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Clients’ Choice Award – I’d like to thank . . .

by Mark Buckley

As a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ and Providence/ Warwick bankruptcy lawyer, I rescue clients from financial chaos. I solve debt problems caused by job loss, ill health, and other life-changing setbacks. For so many with too much debt and too little income, I help them push the RESTART button.

After examining spending patterns, budgets and monthly income, we consider all debt-relief options including payment plans, debt settlement, and bankruptcy.

A Chapter 7 bankruptcy is designed to protect property and give a financial fresh-start. My clients feel immediate relief after I file their case and debt collectors stop calling. 90 days later, the case ends and financial freedom begins.

 

Many are surprised to learn how Rhode Island and federal law can help protect most/all of their property. These bankruptcy “exemption” protections apply to cars, real estate, retirement assets, jewelry, etc. Most clients do not lose any property at all.

These same laws also help remove most unsecured debts like credit cards, payday loans, utility bills, personal loans, lines of credit, medical bills, car repossessions, mortgage foreclosures, etc. Sometimes, even income tax obligations can be discharged in bankruptcy.

I understand its not easy to ask for help, especially when it comes to money-matters. I get it. That’s why I designed my practice differently.

Anyone with a debt problem can call me, without any obligation, to get my legal-financial advice. I’m pretty easy to talk to and would be happy to help you determine the best path out of your debt dilemma.

Hit the Avvo badge below where clients generously shared their experience in working with my firm.

8.3Mark Steven Buckley CFP

PS: I don’t take these “awards” too seriously, but I’m always happy when bankruptcy clients appreciate the realized benefits of a financial do-over.

Here it is.Mark Steven Buckley CFPClients’ ChoiceAward 2019

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: attorney Mark Buckley, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER, cfp, Chapter 7 bankruptcy, debt relief option, debt settlement, debt settlement lawyer, RI bankruptcy attorney, RI bankruptcy lawyer, stop creditor calls

RI Bankruptcy Law: Median Income Figures Change Again

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RI bankruptcy lawyers have new income guidelines to determine who qualifies for Chapter 7 bankruptcy relief.  On November 1, 2012, the US Census figures became effective for all new consumer bankruptcy filings.  Other than for 3-person households, it became slightly more difficult to qualify for Chapter 7 bankruptcy relief for every other household size in Rhode Island.

Below are the median income figures that I use for my Rhode Island clients who need to file for bankruptcy protection:

  • 1 person household $ 45,945 (down from $ 47,798)
  • 2 person household $ 60,538 (down from $ 61,506)
  • 3 person household $ 75,306 (up from $ 68,909)
  • 4 person household $ 82,086 (down from $ 88,990)
  • Add $ 7,500 for each additional household member above a 4 person household

As a reminder, these are gross income figures.  To determine whether you qualify for Chapter 7 bankruptcy relief, we take your trailing 6 months of gross income from all sources (except Social Security and unemployment benefits), multiply it by two and then compare it to the chart above.

While its easier to qualify for a Chapter 7 bankruptcy with gross income lower than the median, in many cases, you may still qualify with income slightly higher than the median.

Bottom line: Its impossible to forecast whether it will become easier or more difficult to file your Chapter 7 case in the future.  Even if you are not ready to file your case now, I can run an analysis on your family’s income to see if your income is presently low enough to qualify for debt relief.

Filed Under: Blog, Means Test, New Blog, Rhode Island Tagged With: bankruptcy lawyers, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER, Chapter 7 bankruptcy, Mark Buckley, Rhode Island bankruptcy, RI bankruptcy lawyer, RI bankruptcy lawyer Mark Buckley, RI means test

Rhode Island Bankruptcy Debtors Catch a Break

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Twice a year, the US Census Bureau and the IRS provide data used by bankruptcy lawyers to determine who qualifies for debt relief.  On May, 1, 2012, the new income numbers became effective for all new bankruptcy case filings.  The good news is that median income figures rose for all household sizes in Rhode Island.

Below are the new median income figures that I will use for my Rhode Island clients who need to file for bankruptcy:

  • 1 person household $ 47,798 (up from $ 46,335)
  • 2 person household $ 61,506 (up from $ 59,624)
  • 3 person household $ 68,909 (up from $ 66,800)
  • 4 person household $ 88,990 (up from $ 86,267)
  • Add $ 7,500 for each additional household member above a 4 person household

As a reminder, these are gross income figures.  To determine whether you qualify for Chapter 7 bankruptcy relief, I will examine your trailing 6 months of gross income from all sources, except Social Security and unemployment.  I will then double the gross figure and compare it to the chart above.

Bottom line: Many more who need to file for bankruptcy protection in Rhode Island now qualify.  This window of opportunity may only be available for a short period, so if you are considering bankruptcy, call a qualified RI bankruptcy attorney today.

Filed Under: Blog, Means Test, New Blog, Rhode Island Bankruptcy Articles Tagged With: Bankruptcy, bankruptcy attorneys, bankruptcy filing, bankruptcy lawyer, bankruptcy lawyers, Chapter 7 bankruptcy, filing bankruptcy in Rhode Island, Mark Buckley, Rhode Island bankruptcy, Rhode Island Bankruptcy lawyer, RI bankruptcy lawyer, RI means test

Top 7 Reasons To File Chapter 7 vs Chapter 13

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The US Bankruptcy Code provides a number of choices to people struggling with debt. The most popular choice is to file a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy petition. Here are seven reasons why.

  1. Time—A normal Chapter 7 bankruptcy case takes about 100 days from beginning to end. After a brief creditor’s meeting one month into the process, the case ends two months later.
  2. Property—Because federal and/or State exemption laws allow a debtor to protect their assets, most Chapter 7 filers do not lose any property. The bankruptcy trustee handles most cases as “no asset” cases, meaning that the debtor is not required to forfeit any property.
  3. Cost—Filing under Chapter 7 is considerable cheaper than filing under Chapter 13.  Even though lawyer fees may differ from state to state, most bankruptcy attorneys will quote a fee that is fair and affordable. Bankruptcy lawyers who practice exclusively in bankruptcy (not general practitioners) understand you don’t have extra money to overpay for their services.
  4. Repayment—You are not required to repay unsecured non-priority creditors like credit cards, utility bills, personal loans, or medical bills. If you created your debt in good faith and no creditor objects to your bankruptcy, most unsecured credit obligations will be destroyed in your bankruptcy.
  5. Privacy—Record of your bankruptcy is only accessible in the court system. In most cases, the only people who will know you filed for bankruptcy protection are you, the court, and your creditors.
  6. Credit—Most people who file under Chapter 7 can reestablish credit shortly after their bankruptcy concludes. (Your debt to income ratio improves once your debt has been eliminated: the first step towards rebuilding your credit.)
  7. Stress—Most chapter 7 filers never set foot in a courtroom.   Instead, they merely attend a brief, informal hearing with the trustee assigned to their case.

Filed Under: Blog, Exemption Laws, Rhode Island, Rhode Island Bankruptcy Articles, Rhode Island Chapter 7 Tagged With: Bankruptcy, bankruptcy filing, bankruptcy laws, bankruptcy lawyers, Chapter 13, Chapter 7 bankruptcy, credit card, filing bankruptcy in Rhode Island, filing for bankruptcy in RI, Mark Buckley, Rhode Island bankruptcy, Rhode Island Bankruptcy lawyer, RI Bankruptcy Court, RI bankruptcy lawyer, ri-bankruptcy.com

A Unique Opportunity: Second Mortgages in Chapter 13

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Guest post by South Carolina Bankruptcy Lawyer Lex Rogerson.

If you’re trying to decide which approach to bankruptcy is best for you, the prospect of writing off a second mortgage can be a powerful reason to consider filing Chapter 13.

Chapter 13 carries certain disadvantages for consumer debtors as compared with Chapter 7.  The fees are higher, the bankruptcy case continues for years instead of months, and the debtor usually has to pay some creditors who might get nothing if he filed Chapter 7.  So there has to be a good reason to choose Chapter 13.

Traditionally the most common reason is that Chapter 13 lets debtors catch up with delinquent mortgage payments in an orderly way.  But with real estate values down an average of 30% over the last few years, an increasingly common reason to file Chapter 13 is to strip off an “underwater” second (or third) mortgage.

Let’s start by looking at how secured debts are treated in bankruptcy.  In Chapter 7, for the most part, secured debts pass through unaffected.  If you have two mortgages when you file Chapter 7, you will almost always have two mortgages when you finish your case.  You cannot strip off a mortgage in Chapter 7.

By comparison, in Chapter 13, secured debts generally are paid in full.  But unsecured creditors are often paid a nominal amount, possibly as low as one to two percent of their claims.  If a debt can be classified as unsecured, the debtor can likely eliminate it with a minimal payment.

Now, we typically think of a mortgage as a classic secured debt, because the creditor has a lien on the home or other real estate to secure payment.  But the Bankruptcy Code has a special definition of secured debts.  Under Section 506, a debt is secured only to the extent of the value of the collateral.  So if I own a TV worth $200 but owe $300 on the TV, the creditor has a secured claim of $200 and an unsecured claim for the remaining $100.  We refer to this as bifurcating the claim or “cramdown.”

With home mortgages, it works a little differently.  In order to encourage mortgage lending, Congress has decreed that first mortgages on residential real estate cannot be crammed down.  So while Chapter 13 can help you catch up with a first mortgage if you are behind, it cannot reduce the total amount required to pay off the mortgage debt.

The situation can be different for second mortgages.  If the value of the property is less than the payoff on the first mortgage, the second mortgage has no remaining value to “attach to.”  In effect, the first mortgage eats up all the value of the property, leaving none for the second.  In this situation, the second mortgage can be classified as fully unsecured.  This means the debt to the second mortgage holder, like any other unsecured debt, can be discharged, usually with only a nominal payment.  We refer to this as stripping off the second mortgage.

To illustrate how this works, let’s say you have a first mortgage with a balance of $100,000 and a second of $40,000.  If your home is worth less than $100,000, your Chapter 13 plan can classify the second mortgage as an unsecured debt and usually pay it off at pennies on the dollar, because the first mortgage eats up all the value in the home.  But if your home is worth $100,001, the entire second mortgage survives and must be paid in full.

Because determining real estate values is not a precise matter, it is not always possible to tell for sure whether a stripoff will succeed.  But the potential upside is tremendous: the debtor can emerge from Chapter 13 after three to five years with only one mortgage instead of two, and without paying a substantial amount on the second.  It’s an opportunity you will want to discuss with your RI bankruptcy attorney if your second (or third) mortgage may be underwater.

One last wrinkle.  If the value of the property is more than the first mortgage payoff  – even if only a few dollars – this leaves some value in the property that the second mortgage can attach to.  The second mortgage then gets the same protection as the first.  It must be paid in full.  It’s an all-or-nothing proposition.  Any value beyond the first mortgage means the second mortgage survives.

Filed Under: Blog, Chapter 13, Personal Finance, Rhode Island Bankruptcy Articles Tagged With: bankruptcy attorneys, bankruptcy lawyers, Chapter 13, filing bankruptcy in Rhode Island, Mark Buckley, Rhode Island, Rhode Island bankruptcy, Rhode Island Bankruptcy lawyer, RI bankruptcy lawyer, RI bankruptcy lawyer Mark Buckley, RI Chapter 13, SC bankruptcy lawyer Lex Rogerson, second mortgage, stripping off mortgage

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