Recently, the New York Times highlighted the growing financial burden placed on Americans struggling to pay health care and dental bills. This article covers a disturbing trend: credit to pay for services is offered directly from doctors or dentists to their clients without verifying the patient’s ability to handle additional debt. This credit often comes at a steep cost, including interest exceeding twenty percent. Although the services offered and accepted at a doctor’s or dentist’s office are more essential to one’s health than those received in, for instance, a luxury spa, the resulting debt is still leaving people with the possibility of declaring bankruptcy in order to meet their obligations.  [Read more…]

Your credit report is a record of your credit history. As you rebuild your credit after a bankruptcy, it becomes even more important to monitor all three of your credit reports on a regular basis.

There are three major companies—Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion—that issue credit reports. These credit reports are very similar, with more or less the same major sections: Identifying Information, Credit History, Public Records, and Inquiries.

The Identifying Information section includes your name, address, date of birth, Social Security number, and other personal information. [Read more…]

Following Congress’s recent failure to pass a new budget or extend the current budget, the federal government shut down. Federal operations ground to a halt, and nearly one million non-essential employees were told to stay home, their jobs uncertain.

It is a disgrace that so many employees have had their livelihood threatened by the shutdown. With paychecks not coming in, many of these employees may face a financial crisis, even potential bankruptcy.

Even before the shutdown, federal workers have been experiencing a financial crunch, with their pay frozen at 2010 levels.

In a recent CNN Money article, one federal worker describes the very real possibility that he will have to file for bankruptcy as a result of the furlough. [Read more…]

Remember the days of running out of film in your camera and scrambling to the convenience store to buy some spare rolls?

So does Kodak.

As an experienced bankruptcy attorney in Louisville, Kentucky, I’m always watching the national news for any bankruptcy stories. Recently, an article from ABC News caught my eye. [Read more…]

In recent months, the city of Detroit made history by filing for Chapter 9 bankruptcy, creating the biggest case for municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history.

As a bankruptcy attorney in Louisville, Kentucky, I can imagine the ramifications this will have on the local economy of Detroit and am interested to see how the municipality emerges from the situation.

Detroit’s decision to file for Chapter 9 bankruptcy won’t go unchallenged, however. A recent article form NBC News said Detroit’s unions recently filed a challenge, contending that the city has not met key requirements to seek protection from its looming creditors. [Read more…]

The bankruptcy of the City of Detroit made headlines in newspapers across the country. It’s the “largest American city ever to file for bankruptcy,” according to The Economist.

The city has estimated debts of $18.2 billion, approximately $27,000 for every resident. Since 2008, reports The Economist, the city spent around $100 million more than it brought in. Detroit has long been in decline, caused by a dwindling population and a failing auto industry, and attempts to balance the budget in recent years have largely failed. [Read more…]

Filing bankruptcy can help many people recover from very tough financial situations. In many cases, people can become financially stable after bankruptcy, with time of course. As we’ve often mentioned, bankruptcy is designed to help an honest person get out of debt.

Unfortunately, there are situations where bankruptcy is abused.

A recent CBS Sports article about former Arkansas Razorbacks coach John L. Smith demonstrates how being honest up front can save you from headaches later. [Read more…]

Molly Burchett’s report “Bankruptcy Filing By Mental Health Agency A Loser For Kentucky” shows that bankruptcy can strike both businesses and individuals and depicts a tricky situation the state and public are now facing.

Rather than paying the Kentucky Employee Retirement System, Seven Counties Services Inc. (one of the state’s largest mental health agencies) will file bankruptcy, according to the article. This creates a series of problems. Most obviously, the state will lose money to the Kentucky Employee Retirement System. [Read more…]

There are several big misconceptions about bankruptcy and the individuals who file bankruptcy. One of those misconceptions is the “why.” Many outsiders (individuals who have not filed bankruptcy or not had someone close to them go through it) believe that individuals who file bankruptcy are simply irresponsible. They think individuals who file bankruptcy spent lavishly and lived beyond their means with no thought as to how they would pay the money back later on. Believe it or not, most bankruptcy filers do not fit that description.Sure, there are probably some who do, but the vast majority had other reasons for filing bankruptcy. Here is a look behind bankruptcy: [Read more…]