Has your family outgrown your current house? Is your car in need of major repairs? Have you been turned down for a new home, car, or other financing because of your credit? If you’re in debt, you’re not alone: as of 2016, the United States had $764 billion in credit card debt, $8.63 trillion in mortgage debt, and $1.16 trillion in auto loan debt. These staggering numbers show that the average American is drowning in debt.

The decision to file bankruptcy can be a difficult one and after the process of reviewing your finances and goals you will need to determine which type of bankruptcy is right for you. While chapter 7 bankruptcy completely eliminates the majority of our debts it is not always the best option for all of us. Some of us may not be able to meet the requirements to file chapter 7 bankruptcy and in these instances Chapter 13 can be an extremely effective tool for recovering from financial difficulty and regaining control over debts and obligations. Our staff of experienced Roseville MN Bankruptcy Attorneys are able to determine which type of bankruptcy is right for you and it is important you are aware that you have options. We will be discussing the steps involved with a chapter 13 bankruptcy so that you may familiarize yourself with the process and consider if a chapter 13 bankruptcy makes sense for you and your future.

Once you have completed the process of Filing Bankruptcy in Roseville and have been granted your discharge you may be under the impression your work is done and for the most part this is true. However there still remains the important task of assuring your credit information is reported correctly and updated with credit reporting agencies. This is an essential component to beginning your renewed financial stability because most of us will eventually need new credit and financing following our bankruptcy discharge.

Are you struggling with overwhelming debt? Has it become too difficult to manage? If so, these struggles have probably taken toll on the rest of your life as well. When dealing with a major debt problem it can be very difficult to stay happy and focused. Fortunately, if you’re dealing with overwhelming debt right now there are a few easy ways out that our Roseville MN Bankruptcy Lawyers can help you with. One of the easiest, available to all who qualify, is a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy. In this article we will discuss the key components of a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy so that you can learn what to expect during the process and determine if Chapter 7 would be a good option for you.

So you live in Roseville MN and you had one of the 5 events happened to you which resulted in overwhelming debt: 1) business failure; 2) income drop; 3) divorce or relationship break up; 4) medical problems; 4) bad financial decisions (we have all made them). You are stressed out because you are falling behind and you can’t keep up. That uneasy feeling of slowly drowning in debt, suffocating, and you can’t seem to pull out of it. If you are a human being you will feel your tummy churning and just a depression hanging over your head. 

In Roseville, the vast majority of us don’t think to seek help from the strain of an overwhelming debt problem until it has eroded away so many great aspects of our lives. We’ll forgo home and automotive expenses just so that we can buy food and clothing. This “rob Peter to pay Paul” financial black hole can be very easy to fall into and even more difficult to climb out of. Unfortunately, usually by the time you think to turn to a Roseville MN Bankruptcy Lawyer for help you’re already left with nothing. In these circumstances Filing Chapter 7 Bankruptcy would generally be advised but what if you would have looked to Bankruptcy for financial relief at the onset of your struggles?

I cannot stress enough that at Kain & Scott our Roseville MN Bankruptcy Lawyers have never had a client come back to and tell us that they regretted Filing Bankruptcy. No one at our firm in Roseville have ever heard that… from anyone. Filing Bankruptcy is an important decision. One that you will probably spend a good amount of time researching and thinking through carefully. However, even so... We've still never heard of anyone regretting their decision and here's why: 

I am sorry you are experiencing overwhelming debt of any kind. Having overwhelming debt is stressful on anyone. Many Roseville, MN residents, when faced with crippling debt rightly turn to a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy to get their lives back and solve the problem once and for all. The goal of any Chapter 7 Bankruptcy is to get your life back. Technically speaking, we are looking for your debts to be “discharged” under section 727 of the Bankruptcy Code. A discharge of the debts means your liability for those debts is gone and the creditor cannot collect on those debts ever again.

In my last blog, Can I File Bankruptcy In MN And Keep My House Or Car, I discussed the social cost of debt - that is, what happens to our society as a whole when individuals find themselves in a financial position in which they cannot manage the debt they have incurred. I discussed the approaches people take when debt has gotten out of control. I discussed in detail the approach of essentially doing nothing to take the initiative to resolve the debt problem, and the cost to the individual who takes this approach and to society as a whole. At the end of the blog, I started to discuss the social cost of taking the most common approach to resolving difficult debt issues: increasing income and decreasing expenses to allow a more significant pay-down of debt out of a person’s monthly budget. 

At the end of the last blog, Can i keep my house or car if i file a Roseville MN Bankruptcy, I wrote that even if a client of mine owned a vehicle that he or she liked, with a payment that the client could afford and the car was a new enough model that it was possible that the lender would repossess the car unless the client signed a reaffirmation agreement, I would still advise the client not to do so. Why? In my analysis, it all comes down to worst-case scenarios. By definition, with my bankruptcy practice I am not dealing with lucky people. My clients are my clients because things have not worked out as planned for them financially, or some sudden unanticipated event has taken place to create financial strain. My clients at our Bankruptcy Law Firm in Roseville are used to having worst-case scenarios come true.

Imagine a world in which creditors could collect from debtors at will and without rules. It would be chaos, literally. Hypothetically speaking, if I know Pete owes me 10k and I know that Pete’s business is teetering on the brink of financial ruin, and there are no rules, what am I going to do? I tell you what I am going to do. I am going to secretly find out what assets Pete owns and then I am going to quickly assert control over those assets so I can get paid my 10k plus costs. I want to do this before any of Pete’s other creditors get wind of Pete’s financial condition and take his assets- before I can get paid. 

One of the most common questions that potential clients ask their Bankruptcy Attorney when filing is what is the effect that bankruptcy has on continuing home and car ownership. It's understandable that people with debt problems are worried about retaining the place where they live and retaining the car or truck they drive. My typical response is to assure them. As long as you continue to make any loan payments associated with your home and/or your vehicles, you should be able to keep your home and your car. Now this is a good, sound, general statement. And it's true; but to be well informed clients need to know more about theinterplay between ownership of assets and bankruptcy.

Roseville MN Bankruptcy and MN Divorce Law find themselves intersecting all the time. It’s almost as if these two areas of law go hand and hand. Debt causes marital strife which leads to divorce. Divorce causes a loss of income to both parties, separate households and therefore separate expenses, and typically debt as a result of the investment in getting the divorce itself; lawyers, custody studies, child support, alimony, and many other expenses associated with getting a divorce. In a lot of cases this all leads to bankruptcy eventually. 

The truth is that Bankruptcy is a negative credit event. However, it’s not life threatening and there are ways to immediately start rebuilding your credit after you file with your Roseville Bankruptcy Attorneys. Especially after filing a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy. Chapter 7 Bankruptcy, also known as the “Fresh Start Bankruptcy”, allows you to press the re-set button and get all of your unsecured credit card, medical, department store card and some personal loan debt discharged in only four months! Now a lot of people assume that their life is over at this point, at least financially, but that’s not the case. There are a lot things that you can do to start rebuilding your credit to start getting those larger loans and mortgages again.

I am always struck by the amount of courage people have to face a problem. Oh sure, flowers bloom at different times, and we all open up in our own ways. I respect that. Once you make the decision to file a bankruptcy and get your life back, your work is not over. In fact, selecting a Roseville Bankruptcy Attorney to represent you is just as important as the decision to file a bankruptcy. Why? Because to me, you just made one of the most brave decisions in your life and now, you want the job done right, with dignity and yes, with grace too.