So you’ve filed bankruptcy, and then suddenly, you receive a letter in the mail telling you a date and time for a “341 Hearing.” What gives?

If you are reading this article, I’m sure you’ve heard numerous ads for debt relief programs. Debt relief programs encompass a range of strategies and services designed to help individuals and businesses manage and reduce their debt burdens. These programs may include debt consolidation, debt settlement, credit counseling, and bankruptcy assistance. Now, these are options for folks facing financial straits and do work for some people. However, this blog aims to present the key differences between a Chapter 13 bankruptcy and debt relief programs so that you have all the facts you might need.

Receiving notice of a pending eviction action can be a scary thing to experience, and figuring out what steps you can take to protect yourself from this pending eviction will be one of the first things that anyone considers when they hear this news.  Fortunately, bankruptcy can absolutely be a resource to help!  If you are facing a pending eviction action for back rent, bankruptcy can be an excellent opportunity to help you resolve the rent balance and remain in your home!     

Filing bankruptcy can bring a massive amount of relief when you begin to feel the benefit of being protected from your creditors and the seemingly unending calls and communications that always seem to accompany them.  Likewise, receiving a bankruptcy discharge can also be a massive source of relief when you realize that you will never have to worry about any debts being discharged again.  However, after this discharge has gone through, you might ask: What will happen next?

“Can I discharge a debt that is already in collections?”  - It’s a question many people ask when they look at beginning the bankruptcy process.  Sometimes, a debt collector might tell you you have no choice but to pay them once an account has been referred to them for collection.  What they might not tell you is that this debt may still be discharged through bankruptcy.  

At LifeBack Law Firm, we put our money where our mouth is. When we say we are Minnesota’s most kind and helpful bankruptcy law firm, we are willing to risk it all to preserve our core values despite some who wish to attack it.

     LifeBack Law Firm is pleased to announce we are now offering all Minnesotans a free analysis of whether getting their student loans discharged in bankruptcy is a possibility. We also offer representation of Minnesotans in bankruptcy with respect to student loan discharge proceedings. At LifeBack, we did not want to “rush” into accepting money from Minnesotans without first understanding the lay of the land. Now that we have more clarity on student loan discharges in bankruptcy, we are proud to start accepting clients for bankruptcy and student loan discharges. 

     The perception among many is filing Chapter 7 Bankruptcy is the death knell to your ability to obtain future credit. In a way, I can understand this perception. For example, many of our clients report the following version of events to us: we are current on all our payments and our credit score is quite good.

     A court filing in Hennepin County, MN on September 26, 2023 (court file no. 27-CV-23-12137), claims from 2013 to 2020, Hoglund, Chwialkowski & Mrozik P.L.L.C. n/k/a Hoglund & Mrozik, P.L.L.C. engaged in massive interstate advertising and marketing fraud spanning multiple states on its website, Google map location and lawyer listings, and by its conventional advertisements. 

    Thanks to the attorneys at LifeBack Law Firm, computers are now exempt as household items under Minnesota bankruptcy exemptions for the first time in history. The world has changed a lot in the last 30 years. Computers have become a necessary household appliance to conduct all kinds of business. Many of us conduct our finances online, make medical appointments online, access our medical records online and do many other household functions.

     The consensus is filing a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy is better than filing a Chapter 13 Bankruptcy. Why? I know this is ironic but Chapter 7 Bankruptcy looks better for your credit profile than Chapter 13 bankruptcy. Why? Because in Chapter 7 Bankruptcy, you get a discharge in 4 months whereas in Chapter 13 Bankruptcy you are in a repayment plan for 3-5 years before you get a discharge. This is why most of our clients prefer to file Chapter 7 Bankruptcy versus Chapter 13.

    LifeBack Law Firm protects Minnesotans from law firm marketing fraud. How do we do this? When a law firm insists on pretending to be in locations they are not, LifeBack Law Firm calls them out on it. We once discovered a law firm in Minnesota who possessed no less than 237 Google Map Listings. The owner of the firm thought he was a marketing genius. We did not. We do not find it funny at all when prospective clients are deceived about a law firm’s actual location.

    Section 523(a)(8) of the Bankruptcy Code makes student loan debt non-dischargeable unless debtor sues the student loan company and convinces a bankruptcy judge that repayment of the student loan debt would cause debtor an undue hardship. If ever there were more loaded words than “undue hardship”, I am not sure what they would be.

    We get this phone call often. The person on the other end of the call is a former client of LifeBack Law Firm. The client has a vehicle loan for 10k and the vehicle is now a pile of junk. Yes, it is unusual for a bank not to want their collateral back, unless the collateral is junk.

     If you are thinking about filing a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy in Minneapolis, MN, you need to watch out for these two things before choosing a bankruptcy law firm that is right for you.

Court filing saysHoglund Law engaged in massive interstate advertising and marketing fraud spanning multiple states