Oak Park Real Estate & Estate Planning Blog

If you are currently serving in the military and have questions about filing for personal bankruptcy , it is important to speak with an Oak Park bankruptcy lawyer about your case. While active-duty members of the military can be eligible to file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy or Chapter 13 bankruptcy as civilians, there are special issues that need to be taken into consideration. In some situations, active-duty military personnel, as well as disabled veterans, may be eligible for benefits associated with consumer protection. At the same time, filing for bankruptcy can impact a security clearance in some situations. If you have questions, you should discuss them with a consumer bankruptcy attorney as soon as possible. How Chapter 7 May be Different for Disabled Veterans How do bankruptcy protections change for disabled veterans? Under the Bankruptcy Code , disabled veterans can be eligible for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in certain situations without passing the means test. In...

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has only been in existence for seven years, but in that time it has taken many important steps to protect consumers from unfair debt collection practices and deceptive debt collection tactics . However, according to a recent report from NPR , “the Trump administration is proposing to dramatically cut funding” for the CFPB, which could ultimately prevent the Bureau from doing what it needs to do. The CFPB was created just after the financial crisis by Elizabeth Warren and others during the Obama administration. While the effects of the financial crisis largely have subsided, there is still a pressing need for the CFPB. What would budget cuts do to the CFPB, and how could such cuts endanger consumers in need of protection? Proposed $150 Million Cut to CFPB Funding The proposed funding cut is not a small one. To be sure, the White House has proposed, in effect, gutting funding for the CFPB by cutting approximately $15...

According to an article in Forbes , there are more than 44 million student loan borrowers in the U.S. who collectively owe about $1.3 trillion in student loans. For some of these borrowers, Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) may allow them to have their federal student loan debt forgiven after 10 years without having to pay federal income taxes on the amount of debt that is ultimately forgiven. For most other borrowers, eligibility for forgiveness comes after either 20 or 25 years of qualifying payments, depending on the type of repayment plan the borrowers pay under. Yet those borrowers will be responsible for federal income tax on the amount of debt that is forgiven. For some student debtors, that amount is too much to bear. Indeed, some debtors have considered filing for consumer bankruptcy due to the tax debt owed on forgiven student loans. A recent article from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) reports that thousands of debtors with severe disabi...

Efforts to address harmful consumer practices through the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) appear to have stagnated under the Trump administration. According to a recent report from NPR Illinois , the new head of the CFPB, former Republic Rep. Mick Mulvaney, there are changes to the Bureau’s work to address payday lending rules and consumer injuries. More specifically, “under Mulvaney, the CFPB has put on hold a rule that would restrict payday lenders and their high-interest-rate loans,” according to the report. In addition, the CFPB has not dropped a lawsuit that sought to hold accountable payday lenders who were charging 900% interest rates. What could the shift at the CFPB mean for consumer bankruptcy with regard to payday loans? Payday Loan Rule and the CFPB What is the payday loan rule that Mulvaney has decided to put on hold at the CFPB? The rule would require lenders to set interest rates and fees in such a way as to “make sure people can affo...