This is probably the single biggest question we get asked at Kain & Scott. What assets will I lose if I file Chapter 7 Bankruptcy? The answer simply put, is in the vast majority of cases filed, most debtors lose no assets at all.

We can protect a lot of assets in a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy. If your assets are protected we call that “exempt” assets. If your assets are not protected, and the Chapter 7 trustee can take and liquidate your assets, we call those assets “non-exempt”.

Don’t get me wrong, my advice is to error on the side of filing bankruptcy. Getting your life back is real, and it is wonderful losing debt and repairing your credit in Kain & Scott’s FREE 90-Day Credit Repair Program. But, before you file bankruptcy in Woodbury, Minnesota, there are two things you need to know.

Recently, a Bankruptcy Judge sanctioned UpRight law and some of it’s “partners” and banned UpRight and some of its “partners” from filing bankruptcy cases in the Western District of Virginia. UpRight also heavily solicits Minnesotans suffering from overwhelming debt too. I am cautioning every single person I know to be very suspicious of UpRight and its’ business model.

Are you like me in that you hate going to multiple sites just to piece together the information you are looking for on a topic? I hate that. That is why Kain & Scott put together a website at www.kainscott.com so Minnesotans researching bankruptcy in Minnesota could find answers to all their questions in one spot! Novel? We think so!

The home foreclosure “crisis” passed from the headlines a number of years ago. But many Minnesota families still struggle with this issue. Largely, that’s because the Gopher State has one of the fastest foreclosure timelines in the country. After just one missed payment, the bank could take your house in only a few months.

Some people in this situation hire lawyers, go to court, and file restraining orders against the mortgage companies. That legal maneuver does not have a negative impact on a credit score. But in all but the most extreme cases, such as a fraudulent home inspection report, a restraining order only delays the inevitable, at best.

This question has probably never been more pressing. In a pair of 2017 decisions (Henson v. Santander and Midland Funding v. Johnson), the Supreme Court significantly expanded debt collectors’ power under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. Before these two decisions, moneylenders often shied away from court cases. They did not want judges to scrutinize their unfairly aggressive tactics. Now, such fears may be a thing of the past. Many debt buyers may file suit after just one or two extremely threatening letters, even if these debt buyers have little basis for their actions.

Several months after one of the biggest tax code rewrites in U.S. history, the Treasury Department finally released an online tool to help taxpayers re-calculate their withholding amounts. Nevertheless, millions will owe money come tax time.

Earlier, the IRS did release revised tax tables that conveyed the same information. But information formats like that are difficult for people to understand. The proper withholding amount is very important, emphasized American Institute of Certified Public Accountants chief tax analyst Melissa Labant. Too little, and the taxpayer will owe a significant amount in April. Too much, and “you’re giving an interest-free loan to the government.” Cari Weston, another AICPA tax analyst, added that the more allowances a taxpayer claims, the less money the government withholds.

Chances are, if you are considering filing Chapter 7 Bankruptcy in Minneapolis, MN, you are thinking that filing bankruptcy would be terrible for your credit score and profile. If you believe this, you are like the vast majority of Minnesotans. When most Minnesotans think about bankruptcy, and its’ impact on ones’ credit score, you think that bankruptcy would be devastating. Guess what? You are all wrong!

In our day-to-day practice at Kain & Scott, our attorneys will typically field a few contacts every month from business owners who are financially stressed.  The business owners typically have this, or a variation of this question: my business is in financial trouble, should the business file a bankruptcy?  It’s such a simple, and such a common question. One of the reasons the United States has a bankruptcy law is to provide a safety net from small business owners - to allow the business owners to take financial risks without having to worry about financial ruin if the business experiences significant reverses.  But while the question is simple, the answer is usually at least a little complicated. Let’s look at the factors that should be considered in making a decision as to whether to have a business file a bankruptcy case.

Our Minnesota guests are proof. Proof of what? Proof that Kain & Scott has an antidote for anxiety caused by overwhelming debt. How do I know this to be true? Because our guests say it all the time. It goes something like this- I was so nervous about bankruptcy and my debts before I met with Kain & Scott, and then once I met with the people at Kain & Scott, my anxiety went away and I felt like I could get through this with their help!

Legally, people in Minneapolis can file bankruptcy as many times as necessary. There are no filing limits. Multiple filings do have some adverse consequences, as set out below. However, this fallout is not as bad as some people think it is.

Besides, if properly done, bankruptcy is usually a once-in-a-lifetime proposition. A voluntary petition is a fresh start in almost every sense of the phrase. Actor Gary Busey, who is well-known for his “Buseyisms,” may have put it best in the wake of his own 2012 filing. He described bankruptcy as Bringing A New Knowledge Regarding Understanding Past Tribulations Concerning Yourself. That’s a very long way of saying that you have the power to reverse your financial fortunes, even though the filing itself was probably not your fault.

Bankruptcy is an investment for our clients. When finances are tight, anything is a significant investment. But the investment always pays off. The amount of money the client pays is nearly always inconsequential when compared to the tens of thousands of dollars of debt that is discharged. Furthermore, bankruptcy gives Minnesota families a fresh financial start. That’s something which is almost literally priceless.

Most of the time, it is a wonderful thing to have equity in your home.  There is a sense of pride in it and it can be considered an investment that will someday pay off.  Sometimes, though, the fact that you have equity in your home is like blood in shark infested water.  If you have an unsecured debt (such as a credit card) that went unpaid and a creditor received a judgment, that creditor could put a judgment lien on your home.  That means if you sell your home, that creditor could get a portion of the equity in your home. Is there any way to protect the equity in your home in Walker, Minnesota?  Do you have any options for getting rid of the debt and the lien? How do you fix this and get your life back?

One of the reasons people file bankruptcy cases is to preserve vehicle ownership. If the client has a car loan, a chapter 13 case in which the terms of the vehicle loan can be re-set to make the payment more affordable is often attractive.  Or some clients prefer the liquidation approach of a chapter 7, in which other, unsecured debts are discharged, thus freeing up money in the monthly budget to make the car payment easier to afford.

Just like consumer bankruptcy can stop home foreclosure, wage garnishment, vehicle repossession, and most other types of adverse creditor action, bankruptcy can also stop lawsuits. Even if the trial is scheduled for tomorrow, bankruptcy can halt it.

For many people, a creditor lawsuit is a remote, theoretical possibility. They know it can happen, but they do not believe it will ever happen to them. Suddenly, there’s an unfamiliar knock on the door at an unusual hour and someone, usually a Minnesota peace officer, delivers a summons.

For the past six weeks we’ve taken a pretty “deep dive” into the nuts and bolts of bankruptcy. This week, I’ll try to wrap this up with a look at the function of the bankruptcy discharge - the “finish line” for bankruptcy. Again, the lens through which I will look at this issue is the twin policy goals of bankruptcy - to treat creditors fairly and to allow debtors to live with dignity.