What practices are off limits for debt collectors? Harassment They may not harass, oppress, or abuse you or any third parties they contact. For example, they may not: use threats of violence or harm; publish a list of names of people who refuse to pay their debts (but they can give this information to the credit reporting companies); use obscene or profane language; or repeatedly use the phone to annoy someone. False statements Collectors may not lie when they areRead more
Paying Off Credit Card Debt
When trying to decide between filing bankruptcy or paying off credit cards outside of bankruptcy, it’s important to consider how difficult it can be to pay off credit card debt where the balance owed has grown significantly. For example, if you owe $10,000 on credit cards with an interest rate of 15% and pay only a minimum payment of 4% of the balance each month, it will take nearly twenty (20) years to have the debt repaid. And that’s assuming you’reRead more
Foreclosure in Iowa
Foreclosure is a scary word. The prospect of losing your home and having to find somewhere else to live can create a lot of stress. Foreclosure doesn’t have to be as frightening as it sounds if you understand how it works and how Chapter 13 bankruptcy can be used to stop the foreclosure and put you back on the road to keeping your home. Foreclosure Without Redemption The most common method of foreclosure in Iowa is called “foreclosure without redemption.”Read more
Credit Card Collectors Need Evidence of Debt
The Iowa Court of Appeals has laid out some important rules for anyone trying to collect on a credit card debt. The ruling came after Capital One sued two Iowans in small claims court. The cases had been dismissed because Capital One failed to provide documentation showing transactions on the credit cards starting with a zero balance. On appeal, the Iowa Court of Appeals said it wasn’t necessary for there to be documentation going back to a zero balance butRead more
Bankruptcy & the FDCPA
.There are two very important statutes that serve to protect consumers from some of the consequences of too much debt. The first is the United States Bankruptcy Code. The other statute is the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act or FDCPA. Both statutes individually can help consumers. When you combine the two that is when some really good things can happen. United States Bankruptcy Code First, the Bankruptcy Code allows for the discharge of certain types of debt. If you findRead more
How Do You Know If You Should File Bankruptcy?
Many clients wonder whether they are the only ones facing the kind of financial hardships that lead people to file bankruptcy. That’s obviously not the case since millions of people file bankruptcy every year. But it’s good to know what causes most people to have to file bankruptcy. Should You File? A study a few years ago by researchers at Harvard Law School looked at the causes of bankruptcy and found that more than two-thirds of debtors in bankruptcy hadRead more
What’s your partner not telling you about finances?
Are you keeping your finances a secret? Are you keeping it from your spouse, your children….maybe even from yourself. Of course everyone wants to hear if you’re doing well in life. We readily “brag” on a booming business, a new promotion, the birth of a child. What we don’t disclose to one another is our debt (even though nearly everyone’s got it), and this can ruin relationships. We see it everyday. A couple comes to us as their financial “last straw”.Read more
Enforcing the Bankruptcy Automatic Stay
One of the most important aspects of bankruptcy law is the “automatic stay” that’s created the moment a case is filed. Automatic Stay This “stay” means that all efforts by a creditor to collect a debt or to enforce rights against a debtor’s property have to stop immediately. So these must end foreclosures garnishments tax offsets license revocations arbitration evictions any other proceeding to collect Sometimes a secured creditor is able to later get “relief” from the stay but unsecuredRead more
What Property Is Included In Bankruptcy?
It’s common for a bankruptcy client to wonder what property is part of the bankruptcy and whether they’re in danger of losing it. The simple answer is that ALL property owned at the time of filing is included in the bankruptcy but rarely does a debtor in Iowa ever lose any of it. Bankruptcy Filing When someone files bankruptcy, an “estate” is created that includes all of a debtor’s legal and equitable interest in any property held on the dateRead more
Creditors Send 1099s When Debt Forgiven
Many of our clients are receiving Form 1099s from creditors reporting income to the Internal Revenue Service. This “income” is actually debt the creditor forgave or wrote off. To the IRS, this forgiveness of debt is considered taxable income just as if you had earned wages from employment. Receiving the 1099 can be potentially harmful if you do nothing to respond, but there are some exceptions that can help you avoid the tax liability. The First Exception The first exceptionRead more
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