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Showing posts from November, 2014

To Dos After You Declare Bankruptcy

After you’ve declared personal bankruptcy , are there any additional steps you should take to protect yourself? A recent article in the Huffington Post reported on an interview with Suze Orman, a well-known financial advisor and business television host. In the interview, Orman discusses some of the most important steps to take after you declare bankruptcy. In other words, after filing for Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy, you’re not finished thinking about your finances. Indeed, if you want to stay debt-free and to manage your finances, you’ll have to think carefully about the relationship among your income, your needs, and your wants for the next several years to come. In the meantime, if you have questions about whether consumer bankruptcy is the right decision for you, it’s important to discuss the details of your situation with an experienced Chicago bankruptcy lawyer. Personal bankruptcy can help many debtors to regain financial independence when they’re buried by o...

Post-Bankruptcy Consumer Credit Problems

After you decide to file for personal bankruptcy , will you be free from the debts you owed? While Chapter 7 bankruptcy can wipe away a majority of your debts, it’s important to remember that consumer bankruptcy can’t always eradicate all debts. Indeed, certain debts aren’t dischargeable in bankruptcy, and they can linger on your credit report for years to come. And other debts that should be discharged, it turns out, aren’t being treated that way by certain banks. According to a recent article in the New York Times , “there are zombies: bills that cannot be killed even by declaring personal bankruptcy.” If you have questions about consumer bankruptcy, it’s very important to speak with an experienced Chicago bankruptcy lawyer. Bankruptcy laws are extremely complicated, and the attorneys at the Emerson Law Firm can answer your questions today. Banks Ignoring Bankruptcy Court Discharges Some debts can’t be discharged in bankruptcy, and some are very difficult to disc...

Debt Collection and America’s Senior Population

For many seniors, debt collection calls can produce a lot of anxiety.  When we’re planning for older age, we assume that we’ll have enough savings to handle our regular bills and to take care of any unexpected medical payments.  In a number of cases, these expectations hold true, and it turns out that debt collection calls simply are part of a scam.  In short, some seniors don’t owe the money that debt collectors claim they owe.  At the same time, however, the drastic decline in the economy ended up costing many seniors their lifetime savings, and as a result they cannot make ends meet. How should older adults handle problems with debt collection?  According to a recent post from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), here are some important points to keep in mind if you’re helping an elderly parent or loved one to manage debt. Always Investigate if You Don’t Recognize a Debt If you’ve been contacted by a debt collector, it’s very i...

Debtors, Cancer Care, and Personal Bankruptcy

Many debtors in the Chicago area have considered consumer bankruptcy in order to manage credit card bills and substantial medical debt .  But did you know that many Americans who carry healthcare debt are also struggling to recover from life-threatening diseases like cancer? According to a recent article in HealthDay , “one-third of cancer survivors in the United States say they have experienced money or work problems due to cancer care,” even those who have health insurance.  Indeed, many of those patients with health insurance reported that they have been forced to “change their lifestyle and medical care due to the financial burden of treatment.” Findings Reported at the American Society of Clinical Oncology Two recent reports have indicated that cancer care—even for Americans with health insurance—poses overwhelming financial costs.  When you’re experiencing anxiety from battling a life-threatening disease, should you also have to worry about carr...

Private Student Loan Companies and Consumer Complaints

Are you struggling with student loan payments ?  You’re not alone.  According to a recent article in the Chicago Tribune , consumers throughout Oak Park and the Chicago area have joined debtors across the country in filing complaints about private student loan companies.  Private student loan companies have different interest terms than federal loans, and they also can have fine-print details that can hurt consumers. For instance, a number of private student loan lenders don’t have the same deferment terms as federal loans.  If you have a federal loan and are enrolled full-time in a degree-granting program, your federal loans will remain in deferment.  However, a growing number of private student loan lenders have instituted maximum deferment times, meaning that a borrower who is enrolled full-time in school—and not making a regular income—may find out that his or her student loans have come due.  Can any of these consumers turn to personal bankru...