Posts Tagged ‘Bankruptcy’
Bankruptcy records are documents of declaration that an individual or a company no longer earns sufficient income to finance the business and pay other financial obligations. In the United States, bankruptcy is divided into two categories. The first type of bankruptcy is called liquidation. Liquidation means that an individual or a company already has all their assets sold off and therefore, rids itself of its debts. Reorganization, the second kind, is when either the person or the business files for a new plan of action to still address its remaining financial responsibilities. Either way, filing a bankruptcy record gives a signal that a person or an organization is admitting that they can no longer turn losses into profits.
However, business persons who are considering of filing bankruptcy records simply to escape paying debts are in for some major disappointments. These records are actually created under an individual’s name or the business name and will then be made available for access to the general public. This is all because bankruptcy records are considered public records.
Such records may limit business opportunities later and may discourage potential business partners. In our days, most wise business persons check bankruptcy records before doing business with individuals and companies.
So, whether you are the type of entrepreneur who wants to work solo or someone who prefers to work with a partner, it will do you good to check bankruptcy records. You can check bankruptcy records to check if a potential business partner ever had a bad business history. From there, you may decide for yourself if you really want to do business with the person or organization.
If you read the newspaper or watch TV, you can’t help but feel that everyone in the US is in debt up to their ears. With the economy still struggling to recover, we hear of more and more people becoming mired in more and more debt.
I have heard from many people who are just paying the monthly minimum, but keep on using the card. The result is that the debt just keeps growing and growing and every payday a larger part of their salary is being used to service their debt. These people want a path toward financial freedom, a place where they control their finances, instead of their finances controlling them.
The problem so many of these people have is that they want very badly to gain control of their finances, but they lack the motivation to keep on track, to keep taking the steps they need to take to make that dream happen.
For those people I offer in this article, five steps to financial freedom, steps by which you can seize control of your finances. These steps are based upon the model for self motivation. They serve the dual purpose of not only helping you get back on track, but also keeping you motivated to stay on track.
Step 1: The first thing you need to do is to understand why you want to seize control of your finances. The more valuable a goal is, the more likely you are to achieve it. So write down all the positive reasons for why you want to regain control of your finances. What will you gain? reduced stress? the ability to buy things you need? a feeling of pride at how responsible you are? Also write down what will happen if you fail to make this change. Will you have to file bankruptcy? Will you lose your house? Will you be miserable and depressed and disappointed in yourself?
Step 2: Determine exactly what regaining control of your finances means in your situation. Clarity is motivating, so the clearer you are on exactly what you are moving toward, the more likely you are to get there. Here are some issues you need to get clarity on. How will you know when you have regained control of your finances? Does it mean reducing your debt? Does it mean living below your means so you can be paying off your debt? Write down what will be occurring in your life when you have succeeded. Every success you have will motivate you even more to achieve another success.
Step 3: Write down a clear description of how you are going to make this change happen. Make a plan. Write down all the steps you can think of that will help you make this change. Will you cut up your credit cards? Will you track your spending for a certain period of time? How long? Will you make a budget? Will you set aside a set percent of each pay check to use toward your debt? Will you need to take an additional, part time job for a while to catch up on your debt? Will you contact your creditors to try to work out a payment plan? Step Three provides two very important motivational impacts. Clarity, as we saw in Step Two, is motivating. But also, a big goal, like gaining control of your finances, is less scary when it is broken down into its component tasks. The less scary something is, the more confident you will be that you can succeed. Nothing is more motivating than confidence in your competence. That’s why it’s factor number two in the model for self motivation.
Step 4: Be in charge. Suze Orman says in The 9 Steps to Financial Freedom, “True financial freedom is not only having money, but having power over that money as well.” Make a conscious decision that you control your financial life. You are the boss! Power is motivating. Acting intentionally is motivating. Being a helpless victim of the economy is NOT motivating. Take charge and you will stay in charge.
And last, but by no means least:
Step 5: Find resources that will help you make this change. The worse the economy gets, it seems, the more resources there are for those who need help getting back on their feet.
Looking for bankruptcy? Don’t go for it! Instead, keep bankruptcy as your last option and try out the other options which are available in the market. There are a few debt relief options to consider. The best 3 are mentioned below with brief explanations for each one of them.
Do it yourself – debt management:
This method involves arrangement of the credit cards or other personal unsecured loans in an order. The order will be a descending one with loans having high interest rates getting top priority and then followed by the ones with lower interest rates. In this method, you will have to create a new budget in which, you will have to eliminate some of the unnecessary expenses and then save some extra money. Pool this money with the amount out of your paycheck that you keep aside for loan repayment and start repayments with the one, which has the highest interest rates. This helps in containing the debt due to faster accrual of interests.
Professional or self arbitration – debt settlement:
In the method of settlement, you will have to negotiate with the creditor on your own or you will need to use professional help for doing the same. In either case, the process converges to push the creditor to eliminate the debt by a certain percentage. The amount not forgiven is to be paid in lump sum to the creditor. To force the creditor to eliminate at least 50% of the dues, the use of the bankruptcy threat is essential. Once the remainder is paid, the consumer will get a clean cheat and the debt will be considered as paid in full.
Reducing monthly installments – debt consolidation:
In this method, negotiation with the creditor is carried out by a professional negotiator who negotiates for the reduction in the interest rates and elimination of associated costs like insurance charges, over limit fees, late fees and other. The threat of bankruptcy is used to force the creditors to agree to the above conditions. When the creditors agree, they re-amortize the loans and then the monthly installment burden for the consumer is reduced significantly.
The above mentioned three methods ensure that the credit score of the consumers remain unharmed and that the consumers get back their financial stability and get out of their debts asap. This is not possible in case of bankruptcy filing because, once the consumers go for bankruptcy, the FICO score will be lost completely. This brings in more financial troubles for the consumers. Hence, personal bankruptcy should be avoided.
Obtaining help from an attorney debt settlement company can be a decent option to avoid bankruptcy. In the present time it is a very useful way to clear liabilities.
It is strenuous to have much impending debts. A lot of liabilities mean a lot of paperwork to deal with. Some people simply ignore the notifications from the bank and in the end they do not know their standing amounts of debt. It is not good to hold off your payments of debts as it would worsen your economy.
It is advisable to pay loans back by any means. Bankruptcy is not a favorable option to accept. However it is not a good idea to spend all savings to clear liabilities. Money could be saved for a better purpose.
Accepting help from a settlement service would be a very profitable option for those who suffer because of unsecured bills. These companies can reduce debts by about a 50 percent legally. They would negotiate with the banks in order to get a discount and naturally they succeed in securing a discount between 50-70 percent from the total debt.
Then they would complete payments to the banks if the deadlines are near to be overrun. The customer can take time to pay the company instead the bank via minimum installments within a longer time.
If the customer is careful to choose a registered company he can be certain of a reliable service. Settlement methods are a fast and effective way of clearing debt if it is handled prudent.
Have you recently filed for bankruptcy? And you think that your filing might create impediment while you plan to invest in real estate. General idea about filing bankruptcy is that the lender denies granting loan to the filers.
The way you think might be valid but the situation is much different. Filing bankruptcy generally ruins the credit report but there is an opportunity for you where you can fetch loans for future investments.
You need to restore positive credit that is adversely affected after filing bankruptcy. Your bankruptcy attorney can help you to suggest different options to get you back on track. If you improve your credit it might add credence while investing in your real estate business.
Different ways to improve your financial state:
1. Look for personal loans- After filing bankruptcy you can look for loans in your local banks but do not fail to inform them about your financial conditions. You can start with small amount of loan that you can request your banker to grant. This small amount of loan with low interest rate would prove to be beneficial as they improve your credit score because you can afford to pay off with ease. As you pay off the owed amount there is a constructive impact on your credit report.
2. Opt for secured credit cards- Once you file for bankruptcy your credit report would be damaged immediately. Often the credit card companies deny to give you credit immediately after filing bankruptcy. If you apply for a secured credit card then you might get hold of a card immediately. If you deposit equal amount same as your credit line then you can easily fetch a secured credit card. The deposit amount would work as collateral as it would give assurance to the bank if you fail to make the payment on time. Try to make minimum monthly payments as that would give a positive result.
3. Look for a co-signer- If you find a co-signer with a good credit score then it might have a positive impact on your credit report. Request your family members or friends to get associated with you as an authorized user so that you can reap the profit of their credit report. Your credit score would have positive result with the impact of a co-signer with an excellent credit score. In future you might not face hassle when applying for a loan while investing in real estate.
4. Bird Dogging- You make the investor’s job easy by highlighting the available property for investment. Your job would be to make the investors aware of the location of the project as these properties does not come under formal agreement. If the investor manages to accept the deal then you might be rewarded with a “finder’s fee”. You can get a substantial income along with the experience on real estate investments.
5. Wholesale dealings-Bird dogging’ improved version is the wholesale dealing. Even here you need to highlight available properties. But there lies a difference you make an agreement of property and in order to reap a profit you sell the deal to another investor. Along with extra income there would be many risks associated with it.