Protection Against Bankruptcy

Protection. This is one of the most used words associated with bankruptcy. However, there are some details and information imperative to know to rightly protect yourself against it.

What does “Bankruptcy Protection” actually mean and what are the things you must do concerning this.

Bankruptcy Law means Federal Law. All bankruptcy cases are filed and administered in Federal Courts and are found in the Title 11 of the United States Code.

This will protect you because the power of the Federal Court is superior to the State Court’s power because of the supremacy clause of the United States Constitution.

Bankruptcy Law offers protection. This law is powerful and entails heavy penalties for the creditors who violate it by trying to enforce any claims or judgements against the debtor. Any lawsuits or judgements issued by the state court against them will automatically become legally unenforceable.

This law can help avoid economic enslavement.

Filing bankruptcy can protect the rights of the people. This right holds to become self-evident, non-negotiable, and God-given. In simple terms, this is the right to be ‘left alone’ and to be able to pursue happiness and reap the benefits of their hard work.

Once you file a bankruptcy case, an automatic issue ‘Automatic Stay’ is ordered, wherein creditors are not allowed to contact the debtors by any means. The creditors do not have the right to sue you or continue any lawsuit they have filed against you.

When you have no resources to pay for your debts, filing for bankruptcy is both an ethical and correct thing to do. It is a fair move to provide creditors a transparent report of one’s financial situation through filing a petition and providing evidence.

Evidence that the debt can not be paid because of the financial situation of the debtor, providing the freedom to start over.

At the end of it all, bankruptcy mainly protects your freedom. Life itself. Why? because capitalism involves risk. Without this risk, there is no gain, and without it, we lose any economic progress.

Bankruptcy vs Insolvency

The terms bankruptcy and insolvency are often interchanged, but that is a mistake.

They don’t mean the same thing. Bankruptcy involves a person or business liquidating assets through legal means to pay some debts and to eliminate others.

There are several types of bankruptcy someone can apply for. It depends on their circumstances and where they reside.

Insolvency means the debts of someone or a business are currently more than their assets. For example, a new business may owe a great deal for the building and startup costs.

They aren’t making a profit yet but they are still functional. Such a business may be in the process of saving the business by reorganizing.

One of the ways they do this is to discuss the debt they owe with each creditor.

The creditors may extend the terms or suspend payments for a given amount of time. Others may reduce interest or even reduce the balance due.

The goal is to get the debt to a manageable amount where they can knock it out and start making money again.

Insolvency Legal Efforts

When the efforts on their own aren’t successful or they aren’t enough, the legal side of it may be necessary. A person or business can file for insolvency through the courts.

This is a chance to legally reduce debts or to restructure them. Not everyone qualifies for bankruptcy or wants that on their record. This may be a better choice to consider.

Input with Legal Bankruptcy or Legal Insolvency

From a legal point of view, there is very little input from the person or business with legal bankruptcy.

The law determines what will be paid and how it will be paid and they must comply with those requirements.

Legal solvency is the opposite as the person or business comes to the court with a plan of action. They will accept it, deny it, or request modifications before they can approve it.

How Many Times Did Donald Trump File For Bankruptcy?

Businessman and former American President Donald Trump has expressed himself as one of the savviest businessmen and politicians in American history. But he hasn’t always done well with his funds, as he has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy six times in the past.

How Can He File So Much?

The reason Donald Trump has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy six times is that the practice focuses on reorganizing debts. A Chapter 11 bankruptcy entails a debtor proposing a reorganization plan to keep the business running while also paying off debts.

A business can still operate while under Chapter 11 bankruptcy, but it will do so under the supervision of a bankruptcy court. The business must provide a corporate budget and a plan for paying off those debts. The effort can include a schedule for when someone will pay off everything.

The Chapter 11 process is different from a Chapter 7 or 13 bankruptcy, as Chapter 7 entails liquidating one’s assets. A Chapter 13 declaration is for personal purposes and is for debtors who have some sort of disposable income and does not entail liquidation.

Multiple Bankruptcies Can Occur At Once

Three of Donald Trump’s six Chapter 11 bankruptcies occurred in 1992. He declared bankruptcies on two Atlantic City casinos that he operated and a third on his Plaza Hotel property in New York City. These three bankruptcies entailed separate plans for how Trump would manage the debts he owed for these individual properties. A Chapter 11 bankruptcy will focus on a single business item, although some people may combine multiple assets in the same declaration.

You Can Recover After Bankruptcy

Donald Trump would declare Chapter 11 bankruptcy two more times after 1992, with the most recent being in 2009 when he declared bankruptcy on his Trump Entertainment Resorts business. But Trump continues to own various prominent and profitable assets to this day. His financial struggles didn’t seem to hurt him when becoming one of the world’s most powerful political figures.

How can landlords avoid bankruptcy?

Unexpected costs are amongst some of the main reasons that landlords go into bankruptcy. According to nh-law.co.uk, there are new laws making it easier than ever for tenants to sue their landlord.

Here are some things that you need to know (note that this applies to tenants living in England only):

  • If your tenancy agreement was signed before 20 March 2019, and your tenants feel that you failed to provide them with a safe and healthy living environment, they can use Homes Act 2018 to file a complaint against you.
  • Everyone that has a secure tenancy agreement or statutory tenancy can use Homes Act 2018 (regardless of when their tenancy began).
  • Your tenants can sue you over a variety of issues, some examples are:
    • The house is already cold and damp.
    • You failed to carry out necessary repairs or maintenance.
    • Mould growth.

Under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, the responsibility of investigating living conditions was given to the local authorities which cause the local councils to suffer from budget cuts and staffing issues. This is the reason why some landlords are free to skimp the cost of repair and maintenance of their house, leaving tenants to deal with the consequences.

Under Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018, you must be accountable for the houses that you are renting out. You need to make sure that the property is fit to live in. Here are some things that you have to maintain:

  • ventilation;
  • damp;
  • cold; and
  • other issues that go beyond just repair.

Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018

The Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018 came into force on the 20th of March 2019. The purpose of the new law is to ensure that the rented properties are fit to live in. These properties should:

  • Be safe and secure.
  • Have a healthy environment.
  • Free from things that could cause serious harm to tenants.

Make sure to provide a safe, secure, warm and dry home for your tenants so you can avoid being taken to court. Note that the court can also require you to pay for compensation.

Your responsibilities as a landlord

According to the new laws, your home must fit for human habitation, this includes health and safety issues that may cause your tenants or anyone else in serious harm.

It does not matter what kind of property you are renting out; what matters is the agreement that you have with your tenants.

Bankruptcy Discharge OR Bankruptcy Dismissal

The ideal goal when filing for bankruptcy protection is to resolve your debts. There are a lot of different ways that you can achieve this ⁠— including Chapters 7, 11, and 13. For each of the different types of bankruptcy, debt can be eliminated when certain criteria are met or under certain conditions. A bankruptcy lawyer can explain the differences between the types of bankruptcy for you to choose which suits you best.

However, there are a few possible outcomes that can result from the proceedings regardless of what type of bankruptcy you file. Two of those outcomes include “discharge” and “dismissal”. Although discharge and dismissal are similar-sounding words, anyone filing for bankruptcy protection needs to understand that these two hold vital differences.

Discharge vs. Dismissal

When you enter into bankruptcy, the goal of the filing is generally to discharge your debt. It means you no longer have to repay your debt and it is no longer collectible by the company or entity to whom it was owed.

For example, eligible unsecured debts such as credit card bills are discharged at the end of the bankruptcy when you filed for Chapter 7 protection. Creditors cannot collect the debt listed on your credit report and you are no longer obligated to pay any of those discharged debts. Although the process is different, Chapters 11 and 13 can also result in the discharge of some debts.

A dismissal, on the other hand, does not mean that any debts are wiped clean. It means that the bankruptcy case is dismissed by the judge and will not continue to go forward. Thus, creditors can continue collecting the money that you owe or owed on your debts from you.

When does a dismissal occur?

Dismissal is something that you do not want to associate your case with as it will leave your financial problems unresolved. A dismissal can occur when something has gone wrong such as failure to follow through with the required obligations of your bankruptcy proceedings or if the judge believes that you are not eligible for bankruptcy, perhaps because you just filed recently.

Avoiding a dismissal should be a top priority for those who want to go through bankruptcy proceedings. A bankruptcy lawyer can help you with your bankruptcy case so you will be able to avoid this undesirable outcome and instead end up with an eliminated debt.

How To Recover From Bankruptcy

When you have filed for bankruptcy with the help of a bankruptcy lawyer and have completed the process and had your debts discharged, it is time to begin the process of bouncing back and rebuilding your credit.

CBS News, in an article, provided general tips to debtors which include monitoring your credit, submitting letters of explanation to the credit reporting agencies about your financial difficulties, getting approved for a credit card, using your credit card in a smart way, and paying it off each month.

These tips are great—but your bankruptcy lawyer can provide you with even more detailed advice on how to go about rebuilding your credit.

Tips from a bankruptcy lawyer: How to bounce back after bankruptcy

When you want to rebuild your credit after bankruptcy, as CBS News pointed out, you will need to get your source of credit. Although this proves to be a challenge, secured credit cards should be available to individuals almost as soon as their bankruptcy filing is complete. A secured credit card is a type of credit card that is backed by a cash deposit from the cardholder which acts as its collateral. In other words, you might get a $500 line of credit, but you will have to make a $500-deposit in an account held by the creditor that may be used to pay your bill if in case you can’t pay it back yourself.

Once you have the secured card, you will need to use it to make small purchases. Keep your use of the card below 30% of the credit amount available for you as your scoring will be penalized by credit bureaus if you maxed out your card. Always pay your bill in full since secured cards have high interest rates and since you don’t need to carry a balance to improve your credit.

After some time making on-time payments with your secured card, your credit score should improve enough that you may be able to get an unsecured card. You may also be able to qualify for a home mortgage in just 1 year after a Chapter 13 filing or 2 years after filing a Chapter 7.

Getting help from a bankruptcy lawyer

When you go through the bankruptcy process, your bankruptcy lawyer will provide you with comprehensive support and advice from getting rid of your debts to what you need to do to improve your credit and finances after bankruptcy. Take advantage of the advice made available to you and get an expert opinion from a bankruptcy lawyer today.