How to Improve Your Credit Score After Bankruptcy-Part 4

Debts incurred after you file your case are not discharged. 

1. Debts incurred after your bankruptcy filing are not usually discharged so pay them timely.
2. Don't Ignore small debts. Even small unpaid balances that are in collection or charged off can drastically hurt your credit. Don’t ignore them or think they will go away. 
3. Pay off small balances in full that have accrued since your filing
4. Negotiate with creditors on debts too large to pay off. Try to get them to take 25%-50%. If they won’t agree to that, try to get an agreed payout of a flat amount per month like $50-$100. 
5. If you reach a negotiated settlement make sure it is put in writing and it is agreed that the creditor will delete the reporting once the agreed settlement is paid, or reported as “Paid As Agreed” or “Negotiated Settlement” with a balance of -0-.
6. Student loans and taxes often are not discharged and must be addressed. Consolidate student loans or get them deferred. Once you do that make sure the creditors involved remove and adverse reporting. If they won't, then dispute it.
7. Work out an installment agreement with IRS if you can’t pay the full amount immediately. That can usually be done with a telephone call or a meeting at your local IRS office. Don't let them file a federal tax lien. That will do great damage to your credit. If one is filed, get it released once the agreement is in effect.
8. If the amount of taxes is so high you could never pay it, try an offer in compromise. You’ll probably need a lawyer of accountant to help you with this, but if you qualify you could save a lot of money and avoid having a federal tax lien messing up your credit.
9. Child support won’t be discharged so keep it current and work out a payout on past due sums if they weren’t dealt with in your bankruptcy. Past due child support really looks bad on a credit report, so get it paid off as soon as possible.

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HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR CREDIT SCORE AFTER BANKRUPTCY

HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR CREDIT SCORE

1. Review Your Reports Annually: This may seem obvious but most consumers don’t look at their credit reports until they are declined for credit or are alerted by a third party of a problem. Be proactive. Go to http://annualcreditreport.com each year and get your FREE copy of your credit reports from Experian, Equifax and TransUnion. Be sure and download them in PDF format so you can save them on your computer and, if you live in Texas and want us to review them for you, forward them to us by email. Having them in electronic format is much easier than printing them out and mailing or faxing them to us. Once we get them we will store them on our server for later use if need be. If you lose your copies we will still have copies we can send you. And remember, your credit review is always free at Manchee & Manchee, P.C. For more information go to our website.

Common Mistakes Made by Bankruptcy Filers and Their Attorneys - #8

  8. Laziness can lead to disaster for bankruptcy filers.

We all have a lazy streak in us. It's just human nature. We want to get a job done with the least amount of effort. The attorney, who may have filed hundreds or even thousands of bankruptcies, begins to see them as routine or fitting into a common mold. So he begins to assume facts or take the word of the client rather than confirm them on his own. To do a bankruptcy correctly takes a lot of time and effort. Many times it may seem like a thorough review of every pay stub, bank statement, loan document or tax return is  a waste of time, but often this diligent scrutiny pays off and a serious problem can be dealt with rather than left to chance. 

Clients are lazy too. They hate to dig back through their records, if they even have any, to get the information needed to properly fill out the bankruptcy schedules. They often figure that if they don't have a record of it, nobody else will, so they can forget about it. Unfortunately, it doesn't work that way. The debtor has an obligation to fill out the schedules completely and the burden is on him to find the records if he doesn't have them himself. This means requesting records from the bank, credit card company or the IRS. 

I am amazed at the looks clients give me when I tell them I need a complete list of all their personal property along with a fair assessment of the market value of each. They often just stare at me like I have told them they have to travel to the moon for their 341 meeting. In actuality preparing a personal property inventory shouldn't take more than an hour or two and is a handy thing to have around anyway if you ever have a fire or other casualty loss. 

Another priceless look on a client's face is when you hand him his completed petition and schedules and ask him to review them carefully. Of course, the completed petition, schedules, statement of financial affairs, matrix, and means test can be several inches thick. The reality is most clients won't have the patience to read every question and then review his answer to for accuracy and completeness. This means the attorney must sit with the client and read every question out loud to make sure he understands them and has answered them correctly.

Clients may also be reluctant to ask questions because he really doesn't want to know the answer if it means he will have to do more work or disclose things he'd rather not deal with. He mistakenly believes his ignorance will be an excuse if the facts are later discovered. In this case the attorney must observe the client carefully so he can pick up on the signs of possible omissions that might come back to haunt both of them. 

Attorneys and clients are often tired and frustrated with the complexity of a bankruptcy filing and there is often a persistent urge to ignore possible irregularities or unwanted complexities. These urges must be resisted.

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Common Mistake Made by Bankruptcy Filers and Their Attorneys #7

7. Assuming property taxes and home owner association assessments will end when real property is surrendered and the debt discharged.

This is one of the most annoying discoveries after a person surrenders their home in bankruptcy. They assume their "Fresh Start" will include the property taxes and homeowners' association dues. The fact is it does up to the date of filing the bankruptcy, but the debtor is still liable for new assessments and taxes that accrue after the bankruptcy. This doesn't seem right to consumers who have lost their home. If they aren't in possession anymore why would they be liable for taxes and HOA assessments?

The problem is that until they mortgage lender forecloses they are still technically the owner of the property. It used to be that foreclosures took place fairly quickly after a property was surrendered, but after the 2008 real estate crash quick foreclosures became the exception rather than the norm. Now foreclosures often drag on for months and even years. So, the homeowner who surrenders his property in bankruptcy now must endure endless harassment from homeowner associations, taxing authorities and municipal code enforcement agencies until the property is finally foreclosed and their liability stops.

There ought to be a law requiring mortgage companies to quickly foreclose, but there is no such law and one is not likely to be ever enacted.  But on the bright side I have seen several times where the mortgage lender completely abandons its security interest in the property leaving the debtor with a free home or a windfall of whatever price he can get for the house. Don't do what one of client's did, however. When he got a notice from his lender that they were releasing the lien on the house and all he had to do was agree to accept it, he was so suspicions he rejected the offer. Needless to say he was very upset when he found out he had thrown away over $50,000!

So, when a consumer decides to surrender his homestead in bankruptcy he should factor in the likelihood that he will have to keep paying the HOA dues after bankruptcy until the property is sold, that he will have to maintain the exterior landscaping to meet local code requirements if the lender doesn't do it, and pay the property taxes until the property is foreclosed. If he is lucky the lender will pay the property taxes and keep up the exterior maintained until foreclosure, but he needs to monitor the situation and make the sure the lender does so.

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Common Mistakes Made By Bankruptcy Filers and Their Attorneys - #6

6. Assuming all of a consumer’s debts are on their credit report.
  

Many consumers have no idea who they owe money to. Debtors and their attorney’s routinely rely on credit reports to provide the information for Schedules D, E & F. A lot of time this is okay but not always. Some medical providers, friends, relatives, ex-spouses, business associates, landlords, and many others don’t always report to the credit bureaus. In a no asset chapter 7 the debt may still be discharged but if one of these unlisted creditors years later suddenly sues on the debt it may be difficult to stop them. Few attorneys will take such a case on a contingency so debtors facing this situation may have to spend thousands of dollars defending themselves.
  
So, it is important for consumers filing bankruptcy to think back to anyone in the past who wasn’t paid or anyone who had a claim, whether the claim had merit or not. And they can't assume if a debt was written-off that they don’t have to worry about it. Writing off a debt is only an accounting entry and doesn’t prevent the creditor from trying to collect the debt. Nor does the statute of limitations make it unnecessary to list an old debt. Statute of limitations statutes are complicated. They can be tolled during bankruptcy or extended by the discovery rule or other statue. It doesn’t cost anything to list another debt, so it's not smart to hold back.

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Common Mistakes Made by Bankruptcy Filers and Their Attorneys - #5

5. Ignoring Creditor Collection Attempts after Filing and Discharge.

There are a number of mistakes that debtors and their bankruptcy attorneys make that often cause  problems after discharge or after their chapter 13 is confirmed. These mistakes often make it difficult to enforce the discharge or the automatic stay and can cause the debtor to suffer a serious financial loss.

It’s human nature to avoid embarrassment and conflict, if at all possible. So, it is not understandable that Debtors would ignore calls and letters from creditors after filing bankruptcy. They know the debt is no longer collectible, so they throw away the collection and letters and ignore the calls that keep on coming after filing and even, sometimes, after a discharge is received. This, however, is a mistake.

Some creditors intentionally ignore a bankruptcy notice hoping that the debtor can still be coerced to pay. Whether it is to buy peace, ease feelings of guilt, or believing it will help improve their credit, debtors will often pay discharged debt even though they have no obligation to do so. The problem with ignoring these illegal contacts after bankruptcy is that the creditors will just continue to harass the debtor with calls, letters, by illegally pulling their credit reports, and they may even report the debt as active and collectible to the credit bureaus.

These acts may prevent a debtor’s credit score from properly rebounding after filing bankruptcy and threaten the fresh start they were expecting. What all debtors should do is keep every letter or email received from creditors, document each phone call carefully and report these contacts to their attorneys.

There are various laws that protect bankruptcy filers from these types of illegal contacts, but they can only be successfully prosecuted if there is evidence to show the court and jury. The actual letters, telephone records and documentation of damages are all needed to prevail in bankruptcy court, in state courts, or the federal district courts.  But nothing will happen unless an attorney who handles these type claims is retained and he has the proof necessary to prevail.

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Common Mistakes by Debtors and Their Attorneys

There are a number of mistakes that debtors and their bankruptcy attorneys make that often cause  problems after discharge or after their chapter 13 is confirmed. These mistakes often make it difficult to enforce the discharge or the automatic stay and can cause the debtor to suffer a serious financial loss.

4. Failing to Surrender Real Property for Value in Chapter 13.

So many times clients have come to us complaining that their mortgage lenders or servicers are still trying to collect the debt discharged in their Chapter 13. But was the mortgage claim discharged? This very complex issue commonly occurs when a debtor files chapter 13, includes the arrearage in his Chapter 13 Plan but then changes his mind or can’t keep up with the payments and the stay is lifted. The attorney will, of course, modify the plan to allow for the surrender but often forget to state that the property is being surrendered for value. In other words it must be clear in the modification order that the deficiency claim will be discharged along with all of the other unpaid debts when the plan is completed. Although few lenders would try to collect this deficiency debt after the discharge, they often will continue to report the debt to the credit bureaus and pull the debtor’s credit reports. Since it is unclear if the debt is discharged there is not much that can be done to stop this collection effort and this clear invasion of privacy. The bottom line is debtor’s credit score may suffer and their personal financial information will be exposed. Since mortgage lenders often share information with other lenders there is no telling who will end up seeing it.

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Common Bankruptcy Mistakes by Debtors and their Attorneys



There are a number of mistakes that debtors and their bankruptcy attorneys make that often cause problems after discharge or after their chapter 13 is confirmed. These mistakes often make it difficult to enforce the discharge or the automatic stay and can cause the debtor to suffer a serious financial loss..

3. Failing to monitor proofs of claims and file them for creditors included in the chapter 13 plan who neglect or refuse to file them.

This can catastrophic. Just the other day a client told me her horror story. She filed chapter 13 and her plan was confirmed, but her auto lender failed to file a proof of claim so her car wasn’t paid through the plan as expected. When her plan paid out she discovered she still owed the full balance of her auto loan. It is true the debt is discharged but  the lien against the vehicle was still good. Her attorney should have reviewed the proofs of claim before the claim’s deadline and contacted any important creditors who hadn’t filed a proof of claim. If the creditor still didn’t file the proof of claim, the Debtor has the right to file it for them.

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Common Mistakes Made By Debtors and Their Attorneys

There are a number of mistakes that debtors and their bankruptcy attorneys make that often cause problems after discharge or after their chapter 13 is confirmed. These mistakes often make it difficult to enforce the discharge or the automatic stay and can cause the debtor to suffer a serious financial loss..

 

2. Failing to monitor returned chapter 13 payments after confirmation.

 

This most often occurs with property taxes. A debtor files bankruptcy and includes the home loan and delinquent property taxes. The plan is confirmed and everything seems fine. But a year or two down the road the mortgage company notices the property taxes are delinquent and elects to pay them. When the chapter 13 trustee sends a payment to the taxing authority it is returned because the mortgage company has already paid it. The following year the debtor gets a notice that his house payment has increased dramatically because there is an escrow shortage. The Chapter 13 Trustee usually sends the attorney a letter advising him that the payment was returned, but these letters are often ignored. If two or three years have gone by it’s a very difficult problem to resolve because the payments that should have gone to pay taxes are diverted to unsecured creditors. If this situation is handled immediately upon receipt of the trustee’s notice it is a problem that can be solved quickly without any permanent damage.

 

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Common Mistakes by Debtors and Their Attorneys

 

There are a number of mistakes that debtors and their bankruptcy attorneys make that cause serious  problems after their discharge or after their chapter 13 is confirmed. These mistakes often make it difficult to enforce the discharge injunction or the automatic stay and can cause the debtor to suffer a serious financial loss..

1. Failing to Send Notice to Late Added Creditors



One of the mistakes attorney's often make is failing to send the bankruptcy notice to creditors who are added after the initial filing. This can make it difficult to enforce the discharge injunction. We find this all the time. A new creditor is added and since the bankruptcy notice has already gone out the creditor doesn’t get notice of the bankruptcy. Although the creditor may get other notices or a copy of the discharge, the creditor has been deprived of its opportunity to attend the 341 meeting or file a proof of claim. Although the debt will probably still be discharged it will be hard to successfully prosecute a contempt action if the creditor continues to try to collect the debt. Invariably, the creditor will claim they didn’t get notice of the bankruptcy and we won’t be able to prove otherwise. The solution would be for the attorney to send the bankruptcy notice to late added creditors by certified mail, return receipt requested, so there will be  proof they got proper notice of the bankruptcy filing.

 

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Mortgage Servicing Rights: A Cash-Cow for Servicers But A Nightmare for Consumers.

 



A recent trend in the mortgage lending industry is the sale by banks and mortgage companies of the lucrative servicing rights on the loans in their portfolios. Special servicers like Nationstar and Ocwen are taking over the collection of mortgage payments, processing of modifications and the foreclosure and collection of delinquent accounts. This is probably a positive development  as  the banks and mortgage companies have been doing a horrible job at it.

 

Unfortunately, the assignment of servicing rights on a mortgage loan can cause the consumer much grief. I can't count the number of times that a client has complained that they were current on their mortgage until the servicing rights were transferred and they suddenly had to make payments to another company. Invariably in the transition a payment would get lost or delayed and then the collection letters would start, late charges applied and suddenly a perfectly good loan was in default.

 

A Chapter 13 bankruptcy is often the only way to cure a loan that is in default. Those who do not qualify for Chapter 13 must file Chapter 7 and reaffirm the debt or surrender their homes and get a discharge of the mortgage debt. These filers who surrender their homes, however, should carefully monitor their credit after their discharge as the original lender, the original servicer and the successor servicers quite often will continue to report the account to the credit bureaus. And successor servicers will often act like the loan is still collectable. With all these assignments it is not unusual to find  the original lender or servicer and the successor servicer reporting to the credit bureaus on the same loan and pulling credit reports when there is no longer any account relationship. This inaccurate reporting can significantly delay the recovery of a filer's credit score.

 

So, if you get a notice in the mail that the servicing rights on your home mortgage are being assigned to a new company be wary, monitor your credit reports carefully and if you find something that doesn't look right, seek professional help..

 

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Beware of Short Sale Scams after Filing Bankruptcy

 

Today I learned of yet another scam being perpetrated on unsuspecting consumers after they file for bankruptcy. When a consumer surrenders their home or rental property in bankruptcy and the mortgage debt is discharged that should be the end of it, right? . . No. . .Unfortunately, until the lender forecloses the owner of the property still faces liability for property taxes, homeowner association dues and possibly for injury to third parties who come on the property for one reason or other. Since the debtor no longer has insurance on the property this can be a sticky issue.

 

To avoid this unwanted liability exposure consumers often try to arrange a short sale so the title will be transferred out of the consumer's name, thereby ending this liability exposure. A short sale is when someone buys the property but the lender accepts less than the full amount due to release its security interest. It sounds good but it is actually a perilous venture for the consumer to participate in.

 

First of all, the property owner isn't likely to get any compensation for his time and effort, so why bother? Sure it's good for closure and could stop further liability exposure, if I works, but rarely will the lender accept substantially less than the full balance owed on the note. Most of the time a short sale will be an exercise in futility.

 

Normally when a consumer surrenders property in bankruptcy it will become an asset of the bankruptcy estate to be administered by the trustee. In most cases the lender will have a security interest in the property so the trustee will abandon his interest in it, but what happens if the property is leased out and the lender doesn't foreclose for two or three years? The consumer is not entitled to the rent since he surrendered the property so it technically belongs to the estate.  But what if the trustee has abandoned the asset?

 

This happens fairly often so some ingenious scam-artists have emerged to take advantage of the situation. What they do is contact the debtor representing that they have someone interested in the property and ask if they can list it. The debtor is desperate to get rid of the property and the mortgage lender has suggested they would consider a short sale, so he agrees. What he doesn't realize is the scam artist doesn't intend to sell the property and pay off the mortgage, but only to exploit it until the mortgage company forecloses. This is done by renting out the property, collecting the rents for months or even years, and pocketing the money until the property is foreclosed.

 

The danger to the debtor/consumer is that by listing the property for sale and authorizing the realtor to rent out the property, the mortgage lender can assert that the debt is no longer discharged because the debtor has revoked his surrender. This becomes particularly important if a debtor tries to enforce his discharge or sue for FCRA violations. Another area of concern is that the Trustee may come back and want the rents collected on the property even though the debtor never got them. Since the debtor signed the listing agreement thereby inadvertently authorizing the property to be rented out, he may be held liable to the mortgage company or the trustee for the rents that were paid.

 

So, it is important for those consumer/debtors who have surrendered real property in bankruptcy to move out of the property promptly and have no further contact with the property or the mortgage company. That way there can never be any claim the debt has been revived or reinstated after the discharge. It's also a good idea to send the lender a certified letter telling it that the debtor does not want to get statements, calls, or other communications from the lender in the future, except what is absolutely required for foreclosure. And if a realtor calls, refer him to the lender.

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Buy Now, Pay Later; A Ticking Time Bomb:

The other day I called a client to advise her that upon reviewing her credit reports I had discovered that one of her former creditors was pulling her credit reports almost every month. I explained that since she had filed bankruptcy and she no longer owed this creditor anything, that they didn't have the right to pull her credit reports. But when I explained that she could sue them for violating the FCRA and for invasion of privacy, she responded that since she had allowed herself to get in a financial mess, that she deserved any fallout that resulted from it.

 

Hearing this I just shook my head in frustration. What my client didn't realize was that she had been targeted and lured into debt by dozens of banks and lenders of every sort who were making obscene profits off her and millions of other Americans every year. And this didn't happen by accident. Every year these banks and lenders spent millions of dollars in advertising making consumers believe they could live in luxury now by paying for it later. The key to the American Dream is good credit, they insisted.

They knew, however, that with so much credit extended to consumers who couldn't afford it, that there would be a significant default rate. So, they set up and funded organizations whose sole purpose was to assist consumers in budgeting and personal finance to enable them to lower their standard of living enough to keep paying their huge debt run up by living high above their means. The later of "buy now, pay later" had come and it had brought with it financial ruin. 

 

These banks and other lenders are very concerned about consumers paying their debts and honoring their commitments, but when it comes to obeying consumer protection laws it's a different story. While they claim to be meticulously following the law, the truth is they are always searching for loopholes or ignoring these laws altogether hoping not to get caught. And I have yet to find a lender who felt the least bit guilty about violating the FCRA or a bankruptcy discharge injunction.

 

I have found, however, that most consumers don't want to file bankruptcy and only do it as a last resort. The buy-now-pay-later mentality that has been ingrained in us all is a ticking time bomb that will eventually go off.  It makes consumers vulnerable to misfortune.  Sickness, unemployment or business failure just happen and consumers rarely have any control over these unfortunate events.

When the time bomb explodes bankruptcy is the only sane option. Unfortunately, many consumers file for divorce, turn to drugs or alcohol or even suicide. They consider their life a failure and give up on the future. So, there is no shame in filing bankruptcy and consumers should never hesitate to file when the bomb goes off. And after the dust settles and they get their fresh start after bankruptcy, they should never let guilt stop them from enforcing their right to privacy and fair credit reporting. Banks and other lenders are not above the law, no matter how rich and powerful they have become by fostering a consumer dependency on credit.

 

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Don't Mess With Texas Consumers!

Tell It Like It Is

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Consumers Need to Monitor Their Credit After Bankruptcy

It is a common belief that bankruptcy ruins a consumer's credit, but that's not necessarily true. The fresh start consumers are searching for when they file bankruptcy can apply to their credit too. When a consumer files bankruptcy all of his existing debt should be reported as "discharged in bankruptcy" and "balance -0-." If that actually happens, filing bankruptcy gives the consumer a clean slate. Sure, the bankruptcy is a negative, but its impact on the consumer's credit score will diminish in time. This gives the consumer an opportunity to re-establish their credit fairly quickly--often in six months to a year. Sure, a consumer won't have perfect credit with a bankruptcy on his record but his credit score will often be high enough to get car loan, rent an apartment or even refinance a home at market interest rates.

 

Unfortunately, this won't happen automatically. Creditors often do not report the bankruptcy to the credit bureaus, Experian, Transunion, and Equifax, correctly which will prevent the credit score from recovering the way it should. This is why is imperative for consumers to monitor their credit after bankruptcy. This can be done with a credit monitoring service or simply by going to AnnualCreditReport.com and doing it themselves.

For our clients it is part of our service. We help them get copies of the credit reports and then review them to be sure the reporting is correct. If it turns out to be wrong we get it corrected and do our best to make the offending creditors pay our fees. Either way, our client's never pay us a dime out of pocket.

For information on how to obtain your credit reports follow this link or, if you would like our assistance in getting a fresh start on your credit, visit our Website.

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Plastic Gods

 

PLASTIC

 

They came from everywhere

Over here and over there

The mail, the phone, in the mall

Unsolicited, one and all

 

Get them one, two or ten

Don’t wait—pick up the pen

It’s a simply wonderful game

All you do is sign your name

 

Now jump for joy, and yell, hooray!

Cause baby they’re on their way

Dillards, Penneys to name a few

Visa, Mastercard and Amex Blue

 

Do it now, live the American dream

Stand right up and let out a scream

Whatever you want, no money down

You’ve got credit all over town

 

Sit back, watch your dreams come true

Not a worry now, only pennies due

For Moses it was manna from the Lord

But for us today, plastic is our sword

 

Now its silver, gold and platinum too

Macy’s, Sears to name just two

Cars, clothes, a ten day cruise

Gambling, clubs and lots of booze

 

You’ve got it all and then some more

Until the bills flood in the door

It cannot be, I didn’t spend that much

Just a few odds and ends and such

   

Eighteen, Twenty, Twenty-four

Interest, interest, bills galore!

Oh my God, it’s all a scam

To steal my life, I’m in a jam

 

Collectors call day and night,

Every balance out of sight

I can’t sleep, or even think,

Go to work—I need a drink

   

My lover scorns me, yells and screams

God, what happened to all our dreams?

Letters, calls, demanding blood,

From my lover’s eyes there is a flood

   

Now she’s gone, couldn’t take the heat

I’m here alone, tired and beat

Bankruptcy. Is that all that’s left for me?

I can’t believe it, I just didn’t see

   

But now I do, clear as glass

I fell in love with cold, hard cash

Visa, Mastercard, Amex Blue

Lucifer got his due

 

copyright William Manchee

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What the critics said about Plastic Gods.

"This is easily one of the most exciting fiction novels of the year. . . ."

"Plastic Gods is a suspense packed thrill ride through the worlds of power politics, the legal system, and finance. This is a very well written book that draws the reader into the storyline and doesn't let them go until the very end. I had to read the entire book at one setting to see how Matt would resolve his problems. ... An excellent story, masterfully done, and recommended for those who like a good suspense story. Harold McFarlen * Amazon.com * Top 50 Amazon Reviewers (#39)

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"Non-stop plotting action makes Plastic Gods’ a book you can't put down...."

"As an expert at bankruptcy laws, and having practiced it in his field for a quarter of a century, author William Manchee has penned his second exciting novel featuring lawyer Rich Coleman and his son, Matt. . . . While the subject matter might seem daunting and somewhat uninteresting, such isn’t the case. In fact, credit cards and enormous debt makes for a unique premise, for many of us are caught in that trap already. Well-drawn characters and a nearly perfect balance between narrative and dialog make this ‘financial thriller’ a winner." Denise Clark, Denise's Pieces Book Reviews

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 ". . . Manchee offers the reader a peek into a side of banking and credit most of us never realized might exist."
One of Manchee’s best Plastic Gods is a nail biter. From the opening paragraphs when Rich Coleman reflects over his own life and muses about his son’s surprising decision to become an attorney through the whole action packed tale we follow Matt on his headstrong journey into a life he never expected. Matt’s impulsive determination carry him and those with whom he associates into jeopardy, lethal danger and a crassness the naïve young man never suspected existed Molly Martin, Booklore.co.uk

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 "Action aficionados will not be disappointed, and although the book is a work of fiction, its theme is tantalizing."
". . . a surprising and unpredictable ride that keeps you in constant suspense as what is around the next bend. . . . Action aficionados will not be disappointed, and although the book is a work of fiction, its theme is tantalizing. It is sure to leave many a reader thinking about some of the unsavory banking practices pertaining to credit card marketing and what is looming behind closed doors of these institutions. Robert P. Goldman, The Best Reviews

Creditors Can’t Seem To Stop Illegally Accessing Credit Reports

It is a perplexing phenomenon but some creditors can’t stop illegally pulling consumers’ credit reports even after they are caught doing it. On numerous occasions we have sued a creditor for illegally accessing our client’s credit reports after their debt was discharged in bankruptcy. Once the debt is discharged they have no legitimate reason to be pulling them, yet sometimes before the ink on the settlement agreement is dry, they start pulling the credit reports again. In a few cases we have had to sue them three times before they finally stop. And it’s not because the penalties are small. Damages can run $500 to $1500 per illegal pull, plus actual damages, costs and attorney’s fees. If anybody has an explanation, let me know.

 

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Crime Scene - Creditors Often Intentionally Misreport the Bankruptcy Discharge

 

A common problem for consumers who have surrendered their homes or rental property in bankruptcy is that their lenders or mortgage servicers often ignore the bankruptcy discharge and attempt to collect the mortgage deficiency. This illegal collection activity may take the form of statements, collection letters, notices of forced insurance placement, escrow reconciliations, modification offers, etc. The correspondence will say that it is for informational purposes only and to disregard it if the consumer has been through bankruptcy, but the statements usually demand the payment of money and provide an envelope to remit payment. Of course, these lenders and services hope the consumer will write a check and send it in even though they have no obligation to do so.

  

A worse problem is when the lender or mortgage servicer fails to update a consumer's credit report to show that the debt has been discharged in bankruptcy or report the debt as collectible when it is not. Although it is a crime in Texas to knowingly furnish false information to a credit bureau, the statute is rarely enforced by prosecutors. This results in the consumer not only suffering from the effects of the bankruptcy on his credit but also a delinquent mortgage. When a potential lender pulls the consumer's credit report it will appear that the mortgage has been reaffirmed, is past due, that the full balance is still owed. This could result in a consumer being denied credit in the future or, if credit is granted, having to pay a higher interest rate, and certainly will preclude getting new mortgage financing.

  

For some reason mortgage lenders and servicers have a difficult time shutting down their collection efforts even after they are told by the consumer or their attorneys to cease and desist. If this happens litigation may be necessary to enforce a consumer's rights.

 

Consumers who experience continued collection activity by lenders should keep all correspondence and emails and keep a log of all phone calls as these may be needed as evidence should litigation be necessary. It is also advisable to periodically review their credit reports to be sure the mortgage debt is being correctly reported.

 

It is expensive for lenders to ignore the bankruptcy discharge, the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) or the dictates of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). I'm sure you have seen the huge settlements these lenders and servicers have been forced to pay by government regulators over the past year and doesn't include the millions in civil damages they must have paid to settle private suits, yet the abuses continue. The only conclusion that can be drawn from this is that these lenders and servicers must be making a lot of money by violating the law.

 

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Bankruptcy: Chill, It's No Big Deal

       Chill, It's No Big Deal!

Get a nasty letter in the mail?
Send us money or we’ll give you hell?
Don’t lose your cool, don’t get upset
Chill, it’s no big deal

Creditor called and wants his bread?
Got to have it now, no more said?
Don’t get upset, don’t be depressed
Chill, it’s no big deal

Constable came knocking at your door?
You’ve been sued, can’t take no more?
Take a deep breath, don’t despair
Chill, it’s no big deal.

Didn’t pay your taxes? Owe a lot?
Accounts been seized, checks are hot?
Take a walk, get some air
Chill, it’s no big deal.

Rent is late? Landlord lookin’ for the cash?
Wants the rent or you’re out on your ass
Take two aspirin and go to bed
Chill, it’s no big deal

‘Cause when your world starts to crumble
Your lawyer will make sure you don’t stumble
He’ll smile as he takes your cash and tell you
Chill, it’s no big deal

Chill, It’s No Big Deal
William Manchee, March 2009

I wrote this poem initially to get across the point that it's advisable to get an attorney immediately when you get in trouble. Better yet, get an attorney when you first smell trouble. Too many people wait until it's too late to take any preventative or defensive measures before they seek legal advice. The consequences of that strategy can be devastating.

But there's another message in the poem that is important in today's economy. When you lose a job or take a pay cut, remember, we're just talking about money. Don't let your temporary financial difficulties destroy the most important things in you life like your marriage, your family and your integrity.

If bill collector's are hounding you, your rent is late, or the repos man is looking for your car, go see your attorney and discuss bankruptcy. Millions of Americans file bankruptcy every year. It's not a disgrace. It's a fact of life in our credit driven economy. And bankruptcy doesn't mean you lose everything. In fact, most people don't lose anything but their debts. Chapter 13 is a great way to catch up on your house payments, cure a default on a car loan, or pay your delinquent taxes.

Remember, it's just money. Chill, it's no big deal!

How Creditors Collect Discharged Debt

We all know that when a debt is discharged in bankruptcy that’s the end of it, right? Think again. Creditors have a sack full of tricks to get consumers to pay debts that they don’t have any legal obligation to pay. In fact, there is an entire industry of debt buyers out there that most people don’t even know about. I’m not talking about the collection agencies, but companies and trusts that do nothing but buy and sell debt—some of it discharged. Obviously if they are buying the debt they intend to collect it. Below are a few of the ways it’s done.

1) Closing on a house or car. When your bankruptcy is over you will eventually need to finance a new car or buy a home. When you go to apply for a loan your loan officer will pull your credit and may tell you that you don’t qualify—unless you can pull up your credit score a few points. They suggest you contact some of your creditors that are negatively reporting on your credit report and settle the debt. You protest that the debt has been discharged but they just shrug. So, you take their advice, contact the creditors and pay off some of your discharged debt. What you were not told was the negative reporting should not have been on your credit report in the first place.

2) Several months after you bankruptcy discharge comes through you start receiving telephone calls or letters from a company you don’t recognize. You think perhaps you didn’t list them on your bankruptcy and are still liable for the debt or the collector says this debt isn’t discharged by the bankruptcy. It gets ugly from there on and you end up settling with them. What they don’t tell you is that they bought the debt from a creditor who was listed in the bankruptcy or that, in a no asset case which is the norm, an unlisted debt is still usually discharged.

3) After your bankruptcy is over you continue to pay an auto loan or home mortgage, although you don’t formally reaffirm that debt. Later on you get behind on the payments and the car is repossessed or the house foreclosed. Months later a collection agency comes along and tries to collect the deficiency. They tell you or you assume that you still owe the debt since you continued to pay on it after the bankruptcy is over. What they don’t tell you is that the debt is still discharged and usually not collectible. The creditors sole remedy, in most cases, is to take back their collateral and that’s it.

4) After your bankruptcy is filed some of your creditors will quit updating your credit report so they don’t have to report that their debt has been discharged. They hope you will voluntarily pay them later to improve your credit score. What you should know is that this trick called “parking an account” and you can dispute the account and make them update it without paying them a nickel.

 

These are just a few of the ways creditors will try to collect a debt that legally isn't collectible. They are very resourceful and will do just about anything if they think they can get away with it. That's why we decided to practice in this area. We believe everyone who filed bankruptcy to get a fresh start should get what was promised them.

 

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