.  As  homeowners began a periodic repayment plan of their other debts, they might have been able to keep current with their mortgage, never needing to be confronted by a sheriff serving papers!  Unfortunately, too many individuals are so fearful of filing personal bankruptcy in Indiana that they wait until the worst case scenario has become a real-life scenario, with them in the "starring" role!

The Columbus bankruptcy lawyers who are my colleagues tell me they're getting the same desperate "save-my-home" phone calls down there. And, based on a recent article in the Law Review, I realize the same thing is happening nation-wide. The author, Henry Summer, comments that mortgage companies ought to be given the same treatment under the law as debtors.  In other words, he's saying that the bankruptcy courts should apply the old saying, "What's good for the goose is good for the gander".

As I've often stated in Bankruptcy in Indiana, the bankruptcy system is designed as a safety net for honest, unfortunate debtors, to give them a chance at a fresh financial start. Summer writes that lenders should be held to the same standard - they should need to prove they are "honest, unfortunate creditors"! If lenders fail to modify a mortgage, they at least shouldn't have caused further harm to debtors seeking help with mortgage modification.

• The lender is not honest in the first place if it made a loan to people they knew could probably not afford repay the loan! As a longtime bankruptcy attorney in Indiana, I say "Amen!" to that.
  
• If the lender relied on negligently prepared appraisals of the property (so that it would appear to be worth more than it really was) - that lender was not an honest creditor! Again, as a debt consolidation lawyer offering bankruptcy information in Indiana, Amen's my word.
  
• If lenders lose (either out of careless procedures or on purpose) homeowners' paperwork, thus delaying the process of mortgage modification, they're not honest creditors! Any of the good bankruptcy attorneys in Indiana would have to agree!

What "punishment" does Henry Summer recommend for these dishonest creditor practices?
Simple. The mortgage they hold would no longer be considered a "secured loan."  As an unsecured loan, the mortgage would now be subject to discharge by the bankruptcy court.  The dishonest lender would now be in line along with all the other unsecured creditors of the honest and unfortunate debtor! 

Yesterday in Bankruptcy in Indiana, I mentioned the fact that Congress has just rejected the Unemployment Extension Bill.  Let's talk about what that could mean to you Indiana bankruptcy clients and readers.

If you're already collecting unemployment payments, you will still collect for any weeks remaining on your present "tier" of benefits.  There will be no renewals, though. If you were already on Extended Benefits, the payments stopped June 13, even if you had money remaining on your claim.
 

• Unemployment benefits are exempt property for purposes of bankruptcy.  That means that if you file personal bankruptcy in Indiana and you still have benefit payments coming to you, you will be allowed to keep that money to use towards your own living expenses, rather than using it to pay towards debts. (As a debt consolidation lawyer offering bankruptcy services in Indiana, I helped write the exemptions portion of the new bankruptcy laws of Indiana.)
   
•  What's more, as any good bankruptcy attorney in Indiana can tell you, unemployment benefits cannot generally be garnished by creditors. (One of the Columbus bankruptcy lawyers in the Zuckerberg bankruptcy law offices reminded me to add that alimony and child support may be exceptions to this rule.)
   
• As a long-time Indianapolis bankruptcy attorney, I want to repeat an alert from the Indiana Attorney General's office about a new scam that targets unemployed people.  This scam involves bogus text messages telling recipients their benefit debit cards from unemployment have been cancelled. If you receive this type message, do not respond! Most important, be careful not to share personal information.

The Dallas debt settlement company's slogan read "We negotiate the past while you negotiate the future", and Linda Robertson responded to that ad, signing up for a debt settlement plan last year.  As a debt consolidation lawyer offering bankruptcy information in Indiana to clients and readers, I was "relieved" that the New York Times was using Linda Robertson's case to warn consumers about the dangers of debt settlement plans.

For close to 25 years, I've been a bankruptcy attorney in Indiana, with four Mark Zuckerberg bankruptcy law offices serving 55 counties in our state.  And, while I can more than understand how myths about bankruptcy in Indiana keep many individuals from considering filing personal bankruptcy in Indiana, it's a real pity when those individuals look for help in all the wrong places, falling prey to false hopes and even becoming the victims of scams.

Here's what happened:
 

• Linda Robertson's real estate appraisal business collapsed during the recession in housing. She lost her home to foreclosure.
   
• Failing to keep up with even the rent on an apartment while holding down two jobs and caring for her young son, Linda moved into a room in her aunt's home in Missouri.
   
• Linda took a night factory job, but could not keep the bills paid and ran up her credit card balances.
   
• When Linda signed on with the debt settlement company FF, the "deal" was that she would make monthly deposits of $427 into a new account and stop trying to pay the credit card bills.  FF would take $100 of that for fees.
   
• When enough money had accumulated in her account, FF promised, they would negotiate a lump sum settlement with Linda's credit card companies and she'd be debt free in three years.
   
• Linda proceeded to make nine payments, at which point a sheriff showed  up at her door with an order from the credit card company.
   
• When Linda called FF for help, she was told that they could do nothing, since her account had only $1470 in it (after the fees FF had taken) and that wasn't enough to settle with the creditor.

As a debt consolidation lawyer, I'm not happy to report the unhappy end to this story:
Linda Robertson filed a complaint with the attorney general and the Better Business Bureau.  She ended up receiving her $1,470 back, plus half the fees she'd paid. Linda is now in the process of filing bankruptcy.

All of us - the Anderson, Bloomington, Indianapolis, and Columbus bankruptcy lawyers who work in the Zuckerberg bankruptcy law offices in Indiana, have encoutered hundreds of similar situations.  Not for every one of them did filing individual bankruptcy in Indiana turn out to be the ideal solution to their problems.

What is always true, though, is that the earlier individuals ask for Indiana bankruptcy help, the greater their chance of being helped, and of avoiding situations like Linda Robertson's.  To learn more, check out the article I wrote last year for Indy's Child Magazine, in which there is detailed information about debt management and debt consolidation agencies and companies, called "When You Can't Do Debt Alone". 

As a longtime adviser on bankruptcy in Indiana, the message I want to spread is this:
Please - don't go into a deeper hole trying to dig out of debt!

If almost 25 years as a debt consolidation lawyer writing and teaching about bankruptcy information in Indiana has taught me anything, it's this: individual bankruptcy in Indiana and unemployment statistics go hand-in-hand.

Together with my colleagues in the Zuckerberg bankruptcy law offices in Bloomington, Anderson, and Indianapolis, I'm always following the news about Indiana jobs.  It's important for us to know who's hiring, who's firing, who's expanding, who's downsizing.  Inevitably, we see the results of employment trends in the form of people needing Indiana bankruptcy help.

This being the beginning of July, the May unemployment statistics have just been released.  Nationally, according to the Indianapolis Star, unemployment fell in 37 states in May.  Six states had increased unemployment, and seven saw no change from the month before.  As an Indiana lawyer for bankruptcy, I had mixed feelings upon learning that Indiana was one of the states whose jobless rate remained the same as the previous month - 10%.  Not that new jobs haven't been created - in fact, I've been writing about the many new opportunities that have already opened up or which are on the horizon for the next year or two.

I can tell things are not back to where they need to be, at least not yet.  I can tell by the increase in the number of people needing payday loan debt help, help in stopping foreclosure, and even student loan debt help.  In certain industries such as transportation, utilities, and construction there were net job losses, and in many cases I'm already seeing the results in the form of an increased number of people filing personal bankruptcy in Indiana.

The fact is, as any good bankruptcy attorney in Indiana can attest, clients emerging from bankruptcy need income from jobs.  If they've filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy, they need income to pay bills and get back on their financial feet.  Under Chapter 13 bankruptcy law in Indiana, clients need income to keep up with their three to five year debt repayment plans. 

i was sharing with the Columbus bankruptcy lawyers who are my colleagues that, as a longtime lawyer for bankruptcy, the way I see things is this:

Indiana may be better off than neighboring states when it comes to unemployment, but, however you slice it, a jobless rate of 10% isn't good news!

 

After almost twenty-five years as a debt consolidation lawyer offering bankruptcy services in Indiana, I can usually answer just about any question readers and clients might ask about bankruptcy in Indiana.  Today's reader question is another story, because nobody really knows the answers. 

The question is about how children are affected by bankruptcy.  As much as I know about bankruptcy law in Indiana, that still doesn't provide an answer to this one, because each child, each parent, and each situation is different.

There is information available about children living in poverty.  According to the Foundation for Child Development, the rate of children living in poverty this year is 22%, the highest rate in two decades.  I've written before about the 2003 book The Two-Income Trap, which predicted that one of every six single moms would go bankrupt by the end of the decade.  As the Indianapolis bankruptcy lawyers who work in the Zuckerberg bankruptcy law offices can confirm, of the tens of thousands of clients we've helped file bankruptcy in Indiana over the past twenty-plus years, many have in fact been single mothers of young children.
 

There's no doubt children are affected by the financial circumstances of their parents.  As a Columbus bankruptcy lawyer, for example, I've seen children who are not getting the medical care they need because their parents lack medical insurance.  All the attorneys who work in the four Zuckerberg bankruptcy law offices have stories to tell about children forced to change school districts because of foreclosure or eviction.

One of the things I tell people who are facing insurmountable financial difficulties - job loss, gigantic medical bills, or divorce (usually a combination of these) and who come to me for Indiana bankruptcy help is:  "Your children should always come first.  Getting you out of debt is the very reason we have the new bankruptcy laws in Indiana to help."  Through bankruptcy in Indiana, you can have a chance for a fresh financial start and get back to putting those children first!

It's June now, but we're just getting the April numbers.  The news isn't good.

Yesterday, as part of my work as a debt consolidation lawyer providing bankruptcy information in Indiana to clients and readers, I shared some very hopeful pieces of news about the job markets in Indiana.  Today, though, my topic for Indiana bankruptcy help  is foreclosures.  As the Indianapolis Star reported, "Indy-area foreclosures soared 17% in April" (as compared with April one year ago).

As a lawyer for bankruptcy in Indiana, I spend a hefty percentage of my time with clients who want to help stop foreclosure on their homes.  The Columbus bankruptcy lawyers and my colleagues in the Anderson, Bloomington, and Indianapolis Mark Zuckerberg bankruptcy law offices are all involved along with me in foreclosure prevention efforts, using several tools and strategies:

• Financial  counseling: In some cases, clients might actually be better off stepping away from the pressure of property ownership.  It depends on the situation.  Lending a sympathetic, yet legally informed, ear, can help clients arrive at an informed decision about their home.
   
• While under current law, bankruptcy courts cannot discharge mortgage debt, filing individual bankruptcy in Indiana can sometimes itself help stop foreclosure.
   

 b) Under the new Chapter 13 banakruptcy laws in Indiana, second mortgages can often be discharged through the bankruptcy, freeing up money to keep up with the primary mortgage.

c) My colleagues and I help clients negotiate with their lenders for mortgage                         modifications.

d) I keep Indiana readers and bankruptcy clients up-to-date on foreclosure prevention organizations, resources, and events around our state.  For example, I've reported on:

                              Citigroup's Foreclosure Alternatives Program

                               The Indiana Foreclosure Prevention Network
                             
                              Bank of America's Loan Modification Program

                              Free HAMP Report website

                               Chase Foreclosure Prevention Events

As a long-time Indianapolis bankruptcy lawyer, I've been repeating this message for years, and repeating it with increasing urgency as the foreclosure problems have escalated in Indiana:

People need help to stop foreclosure!