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Debt Consolidation

Feb 14
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Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Explained

By Bankruptcy Law, Chapter 7 Bankruptcy No Comments

Chapter 7 bankruptcy can be complicated, but it doesn’t have to be.

Despite similarities in occupations throughout Auburn and Opelika, every resident’s financial situation differs. Ultimately, no matter how stable your income is, debts can quickly become unmanageable for anyone, leading to financial distress and even the loss of valuable assets, like your home. 

Thankfully, when debt does become unmanageable there is a fresh start available. Here is an explanation of Chapter 7 bankruptcy and how the process works from David S. Clark, an experienced Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 bankruptcy attorney in Opelika, Alabama. 

DISCLAIMER: The following blog post is just advice, and you will be better served to call David S. Clark with your bankruptcy questions. This blog contains helpful tips and advice, but is not professional legal advice, and shouldn’t treated as such.

Need Bankruptcy Help? Call David S. Clark

Understanding Chapter 7 Bankruptcy

Perhaps the most common type of bankruptcy, known as “liquidation bankruptcy” or Chapter 7, allows you to regain control of your finances by having most of your unsecured debt, including credit card debt, medical bills, and personal loans discharged by a bankruptcy court.

Yet, before describing how Chapter 7 bankruptcy works, it is essential to know exactly what kinds of debt could be discharged. 

Dischargeable debts under Chapter 7 include:

  • Credit card balances (including overdue and late fees)
  • Medical bills
  • Personal and payday loans 
  • Mortgage or automobile loans for which you are unable to pay
  • Utility bills
  • Social Security overpayments
  • Veterans’ assistance loans and overpayments

Non-dischargeable Debts Include:

  • Non-dischargeable debts under Chapter 7 include:
  • Child support
  • Alimony
  • Student loans
  • HOA fees
  • Secured debts

The Process of Chapter 7 Bankruptcy

Three main steps occur once you file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in Alabama. These consist of the following:

  • Forms and Counseling

Before a bankruptcy court looks at each unique case, there are a number of necessary forms an Opelika or Auburn resident must fill out. These require in-depth knowledge of your personal information, including finances, creditors, assets, income, expenses, and more. 

After filing, the court places an automatic stay on your case, preventing any and all creditors from collecting debts. 

  • Trustee Appointment

After filing for bankruptcy, Auburn or Opelika’s bankruptcy court will appoint an unbiased trustee to oversee your entire Chapter 7 bankruptcy process. Beyond choosing what assets to liquidate to pay off creditors, the trustee will also schedule meetings with creditors, where plans for debt repayment are put in place. 

  • Debt Repayment & Discharge

After meeting with creditors and the bankruptcy court, certain non-dischargeable debts are paid with assets decided by the bankruptcy trustee, while any dischargeable debts are immediately discharged. 

After debts are discharged with Chapter 7 bankruptcy (approximately two months after), creditors may still attempt to recover previous debts, even though they have no right to. So, throughout your Chapter 7 bankruptcy process, make sure to retain any and all necessary documents.

David S. Clark – Your Local Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Attorney 

David S. Clark is an experienced Auburn and Opelika Bankruptcy Attorney who understands the intricacies, complications, and stress of bankruptcy. If you need help navigating Chapter 7 bankruptcy, contact David S. Clark today!

DISCLAIMER: The above blog post is just advice, and you will be better served to call David S. Clark with your bankruptcy questions. This blog contains helpful tips and advice, but is not professional legal advice, and shouldn’t treated as such.

Apr 12
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Debt Consolidation vs. Bankruptcy – How to Settle Your Debt

By Bankruptcy Law, Understanding Bankruptcy No Comments

Learn to settle your debt with either Debt Consolidation or Bankruptcy. 

Alabama’s total state debt is nearly $9 billion. If an institution such as the State Government of Alabama is not always in the green financially, then it is no wonder that its residents often find themselves in positions of repaying debts.

While some debt isn’t bad—a mortgage can help you achieve the goal of owning a home and may help you ultimately build wealth, student loans can help you obtain a college degree, and a moderate amount of debt, if paid off in time, can help you build credit–the wrong kind of debt can lead to financial ruin.

DISCLAIMER: The following blog post is just advice, and you will be better served to call David S. Clark with your bankruptcy questions. This blog contains helpful tips and advice, but is not professional legal advice, and shouldn’t treated as such.

Need Bankruptcy Help? Call David S. Clark

There are several tools that debtors can use which can help someone recover from an extensive amount of debt. The number of these, though, can be overwhelming if you are not sure which option is best for you.

Two of the more common options are debt consolidation and bankruptcy. When choosing between debt consolidation and bankruptcy, it is important to know the benefits and to determine which option is best for you based on your unique financial situation.

Debt Consolidation 

Debt consolidation refers to the act of consolidating multiple lines of debt into a single, bundle debt payment. This payment usually has a lower interest rate, and, therefore, a lower monthly payment.

If you have multiple student loans, credit cards, or other liabilities with high monthly payments because debt consolidation can simplify things for you, it may be the best choice.

While the interest rate and monthly payment may be lower on a debt consolidation loan, it’s important to pay attention to the payment structure. Typically, with a smaller monthly payment that debt consolidation provides, debtors will pay on their loans for a longer period of time. This means that you will end up paying a higher amount than you originally would have paid.

If, however, this means that you are able to make your payments, then it will be a good option for you.

Bankruptcy

Many Alabama residents consider bankruptcy as a financial boogeyman to be avoided at all costs. Yet, if you have taken on an unimaginable amount of debt, bankruptcy exists to help you. 

Bankruptcy is a legal process where an individual who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from part or all of their debt. This can be an extremely long process that requires granting judges and creditors extensive access to financial records, among other things. 

In deliberation with your bankruptcy attorney, the court will put together a plan for you to pay off as much as your debt as possible. They will also provide court-mandated guidance on how to avoid another incident involving bankruptcy in the future.

With the extensive paperwork, financial documentation, laws, and local procedures present in a bankruptcy filing, hiring an experienced bankruptcy attorney to represent you in bankruptcy is very important. 

David S. Clark and his team have been helping Auburn and Opelika, AL residents settle debt through debt consolidation and bankruptcy for years. Contact David S. Clark today.

DISCLAIMER: The above blog post is just advice, and you will be better served to call David S. Clark with your bankruptcy questions. This blog contains helpful tips and advice, but is not professional legal advice, and shouldn’t treated as such.

Aug 23
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More Than Just Bankruptcy

By Attorneys & Lawyers, News No Comments

Hiring a qualified Auburn bankruptcy attorney like David S. Clark to guide you through the storm of financial crisis may be exactly the help you need.

Auburn, AL is known as “The Loveliest Village on the Plains.” Though this may be true, it does not mean that all Auburn residents are shielded from not-so-lovely financial times. 

If you have found yourself in one of these difficult financial times, then hiring a qualified Auburn bankruptcy attorney like David S. Clark to guide you through the storm of financial crisis may be exactly the help you need.

DISCLAIMER: The following blog post is just advice, and you will be better served to call David S. Clark with your bankruptcy questions. This blog contains helpful tips and advice, but is not professional legal advice, and shouldn’t treated as such.

Need Bankruptcy Help? Call David S. Clark

An Auburn Bankruptcy Attorney–More Than Just Bankruptcy

Though David S. Clark primarily works with Auburn clients through the difficult and often confusing process of filing for bankruptcy, he also helps Auburn residents overcome a variety of financial difficulties.

Debt Consolidation

Sometimes Auburn residents have several outstanding debts with varying interest rates, that have to be paid on different days of the month, and must be addressed to different companies or individuals.

If someone is less than organized and misses a few payments on some of these debts, it can cause some seriously harmful ramifications for that person.

One of the benefits of debt consolidation is that all of your outstanding debt payments are rolled into one payment that has one interest rate, is paid to one entity, and is paid at the same time (this may be weekly, monthly, bi-monthly, etc.).

Debt consolidation is especially helpful if you can get a lower interest rate on the consolidated payment compared to your separated payments. This, however, can be difficult to achieve without the help of someone who knows the ins and outs of debt consolidation. An Auburn bankruptcy attorney like David S. Clark can be a tremendous help when looking for the right debt consolidation loan.

The Payday Loan Cycle

The payday loan cycle can be a vicious cycle of debt that traps individuals in a constant pattern of attempting to pay off one loan or one debt by starting another.

With the high interest rates and low barriers to entry that payday loans have relative to other types of loans, they can be very easy for individuals in vulnerable financial situations to obtain. 

Navigating your way out of a payday loan cycle can be very difficult for most people, having an Auburn bankruptcy attorney on your side while trying to figure out how to get out of the payday loan cycle can be a huge asset.

For more information from David S. Clark on escaping the payday loan debt cycle, click here.

Repossessions

Usually when individuals sign a loan agreement, they waive certain rights in the event that the loan goes unpaid for the time period specified. When this happens, a creditor can take several steps to ensure that they receive payment on the loan.

One of the most notorious actions that a creditor may take is a repossession of the property against which the loan was taken.

A repossession can be a jarring experience and one that leaves a debtor confused, worried, and with a feeling of helplessness.

This, though, need not be the case. An experienced Auburn bankruptcy attorney like David S. Clark can help a debtor regain possession of the property that was taken. This can be by the processes of reinstatement or redemption.

If you are an Auburn resident looking for an Auburn bankruptcy attorney that can help you work through a variety of financial options to help you overcome your debt crisis, contact David S. Clark.

DISCLAIMER: The above blog post is just advice, and you will be better served to call David S. Clark with your bankruptcy questions. This blog contains helpful tips and advice, but is not professional legal advice, and shouldn’t treated as such.

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