Bank finance articles and tips

The number of bankruptcies that have been filed in recent years has far exceeded those numbers that existed in prior generations. This should come as no surprise considering the unusually difficult financial situation most people currently find themselves. Sadly, there comes a certain stigma associated with filing bankruptcy but should there be? The answer to this is no. When you file for bankruptcy, you are taking a legal and ethical approach to dealing with your difficult debt situation. Often, filing for bankruptcy opens the door to being able to deal with a serious debt issue in the most effective manner possible.

The foreclosure rate in the United States has reached a pandemic level. There have been millions of foreclosures over the past few years. The number of these foreclosures has shattered annual records. So high is the number of foreclosures that levels such as this have not been seen since the Great Depression. This certainly leads many to wonder what can be done to forestall an eventual foreclosure if not outright stop it. There are certainly no easy answers or solutions to such a problem. However, it is possible that foreclosure actions may be stopped if you were to file for Chapter 13 Bankruptcy.

What is Chapter 13 Bankruptcy and how does it work as a means of stopping foreclosure?

The answer is no, yes, and yes. During recent budget sessions in the California assembly a representative suggested that the State of California should file bankruptcy. It is not possible under the United States Constitution for a state to file for bankruptcy and discharge debts. County governments and municipal governments are able to file for bankruptcy and reorganize their debts in Chapter 9 of the bankruptcy code.

It has been said that delinquent borrowers can save their homes from being foreclosed by filing for personal bankruptcy. Read on to learn more about the different types of bankruptcy and how filing for bankruptcy affects the home foreclosure process.

What is Foreclosure?

Foreclosure is defined as the legal process where a borrower's ownership of a property is terminated, usually due to inability to make mortgage payments. The process of foreclosure usually involves the forced sale of the property where the proceeds of the sale are used to pay off the mortgage debt.

When you are looking to get credit after a bankruptcy filing, you are going to find that you are not going to have the lowest interest rates and incentives that many others have available to them. Instead, you will need to be prepared to go a more expensive route to start improving you credit and to get the credit lines you need after bankruptcy.

One of the first choices you are going to have when you have completed the bankruptcy filing and are ready to get a line of credit is to get a secured credit card through your bank. With this process, you are going to open up a secured account that holds the funds that will act as your credit line. While it is open, you are not going to be able to access these funds at all. If you continue to pay your accounts on time and avoid going over your limit, your bank can refund your funds and increase your credit line over time. This will just depend on their banking practices.

In 2005 Congress reformed the Bankruptcy Code and created what is called the Means Test. One of the key components of the Means Test is the calculation of current monthly income to determination if someone has monthly disposable income. Disposable income is theoretically the amount of money someone can afford to pay back their debts each month. If there is disposable income, then that income should be paid to creditors in a Chapter 13 bankruptcy case and a Chapter 7 bankruptcy should not be filed. So what is income when filling out the Means Test?

Generally all income earned or received during the six-month period prior to a bankruptcy case being filed must be included in the Means Test, or "All figures must reflect average monthly income received from all sources, derived during the six calendar months prior to filing the bankruptcy case, ending on the last day of the month before the filing. If the amount of monthly earnings varied during the six months, you must divide the six-month total by six, and enter the result on the appropriate line." The earnings listed is therefore a six-month average. The result of the six-month average can vary widely depending upon whether income is received from self-employment, or someone is employed and receives a salary that stays the same each month.