Dubiln Packard

Credit Counseling Classes For Bankruptcy

by

Credit Counseling Classes For Bankruptcy

Todd Murphy NJ Bankruptcy LawyerA recent amendment to the Bankruptcy laws requires everyone to take two credit counseling classes for Bankruptcy.

Two Credit Counseling Classes For Bankruptcy are required:

Pre-petition credit counseling: A credit counseling class must be taken BEFORE you file;

Post-filing credit counseling: A financial management class must be taken AFTER you file but before your case is closed.

Take Online Or By Phone.

The classes can be taken on-line or by phone.  The first class must be taken before you file, or you will not qualify for bankruptcy. The second class is taken after you file but before discharge in a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy or plan confirmation in a Chapter 13 Bankruptcy.

We Make It Easy.

In both cases, we will provide you with a pre-paid, secure, link to take the courses.  We also make sure the required certificates of completion are sent to the Court as necessary.  You don’t have to worry about finding an approved course and using a credit card to pay for the course.

We Are Here To Help You.

Considering bankruptcy?  Todd Murphy, a NJ Bankruptcy Attorney, is the New Jersey Bankruptcy Lawyer people have trusted for over 15 years for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy and Chapter 13 Bankruptcy.  Our office is conveniently located to serve all of Essex County, Bergen County, Passaic County, Hudson County, Union County, Morris County, and Middlesex County.

by

What is Bankruptcy?

Bankruptcy Court Newark

Bankruptcy enables a person who is unable to pay their creditors to resolve all outstanding debts.

This is achieved by either: dividing assets (if there are any) among creditors, or preparing and submitting a plan that the debtor can afford to repay some or all creditors over time. This process is supervised by a bankruptcy trustee who ensures that the interests of all creditors are treated equally.  The main purpose of bankruptcy law is to allow a person to completely free himself of the financial obligations they have accumulated even if their debts have not been paid in full through a legal process known as “discharge of debt.”

Bankruptcy Law Is A Federal Statute

Bankruptcy law is a Federal law contained in Title 11 of the United States Code. Congress passed the Bankruptcy Code under its Constitutional grant of authority to “establish… uniform laws on the subject of Bankruptcy throughout the United States.” See U.S. Constitution Article I, Section 8. States may not regulate bankruptcy though they may pass laws that govern other aspects of the debtor-creditor relationship. A number of sections of Title 11 incorporate the debtor-creditor law of the individual states.

United States Bankruptcy Courts Handle Bankruptcy

Bankruptcy proceedings are supervised by and litigated in the United States Bankruptcy Courts. These courts are a part of the District Courts of The United States. The United States Trustees were established by Congress to handle many of the supervisory and administrative duties of bankruptcy proceedings. Proceedings in bankruptcy courts are governed by the Bankruptcy Rules which were promulgated by the Supreme Court under the authority of Congress.

There are two basic types of Bankruptcy for consumers –

Chapter 7

A filing under Chapter 7 is called liquidation. It is the most common type of bankruptcy for consumers. Liquidation involves the appointment of a trustee who collects the non-exempt property of the debtor, sells it and distributes the proceeds to the creditors paying creditors in order of priority, usually a small portion of the debt owed and discharging the remaining debt.  However, In most cases, the debtor does not have any assets to sell, but the debts are still discharged.

Chapter 13

Bankruptcy proceedings under Chapter 13 the debtor submits a payment plan to the trustee for approval allowing the debtor to use future earnings to partially or fully pay off creditors. Under Chapter 13, a trustee is appointed to supervise the assets of the debtor and administer the payments from the debtor and to the creditors.

 

Voluntary or Non-Voluntary

A bankruptcy proceeding can either be entered into voluntarily by a debtor or initiated by creditors. Non-voluntary or Involuntary bankruptcies are rare, but possible.

The Automatic Stay

After a bankruptcy proceeding is filed, an automatic stay immediately goes into effect barring creditors, for the most part, from collecting their debts.

Restrictions

The debtor is not allowed to transfer property that has been declared part of the estate subject to proceedings. Furthermore, certain pre-proceeding transfers of property, secured interests, and liens may be delayed or invalidated. Various provisions of the Bankruptcy Code also establish the priority of creditors’ interests.

Retirement Accounts are Protected

A recent decision by the US Supreme Court has shifted this power a little bit towards the debtor. In Rousey v. Jacoway, (April 4th, 2005), the Court held that assets in Individual Retirement Accounts (IRA’s) are protected under 11 U.S.C § 522(d) and thus exempt from withdrawal from the bankruptcy estate. This decision has broad implications for the baby-boomer generation, providing millions of Americans nearing retirement with increased protection of their earnings.

Creditors Try To Make It Hard For Consumers

Recent passage of the Bankruptcy Prevention and Consumer Protection Act in April 2005 made major reforms in bankruptcy law, outlining revised guidelines governing the dismissal or conversion of Chapter 7 liquidations to Chapter 11 or 13 proceedings. The law also expands the responsibilities of the United States Trustees Program to include supervision of random and targeted audits, certification of entities to provide credit counseling that individuals must receive before filing for bankruptcy, certification of entities that provide financial education to individuals before being discharged from debt, and greater oversight of small business Chapter 11 reorganization cases.

Definition from NOLO’S Plain-English Law Dictionary

A federal legal process for debtors seeking to eliminate or repay their debts. There are two types of bankruptcies for consumers: Chapter 7, which allows debtors to wipe out many debts in exchange for giving up nonexempt property to be sold to repay creditors, and Chapter 13, which allows debtors to keep all of their property and repay all or a portion of their debts over three to five years. Businesses can file for Chapter 7 or Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Chapter 11 lets companies reorganize their debt load to stay in business.

Definition provided by Nolo’s Plain-English Law Dictionary.

Call Todd Murphy Law today for a free consultation

by

Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Trustees in New Jersey

Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Trustees in New Jersey.  Here is a complete list.  Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Trustees in New Jersey work on behalf of creditors to maximize payment to them.  The Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Trustee in New Jersey reviews and approves the Chapter 13 plan and otherwise represents creditors in a Chapter 13 case.

Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Trustees in New Jersey.

See Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Trustees HERE.

Note: The individuals listed are private parties, not government employees.
Isabel C. Balboa
Cherry Tree Corporate Center
535 Route 38, Suite 580
Cherry Hill, NJ 08002
E-mail: ibalboa@standingtrustee.com
Phone: (856)663-5002
Fax: (856)663-3805

Marie-Ann Greenberg
30 Two Bridges Road, Suite 330
Fairfield, NJ 07004
E-mail: mag@magtrustee.com
Phone: (973)227-2840
Fax: (973)227-3272

Albert Russo
1 AAA Drive, Suite 101
CN 4853
Robbinsville, NJ 08691
Phone: (609)587-6888
Fax: (609)587-9676

Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Trustees in New Jersey.

Considering bankruptcy?  Todd Murphy, a NJ Bankruptcy Attorney, is the New Jersey Bankruptcy Lawyer people have trusted for over 15 years for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy and Chapter 13 Bankruptcy.

Our office is conveniently located to serve all of Essex County, Bergen County, Passaic County, Hudson County, Union County, Morris County, and Middlesex County.

Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Trustees in New Jersey.

by

Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Trustees in New Jersey

Bankruptcy Trustees in New Jersey.  Here is a list of Bankruptcy Trustees in New Jersey for easy reference.  Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Trustees work on behalf of creditors in a chapter 7 bankruptcy case.  Their job is to make every attempt to pay creditors from any assets a person might have in a chapter 7 bankruptcy.

 

Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Trustees in New Jersey.

See Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Trustees HERE.

(Note: The individuals listed are private parties, not government employees.)

Bruce D. Atkinson
P.O. Box 8415
Red Bank, NJ 07701
E-mail: bunceatkinson@aol.com
Phone: (732)530-5300
Fax: (732)530-9877

Karen E. Bezner
567 Park Avenue, Suite 103
Scotch Plains, NJ 07076
Phone: (908)322-8484
Fax: (908)322-0560

Donald V. Biase
225 Millburn Ave., Suite 207
Millburn, NJ 07041
Phone: (973)618-1008
Fax: (973)379-7489

Nicholas J. Delzotti
11 Franklin Street, 3rd Floor
Newark, NJ 07102
P.O. Box 20117
Newark, NJ 07102
E-mail: nick9151@aol.com
Phone: (973)622-3464
Fax: (973)622-6422

Andrea Dobin
427 Riverview Plaza
Trenton, NJ 08611
Phone: (609) 695-6070
Fax: (609) 695-6071

Barbara A. Edwards
The Vanguard Building
10-04 River Road
Fair Lawn, NJ 07410
Phone: (201)796-3100
Fax: (201)791-0350

Charles M. Forman
80 Rt. 4 East
Suite 290
Paramus, NJ 07652
Phone: (201)845-1000
Fax: (201)845-9112

Barry W. Frost
691 Route #33
Trenton, NJ 08619
Phone: (609)890-1500
Fax: (609)890-6961

John W. Hargrave
117 Clements Bridge Road
Barrington, NJ 08007
E-mail: jhargrave@hargravelaw.com
Phone: (856)547-6500
Fax: (856)547-6640

Nancy Isaacson
75 Livingston Avenue
Roseland, NJ 07068
Phone: (973)535-1600
Fax: (973)535-1698

Gary S. Jacobson
25 Independence Blvd.
Warren, NJ 07059
E-mail: gjacobson@heroldhaines.com
Phone: (908)647-1022
Fax: (908)647-7721

Steven P. Kartzman
101 Gibraltar Drive, Suite 2F
Morris Plains, NJ 07950
Phone: (967)267-0220
Fax: (973)267-2402

Jonathan Kohn
50 Park Place
Newark, NJ 07102
Phone: (973)622-7713
Fax: (973)733-9817

Jeffrey A. Lester
374 Main Street
Hackensack, NJ 07601
Phone: (201)487-5544
Fax: (201)487-4026

Theodore Liscinski, Jr.
265 Davidson Avenue, Suite 200
Somerset, NJ 08873
Phone: (732)469-9008
Fax: (732)469-9037

Jay L. Lubetkin
293 Eisenhower Parkway, Suite 100
Livingston, NJ 07039
Phone: (973)597-9100
Fax: (973)597-9119

Joseph D. Marchand
117-119 West Broad St.
Bridgeton, NJ 08302

P.O. Box 298
Bridgeton, NJ 08302
E-mail: JMarchand@comcast.net
Phone: (856)451-7600
Fax: (856)451-6535

John M. McDonnell, III
115 Maple Ave.
Suite 201
Red Bank, NJ 07701
E-mail: jmcdonnell@mcdonnellcrowley.com
Phone: (732) 383.7233
Fax: (732) 383-7531

Stacey L. Meisel
354 Eisenhower Parkway, Suite 1500
Livingston, NJ 07039
Phone: (973)422-1100
Fax: (973)422-9122

Joseph J. Newman
4 Concord Street
Cranford, NJ 07016
Phone: (908)276-9371
Fax: (908)276-2547

Thomas J. Orr
321 High St., 2nd Floor
Burlington, NJ 08016
Phone: (609)386-8700
Fax: (609)386-7765

Eric R. Perkins
40 West Ridgewood Avenue
Ridgewood, NJ 07450
Phone: (201) 445-6722
Fax: (201) 445-5376

Barry R. Sharer
1103 Laurel Oaks Road
Suite 105B
Voorhees, NJ 08043
Phone: (856)435-3200
Fax: (856)435-4868

Andrew S. Sklar
1200 Laurel Oak Road, Ste. 102
Voorhees, NJ 08043
Phone: (856) 258-4050
Fax: (856) 258-6941

Peggy E. Stalford
1516 Hwy. 138, Suite 2B
Wall, NJ 07719
Phone: (732) 894-9090
Fax: (732) 894-9092

Douglas S. Stanger
646 Ocean Heights Ave.
Linwood, NJ 08221
Phone: (609)645-1881
Fax: (609)645-9932

Charles A. Stanziale
Gateway Four
100 Mulberry Street
Newark, NJ 07102
Phone: (973)639-7908
Fax: (973)624-7070

Benjamin A. Stanziale, Jr.
29 Northfield Ave., Suite 201
West Orange, NJ 07052
Phone: (973)731-9393
Fax: (973)731-9401

Daniel E. Straffi
670 Commons Way
Toms River, NJ 08755
Phone: (732)341-3800
Fax: (732)341-3548

Thomas J. Subranni
1624 Pacific Avenue
Atlantic City, NJ 08401
Phone: (609)347-7000
Fax: (609)345-4545

John W. Sywilok
51 Main Street
Hackensack, NJ 07601
Phone: (201)487-9390
Fax: (201)487-9393

Brian S. Thomas
327 Central Avenue, Suite 104
Linwood, NJ 08221
Phone: (609)601-6066
Fax: (609)601-6061

Robert B. Wasserman
225 Millburn Avenue, Suite 207
Millburn, NJ 07041

P.O. Box 1029
Millburn, NJ 07041
E-mail: attys@wjslaw.com
Phone: (973)467-2700
Fax: (973)467-8126

David A. Wolff
396 Route 34
Matawan, NJ 07747
Phone: (732)566-1189
Fax: (732)566-1192

Catherine E. Youngman
80 Rt. 4 East, Suite 290
Paramus, NJ 07652
Phone: (201) 845-1000
Fax: (201) 845-9112

 

List of Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Trustees in New Jersey.

Considering bankruptcy?  Todd Murphy, a NJ Bankruptcy Attorney, is the New Jersey Bankruptcy Lawyer people have trusted for over 15 years for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy and Chapter 13 Bankruptcy.

Our office is conveniently located to serve all of Essex County, Bergen County, Passaic County, Hudson County, Union County, Morris County, and Middlesex County.

by

Payday Loans: The Most Despicable Loans

Payday_loan_shop_windowPayday loans are indeed the most despicable loans one can get and now online payday loan lending is one of the fastest growing areas of lending.

What Is A Payday Loan?

Payday loans are short-term un-secured loans to be paid back at the borrower’s next pay day.  A fee is charged at either a flat-rate or a percentage of the loan.  Most lenders don’t verify employment or income. The loan has traditionally been taken out at a store-front where the borrower writes a post-dated check for re-payment. Lately, payday lenders are increasingly going online. In an online payday loan, the cash is deposited, less the fee, directly into the borrower’s account with the expectation of re-payment on the next payday through automatic withdrawal from the borrower’s account.

A simple example: Borrow $100.  Fee of $10.  Lender gives borrower $90.  Borrower owes $100 on the next payday.  Effective interest rate 10%.

Roll-Over Is How They Get You.

The problems start when the borrower doesn’t have the money to re-pay the loan on time.   This is exactly what the lender is hoping for.  If the lender tries to cash the check, the borrower incurs bounced check fees from its bank and, worse, fees to extend the loan from the payday lender and higher interest rates.

Example continued: Borrower rolls-over the $100 loan.  Additional fee $10.  Total fees now become $20. Borrower now owes $110.  Effective interest rate 20%.

Usually what happens is the borrower knows they don’t have the cash and they contact the lender to roll-over the loan for an additional fee.  The same thing happens again and again until the borrower realizes there is just no way she can repay the loan.

Extended example: Borrower rolls-over the $100 loan a total of 5 times.  Additional fees $50.  Total fees now $60.  Borrower now owes $150.  Effective interest rate 66%

So Get Another Loan To Re-Pay The First Loan.

Once the borrower has extended the first loan a few times, she realizes she can never re-pay that first loan.  The answer, she thinks, is to take a second loan to re-pay the first.  At least that stops new fees on the first loan, right?  Wrong!  Now the process starts again on the second loan.  Fast forward a couple of weeks and now this loan can’t be re-paid either.

New example: new loan to re-pay the first $166.  Borrower receives $150. New fees $16. Effective interest rate on this new loan 10%.

Example after the roll-over: Borrower rolls-over the second loan 5 times and incurs additional fees of $80 for total fees of $96. Effective interest rate on this second loan is now 57%.  But, remember all of this went to pay the first loan of $100, no new cash was received by the borrower.  Therefore, the interest rate on that first loan of $100 is now 146%.

And Take Another Loan…

The good thing for the borrower is that payday lenders don’t check credit so they don’t know if a borrower is behind on other payday loans.  At this point, the borrow can’t pay back the second payday loan so she just takes out another one and ignores paying the first.  And so it goes until the guys who aren’t getting paid start actions to get their money.

Aggressive Collection Actions.

Payday loan lenders are some of the most unscrupulous collectors of their money on the planet.  They will resort to anything including impersonating Police or FBI officers to threatening arrest and jail time.  Eventually, a lender will sue the borrower to get a judgment then garnish the wages of the borrower for not only the originally amount but also for all of the fees owed and costs of collection including attorney fees.  You can see how ugly this can get.

Just Say No To Payday Loans.

Payday loans are the most despicable loans you could ever become involved with.  Although I know that people who resort to payday loans have trouble getting credit from traditional sources and are usually pressed for cash, there are other options.

Online Payday Lending Is Growing.

The volume of online payday lending—a term for smaller, short-term loans at high interest rates—grew to $18.6 billion in 2012, up 10% from the previous year, accounting for nearly 40% of industry-wide payday-loan volume, according to investment bank Stephens Inc.

Payday Lenders Know The Law.

Thirty-five states allow payday lending, while 15 others and the District of Columbia effectively ban such loans, mainly through interest-rate caps. But many Indian tribes have begun making loans over the Internet and argue they are sovereign states not subject to state-level regulation. Other lenders assert they don’t have to comply with state laws if they set up shop offshore or in states with favorable regulations such as Delaware and Utah.