Start Fresh Today Bankruptcy Blog

On February 25, 2013, effective April 1, 2013, the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Florida entered Administrative Order 13-01, “Implementation of Loss Mitigation Mediation Program” (LMM), where both the Debtor and the Lender can obtain an order requiring mediation. In a Chapter 13 payment plan bankruptcy, LMM applies to the debtor’s home and to any investment property of under 4 units. The Order authorizes LMM in a Chapter 11 only as to the debtor’s primary residence. In Chapter 7, the program only may be utilized for surrender of real property.

Reduced funding for federal courts has resulted in bankruptcy courts across the country having to do more with less. While the need for staff support in most courts has increased, the availability of this same staff support has been reduced by:

Discharging student loan debt in bankruptcy has become more difficult while the amount of outstanding student loans has risen to more than $1 trillion. Most of these student loan debtors are genuinely unable to repay their student loans and not many solutions have been offered by Congress.

A Pew Research survey revealed that 86% of Americans rate having a car as a necessity so chances are you own or lease one or even two.  So what will happen and what are your options if you are considering filing for bankruptcy?  In short, it depends.  Here are some items to consider and discuss with a consumer bankruptcy attorney:

According to the latest bankruptcy statistics released by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, bankruptcy filings are down more than 14% for March. Bankruptcy filings for the 12-month period ending March 31, 2013 fell 14.4% compared to bankruptcy filings for the 12-month period ending March 31, 2012. The total bankruptcy filings were 1,170,324 in March compared with 1,367,006 last year in March. The total number of Chapter 7 filings in March totaled 804,885, while Chapter 13 filings totaled 355,081.

It’s never easy trying to find a service provider that will do the best work for you, whether it’s a doctor or plumber. But it’s even more important to find the right consumer bankruptcy attorney to handle your bankruptcy case. Your financial future is at stake and if any mistakes are made during the bankruptcy process, you could have your bankruptcy case dismissed and your debts will not be discharged.

After filing a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, your debts are normally wiped away at the end of the process. But, did you know that a creditor can actually object to the discharge of your debts?  So, what is a bankruptcy discharge objection?

Even if you are currently busy with more work than you can handle, you still need to search for new clients. But you also cannot neglect your current clients. You need to be able to retain and keep your clients because you never know when your work will slow down. This is especially true for consumer bankruptcy attorneys since whether the workload decreases or increases depends on the economy and financial situations of consumers.  Basically, no matter how busy you may be you should never lose sight of growing your practice and acquiring new clients.  

April is Financial Literacy Month and it’s as good a time as any for you to consider your options when thinking about how financially literate and secure you are and how to improve your financial future.

Start Fresh Today will be an exhibitor (booth #45) at the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys’ 21^st Annual Convention April 25-28 in San Diego, California. We will be introducing our industry-first Platinum Level VIP Service for consumer bankruptcy attorneys and their clients.