All Credit Reports

A bankruptcy petition preparer is defined as an individual or company who is not a lawyer nor works for a law firm that will assist your document preparation for your bankruptcy filing. The generation of bankruptcy forms in the primary duty of the bankruptcy petition preparer. Sounds convenient, right? It certainly can be if you are in the position to spend the money, however there are drawbacks to spending your money with a petition preparer vs. an experienced bankruptcy attorney.

Some of the differences between a bankruptcy petition preparer and a bankruptcy attorney are obvious to some – the bankruptcy petition preparer cannot give you legal advice nor can they serve as your bankruptcy court representative. But take it a step further and you will learn that in addition, the bankruptcy preparer is unable to inform you which type of bankruptcy you should file according to your circumstances or advise you on which debts to list, which debts not to list, which assets to list or not list or what property to exempt – all decisions that must be made during the bankruptcy process.

Therefore it falls upon you to be informed in these areas, a difficult and time consuming tasks which carries great risk in that your bankruptcy may get dismissed for a simple mis-filed item, a missed deadline or misinterpretation of the instructions or bankruptcy law.

In summary, when using a bankruptcy petition preparer, you are the sole person in charge of your bankruptcy case.

When we hear about people who are unable to pay their debts filing bankruptcy, the last on our mind is that we may also land up in similar situation one day. Going overboard with credit card and taking loans for our needs is something we all do quite regularly. The problem arises when we are not able to pay back our debt due to uncertainties of life and unforeseen circumstances. These can include anything from recent recession to accidents or unexpected medical conditions. Bankruptcy law is made for people who are left with no other option of regaining control over their finances. If you happen to be in similar situation, then think twice before filing bankruptcy. Although this will help you tide over your current debts but it can blacklist you from other bank or financial institutions in future.
But if bankruptcy is the only way out, then you must opt for experienced and knowledgeable law firm like Law office of Michael Levitis to help you tide over this situation. They are one of the leading firms in the business and are esteemed for their moral and tailored legal services in New York and Brooklyn. Their Bankruptcy lawyers take up cases related to bankruptcy round the clock and looked up by many satisfied clients who would vouch for their expertise. From filing individual bankruptcy under chapter 7 and 13 to filing bankruptcy for business houses under chapter 11, they have in-depth knowledge of all the latest laws.
Law office of Michael Levitis are known for their ethical and transparent practises, which has earned them the respect of lawyer fraternity. There is no dearth of fraud law firms who don’t hesitate from showing rosy pictures to their clients. They maintain no transparency about the fee structure and other terms and condition of the agreement between them and their clients with the aim of making maximum profit. Law office of Michael Levitis believes in servicing their clients with morality and integrity. It is a team of professionals who are driven by the aim to help their clients and that too at very low fee.

   Submitted 2010-08-25 10:21:58 Going through a bankruptcy can be one of the most stressful periods of someone’s life. Getting back on your feet afterward can be even more difficult as many banks and credit unions will often just automatically deny your applications for a loan. It is possible, however, to get financing, but expect the process to take a while and to cost some money. Start by gathering together any documents you have showing a source of income and any proof that you have made consistent payments on any kind of debt. For most people, this will mean a paystub, but you can also use documentation from a student loan or Social Security payments. To show that you have made consistent payments after you filed for bankruptcy, gather together any credit card statements or any other payments made on any other kind of debt, such as a mortgage or a personal loan. Even utility bills showing that you have kept up with payments on your electrical or water service can work. Next, start applying for small loans. Secured credit cards are a good place to start. These credit cards require you to put a deposit down equal to the amount of credit that is extended to you. While this may seem strange, making regular payments on the card can convince a bank to eventually give you an unsecured card. As part of researching your options, ask local banks and credit unions about their finance programs for people with bad credit. While some might reject your application outright, you will find a few that can offer you an unsecured loan. Be prepared, however, for high interest rates and a high down payment. After several years of doing this, you should be able to get your credit score back up to a level that will allow you to get most of the loans you apply for at reasonable interest rates. Of course, if you need to apply for credit before then, or if you just dont have the time to do the research and paperwork involved with these steps, you might want to consider hiring a company that can handle the work for you. Credit repair companies can help you dispute the negatives on your credit report and possibly get them removed. The money you save from the lower monthly payments oftentimes more than makes up for the fees you pay to such services.

An interesting debate has emerged in the pages of the Financial Post over the last two weeks regarding the need for senior citizens to file bankruptcy in Canada. The debate started with an article by Jonathan Chevreau published on August 11, 2010 titled No Immunity to Bankruptcy. That day Mr. Chevreau also published a blog post titled Freedom 60? 33,516 Canadians 60 or older filed for bankruptcy from 2008 to 2010. I was interviewed for both the newspaper column and the blog post; here’s a quote from the newspaper:

Between 2006 and 2010, between 7% and 9% of the debtors handled by Toronto bankruptcy trustees Hoyes Michalos & Associates Inc. were 60 years of age or over, says principal Doug Hoyes.

In the two and a half years between January 2008 and May 2010, 33,516 Canadians age 60 or over filed for bankruptcy, according to Industry Canada.

That quote is accurate. In fact, after holding steady in the 7% range between 2006 and 2009, in the first seven months of 2010 the percentage of people aged 60 or over who have filed a consumer proposal or a personal bankruptcy has increased to 9%. That statistic clearly indicates that more seniors are experiencing financial difficulty, and are making the decision to formally deal with their debt.

Here’s the key problem, as quoted in the Financial Post article:

Of course, the problem with carrying debt into retirement is that it must be serviced with less income than when working full-time. Some adapt by making only the minimum monthly payments on credit cards, which leads to a downward debt spiral, a journey that often ends with a trip to offices like Hoyes.

In the past, most seniors were able to retire with no debt. The fortunate ones owned their own house with no mortgage, so when they retired they were able to live comfortably from their savings and pensions. Unfortunately today an increasing number of seniors are retiring with debt, so when their income drops at retirement it often becomes impossible to both service debt and pay normal day to day living expenses. I’ve met with a number of seniors who retired in good financial shape, but as the recession worsened they ended up helping their grown children deal with their money problems, and that often depletes their retirement nest egg, and can even lead to new debt.

But there’s more to the story than that; here’s another excerpt from the Financial Post article:

Hoyes guesses half the seniors he sees choose bankruptcy, although he lays out four less extreme options. He points out that most retirees don’t need to file for bankruptcy because the main reason for considering it is to ward off creditors that threaten to garnishee wages or seize assets. Retirees have no full-time wages, so don’t have significant wages that can be seized. Also, “it is very difficult, if not impossible, for a creditor to garnishee a pension,” Mr. Hoyes says.

This is where it gets interesting. On the day the article was published, Mr. Chevreau was contacted by a reader who said that he was 70 years old, and he owed a significant amount of back taxes, and CRA was taking all of his Canada Pension Plan income each month. As any good journalist would do, Mr. Chevreau contacted me to ask for my side of the story, since Revenue Canada’s actions to seize pension plans would appear to contradict my statement that “it’s very difficult for a creditor to garnishee a pension.”

My response to Mr. Chevreau was that yes, it is very difficult for a typical creditor, like a bank or credit card company, to garnishee a pension. However, Canada Revenue Agency is not a “typical” creditor. CRA has more power than your typical credit card company or other creditor.

On August 18 Mr. Chevreau reported on this continuing story in an article in the Financial Post titled Government gives with one hand, garnishees with other, where he tells the story of “Sam” (not his real name), the 70 year old who is not getting any CPP or OAS benefits because CRA is taking all of it, and applying it against his tax debt. Here’s an excerpt from the story:

Generally, if you owe money on credit cards or other unsecured debt, there’s no mechanism for creditors to garnishee a pension, says Doug Hoyes, a principal with Toronto based bankruptcy trustee Hoyes Michalos & Associates Inc.

According to Hoyes, the Ontario Wages Act only permits creditors to garnishee up to 20% of a person’s wages or 50% for child support. However, he says, “standard garnishment rules don’t apply to the CRA. They can do whatever they want.”

Hoyes regards the legal definition of garnisheeing wages as a court order to take some of your paycheque. But the rules are different when the government is itself the creditor. “It doesn’t go to court. They can just decide to take CPP and OAS until they get what they want.”

He has seen cases similar to Sam’s in the past, but they were “rare circumstances, generally where the tax debt was large and often where the taxpayer was delinquent in filing tax returns on time.”

CRA spokeswoman Caitlin Workman confirms the tax agency can garnishee “all types of pensions,” both government and private. This is permitted under Section 224.1 of the Income Tax Act, with similar provisions in five other acts. However, she says it’s rare to garnishee more than 20% of such benefits. “It’s very much a last resort after the taxpayer’s ability to pay has been determined.”

So there you have it. If you owe taxes to CRA, and if you get Canada Pension Plan or Old Age Security payments, Canada Revenue Agency can withhold some or all of your monthly pension payments in satisfaction of your tax debt.

As I said in the article, while I have seen cases like Sam’s, it is generally very rare that CRA would take all of someone’s pension. They will typically only take everything if you owe a significant amount in taxes, and if you were delinquent in filing your taxes on time. As the CRA spokeswoman stated, it is rare that they will garnishee more than 20% of pension benefits, but it is possible.

What Can You Do if CRA is Taking Your CPP Pension For Taxes Owing?

If you owe back taxes and CRA is taking your pension, you have a number of options.

First, you can contact CRA and work out a re-payment plan. If you have other assets that you can sell to raise cash, you may be able to pay your taxes with that money, at which point CRA will stop taking your pension. You may also be able to negotiate a monthly payment plan to free up some of your pension.

If you can’t make a plan directly with Canada Revenue Agency, you could try to get a debt consolidation loan; you borrow from a bank, and use the money to repay CRA. If you pay your taxes in full, CRA will release the flag on your pension payments.

If you don’t qualify for a loan, which is often the case once you retire because your income has dropped, your next option is a consumer proposal. In a consumer proposal a settlement is reached with all of your creditors, including CRA. In many cases you may end up paying less than the full amount owing. If your largest debt is taxes, CRA must agree to your proposal, so a consumer proposal is not always an option where tax debts are involved.

If a consumer proposal isn’t possible, your final option for dealing with tax debt is personal bankruptcy. Upon your discharge from bankruptcy in Canada your tax debts are discharged.

Owing money to the tax man isn’t fun at any age, but it can be even more stressful if you are a senior citizen on a pension, so if you have tax debts, contact a licensed bankruptcy trustee for a no charge initial consultation to review your options.

Finally, my thanks to Mr. Chevreau and the Finanicial Post for bringing this issue, and possible solutions, to the attention of senior Canadians.

Make money online by testing websites
MyWeb Opionions

Instant authorization also referred to as instant decision credit cards usually aren’t what many people anticipate. Whenever the majority of people, especially new to the realm of credit cards, get a glimpse of the term instant decision credit cards they rush to fill out an application thinking that should they be okayed they should be able to begin making use of their bank card without delay. This is simply not the truth.

While some retailers could actually provide instantaneous approval in addition to instantaneous credit to the applicants as a way to enhance product sales, a large number of financial institutions and credit card providers could possibly approve your credit request right away when you’ve got an excellent credit profile, nevertheless, you will not be using the new bank card any faster compared to any credit card because it’ll be despatched by way of normal mail once they have again analyzed your credit ranking.

Frequently individuals will apply for Instant decision credit cards devoid of carrying out much of a credit card comparison just for the reason that really don’t wish to wait around to determine if they have been accepted.

As a rule, if your credit standing is great plus your credit record shows that you are able to make the bare minimum payments they should happily let you know that you’ve been okayed. Having said that, in case your credit ratings is less than ideal, most financial institutions will tell you they need a little bit more time to evaluate a few things only to reject your application.

The truth is that most individuals who currently possess one or more credit cards pretty much realize whether or not they are going to be okayed for the next bank card.

For those people with average credit scores and so are not likely end up being be accepted to qualify for instant decision credit cards, attempting to obtain these cards can in fact hurt your credit worthiness. Virtually every credit rating encompasses how many times you’ve been recently turned down for credit and when other charge card companies realize that you’ve been recently refused they’re less likely to give you credit.

So please don’t make the error of trying to get several cards hoping that one is going to approve your submission since it’s almost guaranteed that not only are you going to end up refused but those denials definitely will do harm to your credit standing for some time into the future.

Remember that Instant decision credit cards are precisely what they seem like. The verdict is made straight away, the specific card is going to take a little more time to get there.