Sports fans have been anxiously waiting and the time is almost here: March Madness. As you gear up for a series of exciting games and limitless chicken wings, there’s one preparation that any dedicated basketball fan takes very seriously: picking a winning bracket.

Hundreds of your neighbors want to know the same thing, because medical bills are the leading cause of consumer bankruptcy in Minneapolis. For various reasons, these expenses have increased much faster than the cost of other goods and services, so the size of these bills catches many people off guard.

I am amazed at the number of Americans that don’t know the government actually has a government sponsored debt consolidation plan for you! It’s called a Chapter 13 Bankruptcy and it is amazing! The number of benefits of being in a government sponsored debt consolidation plan cannot be understated.

If you’re one of the thousands of Minnesota residents who is considering filing for either Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy, follow these simple tips to help you get the most out of your Minnesota bankruptcy.

One of the main concerns our clients have about filing for bankruptcy in Minnesota is the protection of their privacy.

For the last three weeks, I’ve written about the function of bankruptcy to serve the twin purposes Congress set out in passing bills that codified bankruptcy law into the Bankruptcy Code: treating creditors fairly and allowing debtors to live with dignity.  I’ve written about why the bankruptcy debtor has to list assets and liabilities accurately in her schedules, about the specific features of chapter 13, the benefits of the automatic stay in bankruptcy and the requirement that the bankruptcy debtor list all of her creditors in her bankruptcy paperwork.  This week, I’ll continue to look at how bankruptcy law and procedure seeks to meet the policy goals of Congress.

You have had a good paying job and also using your credit cards for purchases like any other person would when the unthinkable happens: you either lose your job or for some reason your income decreases.  The dam is about to break and there is no relief in sight because you now have these credit card bills that you previously had been able to pay and had every intent to pay back.  Bankruptcy seems like the best option to get your life back, but you have heard that your creditors will cry “FRAUD!” because you have been using your credit cards recently and you fear you need to wait 90 days before you can file bankruptcy.  Your worry is that you simply cannot wait any longer.  You do not want to be accused of fraud, but you also do not think you can wait 90 days before filing for bankruptcy.  You need relief sooner rather than later.  What can you do?  What SHOULD you do?

In the last two weeks I’ve written about how bankruptcy "works" - the nuts and bolts of bankruptcy law so that the policy goals of bankruptcy law can be met. The two main underpinnings of bankruptcy are to treat creditors fairly and to allow debtors to live with dignity. My first blog dealt with the contents of the bankruptcy petition, schedules and statements - documents that must be filed in every bankruptcy case - and how the information contained in these documents further the policy goals of bankruptcy.

You may have heard or seen advertisements claiming that this firm or that firm offers low-cost bankruptcy filing. But do you know what that advertised “low price” will actually cost you?

Typically, if someone else pays a person’s debts, the IRS considers such payments to be taxable income. Prominent exceptions include certain student loan repayments and gift repayments. Based on that analysis, many people think the answer to this question is a resounding “yes.” But it is actually a surprising “no,” because bankruptcy discharge is different from debt repayment.

Although some bankruptcy filing records are public record, there are several very good reasons why that partial disclosure should not deter people from filing bankruptcy. Overall, bankruptcy filings are down significantly. In September 2017, consumer filings reached a ten-year low. However, many observers do not expect the downward trend to last. Instead, Northwestern University bankruptcy professor Bruce Markell expects rising interest rates to drive the number of filings back up, as distressed consumers will no longer be able to borrow their way out of financial jams in such an environment.

Don’t have any idea how bankruptcy works or what it can do for you? You’re not alone – many of our clients tell us during their free initial consultation that all they know about bankruptcy is that it is a way to get rid of debt, but are unsure how bankruptcy works and how it will affect their lives.

Last week, I wrote about the nuts and bolts of bankruptcy - how bankruptcy “works.” In doing so, I concentrated on the paperwork any bankruptcy debtor has to file with the court: the bankruptcy petition, schedules and statements.  And I wrote about those documents through the lens of the two goals of bankruptcy: to treat a debtor’s creditors fairly, and to allow the debtor to live with dignity.  This week, I want to take a deeper look at how bankruptcy law attempts to satisfy those two goals.

What happens when the unexpected happens? You are going along and unexpectedly (or perhaps it is expected), your parent passes away without a will, leaving their home to you as the beneficiary. You are now trying to juggle the mortgage payment on your parent’s home in an effort to keep the home in the family, in addition to another mortgage and your own debt. Pretty soon you realize that your parents were behind on their mortgage payments when they passed away and you get that dreaded foreclosure notice. You were barely making ends meet before and now you need to come up with additional money to save the house.