Receiving a Summons and Complaint from a creditor, or being threatened with a judgment can be scary, but what does it really mean for you financially? This is a question that a lot of potential clients have when we first meet. Please read on to find out more!

What is the true impact on your credit after filing bankruptcy? Filing bankruptcy is nearly always a net positive for your credit profile and credit score. How can this be? Pretend I am a banker and you come to me wanting a loan.

We love to help people! It is why every one of our attorneys and team members come to work every day! We love to lend a hand to our fellow Minnesotans who are struggling with overwhelming debt. It excites us when we hear that guests have utilized all the information we have on our website and that it has helped them to understand their situation and weigh their options. When clients leave their initial consultations with the resources and advice we provide and they feel the weight lifted off our shoulders –we couldn’t feel more rewarded.   It makes our hard work worthwhile when we hear that our resources and services have made some’s life easier, or give them hope when they are in a dark place. 

Many of our clients find themselves filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy because they are out of options. And while bankruptcy is supposed to give you a fresh start, we understand that it often feels more like a defeat. Many clients worry if they will ever be able to qualify for a loan after their bankruptcy case. While you may have to pay a higher interest rate and meet other requirements, the good news is that getting financing after your Chapter 7 bankruptcy is easier than you might think. An experienced Minnesota bankruptcy attorney can help you develop a plan and identify your options.

In the first part of this topic, we discussed developing good financial practices to help you rebuild your credit. If you haven’t already read that post, we strongly recommend that you review it before reading this one - the steps discussed in this post won’t do you much good if you haven’t yet gotten your financial house in order. Good financial habits are a necessity when it comes to rebuilding your credit after bankruptcy.

Many of us, when we are going through financial difficulties, have relied on credit cards to get us through.  We have “emergency credit cards.” We have the credit card to use in a pinch to get us through until the next pay check.  To think about not having that safety net is scary, right? So, for many of us, to think about filing bankruptcy, even if it means getting rid of the debt that haunts us, it also means the scary thought of losing that safety net.  What happens if I need money and I still have a week before my next pay check? What do I do? Does filing bankruptcy mean I lose all of my credit cards? What will be my back up plan? How long before I get another card? What will I do in the meantime?  These are all valid questions and these are things Kain & Scott can help you answer as we prepare you for bankruptcy

Wage garnishment is often one of the most pressing concerns for our potential clients in Maple Grove, Minnesota. They want to know if creditors can garnish their wages, and if so, when it will happen and how much they can take. Unfortunately, under Minnesota state law, creditors can garnish your wages because creditors have the right to seize any available non-exempt property, and that includes a portion of your wages. But there are things you can do to prevent or stop wage garnishments, and we will discuss the collection process and how you can stop it below.

It is a question we get a lot. How long will a Chapter 13 Bankruptcy stay on my credit report? The answer is 10 years- and that is a certainty. However, that does not mean that you will not get credit for 10 years. Quite the contrary. You see eliminating debt is always a good thing for your credit profile. Getting rid of debt, tax free, and going through Kain & Scott’s FREE 90-Day credit Repair Program improves our guest’s credit profiles to a point much better than before they did either.

That’s probably what a lot of people thought when they first heard of the Equifax breach last week. After a bankruptcy rebuilding your credit score quickly is important. You don’t want anything getting in the way like a data leak. There have been a lot of mixed messages on what to do to protect yourself, now that most likely, your social security number, birth date, address and other personal information is floating around the universe. The breach affected 143 million people, which is basically every adult living in the United States.

Kain & Scott is Minnesota’s oldest bankruptcy law firm- we have been around since 1972. We have seen a thing or two when it comes to the aftermath of filing Chapter 7 Bankruptcy and have helped thousands of Minnesotans get their lives back.  Here is the truth about what the effect filing Chapter 7 bankruptcy will have on your credit:

You have summoned the courage and the anxiety to face your debts. You are proud of yourself for facing your fear and challenging yourself to let go long enough to go through the bankruptcy process and get rid of your debt. And you did it! I can’t tell you how proud you should be of yourself for shedding your debt and moving on with your life.

It is one of the top concerns of any Minnesotan filing for bankruptcy protection. What will this do to my credit? Will bankruptcy damage my credit forever? How can I repair my credit as fast as possible? Many of our guests say I would have filed bankruptcy sooner had I known I could repair my credit fast. And now you can. For the 1st time in Minnesota history, a Minnesota bankruptcy law firm offers a one of kind, exclusive, 90 DAY FREE* CREDIT REPAIR PROGRAM after obtaining a discharge. How does it work? It is easy.

So you have thought about bankruptcy until you are blue in the face and now it’s time to make a phone call- but to who? Do you know how many lawyers in Minnesota do bankruptcies and claim to do bankruptcies? There are a lot of attorneys in Minnesota who do bankruptcy work. The variation between attorneys and law firms is huge. How can you tell if the firm does bankruptcy as part of many offerings or if it is all they do? How can you tell if they are nice, and easy to work with?

Credit reporting is big business. Bigger than it's ever been in years past. There are mobile apps to track your credit score, credit cards designed to provide you with a free credit score every month and agencies you can hire specifically to help re-build your credit score. All these businesses that have popped up in the last few years only prove to us how important your credit really score is.