Arizona Bankruptcy Lawyers
Arizona Bankruptcy Lawyers and Bankruptcy Resources
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Filing Bankruptcy Without A Lawyer Is Crazy
Filing Bankruptcy Without A Lawyer Is Crazy
Arizona Bankruptcy Lawyers presents the following information on how filing for bankruptcy can be a crazy thing with legal representation. There are ways to file for bankruptcy on your own, however there are so many complex issues that you want to make sure that you are legally covered and that the process works in your favor.
If you feel that you’re on the verge of facing overwhelming financial problems, or even financial ruin, think twice about filing for bankruptcy. If you’ve thought about it over and over again, and still feel that filing for bankruptcy is the only way out, I urge you to seek credit counseling (so does the constitution). You see according to the Bankruptcy Act of 2005, debtors have to give way or explore other alternatives before even thinking of filing for such a state. This is no laughing matter and is most definitely not a walk in the park. If you think it’s as easy as it sounds, try giving that a second thought - we’re looking at a long grueling legal process of countless documents to fill up and other legal technicalities to take into consideration.
I’ve heard other people ending up in mental hospitals for being overwhelmed by the whole thing. That, my friend, is something that you don’t want to happen to you. Having said that, people in this type of situation have come up with a solution, which is seeking the help of a Bankruptcy lawyer. Yes, that’s right, a guy taking up the profession can make the complicated mind boggling brain popping experience seem a whole lot easier. There isn’t a single person in the entire world that can understand every aspect of the complexity of the matter like this guy can - if you can, and you’re not a lawyer, well then hats off to you man.
But for most us out there, we’ll still need the help of this clever chum. Here are some advantages of getting a Bankruptcy lawyer: this genius knows exactly what he’s doing. He’ll be the guy you that’ll take care of all the legal documents and other things needing a lot of reading plus careful contemplation. He’s also the guy that makes sure that no important details are missed, and let’s you know each and everyone of them. So, what else is the expert good for? Well another one of his many functions will be to help you deal with your creditors, and work with the court systems to come up with a repayment program that’s best suited for you.
Are you puzzled on asset liquidation, my not so intelligent chum? If you are, this financial expert will help you out with that, in such a way that you don’t sustain too much loss (if possible) and walk away debt-free. There exists some people that think getting a lawyer or hiring a financial expert for these matters is a waste of money - you know, the people with brain damage. Anyways, it’s very much possible, why? Because there are some Bankruptcy courts that don’t require the presence of these helpful professionals during legal proceedings. Too bad for you if you’re foolish enough to exercise this particular right.
What they don’t know is that the creditors will be able to squeeze even more money out of you without a lawyer’s presence, so much that’ll be flowing outta your ears. So do yourself a favor and go with the ’sounder’ of the options - stick with the pros and you’ll turn out a little better than broke.
By: Rick Goldfeller
Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com
The author of this article Rick Goldfeller is an underground Financial Analyst who has been successfully running campaigns for several wealthy clients. Rick finally decided to go public and share his knowledge and experience through his website www.finanzine.com. You can sign up for his free newsletter and join his coaching program.
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Contemplating Filing For Bankruptcy?
Contemplating Filing For Bankruptcy?
Arizona Bankruptcy Lawyers presents the following information to consider if you are thinking about filing for bankruptcy. Contact an Arizona bankruptcy lawyer for more information, and how Arizona bankruptcy law differs from federal bankruptcy laws.
There are alternatives to bankruptcy. You can take your credit and credit repair in your own hands. Obtain the Credit Repair Bible and find out how you can take charge of your credit, deal with your debt, and improve your financial future.
Bankruptcy has many reputations, some people think that bankruptcy will take care of all their debts and life will be good. Some people file as often as they can, they have made it a way of life. Some people should file and don’t because of what other people will think.
Filing for Bankruptcy does not get rid of all debts. Some of those debts include but are not limited to: Alimony, Child Support, Back Taxes, Student Loans, and Fraudulent debts, and recent large purchases of more that $550 for luxury item purchased within 90 days of filing.
There are two different kinds of bankruptcy a consumer can file for Chapter 13 and Chapter 7. Chapter 7 is total liquidation it is the quickest. Federal bankruptcy laws provide a ‘means test’ to determine eligibility. Also beginning October 17, 2005, you must obtain approved credit counseling before you can file bankruptcy. Another new federal bankruptcy requirement is that you must file any overdue tax returns within weeks of filing a Chapter 7 bankruptcy. Under Chapter 7 bankruptcy there are certain items that can be kept but have limits. There are State exemptions and Federal exemptions and rules that go with them. Another thing to consider is Chapter 7 will not fix is your credit score. If you are behind on your bills your credit may already be bad and bankruptcy cannot fix it. If someone has co-signed a loan with you and you file for bankruptcy, the co-signer may have to pay your debt.
Chapter 13 is a reorganization of debt. While many think that they will have to pay the entire amount of outstanding debt, under Chapter 13, individuals literally pay pennies on the dollar and work through a repayment plan that helps them achieve freedom from their debt in a period of between three and five years. There are many steps to filing Chapter 13. Many assets can be kept and protected under Chapter 13. Like Chapter 7 there are also qualifications that need to be met before filing Chapter 13.
There are alternatives to filing bankruptcy. Bankruptcy should be the last resort. There are many attorneys that specialize in this area. Each state has its own rules along with many federal rules and regulations. An attorney can help decide whether or not someone should or can file for bankruptcy, which kind of bankruptcy, and whether or not they are eligible.
By: babwebstar
Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com
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Bankruptcy Basics by Jerome S. Cohen
Arizona Bankruptcy Lawyers and Bankruptcy Resources offers the following article about the major points of bankruptcy. Please remember that Arizona bankruptcy laws can differ from federal bankruptcy laws. Contact an Arizona-based bankruptcy lawyer for more information, and to discuss the specifics of your financial situation.
BANKRUPTCY BASICS
The Bankruptcy Code (Title 11 of the United States Code) gives the force of law to several national policies or values. First is the value of allowing a debtor a breathing spell and a fresh start, the chance for a productive future unburdened by past debts and mistakes. Second is the value of a fair distribution of a debtor’s property among creditors. The federal bankruptcy system is designed to achieve an orderly, equitable distribution of the debtor’s assets under court supervision and compulsion. By contrast, state law on creditors’ rights has been called "grab law." Each creditor grabs what it can, and the debtor is dismembered. The swift creditor is rewarded. The slow creditor gets nothing.TWO TYPES OF BANKRUPTCIES: CHAPTER 7 AND CHAPTER 11
Under Chapter 7, the debtor’s assets are simply liquidated. Upon filing a Chapter 7 petition, the debtor turns its keys over to a private trustee and walks out of business. The trustee is appointed by the Office of the U.S. Trustee (a part of the Justice Department that generally monitors bankruptcy proceedings). The filing of the Chapter 7 petition creates a "bankruptcy estate" that the trustee administers for the benefit of creditors. The trustee locates and liquidates everything of value that the debtor had.
Under Chapter 11, the debtor stays in possession of its assets. Its business continues. It proposes a plan of reorganization. The plan usually proposes a restructuring of debts and can affect equity. A committee of creditors may arise as a counterweight to the debtor, monitoring the debtor’s handling of the business, particularly the handling of cash and equivalents, called "cash collateral." The creditors’ committee may urge and participate in the debtors’ development of a plan. After 120 days, during which the debtor has the exclusive right to propose a plan, the creditors’ committee or an equity security holders’ committee may propose a plan. The creditors’ committee, viewed mainly as an interference by debtor, can nevertheless benefit the debtor. The tension created by the committee’s monitoring can help debtor obtain approval for rehabilitative steps if and when debtor can show the court that the committee approves. Ultimately, in a typical Chapter 11, debtor proposes a plan and a disclosure statement. Creditors may vote against the plan, but the court may approve a plan it deems fair ("cramdown"). Bankruptcy Code Section 1129(b). If debtor does not propose a plan, the case may be converted to a Chapter 7 liquidation or dismissed. An alternative to the plan process may be a sale of assets, then a liquidation.
Selecting Chapter 7 or Chapter 11- For a business contemplating bankruptcy, a key inquiry in deciding between Chapter 7 and Chapter 11 is whether the business can be rehabilitated. If the future can be better than the past, then the considerable requirements of Chapter 11 may be worthwhile. The requirements include substantial initial filings, regular reporting to U.S. Trustee, answering to creditors, and developing a plan, not to mention the expense. The demands of Chapter 11, for debtor as well as creditors, should not be underestimated. If hope for rehabilitation is gone, Chapter 7 is the option.
AUTOMATIC STAY
Creditors must stand still from the moment of filing, by virtue of the "automatic stay" (or injunction) on new lawsuits, continuation of old lawsuits, letters, and phone calls to the debtor. Bankruptcy Code Section 362(a). Relief from stay may be sought by motion. Bankruptcy Code Section 362(d). Grounds are "cause" (not defined) or, if creditor wants to act against property, the debtor has no equity in the property and the property is not necessary to an effective reorganization. Stay relief motions are expedited.
CREDITOR STATUS
Secured Creditors -The distribution scheme pays secured creditors first. Determination of secured status is important. Under Bankruptcy Code Section 506, a claim is secured to the extent of the value of the creditor’s interest in the estate’s interest in property. For example, the estate includes a 50 percent interest in a warehouse. The warehouse is worth a million dollars, so that the value of the estate’s interest is $500,000. A creditor has a claim in the amount of $600,000, secured by the estate’s interest in the warehouse. The creditor is secured to $500,000, and unsecured in the amount of $100,000.
Unsecured Creditors:
Priority Claims - Some unsecured claims have priority. Bankruptcy Code Section 507. Among these are: administrative expenses (including costs of preserving the estate and post-petition taxes on the estate, compensation of the trustee and his or her attorney, and compensation of a creditor that recovers concealed property of the estate); wages earned by an employee within 90 days before filing of the petition); and certain contributions owed to an employee benefit plan.
Other Unsecured Claims - Without priority, a claim is a general unsecured claim, vulnerable to impairment or extinguishment under Chapter 7 or Chapter 11.
INVOLUNTARY BANKRUPTCY
Most bankruptcies are voluntary, but involuntary bankruptcy may occur. Bankruptcy Code 303. For example, creditors see debtor selling off assets and distributing money to employees and shareholders to the detriment of creditors. Or creditors see debtor in a downward spiral so that creditor with a chance for 50 cents on the dollar in May will get 20 cents in September. Creditors may confer and file an involuntary petition, placing debtor in Chapter 7 or Chapter 11. If debtor has at least 12 creditors, at least three must sign the involuntary petition. Other creditors may join later. Creditors can make the petition stick if "the debtor is generally not paying such debtor’s debts as such debts become due unless such debts are the subject of a bona fide dispute." Bankruptcy Code Section 303(h) (1).
THE DISCHARGE
A main goal of the voluntary bankruptcy debtor is the discharge or, for practical purposes, extinguishment of the debtor’s debts. Just as the automatic stay precludes pursuit of the debtor during the pendency of the bankruptcy case, the discharge precludes creditor’s recovery after the conclusion of the bankruptcy case. Judgments against the debtor are voided. The practitioner should note that a post-discharge complaint filed against debtor still must be answered; debtor pleads the discharge as an affirmative defense. During the pendency of the bankruptcy case, however, a creditor may file a complaint (a separate lawsuit under the umbrella of the main bankruptcy proceeding) to have that creditor’s debt excepted from a discharge because, for example, that particular debt was obtained by fraud or is a debt arising from a fiduciary duty. Bankruptcy Code Section 523. Also, a creditor may file a complaint urging that debtor be denied a discharge of all debts because, for example, debtor has concealed property, or destroyed records necessary to determine debts, or because debtor has otherwise been uncooperative with the Bankruptcy Court. Bankruptcy Code Section 727.
PREFERENCES AND FRAUDULENT TRANSFERS
Preferences - Anticipating disaster for the business, debtor may transfer title to the warehouse to an officer of the company who had lent the company a bundle. Or debtor may simply pay a supplier 100 percent of its balance due, and days later, in bankruptcy, leave other creditors only 20 cents on the dollar. In the name of equity, a transfer of the debtor’s interest in property may be avoided by the trustee or the debtor in possession as a "preference" among creditors. A preference is a transfer: (1) to or for the benefit of a creditor; (2) for an "antecedent debt" owed by the debtor before the transfer; (3) made while the debtor was insolvent; (4) made between 90 days and one year before the debtor filed bankruptcy, if the transfer is to an insider [defined in Bankruptcy Code Section 101(31)], and within 90 days before filing if the transfer was to a non-insider creditor; and (5) the creditor received more than under Chapter 7 liquidation. Bankruptcy Code Section 547(b). The transferee, receiving the bitter news that he must disgorge money fairly earned, may defend. Defenses include "a contemporaneous exchange for new value" and "ordinary course of business." Bankruptcy Code Section 547(c).Fraudulent Transfers - A fraudulent transfer, also avoidable, is a transfer made with actual intent to hinder, delay or defraud creditors, or, regardless of intent, made for less than reasonably equivalent value. For example, when the bank is about to foreclose, the debtor may not transfer the warehouse to the president’s aunt or uncle as a gift, or convey title in a "sale" for $1,000. Bankruptcy Code Section 548.
This has been a glimpse of a complex area. Subjects mentioned here, as well as others in the bankruptcy process, warrant close examination in addressing the client’s particular facts.
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Bankruptcy and You
Are you overwhelmed by your debt?
Do you have medical conditions that not only leave you feeling ill, tired, fatigued…but furthermore are also creating a real economic hardship in doctors bills, hospital bills, prescription costs and other medical expenses?
Have you recently divorced and struggling with one income?
Have you recently taken a pay cut or working fewer hours as your employer struggles to keep their doors open in a tough economy?
Are you a small business owner and employer finding you business struggling in this economy? Are you unable to keep your business open with the spiraling costs of your overhead versus your dropping sales and profit?
Have you recently lost your job and are blowing through your savings to support your home, your utilities, your car and your bills? Not to mention groceries, gas, and other day in and day out expenses?
Without a doubt, many consumers are simply in over their heads for a variety of reasons. The thought of filing bankruptcy for many of us may bring feelings of shame, inadequacy or even down right fear! Many people simply assume that bankruptcy is an option for the very rich trying to escape their mistakes, or for people who ran up their credit cards without regard for the future of the payments, or for people who are trying to somehow take advantage of the system.
Bankruptcy is rarely any of the above. You need not feel shame or inadequate. Most bankruptcy filings are the result of overwhelming and unforeseen medical expenses. Did you choose to get sick? Hardly. Furthermore, many bankruptcy cases come from a divorce or loss of a job. Did you ask to be laid off? Most likely not.
Bankruptcy may be an viable option for you, to assist you with managing your debt and obtaining a “fresh start” to battle your medical condition with less stress, to find a new job to get back on track with your career and income, and to get back on your feet after a devastating divorce and look to your future with a positive outlook. Bankruptcy can lift the load of worry, fear, and despair from your shoulders so you can focus on your health, your career potential, your family and your life.
There are many options to consider regarding bankruptcy:
Have you discussed this with your loved ones? Do you have a plan that will help you face this together, and with a support system?
Can you attempt to leverage any home equity for a debt consolidation loan? This would pay down your debt and leave you with one payment to make. However, with prices of homes in many markets still going down, many consumers are finding that they have little to no equity or ability to secure a debt consolidation loan.
Have you contacted a debt counseling service? There are non-profit organizations that may be able to assist you in negotiating your debt and/or your interest rates with your creditors to bring down your overall monthly debt payments. However, if you are currently unemployed, this may not be an option as you will need to be able to repay the debt under the new terms…without a steady, ongoing income you may not qualify.
Do you know if Chapter 7 Bankruptcy, Chapter 11 or Chapter 13 is better for you and your total financial picture?
What property and assets do you have that could be liquidated or that you want or need to keep? Have you created a spreadsheet of your debt, your monthly minimum payments, your assets?
Do you understand how to deal with a bankruptcy as a small business owner? How is your business structured and how will that impact the way you file?
Do you understand how bankruptcy impacts your business, whether you have to close your doors permanently or possibly stay open as debt is reorganized?
Do you understand how bankruptcy will impact your credit score?
Do you know that many future employers will pull your credit score as part of your background check and potentially weigh your credit rating as part of your employment potential?
Do you know how Arizona bankruptcy laws differ from federal bankruptcy laws?
Have you contacted a bankruptcy attorney in your area that can help you walk through the answers to these questions and many, many more?
This website is intended to assist you with the tough questions, as well as provide you with updates, tips, resources and information to assist you in making a sound decision regarding bankruptcy. This website offers broad and general information that may not always apply specifically to your situation, or the bankruptcy laws of Arizona. That is why it is always urged that you should contact an attorney in Arizona to discuss how Arizona laws may differ.
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