The national unemployment rate is 9.2%, excluding the number of people who are underemployed or who have given up looking for work altogether. These individuals fall off the radar and are no longer tallied in statistics.
Prior to filing for bankruptcy, many indebted Americans will borrow money from family members. If the debtor repays their family before declaring bankruptcy, this is a major issue. If they contemplate filing for bankruptcy within a year of the filing, they may be committing a grave error. Because the money belongs to the bankruptcy estate, the trustee can ask the family member or acquaintance who lent the money and was repaid to return the funds. Many people believe that they can transfer property or cash to a family member prior to filing bankruptcy in order to protect and conceal it, but if discovered, the bankruptcy could be dismissed and the filer could be charged with fraud by the bankruptcy court. There are numerous methods for a debtor to become entangled in a bankruptcy.
Previous relationships that failed or envious neighbors who learned of the bankruptcy filing offer their opinions. And in our high-tech, electronic society, it is straightforward for the bankruptcy court to discover a transfer of funds. The debtor is required to produce up to two years of bank records, which reveal a great deal about the debtor's life, when petitioning for bankruptcy. It is best to lay everything out on the table and let the bankruptcy attorney figure out how to secure it.
Numerous individuals in financial ruin have attempted all available programs to avoid registering for bankruptcy. There has been a substantial marketing drive for debt consolidation and settlement. Many debtors have enrolled in debt settlement programs, believing they are doing the right thing, but have not received the results that were promised. While debt settlement companies offered to act as a liaison between the debtor and creditor and negotiate a balance reduction of up to 75 percent, they also charged a fee. They begin by taking money from the debtor in order to amass enough funds to negotiate a settlement with the creditors. First, if a debtor wishes to resolve a debt and have the creditor write it off, no intermediary is required. There are numerous potential pitfalls in the debt settlement procedure.
Nobody regulates the debt settlement company, and creditors are not required to comply with any of the settlement company's recommendations. There is nothing preventing the creditor from pursuing a lawsuit to obtain a judgment against the debtor if the debtor has stopped making credit card payments while negotiating a settlement. In addition, many creditors file a 1099C with the IRS, requiring the debtor to pay taxes on the amount the creditor wrote off. The debt settlement company ends up with the gold mine, while the debtor receives the shaft.
Therefore, bankruptcy is the only legal form of effective debt resolution. Although there are no guarantees when filing for bankruptcy, if a debtor employs a bankruptcy attorney to handle the petition, the attorney will likely be able to predict the outcome based on previous cases.
" - https://www.affordablecebu.com/