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Queens Bankruptcy Attorney Bruce Feinstein Esq.'s |
When you file for a Chapter 13 bankruptcy, you’re making plan to maintain ownership of your assets while paying off your debt to creditors over time. But not all debt is the same…and what if you can’t make your payments on time? We decided to answer some common Chapter 13 questions that our clients often have in this post.
We handle many Chapter 7, or “liquidation” bankruptcies at our Queens, New York office. In this kind of bankruptcy, an appointed trustee sells a debtor’s non-exempt assets, with the proceeds going to the client’s creditors. The individual’s debt is then eliminated alltogether or drastically reduced. We tell clients that certain exemptions can protect their assets during Chapter 7 proceedings, and that they can also keep certain secured property by paying the replacement value of it to creditors. This approach is especially helpful for people who owe more on their loans than the current value of their property. In this post we go into more depth about secured debts, redemption, and Chapter 7 bankruptcy.
For all the facts available about filing for bankruptcy, there are just as many harmful myths that cause confusion and stress to people in debt. In this post, I hope to set the record straight and dispel some of the most common bankruptcy myths once and for all.
When people face the prospect of filing for bankruptcy in Queens, one of their top concerns is often how bankruptcy will affect their FICO score. FICO, or Fair Isaac Corporation, scores are credit scores the majority of lenders use to determine your potential credit risk. The myth surrounding bankruptcy and ruined credit scores is well established, but not fact. Bankruptcy has the possibility to lower your credit score, but this is by no means the bottom line. Not only are many other factors at play, but your score may actually improve when you file for bankruptcy.
If you are not a U.S. citizen, you can still file for a Chapter 7 bankruptcy. But many non-citizens are concerned that filing for bankruptcy in New York will hurt their chances of obtaining citizenship or permanent residence. Some even worry that a bankruptcy filing will result in deportation. However, these fears are – for the most part – unfounded, as filing bankruptcy protection is available to all documented individuals residing in the U.S.
While many Americans are focused on keeping their financial resolutions in the New Year, there are some positive signs from 2012 that bode well for 2013. Figures from the American Bankruptcy Institute (ABI), a non-partisan group that analyzes bankruptcy issues, show that 57,788 commercial bankruptcies were filed during the 2012 calendar year, a 22% decrease from 74,415 filings in 2011. This trend was also mirrored in Chapter 11 bankruptcies for 2012, which fell 10% from 8,658 filings in 2011 to 7,760.
Interfaith Medical Center in Brooklyn, a local hospital serving Bedford-Stuyvesant and Crown Heights residents, filed for bankruptcy protection after years of financial trouble.
The hospital services a quarter of a million residents in the area, mainly those of African and Caribbean descent. Instead of merging with another company it decided to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy to keep its doors open.
Next month will see a record number of women enter the U.S. Senate – 20 in total – and there is sure to be important financial policy change coming out of this Democratically held legislative body. One woman who is creating some early buzz is Elizabeth Warren, the Democratic Senator-elect of Massachusetts. Her experience as a bankruptcy law expert makes her a strong advocate for consumer protection, and we should keep an eye on her plans for the Senate when the next session begins in 2013.
November 29th marks the one-year anniversary of American Airlines’ Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing. This has been the largest ever bankruptcy proceeding of a U.S. airline, and over 12 months the company has undergone various steps as part of its restructuring.
For a large company like American, the bankruptcy process is extensive and involves many moving parts. The company had to consider how to best allocate its time and effort; what areas get a piece of an already tight budget? They also needed to work with unions and worker pensions and contracts alongside the guidelines and goals set up during their bankruptcy and enforced by their unsecured creditors.
With the New Year just few weeks away, what is your 2013 resolution? Some people want to lose weight, quit a bad habit, or do things to make their lives better. So how about taking a serious look at your current financial situation and seeing how you can improve it? If you are one of the many thousands of Americans facing mounting debt, this is a smart step to take. Our law office does all we can to help individuals get their lives back on track, and as a way to get even more people to think seriously about how bankruptcy can help them, we are offering a special incentive: those who use our firm to file for bankruptcy before December 31, 2012 will have their $306 bankruptcy filing fee waived if they mention this offer.
