One method to help build your credit rating after filing for Colorado personal bankruptcy is by obtaining a loan, such as a car loan. Once your personal bankruptcy case is closed, you can apply for a loan the next day. The following suggestions should help you get the best rates for your loan.

• Review Your Credit Report:

Check your credit report to make sure all of your accounts are in order before starting to apply for a loan. It is not uncommon after having filed for personal bankruptcy to see accounts that are still active even though they should be closed. Obviously, this will hurt your credit rating.

Consider adding a page to your credit report that will explain the situation that led you to filing personal bankruptcy. If there were extenuating circumstances, lenders may approve you for a better rate than under normal conditions.

• Plan Your Purchase:

Before proceeding with a purchase, decide what you can afford in a monthly loan payment. This will help you decide which financing package is best for you. Both the loan amount and length of payments will determine your monthly payments.

• Use A Loan Lender:

There are loan lenders who make their money by finding you a loan. The loan lenders work with several financing partners to back loans with all types of credit risk, including bankruptcies.

Online lenders deal with thousands of loans, and can usually find you a better deal than you might find locally. Online loan lenders will send you a check when you are approved.

• Explain Your Situation:

Many loan applications will ask if you have ever declared bankruptcy and why. This is your chance to explain what led up to the situation and the steps you have taken to resolve your credit situation. Be sure to include any improvements in your financial history also.

• Consider Refinancing:

Once you are approved for a loan, keep your eye on the possibility for refinancing in the future. If you make regular payments on all your bills, in a year’s time you could qualify for significantly lower interest rates. In three years, you can build your credit score to near excellent and qualify for even lower rates.

If you are looking for a Denver, Aurora, Arvada, Highlands Ranch, Commerce City, Wheat Ridge, Littleton, Englewood, Northglenn, Westminster, Broomfield, Lakewood, Brighton, Lafayette, or Golden personal bankruptcy lawyer feel free to contact me:

Kevin D. Heupel, Colorado bankruptcy lawyer

Phone: 303-955-7570

website: http://COBankruptcyHelp.com

email: help@cobankruptcyhelp.com

contact form: free consultation form

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That is a loaded question.  I am not sure what the concern is. If you owe taxes to the IRS they will be notified. And tax debt older than three years will be discharged. If you have old tax you would want the IRS to know. If you are filing a Chapter 13 the IRS is automatically notified of all filings. Again, I would like to know more of what your concern is with the IRS. The IRS doesn’t have a problem with people filing bankruptcy. When people do file bankruptcy they actually do get a stay from the IRS. The IRS will leave them alone, let the bankruptcy proceed , and then after the bankruptcy case is closed, that is when the IRS will come back to work it out.  So sometimes bankruptcy is a good way to deal with the IRS. So sometimes it works in your favor. That is why it is kind of a loaded question because it is more of a benefit to let them know. 

“See that’s what it goes back to, the education process, they don’t realize that it is a benefit that’s why you need to sit down one on one with Kevin. 303-955-7570″ Denise Plante, Colorado & Company, Channel 9

This is an excerpt from an interview on the show Colorado & Company. You may view the whole interview at: http://wm.kusa.gannett.edgestreams.net/ads/sales/COCO/1249324018580-Heupel%20Law%20Firm%20080309%20.wmv. Or if you are from Denver, Aurora, Arvada, Commerce City, Highlands Ranch, Wheat Ridge, Littleton, Englewood, Northglenn, Westminster, Broomfield, Lakewood, Brighton, Lafayette, or Golden and have any questions for a Colorado personal bankruptcy lawyer feel free to contact me:

Kevin D. Heupel, Colorado bankruptcy lawyer

Phone: 303-955-7570

website: http://COBankruptcyHelp.com

email: help@cobankruptcyhelp.com

contact form: free consultation form

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Does filing for personal bankruptcy stop the foreclosure process?

It does. It automatically stops it for sixty days. If you look at filing a Chapter 13 where you can take the arrearages of your mortgage payments that led to the foreclosure, it can stay it indefinitely. It is a good way to save the home.

I was denied the mitigation program with my home loan. Is personal bankruptcy the next step?

Maybe, it really depends if you have a second mortgage. If you have a first mortgage you can lose the home in foreclosure, the bank takes the home and walks away. If you have a second mortgage, it is that second mortgage that pursues collection against you for the deficiency. Without having more information I am not sure if personal bankruptcy would be your next step, but you can give me a call and I can determine whether you should or not.

“It’s definitely a thorough consultation, the first sit down meeting with you. Which is wonderful. He definitely takes time. 303-955-7570″  Denise Plante, Colorado & Company, Channel 9

 If you live in the Denver, Aurora, Arvada, Wheat Ridge, Littleton, Englewood, Northglenn, Westminster, Broomfield, Lakewood, Brighton, Lafayette, or Golden, Colorado area, please feel free to contact me for a consultation at: 303-955-7570, or help@cobankruptcyhelp.com, or fill out the free consultation form.

This is an excerpt from an interview on the show Colorado & Company. You may view the whole interview at: http://wm.kusa.gannett.edgestreams.net/ads/sales/COCO/1249324018580-Heupel%20Law%20Firm%20080309%20.wmv .

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Absolutely, whether you are filing Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 you can keep your home. The criterion really is how much equity you have in the home. If you are under sixty years old you are allowed to have up to sixty thousand dollars of equity. If you are over sixty you are allowed to have up to ninety thousand dollars of equity. In this economic market, people are not losing their homes—very few, if any, have that much equity.

If you are from the Denver, Aurora, Arvada, Wheat Ridge, Littleton, Englewood, Northglenn, Westminster, Broomfield, Lakewood, Brighton, Lafayette, or Golden, Colorado area, and need to talk with a personal bankruptcy lawyer please contact me :

Kevin D. Heupel, Colorado bankruptcy lawyer

Phone: 303-955-7570

website: http://COBankruptcyHelp.com

email: help@cobankruptcyhelp.com

contact form: free consultation form

 This is an excerpt from an interview on the show Colorado & Company. You may view the whole interview at: http://wm.kusa.gannett.edgestreams.net/ads/sales/COCO/1249324018580-Heupel%20Law%20Firm%20080309%20.wmv .

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The easiest one is if your unsecured debt—like credit cards and medical bills—is more than one third of your annual income you are a personal bankruptcy candidate. If you are paying your credit card, but then having to use it to buy groceries and gas you are looking at bankruptcy. What I tell my clients, if you are on the fence, is pay everything in cash for a month and pay the credit cards last and see if you even have money left over to pay them. I f you don’t have the money to pay them you are looking at bankruptcy.

If you are from the Denver, Aurora, Arvada, Wheat Ridge, Littleton, Englewood, Northglenn, Westminster, Broomfield, Lakewood, Brighton, Lafayette, or Golden, Colorado area, and are still uncertain about whether to file for personal bankruptcy please feel to contact me at: 303-955-7570, or help@cobankruptcyhelp.com, or fill out the free consultation form.

This is an excerpt from an interview on the show Colorado & Company. You may view the whole interview at: http://wm.kusa.gannett.edgestreams.net/ads/sales/COCO/1249324018580-Heupel%20Law%20Firm%20080309%20.wmv .

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When a lot of my Colorado personal bankruptcy clients come in they always want to explain to me how they got into it. They start off by saying I am not like your other clients. I believe what they think is that the typical personal bankruptcy client is someone who went out and got a lot of credit cards and went on exotic trips, bought expensive furniture, bought expensive clothes—their spending got out of control. The reality is that most bankruptcy clients who file had a lifestyle they were maintaining, and then their income dropped, often because they have lost their job, they got cut, and they were unable to maintain their lifestyle anymore. So they used debt to maintain it, then once their income comes back, or if it doesn’t come back, they find themselves unable to pay the debt back. That is really the common path towards personal bankruptcy despite what people think.

If you are from the Denver, Aurora, Arvada, Wheat Ridge, Littleton, Englewood, Northglenn, Westminster, Broomfield, Lakewood, Brighton, Lafayette, or Golden, Colorado area, and have any questions I can help you with please contact me at: 303-955-7570, or help@cobankruptcyhelp.com, or fill out the free consultation form.

This is an excerpt from an interview on the show Colorado & Company. You may view the whole interview at: http://wm.kusa.gannett.edgestreams.net/ads/sales/COCO/1249324018580-Heupel%20Law%20Firm%20080309%20.wmv . I will be appearing on Colorado & Company again tomorrow, August 25th, and will be answering some more of viewers questions. Please join me there on Channel 9 at 10 a.m.

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I know it can be intimidating to think of meeting with a personal bankruptcy lawyer. For this reason, many people delay in contacting a bankruptcy attorney. It is wise to get in touch with a personal bankruptcy lawyer as soon as possible, otherwise it might be too late to obtain an optimal level of assistance.

As I’ve mentioned before, I realize that many people are concerned about the stigma associated with filing for personal bankruptcy, thus they hesitate to do so. But the negative associations with filing for personal bankruptcy are a thing of the past. Today most people understand that the act of filing for personal bankruptcy is an economic tool. 

You may be tempted to initially contact credit counselors, debt management companies, or companies that will help with mortgage adjustments. In some instances, this may be a useful first step, but in many cases it may be a risky one, since some of these companies can be unreliable. If you delay for too long, by the time you see a personal bankruptcy lawyer, you might find that your wages have been garnished, that you have wasted money, or you have lost some of your property.

Keep in mind that if you see a personal bankruptcy lawyer it does not mean you will have to file bankruptcy if you are not prepared to do so. A personal bankruptcy attorney will explore your options with you. They may even refer you to a reputable credit counselor or suggest other steps to take. Certainly, having the informed advice of a personal bankruptcy lawyer will help you to make a wise decision.

So please contact me with any of your concerns. If you live in the Denver, Aurora, Arvada, Wheat Ridge, Littleton, Englewood, Northglenn, Westminster, Broomfield, Lakewood, Brighton, Lafayette, or Golden, Colorado area, feel free to ask me for assistance at: 303-955-7570, or help@cobankruptcyhelp.com, or fill out the free consultation form.

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In my last blog I stated that we are not heading for another “Great Depression.” But, as a personal bankruptcy lawyer for Denver, Colorado, I want to make it clear to those of you considering filing personal bankruptcy that the upswing in the economy will be slow. An article in the Washington Post on Friday referred to the economy as sluggish and quoted the following statistics from The Reuters/University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers: “. . . the index of confidence fell to 63.2 from 66.0 in July, well below market expectations for a reading of 68.5.”

It seems that participants in the financial market concentrated more on the bleak consumer outlook than on the Federal Reserve report indicating the recession beginning in 2007 was nearing an end. Affected by high unemployment and decreasing home values, consumers are conserving money and therefore have caused an unexpected drop in retail sales. Given that consumers drive seventy percent of our economy, the lack of consumer spending has caused some concern. The Labor Department said consumer prices were flat in July and dropped over the last year at the fastest rate since 1950.

Despite the fact that the rise in industrial production spurred on by government programs is yet another sign that the recession is drawing to an end, the likelihood is that the economy will vacillate greatly after the government initiatives taper off.

There were some positive indicators in the Reuters/University of Michigan Surveys, such as a rebound in the home buying conditions index, and the finding that the outlook of households for the labor market was less negative than during the previous month.

The bottom line: although the survey does imply that households sense the economy is stabilizing, they have yet to experience improvement in their own situation, and are not likely to until the labor market begins to improve.

In the meantime, if you need help from a personal bankruptcy attorney and are living in the Denver, Aurora, Arvada, Wheat Ridge, Littleton, Englewood, Northglenn, Westminster, Broomfield, Lakewood, Brighton, Lafayette, or Golden, Colorado area, feel free to contact me:

K. D. HEUPEL, Colorado bankruptcy lawyer

Phone: 303-955-7570

website: http://COBankruptcyHelp.com

email: help@cobankruptcyhelp.com

contact form: free consultation form

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As a Denver, Colorado personal bankruptcy lawyer I am always interested in the state of the economy.

 The Nobel Prize winner and professor of Economics and International Affairs at Princeton University, Paul Krugman, wrote an article in the New York Times last week on the state of our economy that caught my attention. He discusses the fact that we are not heading for another “Great Depression” (refer to my blog recession or depression for another discussion of this topic). He believes that the economy is no longer at the “edge of the abyss.”

The possibility of landing in the abyss was very real a few months ago. In some ways the 2008 financial crisis was comparable to the early 1930’s, with world trade, global industrial production and stock prices plummeting as fast as they did then. Fortunately, the economic downward trend has ended after one truly bad year, whereas in the 1930’s it continued to drop.

The very different role played by our government rescued us from a total replay of the “Great Depression.” The most significant aspect of the government’s role is what it has not done. The federal government hasn’t cut spending, despite a decrease in income. Social Security checks continue to be sent out; Medicare continues to cover hospital bills; federal employees are still being paid. This has stabilized the economy during this time of crisis.

In addition, the government has taken steps to assist the financial sector. There are some questions about how the bailouts of financial firms have been handled, yet it is important not to forget that without the bailouts things would have been much worse. And finally, the government’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act has played an important role in establishing approximately a million more jobs than would have been in place without it.

Krugman concludes that although the economy remains in trouble, “we appear to have averted the worst: utter catastrophe no longer seems likely.”

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Yesterday I wrote about the sharp increase in small-business bankruptcy cases, so I decided it might be helpful to supply a list of suggestions that would be useful to small businesses that are in financial trouble.

• If your company has a pension plan do not touch it. If you do, you will risk being charged a steep penalty plus the money you withdraw will be taxed. In addition, the plan might be disqualified.
• Do not worry about the clause commonly placed in commercial leases saying you are automatically in default if you file for bankruptcy.  These clauses are usually not enforceable. If you file bankruptcy utility companies cannot make it an excuse for terminating your utilities.
• Do not keep your checking and other accounts in the same bank you are indebted to because your loan agreement may give the bank the right to take your funds without notice.
• If you are leasing equipment and don’t intend to retain it if you file for bankruptcy, consider giving it back to the leasing company before you file. If you do return it and the equipment is currently worth less than what you owe under the lease, this deficiency will be discharged in bankruptcy. If you do decide to keep the leased property, you will need to continue making payments on time-this obligation will not be discharged by going through bankruptcy.
• When it becomes clear that you won’t have enough revenue to pay your bills, cut expenses to the bone. Collect as much of the money owed to you as possible. Obviously, you have to pay taxes and overhead costs, but work with your creditors and suppliers to delay paying other bills.
• Be sure to pay all payroll taxes on time. State tax authorities can hold you personally liable for these taxes and penalize you.
• Be meticulously honest about your debts. Otherwise, the law may decide your debts have been obtained fraudulently. Sometimes, feeling desperate, a business owner will try to protect personal assets by hiding them or giving them to friends and relatives. Creditors are experienced at ferreting out such hidden assets, thus these tactics are ineffective and may result in civil and even criminal charges of fraud.
• The Bankruptcy Code frowns on the payment of some creditors and not others; that is considered to be making preferential payments. If you file for bankruptcy, all payments you make during the prior year will be examined by creditors to make sure that some creditors weren’t given an unfair advantage.
• Consider ways to continue making insurance payments. If your business winds up in a Chapter 11 reorganization or you end up in a Chapter 13 reorganization, it may be difficult to find an insurance carrier who will renew your business coverage or will issue a new policy. It would be wise to have insurance in place that extends at least a year into the future. If you pay on time the insurance cannot be canceled.

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