Overwhelming debt can have a serious impact on many aspects of our lives. The longer we continue to struggle with it, the more of a negative effect they can have on us. The stress alone can place serious strain on our health and well-being but it doesn’t need to be this way. Bankruptcy is an amazing financial tool which can greatly improve the lives of those struggling to stay on top of their bills. In this blog I’m going to discuss three of the most significant ways in which our Minneapolis Bankruptcy Lawyers can help you take back control of your lives and your finances. Let’s begin.

I know what you are thinking- what government sponsored debt consolidation plan? Not many people know that the government, indeed, has a government sponsored debt consolidation plan. If people knew about this and understood it, no one would ever try traditional debt consolidation plans and always contact a St Paul Bankruptcy Lawyer first. Let me begin by describing the highlights of this government sponsored plan.

 I love “Google Reviews”. Why? Because they are a wonderful barometer of what you will receive for food, service, or anything else with a business. What better way to determine what you will receive from a St Paul Bankruptcy Lawyer than to see the experience others had with the same firm right?

Last week I wrote about the timing of filing a bankruptcy case when determining how to know if you should file bankruptcy. The focus of that was when to file in the context of the collection process - filing to avoid the execution on a judgment and to avoid the entry of a judgment entirely. The idea was to give the people reading the blog a sense of the collection process and what a bankruptcy filing would create the most protection for someone looking at difficult to manage debt issues . This week I want to continue examining the timing issue, but instead of looking at the collection process, look at timing issues through the lens of the Bankruptcy Code, and its requirements for filing. And I want to spend some time examining the mortgage foreclosure process and how foreclosure affects the decision of when to file a bankruptcy case .

Having a medical problem is awful enough- but just wait until you get home and receive the medical bills. If you didn’t want to die before, you will now. It shouldn’t be this way. You should not have to go bankrupt to protect your family from medical problems. And yet, our health insurance coverages get worse and the medical out of pocket costs grow larger.

Apart from politicians and large medical providers, who else benefits from a system like this? No one! The problem with overwhelming medical debt is it’s so unpredictable and uncontrollable. You can’t help medical problems for the most part.

Nobody wants to file for bankruptcy. This is no secret, but for many people in Minneapolis each year it is their only hope for debt relief. At Kain & Scott when most of our clients come to visit us they’ve been struggling with the repercussions of an overwhelming debt problem for a very long time. Far too often this struggle could have been avoided if they would have met with our Minneapolis Bankruptcy Lawyers a lot sooner. Our Lawyers can help you avoid a variety of debt related problems. Here’s how:

In my last two blogs, I’ve written about some unexpected consequences that some of our clients experience as a result of filing a bankruptcy case.  These surprises come from different areas - from the fact that ACH payments can be discontinued to the fact that a lapsed car insurance policy can result in a safe driver being dropped into the risk pool when a new auto-owners policy is taken out.  This week I’ll continue to write about expecting the unexpected as a result of filing a bankruptcy case.

Absolutely not. Financial problems are so common that they touch almost everyone. Many people live paycheck-to-paycheck. So even a slight income disruption or a small unexpected expense is often devastating. One in four Minnesotans worry about money so much that they have PTSD-like symptoms. That figure is self-reported, so the actual number may be even higher.

In other words, if financial problems could affect your job, many of us would be out of work. That’s simply not a workable environment, so bankruptcy discrimination is illegal.

Bankruptcy gives fresh starts to distressed debtors. But it uses the least restrictive means to accomplish this goal. Property rights are sacred to many people in America, and that includes a contract between a debtor and a creditor. So, bankruptcy does not interfere with that contract.

Instead, a bankruptcy discharge removes the debtor’s legal obligation to repay debt. It does not affect the collateral consequences. Assume a judge discharges past-due university tuition. The school cannot do anything to collect the amount owed. However, it can withhold the student’s transcript until the debt is paid or otherwise resolved. A bankruptcy judge does not have the authority to order the school to release the transcript.

Last week I started writing about the collateral events in a bankruptcy case that can confuse, concern or surprise bankruptcy debtors.  I looked specifically at the fact that many creditors will automatically discontinue ACH automatic withdrawals out of the bank accounts of bankruptcy debtors and that many creditors will disable a bankruptcy debtor’s ability to pay bills online (by the way, many pay-by-phone services are discontinued, also).

This week I will write about some other “surprises” that debtors can find in a bankruptcy case.

So, last we spoke, we spoke about Mary’s account being frozen. The creditor had frozen Mary’s 12k 401k loan proceeds and Mary had come in to see me about what her choices were to resolve her debt problem.

There are 3 mistakes you should avoid when filing bankruptcy in St Paul, Minnesota. These mistakes have to do with representation in a bankruptcy or a lack thereof. At Kain & Scott, we are Minnesota’s oldest bankruptcy law firm. We have seen a thing or two and we would recommend you avoid the mistakes we have seen others make. For example-

Welcome to Woodbury, Minnesota’s best bankruptcy law firm, Kain & Scott. Why Kain & Scott? Good question. We wrote the book, “Filing Bankruptcy Sucks, Your Lawyer Should Not!” We wrote the book because we were frustrated by how Minnesota bankruptcy guests were being treated. Well, let’s break it down, why is Kain & Scott Woodbury, Minnesota’s best bankruptcy law firm? I will give you 5 reasons:

The following is based on a true story. The names I use are fictional but the story is real. Mary came into see me about her account being frozen by one of her creditors. Mary had just taken a loan out from her 401k and the 12k in proceeds were in her bank account when the unthinkable happened- the creditor placed a levy on the account and froze 12k. Now, to say this was not good timing is an understatement. Mary is an RN but she was off work for several months due to medical complications. She was not entitled to short term disability and so she was taking the 401k loan out to help her and her husband survive the time when she was out of work.

To protect their property and families, thousands of people file bankruptcy in Minnesota every year. Moneylenders want people to feel ashamed when they file bankruptcy, to discourage such actions. But most people file bankruptcy because of medical debt, divorce, unemployment, or some other situation which was totally beyond their control.

Nevertheless, there are still many impediments to filing bankruptcy in Minnesota. Some people worry about how a voluntary petition will affect their jobs. Others worry about how bankruptcy may affect their spouses, and that’s the subject of this post.

Technically, the answer to this question is “yes.” However, there may be some debt that you do not want bankruptcy to clear.

There’s a significant difference between secured and unsecured debt. Secured debt includes things like home mortgages and auto loans. If the debtor violates the security agreement, the moneylender has the right to repossess the collateral. That right remains in place whether the debtor files bankruptcy or not. Unsecured debts are things like credit cards and medical bills. As outlined below, these debts sometimes have collateral consequences as well. But in most cases, they are quite limited.