Oak Park Real Estate & Estate Planning Blog

The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals recently heard a case in which it had to determine whether the definition of a “consumer” under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) includes a person who is being contacted by a debt collector over a debt that allegedly is owed, but which the person claims she or he does not owe. The definition of “consumer” is extremely important for this particular type of situation because it determines whether that person—who says she does not actually owe a debt but is being contacted about a debt—has protections under the FDCPA . In the case, Loja v. Main Street Acquisition Corp. (2018), the Court determined that the definition of “consumer” under the FDCPA is broad enough to include “consumers who have been alleged by debt collectors to owe debts that the consumers themselves contend they do not owe.” The case will have implications for future consumers in Oak Park and throughout Illinois. We want to tell you more about the case and w...

When we think about the student loan debt crisis and consider the ways in which personal bankruptcy may or may not be an option for discharging student loan debt, most of us think about the students who used those loans to attend a program at a college or university. However, as a recent article from 401kTV points out, parents of college students are also frequently left with student loan debt (from their children), and those parents also want to learn more about bankruptcy options for managing debt. How do parents end up bearing the brunt of student loan debt in certain situations, and do they have the option of filing for consumer bankruptcy to discharge loan debt? How Student Loan Debt Affects Families (and Not Just the Student) The effects of student loan debt extend well beyond the individual who used those student loans to pay for school. Many parents find themselves in situations in which they have taken out student loans to help their kids pay for schoo...

Earlier this year, we discussed plans within the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) to hire private debt collection firms in order to track down delinquent student loan debtors. However, according to a recent article in U.S. News & World Report , the DOE “may sever ties with private debt collection firms.” What does this mean for student loan borrowers, and will it have any impact on debt collection practices ? Potentially Good News for Federal Student Loan Borrowers The news that the DOE may cut ties with third-party debt collection companies could be good news for federal student loan borrowers who are currently in default. According to the article, consumer advocates have emphasized that debt collection tactics for past-due federal student loans have been problematic in many ways. In perhaps the least harm—albeit harmful nonetheless—debt collection methods, collectors have not given borrowers clear information about alternatives that could be available to help t...

If you file for Chapter 13 bankruptcy , how difficult is it to convert your case to a Chapter 7 bankruptcy? If you are in the opposite situation where you filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy but want to convert to Chapter 13, are you able to do so? There are many reasons to convert a consumer bankruptcy case from Chapter 13 to Chapter 7. At the same time, there are reasons that a debtor may want to convert a Chapter 7 case to a Chapter 13 case. What are the options for converting these types of bankruptcy cases, and why would a debtor consider doing it? The U.S. Courts provides key information about consumer bankruptcy and converting from one chapter to another. Converting from Chapter 13 to Chapter 7 Bankruptcy We will talk first about the process of converting a Chapter 13 bankruptcy case to Chapter 7. Why would someone want to convert from Chapter 13 to Chapter 7? There are a number of different reasons, but in many situation, a debtor may be unable to keep up wit...

Debt collectors contact consumers in many different ways, and they use numerous tactics to try to convince those consumers to pay money. In some cases, the methods debt collectors use may be unfair and unlawful under the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). What about text messages? Are debt collectors permitted to send text messages to your smartphone or other mobile phone under the FDCPA? If they are allowed to send text messages, does the FDCPA or any other law regulate what those text messages can say? We will tell you more about your rights as a consumer under the FDCPA and the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) when it comes to debt collection and text messages specifically. Can Debt Collectors Send You Text Messages? On the broadest level, debt collectors are allowed to send text messages to consumers about debts. The FDCPA makes clear that debt collectors are permitted to text consumers as long as any texts sent are in compliance wi...

One of the ways in which consumer bankruptcy protects debtors is through the automatic stay. According to the Cornell Legal Information Institute (LII), the automatic stay is “one of the fundamental debtor protections provided by the bankruptcy laws,” since it “gives the debtor a breathing spell from his creditors.” More specifically, the automatic stay “stops all collection efforts, all harassment, and all foreclosure actions.” The automatic stay is supposed to prevent any creditors from continuing any sort of attempts to collect or recover money, property, or other claims against the debtor as soon as the debtor files for personal bankruptcy, whether it is Chapter 7 bankruptcy of Chapter 13 bankruptcy. However, a recent bankruptcy case in the Northern District of Illinois determined that the automatic stay did not apply to a particular situation in which the parties had previously signed an arbitration agreement. We will say more about how the automatic stay functions,...