In a prior blog I mentioned the fact that this is a good time to discuss issues related to taxes and bankruptcy.  So here is some information you will need regarding the Colorado Chapter 13 bankruptcy trustee’s recommended procedures for submitting your tax returns. There is a new email address for you to submit your tax return/ affidavit to the Colorado Chapter 13 Trustee, which is required to be provided by 11 U.S.C.521(e)(2)(A)(i). Sending your return by email will save copies and postage and will allow the Trustee to monitor his or her receipt of the returns more efficiently.

The return/affidavit should be sent to:  taxreturns@ch13colorado.com with the following format in the subject line:
CASE NUMBER, LAST NAME, DESCRIPTION
Examples:
0640000, DOE, 2005-1040
0640000, DOE, AFFIDAVIT

Don’t forget the deadline for submission is no later than 7 days prior to the first date set for the meeting of creditors.

If you live in Denver, Aurora, Arvada, Brighton, Broomfield, Commerce City, Englewood, Golden, Highlands Ranch, Lakewood, Lafayette, Littleton, Northglenn, Westminster, or Wheat Ridge, Colorado and have any questions please feel free to contact me. Kevin D. Heupel, Colorado Bankruptcy lawyer, 303-955-7570, COBankruptcyHelpEmail, free-consultation form.

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After my last blog I thought it might be helpful to remind you of the signs that indicate you should consider filing bankruptcy, sooner rather than later. It may be time for bankruptcy if any of the following situations apply to you:

• if you are borrowing money to pay for any of your debts
• if you are using your retirement savings to pay your debts and/or your bills
• if you are not able to make minimum payments on your credit card
• if you are accruing excessive finance charges on your credit cards
• if you are selling personal items such as your jewelry, furniture or appliances
• if your wages are being garnished
• if you and your family are stressed about paying bills and are unable to sleep
• if you are receiving phone calls from creditors and collection agencies

Do not wait until you have spent all of your economic, emotional or physical resources to contact a bankruptcy attorney. If you live in Denver, Aurora, Arvada, Brighton, Broomfield, Commerce City, Englewood, Golden, Highlands Ranch, Lakewood, Lafayette, Littleton, Northglenn, Westminster, or Wheat Ridge, Colorado and want to investigate whether bankruptcy is an option for you please contact me. Kevin D. Heupel, Colorado Bankruptcy lawyer, 303-955-7570, COBankruptcyHelpEmail, free-consultation form.

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Wendy Kaufman of NPR wrote an article last week that examined the dramatic rise in bankruptcy filings. She discussed the fact that more people are now filing Chapter 7 bankruptcy than Chapter 13. To illustrate how bankruptcy is a respectable means for an individual to get a new start, she describes the situation of a corporate manager named Linda Frakes.

By the time Frakes went to a bankruptcy lawyer for help, she owed approximately $150,000 on her credit cards, and was getting increasingly in debt. She went to a credit counseling agency to work out a repayment plan, but it didn’t go well. A single mother in her fifties, Frakes had been living an upper-middle-class life, and was both terrified and depressed. As an owner of several successful businesses Frakes was hit hard by the change in market conditions and was unable to sell her businesses as she had planned. Like many people in debt often do, she began to depend on credit cards to get by. Then a business deal fell through leaving her in even more dire straits.

The origins of most personal bankruptcies are business failures, serious illnesses, divorce, a death in the family, or the loss of employment. Most are circumstances beyond an individual’s control. Yes, in some instances there are individuals opting to file personal bankruptcy who are deadbeats or who never had any intention of paying debts they have accumulated. But as I have noted before, in my practice most people seeking to file bankruptcy aren’t of that nature. Most people are reluctant to file and ashamed about having to do so. As Gloria Nagler a bankruptcy lawyer from Seattle said, filing bankruptcy is “not a moral failing.” It is an option that is a form of protection for people who need and deserve serious help.

If you live in Denver, Aurora, Arvada, Brighton, Broomfield, Commerce City, Englewood, Golden, Highlands Ranch, Lakewood, Lafayette, Littleton, Northglenn, Westminster, or Wheat Ridge, Colorado and have questions please contact me. Kevin D. Heupel, Colorado Bankruptcy lawyer, 303-955-7570, COBankruptcyHelpEmail, free-consultation form.

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Last week U.S. News & World Report had an article about last year’s foreclosure crisis.  Greater than 2.8 million properties were foreclosed in 2009 which is an increase of twenty-one percent from 2008 and an increase of one hundred twenty percent from 2007. Even more homeowners appear to be heading toward foreclosure this year with almost ten percent of the mortgages presently delinquent. There are a variety of reasons behind the multitude of foreclosures. One of the most prevalent being the loss of jobs-the unemployment rate continues to be in the double digits.

Reading this article prompted me to remind those of you facing an impending foreclosure on your home to consider bankruptcy as an option.  In two prior blogs I have discussed this issue: Many People are Filing Bankruptcy to Avoid Foreclosure and Does Filing for Bankruptcy Stop the Foreclosure Process. As I have said before, please contact me and together we can determine whether filing personal bankruptcy will be your best option for saving your home.

If you live in Denver, Aurora, Arvada, Brighton, Broomfield, Commerce City, Englewood, Golden, Highlands Ranch, Lakewood, Lafayette, Littleton, Northglenn, Westminster, or Wheat Ridge, Colorado, please feel free to call, email, or submit the free-consultation form.

Kevin D. Heupel, Colorado Bankruptcy lawyer, at:  303-955-7570, or COBankruptcyHelpEmail, or free-consultationform.

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Stacy Johnson, the author of the Smart Spending Blog on msn.com, wrote an illuminating article on Wednesday about the issue of bankruptcy. She learned from a retired gentleman referred to as Ron that there are times when bankruptcy is one’s only choice-an intelligent one at that. Usually people do file for bankruptcy when there is no other choice.  “If that’s what you need to do,” Stacy Johnson says, “the mistake isn’t doing it, it’s not doing it soon enough.”  She goes on to say that one thing she’ll never forget from talking with Ron is the relief on his face as he described what it was like to finally put aside his pride and find help. Ron said that for months before he walked into that lawyer’s office, he’d been verbally abused by creditors, and immobilized with shame. He admitted that he had even felt suicidal.

If you’re having major financial trouble, to quote Stacy Johnson, “hesitation simply causes wasted stress, time and money. Before he got help, Ron wasted all three trying to stay ahead of bills he had no hope of ultimately paying. Especially since rather than helping him, his lenders chose instead to make his situation untenable by jacking up his rates and fees.”

So if you are experiencing economic stress, override your feelings of shame and contact a lawyer as soon as possible. A bankruptcy lawyer will be able to give you advice on your choices and, if bankruptcy is the right one, they will help maximize what you keep and minimize what you lose.

If you live in Denver, Aurora, Arvada, Brighton, Broomfield, Commerce City, Englewood, Highlands Ranch, Lakewood, Lafayette, Littleton, Northglenn, Westminster, Wheat Ridge, or Golden, Colorado and have questions you would like a Colorado personal bankruptcy attorney to answer please contact me. Kevin D. Heupel, Colorado Bankruptcy lawyer, 303-955-7570, COBankruptcyHelpEmail, free-consultation form.

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Many people don’t know that they can be forced into bankruptcy without having filed a petition. This is referred to as an “involuntary bankruptcy.” Involuntary bankruptcy may be initiated under a Chapter 7 or Chapter 11 bankruptcy only. You cannot be forced into a Chapter 13 bankruptcy.

You may be forced into an involuntary bankruptcy if you are in debt to fewer than twelve unsecured creditors. A single creditor must hold an unsecured claim against you of at least $10,000. Otherwise, the single creditor will have to join with your other creditors to file the lawsuit. In that instance, there must be at least three creditors with unsecured claims against you that add up to $10,000 or more. Because of these specific conditions you probably will not have to worry about being forced into bankruptcy if you get behind on your credit card.

 Involuntary bankruptcy will usually not be your creditors’ first choice. Your creditors may choose this option because it will force you to confront all of them at once, rather than only paying those creditors who are most aggressive. Another reason for a creditor to consider an involuntary proceeding is to prevent you from draining all your assets before finally having to file for bankruptcy.  Be aware that creditors are cautious about taking this path because if their petition for involuntary bankruptcy is denied, the court may award you costs and attorney’s fees.

If you live in Denver, Aurora, Arvada, Brighton, Broomfield, Commerce City, Englewood, Highlands Ranch, Lakewood, Lafayette, Littleton, Northglenn, Westminster, Wheat Ridge, or Golden, Colorado, please feel free to contact me with any questions.  

Kevin D. Heupel, Colorado Bankruptcy attorney, 303-955-7570, COBankruptcyHelpEmail, free-consultation form.

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If you are filing for a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, you may file an application to waiver the filing fee at the same time you file your bankruptcy petition. When your Chapter 7 petition is accompanied by a fee waiver application, the bankruptcy court should initiate and process your case in the same manner as other individual Chapter 7 cases.

The district court or the bankruptcy court may waive your Chapter 7 filing fee if you have income that is less than 150 percent of the poverty guidelines last published by the United States Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) applicable to a family of the size of yours, and if you are unable to pay that fee in installments.

Your “Total Combined Monthly Income” as reported (or as will be reported) on Line 16 of Schedule I of your tax return is the income used for comparison to the poverty guidelines. Any non-cash governmental assistance (such as food stamps or housing subsidies) that you might receive is not included. Your spouse’s income is included whether or not a joint petition is filed, unless you are separated from your spouse and a joint petition is not filed. The income of any other family member listed on Schedule I as a dependent also is included.

If you live in Denver, Aurora, Arvada, Brighton, Broomfield, Commerce City, Englewood, Highlands Ranch, Lakewood, Lafayette, Littleton, Northglenn, Westminster, Wheat Ridge, or Golden, Colorado, please feel free to contact me with any questions.  

Kevin D. Heupel, Colorado Bankruptcy attorney, 303-955-7570, COBankruptcyHelpEmail, free-consultation form

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Child support debt is not dischargeable and the Bankruptcy Code does not provide for a hold on a Chapter 7 discharge if you are behind on your child support. Nevertheless the trustee collects the name, address, and telephone number of the custodial parent (your ex-spouse) as well as the address and phone number of the child support enforcement office and sends out a notification letter. This disclosure of information will give the custodial parent information about the non-custodial parent’s financial situation. In as much as bankruptcy filings are public record, this notice will allow the custodial parent to have access to the other parent’s financial information, including information about his or her assets.

Since bankruptcy law continues to move toward making divorce debts non-dischargeable, the purpose of this extra notice may be to insure that custodial parents have an appropriate opportunity to object to the bankruptcy if he or she was not otherwise given notice.  In any case, if you owe child support be prepared to give all of the pertinent information to the bankruptcy trustee.

If you live in Denver, Aurora, Arvada, Brighton, Broomfield, Commerce City, Englewood, Highlands Ranch, Lakewood, Lafayette, Littleton, Northglenn, Westminster, Wheat Ridge, or Golden, Colorado, please feel free to contact me with any questions.  

Kevin D. Heupel, Colorado Bankruptcy attorney, 303-955-7570, COBankruptcyHelpEmail, free-consultation form.

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As I have said many times, any debts that you owe when you file bankruptcy are subject to being discharged. But after your case is filed any new debts that arise are usually not discharged. In most Chapter 7 bankruptcy cases, any debt accumulated before the date you file may be dischargeable; whereas debts accumulated after that date are not dischargeable. In a Chapter 13 bankruptcy case there are some limited debts which may be addressed past the date of filing.

In some instances, you will receive a statement which contains a posting for a new penalty or interest on a debt that has been discharged after the date you filed bankruptcy.  You do not have to pay this penalty or interest.  You should submit a copy of the statement to your bankruptcy attorney as soon as you can. You may need to pursue a legal action against the creditor for violating a bankruptcy discharge.

If you live in Denver, Aurora, Arvada, Brighton, Broomfield, Commerce City, Englewood, Highlands Ranch, Lakewood, Lafayette, Littleton, Northglenn, Westminster, Wheat Ridge, or Golden, Colorado, please feel free to contact me with any questions.  

Kevin D. Heupel, Colorado Bankruptcy attorney, 303-955-7570, COBankruptcyHelpEmail, free-consultation form.

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Today I want to follow up on yesterday’s discussion about adversary proceedings as they relate to you as a debtor. In a bankruptcy case you can file a lawsuit for more than one reason. As I stated such a lawsuit is called an adversary proceeding.

In this difficult economy, debt collectors are attempting a variety of methods to collect money from you. Often these debt collectors go beyond the bounds of what they are legally entitled to do. If this is so, you will be justified in filing an adversary proceeding. Also, you may want to file an adversary proceeding because the mortgage servicers who take your mortgage payments have made errors in accounting for those payments.  In other words, you may file an adversary proceeding against any agency that you believe has unjustly charged you.

If you have been harassed by a debt collector and you have filed bankruptcy, you can actually file an adversary proceeding against the collector and assert any rights to a claim that you may have under the law. You should discuss any potential overreaching by creditors with your bankruptcy attorney. In addition to discharging the debt, you might also be able to collect from the creditor for those misdeeds.

If you live in Denver, Aurora, Arvada, Brighton, Broomfield, Commerce City, Englewood, Highlands Ranch, Lakewood, Lafayette, Littleton, Northglenn, Westminster, Wheat Ridge, or Golden, Colorado, and have any questions please feel free to contact me. Kevin D. Heupel, Colorado Bankruptcy attorney, 303-955-7570, COBankruptcyHelpEmail, free-consultation form.

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