The North Carolina Bankruptcy Information Blog

Whether you’ve just concluded the bankruptcy process, been denied credit, are checking up on an identity theft incident, considering buying a home, or any other financial endeavor, it pays to check out your credit report. Why? Because when you’re trying to rebuild your credit health or prove you’re a good credit risk, it’s important to see what others see, namely your credit score.

You may already understand that you’re entitled to know what information is included in your credit reports. You may also know that you’re entitled to a free credit report each year. What you may not know is the right way to get it.…

Becoming a Credit-Savvy Consumer Post-Bankruptcy: Part 2

Becoming better with credit post-bankruptcy can be a daunting task for many clients. You’ve repaid or dissolved your existing debts, and are about to close your bankruptcy case with a new and improved outlook on your financial life. Unfortunately for many in your position, even well-intentioned Americans can return to their debt-full ways, even after the many lessons learned from their bankruptcy filing.

As a result, it’s important to take a first (or now second) look at the best ways to break the cycle of debt, this time for good! Continuing from part one of our series, here are five additional strategies for making the best of your post-bankruptcy life:

(1) It’s Cheaper to Change Your Mind.…

Becoming better with credit post-bankruptcy can be a daunting task for many clients. You’ve repaid or dissolved your existing debts, and are about to close your bankruptcy case with a new and improved outlook on your financial life. Unfortunately for many in your position, even well-intentioned Americans can return to their debt-full ways, even after the many lessons learned from their bankruptcy filing.

As a result, it’s important to take a first (or possibly second) look at the best ways to break the cycle of debt, this time for good! Five sound (but simple) strategies include:

(1) Bank on it.
Banks inevitably issue real credit offers.…

If you’re like many average Americans, you were dealt a hefty budgetary blow during the recent Recession. And, as a result, you may have responded by trying to spend less, save more and reduce debts where you could—including cuts in your consumer credit card use.

If so, you’re not alone.

According to a recent report from Credit.com, since the inception of the economic crisis, more and more men and women are resisting the urge to spend, climbing aboard the equivalent of the “Good Ship Spendthrift” in order to create a sea of savings on a new course to a better financial future.…

It’s closing in on the end of the first month of 2011, another year into the Great Recession. Of course, things do look “somewhat” better than they did for the last three. However, everything does when enough time passes.

If you filed bankruptcy in 2010, or anytime in the last couple of years, chances are you made a few financial resolutions for the new year. Great. But now you have to stick to them.

In order to help you stay true to your own economic goals, lets’ explore the ways many financial resolutions end up going broke.

First, it is critical that you do not set your expectations too high.…

In the beginning weeks of 2011, Americans all across the country are making (and sometimes breaking) resolutions of all types: vows to finally lose those holiday pounds; promises to eat healthier and exercise more; and possibly (and more probably) earnest efforts to lower debt and save more during these tough economic times.  But for those financially-strapped individuals who are bankruptcy bound or finally exiting the process, some resolutions are worth keeping. So, in the interest of helping you honor your financial goals, we introduce the series, Bankruptcy Resolutions 2011, where we’ll examine a few examples of keys to bankruptcy (or post bankruptcy) success in the New Year.…

Hiring a bankruptcy attorney is your best first step toward a refreshed, healthy financial future. The decision can be a tough one, we know.
Once on track to file though, we’ll clear the path for you, assisting at every step and consistently communicating. There are a number of things you can do along the way, too. Many of which are quite simple but go a long way toward ensuring your next “economic life,” as it were, is as productive as possible.

You’ll also want to keep a keen eye on your credit reports after you file. Make sure the accounts that were discharged are recorded that way.…

Let’s talk about cars.

We need them (more than we like to believe) and we certainly love them. But can we afford them? Boy, that’s a tough question.

In the age of excess, which most people like to call “2007,” we couldn’t find cars big enough or fast enough. If we could make a monthly payment over seven years, then it was affordable. Well, things are different now. People are looking for reliability, comfort and practicality. Just look around at the rise of small, hip cars full of features once considered the bastion of pricey imports.

Sport utility vehicles are morphing in front of our very eyes into more nimble, passenger-oriented “crossover” alternatives to mini-vans, which also found their way into the upper echelon of car prices, by the way.…

The job market is a tough, ugly and sometimes downright brutal place to have to spend time. Heck, July alone crammed well over one hundred thousand into an already really tight space.

The signs you see to help yourself out—job postings—are all over the place it seems. But who’s landing them? Well, maybe this post can help you be the next person who finds their way back into the world of the employed.

According to an article on CNN.com, employment experts agree that one of the most critical things a person can do when applying for a job is craft their resume to the specifications asked for on the job posting.…

Realizing we are in debt is a lot easier than figuring how it happened. Unless you can pinpoint one central reason, like the loss of a job or long-term medical issue, it can be hard to retrace your steps to financial crisis. Plus, who even wants to? The more important exercise is to figure out how to not let it happen again. And that means determining why you overspend so you can change your habits in your life after bankruptcy.

Countless consumer studies have been done about why we spend. From psychological influences to marketing, music and social pressure, there are far too many things impacting our spending decisions.…

It seems that in today’s difficult economic weather, just about everyone is a risk for a lender.

Earlier this month, FICO, Inc. (the company that develops credit risk metrics) reported that America’s collective credit score is at an all-time low. Close to 43.4 million consumers have a credit score at or below 599, which is the risk benchmark for the majority of lenders. This means that more than 25 percent of us are likely to not get a car loan, new credit card (really?) or a mortgage.

FICO arrived at their conclusion through an analysis of April’s consumer credit reports. Historically, only 15 percent of all “credit-active” consumers fell below the 599 mark.…

Life after bankruptcy can be a challenge. It will take commitment, a new mindset and an entirely fresh set of budgeting habits.

People are surprised to find that when they look around, there really are countless ways for you to save, establish credit and rebuild the economic life you once had.

For a some filers, bankruptcy meant giving up a car payment you could no longer afford. With the new change, getting around town to run errands or schedule job interviews can be pretty frustrating. However, alternative modes of transportation are becoming more abundant. One example is the WeCar program, an idea already popular in larger cities and on college campuses.…

For most recent college and post-college graduates, the hot summer months are a chilly reminder that student loan repayment deadlines are mere months away. These impending debts arrive at some of the toughest economic times ever for the newest round of job seekers, as the nation, and especially its youngest workers, continue to face record unemployment and mounting consumer debt. So what happens when poor economic conditions coincide with mandatory payback timelines for budget-busting student loans? Two words: loan defaults. Now, the countdown is on as many recent grads will soon exceed the 270-day window for paying back their educational debts, beginning a bad precedent for staying current in an economy that may or may not be heading into another recession.…

Bankruptcy Myth #1: You won’t receive credit offers after your bankruptcy.

Don’t be surprised to receive many credit offers following your bankruptcy. Car lenders, mortgage financiers, credit card companies and more, often line up for the chance to provide post-bankruptcy debtors with all types of consumer spending opportunities.

Bankruptcy Myth #2: Taking creditors up on all of their offers is a good thing.

These same lenders and card companies are also coming forward to capitalize on the clean financial slate your bankruptcy provided.  Unfortunately, many of these so-called “helpful” creditors are actually subprime lenders targeting average Americans just like you who are attempting to improve their credit and get back on their financial feet.…

Despite the rumors, stigmas and innuendo, there are a number of things you can keep after filing bankruptcy. Your car, for example, is something that you may be able to keep, provided your debt issues running up to your bankruptcy did not result in a repossession and the equity in your car can be protected with available exemptions.

If you were financing (purchasing) a car when you filed Chapter 7 but did not plan to surrender the vehicle in your bankruptcy, and you continued to keep current on the debt through filing your case and afterwards, you will need to fill out and sign something called a “reaffirmation agreement.” This legal document certifies that you will agree to repay all or a portion of that particular auto loan debt since it would otherwise be discharged along with your other debt.…

It was easy to spend money a few years ago, somewhere around late 2005 and into 2006, when the economy was flying, anyone could get a loan and every house in the zip code was appreciating at eight percent a year.

Those who managed to avoid subprime loans and the desire to keep up with whatever the other side of the cul-de-sac was spending turned out to make it through the recession in decent shape, provided the unemployment crisis didn’t catch up with them.

Truthfully, the degree of financial difficulty at which someone finds themselves is no measure of intelligence or social wherewithal.…

With rising foreclosure rates, escalating health care costs, recent credit card company schemes and unprecedented unemployment, most people would think they’ve seen it all in this unprecedented economic downturn.

But wait, there’s more.

In these tough financial times, scam artists are coming out of the woodwork to prey on the most hard hit by this decade’s Great Recession: persons needing the benefits of, or having already filed for, bankruptcy.

First and foremost, scam artists are in the habit of targeting debtors who are willing to do whatever it takes to avoid bankruptcy.  According to the Center for Responsible Lending, common predators prior to your bankruptcy include even legal payday lenders and debt settlement agencies.…

This blog talks at length about savings strategies and offers a great deal of consumer spending advice. Our goal is to create an all-encompassing approach to helping readers, clients and potential clients be financially successful after bankruptcy.

Having a healthy savings account should be the goal of anyone rebuilding after bankruptcy. But after the great bank fallout of the last two years, it’s becoming hard for a lot Americans to trust some of our nation’s largest financial institutions. Not only are the rate of return on these accounts very low, it seems every day banks are surprising account holders with a sudden fee or reduction in service.…

In this economy, qualifying for a bank loan or line of credit can feel impossible—even for people with perfect credit—and much more so if you’re trying to bounce back from a recent bankruptcy. But a bit of patience (targeting smaller community banks rather than large corporate banks) and a bit of help (getting others to vouch for you) can improve your odds tremendously—even in this uncertain economic climate.

As Robert C. Seiwert, senior vice-president of the Center for Commercial Lending & Business Banking at the American Bankers Association told Businessweek,  “A bankruptcy can hurt your chances of getting new credit for at least seven years.…

There was very important bill passed this week in Washington.

No, not that one.

Attached to the monumental health care bill was a significant alteration to the way student loans are handled by the government.

We have covered this topic several times here on the blog (use the search tool), which is critical to those considering bankruptcy because as of now, outside of very special and rarely granted conditions, student loans are not allowed to be discharged.

Arguments have mounted recently about the role private banks have in backing federal student loans. The primary issue is that the government guarantees close to 90 percent return for the private lender who funds the loan.…