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Just the Facts: Consumer Bankruptcy Trends, 2005-2021

Dave Ramsey’s Hatred of Bankruptcy and Credit Cards Makes No Logical Sense

Background The bankruptcy process can provide a fresh financial start for consumers who cannot pay their debts, either because of insolvency or insufficient income to meet creditor demands. Personal bankruptcy generally works in one of two ways: liquidating assets to pay one’s debts under Chapter 7 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code or establishing a repayment plan under Chapter 13 …

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How to Seriously Reduce Your Mortgage During a Chapter 13 Bankruptcy

New Jersey bankruptcy attorney Edward Hanratty sent in the following guest post. It is an interesting approach to reducing mortgage debt using bankruptcy. This is an example of a bankruptcy client who thought there was a problem with her mortgage and property taxes, and she was right. After some litigation I sent her the following …

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Memphis City Council Questions Why They Keep People in Debt

Last month, ProPublica published a deep examination of how struggling black Americans are much less likely to gain lasting relief from bankruptcy than their white peers. The story focused on Memphis, where the racial gaps in the system are starker than anywhere else in the country. Memphis also has the nation’s highest per capita bankruptcy …

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Turns Out Equifax Was Punishing Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Filers

For what appears to be decades, the credit rating agency Equifax has quietly layered three more years of tarnish on the credit histories of hundreds of thousands of people who had filed for bankruptcy under Chapter 13. While its competitors, TransUnion and Experian, placed a flag on such histories for seven years, Equifax left it …

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Black People in the South Unfairly Get Less Relief in Bankruptcy

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 …

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My Home Equity Lender is Still Trying to Collect After My Chapter 13 Bankruptcy – Joe

Question: Dear Steve, We filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy September of 2009. The plan was confirmed on January 2010 and ultimately discharged January 2015. Included in the bankruptcy was a home equity line of credit that was deemed unsecured. The creditor has been reporting late 90 days plus every month right through to the current …

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We are in a Chapter 13 Bankruptcy and Can’t Afford the Payments Anymore – Alexandra

Question: Dear Steve, My husband and I are currently in a Chapter 13 bankruptcy (one year in). The attorney we got basically aimed to do things quick and easy and our payment is honestly killing us. I’ve had to stop re-filling my epilepsy medication because I can’t afford it! My husband has suffered health issues …

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