Financial Freedom Help Blog

Finding a bankruptcy attorney is half the battle, and now you need to discuss the cost of his or her services. Determine your favorite among these fee types and youll be able to keep your sanity (and even some extra cash) after all is said and done.

1. Rolling the Dice for a Lower Cost " The Hourly Fee This is the preferred method by attorneys, and in most cases, it is not going to cost any more than fixing the price. It could potentially cost less if you dont plan on meeting very often. Beware of this option if you will be calling or setting up frequent meeting times, as it could ultimately turn against you. Every call you make will be added onto your bill (some clients forget about this), so if the case requires a lot of correspondence, it would be best to stay away from the hourly rate.

The advent of the internet has opened up access to public records through a variety of online services.

The original purpose of Public Records appears to be no longer predominant in their application today. What started out primarily to foster and ensure accountability of public officials and government has become quite diverse in its use. For one thing, many more categories of public records have come about since the beginning. There are now birth, death, marriage, divorce, criminal, driving, property, phone number records and dozens other.

Amidst the high-speed digitized world today, public records have found many practical uses in our daily lives, business and private alike. The benefits they bring are overwhelming, all too often overshadowing the accompanying pitfalls.

Will you be considering filing for personal bankruptcy because you are over your head in money debt? Are you so harassed about your debt, that you simply might be ready to leap into personal bankruptcy without considering all your choices? Are there choices or alternatives to declaring personal bankruptcy? Before you throw in your towel, ponder your offered choices to generate best possible choice for your financial future.

Study, however remember that even the most recent facts on a good personal bankruptcy book can be months old and that bankruptcy regulations differ from state to state. With bankruptcy regulations shifting without any notice, it's wise to get an evaluation from a qualified and experienced bankruptcy attorney for the most up- to- date personal bankruptcy regulations.

This article provides insight into the planning and strategy phase of bankruptcy. Discover how to keep all assets and discharge all debts. With sufficient time, you too can increase your net worth dramatically and live a debt-free life.

Most people shudder at the thought of filing bankruptcy. An emotional response is natural, yet it also may cause unnecessary delay. Over a short time, procrastination limits options, wastes payments, and causes asset loss. You could easily prevent these poor results by reviewing your options early using a common sense approach.

The best plans exploit the advantages of numerous financial tactics before filing and may avoid filing bankruptcy altogether. If filing later becomes necessary, a well thought out plan also maintains all Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 rights and maximizes benefits. Timing is the key to success.

This topic has been coming up for me quite a bit at my office lately. I speak with a number of people each day who have enrolled in a Debt Management program and are not happy with the results.

The first thing that strikes me is the cost of these programs. I have had clients with $50,000 or less in debt and they are being charged $7000 or $8000 to enroll in these programs. That is absolutely amazing to me. They end up paying a few hundred dollars or so each month until that fee is paid off in full. That obviously can take a year or so to pay off. My fee, and I would say any attorney's fee, to defend against the lawsuits that are filed by the collection agencies and/or credit cards that comprise the debt is in the range of 10% to 20% of that amount. I honestly cannot believe that people agree to pay these outrageous amounts to these companies.

About collecting debts with some legal actions

Have you done everything to just amicably settle and collect
a debt already past due? Have you wasted good paper on writing letters, words
on phone calls and personal meetings and you feel that your patience has
already ran out?

It is time to get a little help from your professional
friends! Calling in an attorney with extensive experience in debt collection
may help you greatly to finally get a definite response from the individual or
business who owes you money.

In 1997, the American Collectors Association released a
report indicating that third-party debt collection agencies have collected and
restored over $32.2 billion and more the United States economy in the same
year.

The following are types of debt collector conduct which may violate the FDCPA.

Debt collectors failing to identify themselves (only company name), or failing to state that collector is confirming or correcting locating information

Debt collectors disclosing to third parties that debts are owed

Contacting any person more than once, unless requested to do so by the third party

Contacting any person after knowing you are represented by an attorney

Calling you before 8:00am and after 9:00pm, your time

Contacting you after you are represented by an attorney (i.e. your Bankruptcy attorney)

Calling place of employment after debt collector knows employer prohibits calls (after you say, do not call me at work)

What is Debt Settlement?

Debt Settlement is an aggressive approach to unsecured debt reduction, which is appropriate for debtors with a serious amount of unsecured debt or those who are considering bankruptcy. Unsecured Debt is debt that is not attached to any collateral. Typically, credit card debts, department store credit card debts, medical bills, and repossessions are unsecured debts. All these types of unsecured debts can be reduced through the debt settlement process.

Debt Settlement is a way to get out of debt in a relatively short amount of time, and with the least amount of money without filing for bankruptcy.

How does our program work?

Have you been threatened with Wage Garnishment?  Can they actually garnish your wages?

So you have defaulted on a credit account. The debt collector calls and demands immediate payment of the debt. The debt collector then makes the following threat: "If you do not pay this debt by Monday at noon, we will garnish your wages, starting with your next paycheck".

Yes, cleaning credit is legal; but it is better called
repairing credit than cleaning it. Of course it is legal to redeem yourself.
Only do not fall for the 'new credit file' scam. This is illegal and it will
definitely land you in a lot of trouble. There are ways to come out with a good
credit report but be prepared to work hard and be consistent at it. It is
definitely easier to spend money than save money and that is exactly the first
thing you should aim to do to make your credit report look good.

Repairing or cleaning your credit will not be easy, but if
you want it bad enough it will definitely be worth the effort. Check out the
most important steps that could set you free: