Question: Dear Steve, Due to the lockdowns starting in 2020, I fell behind on payments to credit cards with American Express and one other. I also traveled out of the country for what I thought would be a brief visit, but the world has been so unstable to travel, that the idea of traveling is … Read more
President Biden signed the Bankruptcy Threshold Adjustment and Technical Corrections Act yesterday, and congressional leaders pat themselves on the back. According to Senator Chuck Grassley, one of the Senate bill’s sponsors, the new law will remove some hurdles to the bankruptcy process and “assist small businesses and working families to weather financial hardship and emerge … Read more
A pet peeve of mine is people who try to make the claim bankruptcy is a moral failure. Now, I get it, if someone takes out credit with the intention of defaulting, that’s one thing. But a recent story about Amazon Delivery Companies by Vice serves as a great example of why bankruptcy can be … Read more
Q: What happens if you don’t file bankruptcy but still have credit card debt or loans at the bank? A: You owe them. Q: A collection agency sent my debt to a lawyer with a court date do I have to acknowledge it? A: No, but you will then lose by default. Q: Do I … Read more
Sometimes I get reader questions that don’t have enough information for a big answer. So here are some rapid-fire questions and answers. Q: Can a collection agency take money out of an account that is not the debtors? A: If the debtor is not a signer on the account and the account is in the … Read more
Question: Dear Steve, I’ve gone bankrupt two times, which is not on my credit report and not an option this time. I have too many revolving credit accounts with balances that I have not paid for four years. FICO scores are 510 and below. With four in collections and four judgments. I have been to … Read more
There is so much misinformation floating about when it comes to dealing with debt. Far too many people tell you bankruptcy is a last resort or you should avoid bankruptcy. But here is the ironic thing, that is often the worst advice possible. In this podcast, Damon Day and I talk about bankruptcy, myths and … Read more
Much of what we read is all high-level safe stuff about what people should do when facing tough economic times. And a whole lot of that advice is good for the masses, but what about what is best for the individual, you. The government wants consumers not to lose confidence during tough times. The economy … Read more
Dear Steve Hi! I am a piano teacher, and due to the bad economy have very few students, even though I am used to having plenty. We just moved because we could no longer afford where we lived. We gave up our house in a deed in lieu of foreclosure. My husband took a cut … Read more
Question: Jon, I’m a UK citizen & had good credit that I spent years building. Went to US to study/go to university, and opened up some credit cards while abroad. Debt mounted up & I lost job stateside and couldn’t afford payments anymore, and stopped paying CC’s. My question is, if I apply for bankruptcy … Read more
If you want to see someone instantly disagree with you, tell them that people that file bankruptcy do better financially than people who don’t and struggle. You can subscribe to my podcast on any of these sites below. The Two Sides of Money Troubles When people face unexpected money troubles, it is just math … Read more
Question: Dear Steve, My husband is 68 and I am 62. He has always been in charge of our finances — He recently lost a good-paying job (actually, it was 8 months ago and he just told me yesterday) and started a new one 2 days ago. He went from making $70,000 to $16 an … Read more
It’s official, bankruptcy reform in 2005 totally sucked for people with private student loans. Academic research shows lenders won and consumers lost. Here is the abstract from a paper in the Harvard Law & Policy Review by Alexei Alexandrov and Dalie Jimenez that looks at the data of how the 2005 Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and … Read more
This week we published a deep look at why bankruptcy frequently fails to provide relief to black Americans struggling with debt. The story focused on Memphis, Tennessee — the bankruptcy capital of the nation — where black debtors have for generations been funneled into Chapter 13, which usually requires five years of payments most have … Read more
Paul Kiel, a reporter, sent me an email and described his latest article which is fascinating in a bankruptcy kind of way. I can attest having observed similar trends anecdotally for decades but his hard work and documentation makes this far too real. You can read the story How the Bankruptcy System Is Failing Black … Read more