Bankruptcy Lawyer MA Matthew T. Desrochers » Massachusetts Bankruptcy

Joint Accounts and Bankruptcy

admin — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 17:03:40 +0000

What happens when someone files for bankruptcy and they have a joint account with you?

First, this can happen for several reasons:

You’ve put your child on the account
You share an account with your spouse or significant other
They are managing an account for an elderly mother or father

In the bankruptcy petition that ownership must be disclosed. As such, you and the petitioner will have to prove what interest in that joint account is the petitioner and what interest is yours.

Chapter 7

The trustee can seek to have the petitioners portion of the joint accounts turned over to the “bankruptcy estate” to be used for the creditors. However, depending on what the petitioner makes and what assets he/she has, the petitioner may be able to exempt a portion of his/her share to keep it from being seized.

Chapter 13

The petitioner will go on a payment plan thus allowing him/her to regain control over those accounts. However, the interest in the joint accounts will be used to calculate the amount he/she pays.

Transfers

In joint accounts, often there is the issue of transfers of ownership which may be considered a fraudulent transfer by the trustee. Fraudulent transfers happen when the petitioner transfers money to someone with “no consideration.” If this happens, the trustee can take that money back from you. In order to keep that money you will have to prove that you provided all the funds in the account or that there was adequate consideration for that transfer.

To avoid such complications, you should take a different action when setting up an account. Set up your child, spouse, significant other, friend, family as an authorized signer for withdrawals on the account instead of a joint owner.

If you would like to learn more and/or receive assistance with foreclosure, loan modification, bankruptcy or debt settlement, please contact us at (857) 244-1940 or fill out the form on the right.

Possibly New Upcoming Refinancing Options for Struggling Homeowners

admin — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 22:50:15 +0000

Since, around six months ago when the Federal Housing Administration announced a new initiative to help “underwater” borrowers, nearly two dozen lenders have agreed to take part in the new loan modification program.

The program, Short Refi, requires lenders to write off at least 10 percent of the principal balance, and investors, who, if they own the mortgage, must also agree to the deal.

To qualify, homeowners must be current on their monthly mortgage payments and cannot have an F.H.A. loan. In addition, new primary loan cannot be more than 97.75 percent of the current value of the property and refinanced loans for homeowners whose properties carry second liens cannot exceed 15 percent of the property value.

Hit is estimated that 500,000 to 1.5 million borrowers could be eligible for the program. However, the program is currently facing challenges in Congress as the House of Representatives has voted to end it.

A few lenders that are currently participating are Wall Street Mortgage Bankers of Lake Success, N.Y.; 1st Alliance Lending of East Hartford, Conn.; Nationstar Mortgage of Lewisville, Tex.; E Mortgage Management of Haddon Township, N.J.; and Glacier Bank of Kalispell, Mont. In addition, Wells Fargo, Citibank, and Ally Financial have created small scale pilots.There are also a few lenders that are not currently part of the program and they are: Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Bank of America, and JP Morgan Chase.

If you would like to learn more and/or receive assistance with loan modification or foreclosure, please contact us at (857) 244-1940 or fill out the form on the right.

Bankruptcy Numbers Are Soaring

admin — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 16:54:30 +0000

“Bankruptcy filings reflect the economy as a whole – and it’s clear we are not on a fast path towards recovery. Consumers are clearly struggling to pay off the debt they’ve accurued over the years, and are turning to bankruptcy as a last resort,” said The Warren Group CEO Timothy M. Warren Jr.

The numbers are staggering and speak for themselves:

1 in every 150 people filed for bankruptcy in 2010.
Nationwide that equates to a figure of 6600 filings per million individual.
Filings in general were up 9% on 2009.
The highest bankruptcy filings are concentrated in the Southwest. Nevada based on population has more than twice the national filing rates. Not a surprise when the state unemployment rate stands at almost 14%. Nevada has also seen a large population increase in recent years. Since 2000 there has been more than a 35% increase in the population.

Even, with more people filing for bankruptcy, it is not for everyone. People that need to keep their homes may be forced to look for a different kind of relief. One of the options available is to call a debt resolution attorney and have them help you out of your situation.

A debt resolution attorney will negotiate with your creditors and help you reach a settlement at a discounted price. Many people have tried to call and negotiate with their creditors themselves and find that the creditors refuse to even talk to them.

If you would like assistance with determining what would be the best option for you regarding your debts or you would like to file for bankruptcy, please contact MATTHEW T. DESROCHERS, ESQ. at (857) 244-1940 or fill out the form on the right.

Don’t Wait until It’s Too Late to File for Bankruptcy

admin — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 05:59:04 +0000

Due to the poor economy more people are filing for bankruptcy. Almost anyone can be a victim of this situation, particularly the unemployed. Even you. Don’t waste away your entire savings just to make both ends meet before you decide to file for bankruptcy. If you do, then your situation will easily go from bad to worse and all you can do is observe as your things are one by one seized from you, and your assets are diminishing as a result of wage garnishment. When your situation reaches the point where your things are being taken from you, it will be emotionally gut-wrenching. And if that’s not bad enough, the auction sales created by your possessions may not be adequate, forcing loaners to use wage garnishment as a way of compensation. If your wages are garnished, you may not have enough salary to continue on your day to day schedule and you will have to make many sacrifices that you might not have to otherwise.

How do you keep this from happening? If you file for bankruptcy, you can hold back real estate foreclosure or wage garnishment allowing a better resolution to be created.

If you fail to remedy things in a hurry, you’ll only end up regretting things. Snatching control of your lifestyle is a must if you want things to get better. Therefore, knowing how to keep lenders from getting a large chunk of your compensation is a must.

If you would like assistance with determining what would be the best option for you regarding your debts or you would like to file for bankruptcy, please contact Matthew Desrochers at (857) 244-1940 or fill out the form on the right.

Once You Start…Can You Stop Bankruptcy?

admin — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 15:35:26 +0000

Once in a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, you can convert to a Chapter 13 bankruptcy or get it dismissed. If you, file for Chapter 13 bankruptcy there are more alternatives. There are at least four methods to get out of a Chapter 13 bankruptcy.

The first way to end a Chapter 13 bankruptcy is a hardship discharge. If the filer’s economic predicament has drastically changed this option may be plausible. A hardship discharge may be granted by the court at any time after the payment strategy has been confirmed. There are particular tests that must be met to quality for a hardship discharge. In addition, this isn’t the preferred choice from the bankruptcy court’s perspective.

The second way is modification of the plan when the filer experiences an economic hardship. This is a method the court’s prefer. Modification of the bankruptcy payment will allow payments to the trustee to be decreased or eliminated altogether. Usually, priority claims and secured debts will still be paid; however, it could eradicate payments made to unsecured creditors.

The third way is to convert it to a Chapter 7, which will try to liquidate nonexempt assets and discharge as several of the debts as are allowed. This option is most likely to be applied if a hardship is experienced but the filer does not meet the needs of the hardship discharge. Having a conversion, unsecured debts might be eliminated. Creditors may also request that the bankruptcy be converted against the filer’s will, which could take place in the case of failure to file a repayment strategy or failure to make the payments.

Finally, the fourth way is have the bankruptcy case dismissed. It should be noted that requesting a dismissal will place all of the creditors and the debtor back in the similar place they have been just before the case was filed. The only change will be that any payments made towards the bankruptcy will be credited to the debtor’s accounts with the creditors.

Bankruptcy Law Changes Designed To Hold Debtors Accountable

admin — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 15:31:19 +0000

It’s no secret that bankruptcies have been increasing. As such, a few years ago retailers and other companies were claiming large losses and as such the bankruptcy laws were changed. These changes make filing for bankruptcy more difficult. In 2005, the U.S. government seemed to agree with lobbyists for credit companies and determined that too many debtors were allowed to get out from under their self-created debt by filing for bankruptcy.

Why were these changes in laws made? In addition, to the increase in bankruptcies and losses to the creditors, people were taking advantage and filing for bankruptcy when they had plenty of money and were using the advantage it gave them to dump their loads of debt. Also, some people would file bankruptcy as often as allowed by law to get out of paying their financial obligations.

The new law added many requirements, including the need to go through credit counseling services before filing bankruptcy. The counseling is also to provide alternatives to bankruptcy and attempts to move more people from Chapter 7 bankruptcy into a plan that will provide the creditors receiving payments through Chapter 13 filings. It added extra burdens for the debtor as well as the attorneys, which not only increased the amount of information collected for bankruptcy filings, but also included many new financial requirements that are beginning to resemble the current income tax code; in other words, it is getting to be very complex. In order to understand the new rules and regulations as well as the reporting requirements, many attorneys will need to specialize in bankruptcy.

There are also penalties in the new law for both attorneys and clients who willfully attempt to use inaccurate information in a bankruptcy petition. If a violation is found by the court, the attorney fees and client costs can be claimed by the court trustee, giving the trustees more incentive to more carefully review all filings in the court.

If you would like assistance with determining what would be the best option for you regarding your debts or you would like to file for bankruptcy, please contact:

MATTHEW T. DESROCHERS, ESQ.
(857) 244-1940 or fill out the form on the right.

Knee Deep In Debt

admin — Tue, 28 Dec 2010 16:34:26 +0000

After the recession and liquidity crunch of 2007, a lot of people are facing difficulty in repaying their unpaid bills. They keep looking for ways to make ends meet, including taking out payday loans. But what ends up happening, is they take out one to meet another bill, and they keep taking out another to meet another bill, and then they find themselves knee deep swimming in debt. As a last resort, they decide to file for bankruptcy.

However, new bankruptcy laws have made it expensive and difficult to file. First, they now require credit counseling before and after filing. These classes can cost $60 a piece. In addition, there are attorney’s fees, which can range between $1,000 and $2,000 and in some instances cost even more. A good lawyer will discuss the best options for handling your swimming debt problem, to make sure that you are not paying exuberant fees where they are not needed.

Thankfully, there are new programs that will allow the filer to avoid paying the credit counseling fees and, of course, there are some lawyers that work for a free legal aid program as well.
Don’t go through the bankruptcy process alone. Bankruptcy is a federal court process that needs legal representation. Certain changes have been introduced in the new bankruptcy laws. If a person is intending to file insolvency, he may not be acquainted with all the complexities of the legal procedure. Only a bankruptcy lawyer can help him go through the process easily.
If you would like assistance with determining what would be the best option for you regarding your debts or you would like to file for bankruptcy, please contact us at (857) 244-1940 or fill out the form on the right.

Top Myths About Massachusetts Bankruptcy

admin — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 15:10:33 +0000

There are many misconceptions about Bankruptcy and as such many people will not file Bankruptcy even when they really need it. Not having all of the facts about any issue, especially bankruptcy, can hinder or severely limit one’s ability to make well informed decisions about your financial situation. Meeting with a bankruptcy lawyer can help put reality into perspective.

I need to be completely broke.

False. You only need to be where you cannot pay your bills as they come due.

I will be completely broke after filing.

False. The government has permitted exemptions to allow filers to keep a certain amount of property. In Massachusetts, you can choose from the Federal exemption list or the Massachusetts exemption list.

I will not qualify for credit in the future.

False. The bankruptcy will stay on the credit report for 10 years; however, since you will not be able to file again for 6 years you will start receiving credit card applications very quickly because they know that you will have at least 6 years to pay on the credit account. Make sure that you take care and do not repeat old bad habits if you choose to take a new credit card. In addition, as mentioned in a prior blog, you will be able to get a car loan as soon as 2 years after you file.

I will not be able to buy a house.

False. Mortgage lenders will take the risk long as you have a sufficient down payment. Although you may receive a higher interest rate. However, if you do not file bankruptcy you could end up in court and mess up your credit score just as much as filing bankruptcy.

I will lose my house.

True and False. Again, you can choose either the Federal exemption list or the Massachusetts exemption list.

If you choose the Federal exemption list you are allowed to keep the first $17,450 in equity in your home above all liens and encumbrances despite the bankruptcy filing. Thus, an individual who is current on his mortgage payments, has little equity in the property, and has a lot of credit card debt. Assume that the property is worth $250,000 and the mortgage is $232,550. In this instance, the individual can file for Chapter 7 and keep the house.

If you choose the Massachusetts exemption list you are allowed to keep the first $100,000 in equity in your home above all liens and encumbrances despite the bankruptcy filing. Thus, an individual who is current on his mortgage payments, has little equity in the property, and has a lot of credit card debt. Assume that the property is worth $250,000 and the mortgage is $150,000. In this instance, the individual can file for Chapter 7 and keep the house.

However, this can be a complicated area and should be discussed with a lawyer.

Taxes cannot be included in Bankruptcy.

True and False. Certain taxes can be discharged.

Student Loans are not dischargeable.

Generally True. However, if you can prove certain hardship, student loans may be dischargeable.

IF YOU WANT ASSISTANCE WITH BANKRUPTY
PLEASE CONTACT
MATTHEW T. DESROCHERS, ESQ.
(857) 244-1940 or fill out the form on the right.

Hiring A Bankruptcy Lawyer In Massachusetts

admin — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 03:50:40 +0000

If you are unable to meet your monthly debt repayments, if your credit card statements are simply getting more and more in arrears and your medical bills remain unpaid for months on end, you might have only one alternative: file for bankruptcy. If you live in Massachusetts, contacting bankruptcy lawyer, Matthew Desrochers, is a great first step to understanding your options.

What precisely is meant by bankruptcy? This is a legal term which refers to someone applying to the courts to erase all his debt so he can start from scratch again. If you are therefore in a position to actually pay your debts, your application is unlikely to be successful. Reasons which the bankruptcy court normally accept are large and unexpected medical claims, losing your employment, or marital problems causing financial havoc in your life.

It’s highly inadvisable to try to handle the whole application without the help of a Massachusetts bankruptcy lawyer.

When your lawyer submits your application to be declared bankrupt to the court, they will inform all your creditors about this. A first meeting of creditors will then be arranged, more or less thirty to forty days after the application filing.

During this meeting your lawyer must submit to the court a complete overview of your financial matters. This has to clearly show your monthly expenses and income and also contain a list of everything you own and owe. From there on you can refuse to directly deal with your creditors.

If your application is approved, the terms will be made known to everyone involved. Unfortunately all your assets will form part of the now bankrupt estate. You will therefore not be able to keep anything, except those assets which have been exempted by the court.

To receive a free bankruptcy consultation, contact Matthew Desrochers at (857) 244-1940 or fill out the form on the right.

6 Common Misconceptions About Massachusetts Bankruptcy

admin — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 14:23:16 +0000

In today economic climate many people are turning to the U.S. Bankruptcy Code and attorneys for assistance. The Law Offices of Matthew T. Desrochers, P.C. has helped many clients overcome their financial difficulties and WE CAN HELP YOU. When I meet with clients I often have to demystify common misconceptions of bankruptcy.

I have attached several myths and responses to those myths for your review.

Myth #1: It is difficult to file for bankruptcy.

False. The new bankruptcy laws have drastically reduced the time it takes to be discharged from bankruptcy down to an average of nine months. In today’s economic landscape, it is understandable that individuals need to file for bankruptcy in order to start over. A qualified, experienced bankruptcy lawyer can make the process as simple and painless as possible.

Myth #2: You will lose everything you own.

This one of the biggest misnomers deterring people from filing. Bankruptcy laws do vary from state to state, but every state has exemptions that can protect certain assets, such as your house, car, qualified retirement plans, household goods and necessary clothing. You can choose STATE or FEDERAL EXEMPTIONS when you file. The STATE exemptions vary in each state and FEDERAL or nation-wide. Call Attorney Matthew T. Desrochers to discuss your exemptions

Myth #3: You will never get credit again.

Quite the opposite, actually. Before you even get home from the courthouse, your mailbox could be rich with credit cards offers again. The catch is that they will be from subprime lenders charging very high interest rates. In fact, if you have a credit card with no balance at the time you file, you may not have to include it in your list of creditors, since you don’t owe them money. You may even be able to keep the card after the bankruptcy is finished.

Myth #4: If you are married, both spouses have to file.

This one is tricky, but not entirely true. It is very uncommon for one spouse to have a significant amount of debt in their name only. If there are debts that a married couple wants to get discharged in which they are both liable for, they will need to file together. If only one spouse files for bankruptcy, the creditors usually demand the entire payment from the spouse who didn’t file.

Myth #5: You can only file for bankruptcy once.

You can actually file for bankruptcy more than once, but the new bankruptcy laws extended the amount of time in between filings. Chapter 7 bankruptcy can be filed for once every eight years and a Chapter 13 filing once every two years. If you want to file for both on separate occasions, there is a four year wait in between the two filings.

Myth #6: Everyone will know you filed for bankruptcy.

Unless you are a very prominent person or a major corporation and the media gets word, the only people that will know about your filing are your creditors. These days, the amount of people filing is so immense that very few publications have the time, space or inclination to run anyone’s name.

If you are thinking about filing for bankruptcy in Massachusetts; you must look for a bankruptcy lawyers that focus exclusively on bankruptcy law, Matthew T. Desrochers, P.C. Bankruptcy Law. Every day, Matthew T. Desrochers help people save their homes, their cars, and wipe out their debts from $5,000 to $300,000. No other law firm is better qualified to bring you the fastest debt relief, and do it right the first time. For a free consultation, call (857) 244-1940 or fill out the form on the right.