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Can You Go To Jail For Debt?

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Until the mid-19th century, many people would go to jail for debt.  Similar to today’s workhouses, you could go to jail for debt until the debt was paid off.   Debtors prisons were abolished long ago, but there are still are ways that you can go to jail for unpaid debt.
If you are held in contempt of court, you can go to jail for debt.  It’s not as hard for this to happen as you might think.  If a creditor sues you and obtains a court determination that you owe money (called a “judgment””), and you can’t or won’t pay, then the creditor may send you a demand for disclosure of your income, your bank accounts, and property.  Or the creditor may subpoena you for a deposition to give sworn testimony regarding these matters.  The creditor wants this information so that it knows how to garnish your wages, levy your bank accounts, and seize your property.  If you don’t respond with the information, then you may receive an “order to show cause” at a court hearing as to why you should not be held in contempt of court for failing to cooperate.  If you don’t then show up at the hearing with the information, the judge may enter a bench warrant for your arrest.  The purpose of the arrest warrant is not to punish you, it is to force you to give the creditor and the court the information regarding your income and assets.  It wouldn’t be uncommon to be arrested on a Friday and spend the weekend in jail until you are brought before a judge on Monday to testify as to your income and property. 
If you need to file bankruptcy, save yourself a lot of misery and do it before matters reach this point. When you file a bankruptcy petition, you are protected by the automatic bankruptcy stay against collection efforts and you don’t need to worry about being held in contempt of court.
For more information regarding your specific situation, contact Minnesota Bankruptcy Attorney Gregory J. Wald at 952-921-5802 or at www.www.gregorywald.com for a consultation.  

Medical Bankruptcy

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What Happens After Filing Chapter 7 BankruptcyHarvard study found that nearly 70% of bankruptcy cases are Medical Bankruptcy.  With today’s high deductibles, the situation hasn’t improved.   Illness can mean time off of work and reduced income.  Medical Bankruptcy eliminates medical debt, but only the medical bills that are owed as of the date of filing your bankruptcy petition.  If you are currently running up medical bills you have a couple of bankruptcy options: You can wait until your medical problems are over and then file a Chapter 7 case.  If you can’t wait that long, you can file a Chapter 13 bankruptcy case and gain protection from your creditors until you are done incurring the medical debt.  At that point, you may be able to convert your case to Chapter 7 and include all of the medical debt owed at that point.

There have been many examples of desperate people who encounter severe financial difficulties due to medical expenses. It’s extremely critical that you speak with a professional so that you have all of the information you need to make the best choice possible. Put your future in the hands of an experienced Minneapolis Bankruptcy Attorney. Gregory Wald is rated as “Superb” by the AVVO attorney rating company.

For more information regarding your specific situation, contact Minnesota Bankruptcy Attorney Gregory J. Wald for a consultation.  

HELP! I’VE BEEN SUED!

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Have you been sued in Minnesota? – Understanding Debt Lawsuit

When credit cards, bank loans, medical bills and other debts become seriously delinquent, the creditors usually send them to a collection agency first.  If the collection agency can’t collect the debt, then it may go to a collections lawyer who will sue to collect the debt.  You will know that you have been sued in Minnesota when you receive a Summons and Complaint in District Court or a Complaint in Conciliation Court.  
When you are served with a debt lawsuit, it is like a slap in the face!  Please don’t panic.  There are things that you can do.  If you dispute the debt in a District Court case, you will probably need a lawyer to defend you.  If you dispute a Conciliation Court, you can go to the hearing yourself and explain your reason for disputing the debt to the judge.  If you don’t dispute the debt and your debts are otherwise manageable, you could call the collections lawyer and try to make payment arrangements.  If you have other debts, it might make sense to file bankruptcy instead.  A bankruptcy will stop a lawsuit to collect a debt, even after the lawsuit has started.  If the creditor has already obtained a court judgment against you, bankruptcy can stop the creditor from ever trying to collect the judgment against you.
For more information regarding your specific situation, contact Minnesota Bankruptcy Attorney Gregory J. Wald at 952-921-5802 or at BankruptcyMinn.com for a consultation. 
You will know that you have been sued in Minnesota when you receive a Summons and Complaint in District Court or a Complaint in Conciliation Court.

 

What’s New About Getting a Mortgage After Bankruptcy

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Mortgage After BankruptcyThe waiting period for obtaining an FHA or VA mortgage after bankruptcy is two years after you receive your Chapter 7 bankruptcy discharge..  It normally takes about three months to get your discharge after we file your bankruptcy petition with the court.  However, there is a new rule that allows you to obtain an FHA or VA mortgage after bankruptcy in as little as 12 months after you receive your discharge, if you can show that the bankruptcy was caused by extenuating circumstances beyond your control and if you have since exhibited a documented ability to manage your financial affairs in a responsible manner.  
For Chapter 13 bankruptcy, it is possible to obtain an FHA mortgage after you have made one year of timely payments under your bankruptcy payment plan.  You must also have permission to enter into the mortgage loan from the bankruptcy court.
If you need to file bankruptcy, save yourself a lot of misery and do it before matters reach this point. When you file a bankruptcy petition, you are protected by the automatic bankruptcy stay against collection efforts and you don’t need to worry about being held in contempt of court.
For more information regarding your specific situation, contact Minnesota Bankruptcy Attorney Gregory J. Wald at 952-921-5802 or at www.www.gregorywald.com for a consultation.

Discover the Difference Between Debt Management Plans and Filing Bankruptcy

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Credit counseling companies were originally created by the banks to collect debts for them.  They offer “debt management plans” where by people can consolidate their debts and pay them off in full over a period of five years.  They try to negotiate lower interest rates for the credit cards so that they can be paid off over a reasonable period of time.

The banks have spent millions of dollars on lobbyists and were able to get Congress to pass a law that everyone who wants to file bankruptcy must first complete a briefing (counseling session) with a consumer credit counselor. If the idea was to steer people into debt management plans, then the new law hasn’t worked out well for the bankers. Almost no one who completes the pre-bankruptcy briefing goes on to enter into a debt management plan. However, the counseling session is not all bad news. Many people do feel that they received useful information on budgeting and saving money from the counseling session.

Even though they may be able to reduce the interest rates on some credit cards, the monthly payment under a debt management plan is usually larger than the combined minimum payments on all of a person’s credit cards.  For this reason, debt management plans are not feasible for most people who are struggling financially.   They offer budgeting advice that can sometimes be useful.  However, the advice is frequently to get a second job (i.e., work yourself to death).   It is very difficult to get credit while you are in a debt management plan.  One couple who paid into a debt management plan came to see Minnesota bankruptcy attorney Greg Wald after they made payments under the plan for two years.  They wanted to buy a house, but the mortgage company told them they could not have a mortgage because they were still in a debt management plan.  The mortgage company told them it was too bad they didn’t just file a bankruptcy instead.  The FHA will qualify people for mortgages two years after they complete a bankruptcy case.  They realized at that point that they made a big mistake and eliminated their debt immediately with a Chapter 7 bankruptcy.
Avoid a “BIG” mistake!  Contact Minnesota bankruptcy attorney Gregory Wald at (952) 921-5802 or visit them on the web at bankruptcyminn.com.  Discover the difference between “debt management plans” and filing bankruptcy before it’s too late.

How Often Can I File Bankruptcy?

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When a person has filed bankruptcy in the past, they may want to know how long they must wait to file bankruptcy again.   If a person has filed a Chapter 7 bankruptcy petition and received a discharge of their debts, they must wait 8 years before they can file another Chapter 7 petition.  However, the waiting period to receive a discharge in a Chapter 13 case after a previous Chapter 7 case is only 4 years.  Sometimes unfortunate circumstances create a need for a second bankruptcy in less than 4 years after the filing of a Chapter 7 case.   You can file a Chapter 13 case less than 4 years after filing a Chapter 7 case and receive court protection from your creditors, but you won’t receive a discharge of your debts.  It sometimes makes sense to file such a case to prevent foreclosure of a residence or to receive court protection from creditors.

The waiting period to file a Chapter 13 case after a previous Chapter 13 case is only two years from filing date to filing date.  Since the typical Chapter 13 case lasts for three years, there is rarely any waiting period for filing a Chapter 13 case after a previous Chapter 13 case.  The waiting period to file a Chapter 7 petition after a Chapter 13 petition is 6 years.

ABOUT US

Attorney Gregory Wald is rated as "Excellent" by the AVVO attorney rating company. The Better Business Bureau gives him an "A" rating, with no complaints. You can expect prompt answers to you questions and fast, efficient service. Put your future in the hands of an experienced bankruptcy attorney.

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