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Before paying off your debts by taking out student loans, consider the consequences.
Ever take out a federal student loan and think to yourself, “Hey – I should take out a little extra and pay off my credit cards!”
How did that work out for you?
It’s a smart move to get an education, especially in this hyper-competitive world.
And it’s easy to get federal student loan money to ease the burden.
But before you pay off your credit cards with federal student loan money, consider this.
Federal Student Loans Are Cheap Money
When you take out federal student loans, the interest rate is pretty low. Far lower than most credit cards, at least.
The money’s plentiful, too. In fact, you can take out up to $45,000 in federal student loans for a four-year undergraduate program if you’re classified as independent (or if you’re a dependent and your parents can’t qualify for PLUS Loans).
What’s more, you can deduct from your taxes a portion of the interest you pay each year.
Sounds like a winner at first blush.
It’s tempting to use that money to pay off your car or credit cards.
But The Interest Is A Silent Killer
Once you complete your education, it’s time to start making payments on your student loans.
Though you’ve saved credit card finance charges while you were in school, your loans have been quietly accruing interest the whole time.
Subsidized loans have the benefit of the government paying the interest while you’re in school, but not the unsubsidized ones. Those loans accrue interest from the minute you cash the check, and the amount due once school’s done can be significant.
There’s No Way Out
Not that you’re expecting to file for bankruptcy, but if you run into financial problems you won’t be able to get out from under those student loans easily.
So long as those debts remain owed to the credit card companies, they can be wiped out in a Chapter 7 bankruptcy case.
Why swap out an easier solution for one that’s more difficult?
Don’t Fall For It
Yes, the money’s easy. The interest rate is low, the payments can go out to 25 years or more, and you can deduct the interest expenses.
Still, you’re more likely to be saddled with those student loans without a way out if you need it.
This is one good deal that’s too good to be true, I think.
Image credit: marcoPapale.com
Why Using Student Loans To Pay Off Debts Is A Horrible Idea was originally published on Consumer Help Central. If you're seeing this message on another site, it has been stolen and is being used without permission. That's illegal, a violation of copyright, and just plain awful.
Debtors exploring the option of filing Chapter 7 bankruptcy on their own without an attorney, (pro se) may be in for a few surprises if they do not know what they are getting themselves into. While it is true you have the option to file on your own, it is often not advised for debtors [...]
When your bankruptcy trustee files a notice of abandonment, it’s time to celebrate.
When you file for bankruptcy, something called an estate is created.
In other words, everything you own is no longer yours. The bankruptcy trustee has total control over everything.
Everything, that is, unless the property interests you exempt.
Property that can’t be exempted, however, is no longer yours to do with as you see fit.
Unless …
The Trustee Must Abandon The Property
The Chapter 7 bankruptcy trustee can look at property and decide that it’s not worth it. Selling the property won’t yield enough money for creditors, or it’s simply too much hassle.
If that happens, the trustee will abandon the property. Once that happens, it’s all yours again and you can do anything you want.
Two Ways For Property To Be Abandoned
Most people wait for the trustee to abandon the property, especially if there’s no pressing urgency. After all a Chapter 7 case takes only a few months to wind through the court system.
If you need to move things forward more quickly – for example, if there’s a house and you want to sell it without the court’s involvement – then you will need to make a motion for force the trustee to abandon the property.
How The Trustee Decides To Abandon – Or Not
The trustee’s job in a Chapter 7 bankruptcy is to take all of your property (except whatever you can exempt), sell it, and distribute the proceeds to your creditors.
However, the law gives the trustee an out – if the property is burdensome to the estate or is of inconsequential value and benefit to the estate, then the property can be abandoned.
When you look at the value and benefit, you’re looking at the amount of money that’s going to result when the sale occurs. There are costs to selling something in a bankruptcy case: storage; auctioneers; transfer fees, and the like.
If someone’s going to be sold and not result in any money for the creditors, then it’s not worth it.
How Long Does The Trustee Have To Abandon Property?
The trustee can hold onto property until the bankruptcy case is closed – which may well be after the discharge occurs.
If the case is closed, the property is automatically considered to have been abandoned.
Will It Be Sold, Or Left For You?
That’s a tricky question, and one that I deal with all the time. Part of what I do with people like you is sit down, figure out the numbers, and make an educated guess based on the state of affairs in the court.
That changes from time to time, depending on how “hungry” the trustees are as well as on the rest of your situation.
Don’t panic, though; we’ll work it out together, map out a game plan, and move ahead with the best possible information.
Image credit: Roadsidepictures
The Rules Of Abandonment Of Property In Chapter 7 Bankruptcy was originally published on Consumer Help Central. If you're seeing this message on another site, it has been stolen and is being used without permission. That's illegal, a violation of copyright, and just plain awful.
Dragnet clauses are agreements in lending documents that the collateral will secure in addition to the involved debt, other pre-existing and after after acquired debt.
Some courts in Florida have held that "dragnet clauses" are generally enforceable so long as the language of the clause is clear and unambiguous as to the parties intent to secure pre-existing and after acquired debt. Robert C. Roy Agency, Inc. v. Sun First National Bank of Palm Beach, 468 So.2d 399 (Fla. 4th DCA 1985). But the 4th District Court of Appeals has held that the dragnet clause would not be enforced against someone other than the borrower unless it specifically includes within its terms or unless it can be shown that the third party otherwise had notice that the specific pre-existing debt was to be included within the grasp of the dragnet clause. Starlines International Corp. v. Union Planters Bank, N.A., 976 So. 2d 1172 (2008).
Other Florida courts though hold that dragnet clauses are unenforceable to secure pre-existing debt unless the pre-existing debt is specifically identified in the dragnet clause of the mortgage and possibly also in the note. United National Bank v. Tellam, 644 So. 2d 97 (Fla. 3d DCA 1994).Jordan E. Bublick is a Miami Personal Bankruptcy Lawyer with over 25 years of experience in filing chapter 13 and chapter 7 bankruptcies. Miami Personal Bankruptcy Lawyer Jordan E. Bublick has filed over 8,000 chapter 13 and chapter 7 cases.
My current office is located in the heart of the city of Alhambra, California so that I can easily service all clients in the San Gabriel Valley and beyond. The city of Pasadena, California is no different. Oftentimes, Pasadena clients don’t believe or realize just how close the city of Alhambra really is. A Google maps search indicates it’s merely a 13 minute drive of 5 miles, more or less.
My Pasadena-based clients are often quite happy to know that I can assist them with their bankruptcy case and that Alhambra merely minutes away from them. So if you are in the city of Pasadena or close by, and you need a bankruptcy attorney who really cares and who will personally handle your bankruptcy, do not hesitate to give me a call at 626-999-5959.
My current office is located in the heart of the city of Alhambra, California so that I can easily service all clients in the San Gabriel Valley and beyond. The city of Pasadena, California is no different. Oftentimes, Pasadena clients don’t believe or realize just how close the city of Alhambra really is. A Google maps search indicates it’s merely a 13 minute drive of 5 miles, more or less.
My Pasadena-based clients are often quite happy to know that I can assist them with their bankruptcy case and that Alhambra merely minutes away from them. So if you are in the city of Pasadena or close by, and you need a bankruptcy attorney who really cares and who will personally handle your bankruptcy, do not hesitate to give me a call at 626-999-5959.
If you’re seeking an alternative option in helping you get caught up on mortgage payments, Chapter 13 bankruptcy may be a helpful solution. The plan can help you make missed payments to cure the default with your mortgage. This option has helped a large number of homeowners avoid foreclosure, while making affordable payments. Chapter 13 [...]
So if you are a tenant renting an apartment, house, condo, or whatever may represent your residence, and you find yourself late on renting or unable to fulfill the lease agreement, be prepared to find yourself facing an eviction, otherwise known as an unlawful detainer action.
11 USC 362(b)(2)) says that the automatic stay doesn’t apply to tenants who file bankruptcy where the landlord already has obtained a judgment for possession prepetition. That means if a tenant, who lost an unlawful detainer action, files a last second bankruptcy to stall the sheriff from booting him out, the automatic stay doesn’t apply to stop or delay the sheriff from doing so.
Furthermore, 11 USC 362(l)(5)(A) requires a debtor tenant certify on the bankruptcy petition that the landlord holds a prepetition judgment of eviction. The reasons are clear: Congress determined it wanted clear rules in place so that the automatic stay pursuant to 362 of the BK Code could not be abused by evicted tenants trying to delay the inevitable where there was no longer a legal right to possession with respect to the property.
11 USC 362(l)(1) indicates that the provisions of 362(b)(22) will be upheld after 30 days from the date of filing where the lessor certifies that the debtor has a right to cure under nonbankruptcy law and that the debtor deposited with the clerk of the court, any rent due during the 0 day period after the BK filing.
Regardless, it’s clear that a tenant who files bankruptcy to delay an eviction could be subject to certain risks in ignoring the fundamental provisions of the bankruptcy code. Both landlords and tenants need to understand these basic principles inherent in the bankruptcy code so that all parties play fair if the bankruptcy process is involved.
Bringing you the most up-to-date news, tips and blogs throughout the web. Here’s your Bankruptcy Update for August 08, 2013 Railway in deadly Quebec explosion files for bankruptcy NHL May Take Over Devils to Prevent Bankruptcy Video game firm to exit bankruptcy
When I first began working in the consumer bankruptcy field, co-signed loans were a common problem that I saw often. Then credit standards loosened and I rarely saw clients who were co-signers or who had co-signed loans.Now the personally guaranteed co-signed loan is making a comeback. I can state without reservation that in both a personal and a business context, agreeing to co-sign a loan for someone with poor credit is never a good idea.In the current market, standards for consumer credit are tight and securing credit approval can be a challenging feat for someone with mediocre or poor credit. Because of the tightening credit market and increased regulation by the federal government on lenders, people who may have been approved in years past are now needing others to co-sign in order to take out a loan.If you are someone with good credit, consider this a warning to think twice before serving as a cosigner. When close friends or loved ones approach you, understand that as much as you may want to help them, serving as cosigner for someone with poor credit can directly affect your credit, make you vulnerable to a lawsuit, and ruin your financial well-being.You would be surprised by how many clients I have represented who found themselves filing for bankruptcy – not because of their own debt, but because their co-signee failed to make their payments. Realize, when you agree to serve as a co-signer, essentially you are taking personal responsibility for the primary borrower to make payments. If he or she fails to do so, you are liable for the debt if the borrower defaults.If your friend or relative files for bankruptcy and gets the debt discharged in his bankruptcy case, you may find that the creditor will look to you for full or partial repayment.Needless to say, finding yourself personally liable for a friend or relative’s debt makes for broken friendships and strained family relations.Ultimately the decision to co-sign on a loan is yours. If you are even considering it, make sure you fully understand the consequences and repercussions that can affect your credit and financial situation should the primary borrower default.The post Co-Signed Loans: An Old Problem that is Making a Comeback appeared first on theBKBlog.
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