Who will know about my bankruptcy?

 People often ask me who will know about their bankruptcy filing.

Just like most court proceedings, a bankruptcy filing is technically "public information".  However, being public information does not mean that it is "publicized".

When we filing bankruptcy, we put together what amounts to a mailing list and file that with the court.  The court system then sends a notice by mail or electronically to those who are listed on the mailing list.  And the credit bureaus (Experian, Transunion, Equifax) will pick up the filing and include it in a credit report (for up to ten years after filing). 

If you look at the "legal notices" section of your local newspaper, you will see mortgage foreclosures, and probate notices and certificates of assumed name, among other notices.  Those are there because a statute requires that information to be  published at the expense of the person or company placing the notice.  But no one pays the newspaper to publish a bankruptcy notice, so those notices are NOT published in the local paper. If you look in the notices of, for instance, the Sauk Rapids Herald, you will not see any bankruptcy notices.

On Mondays the Star Tribune and Pioneer Press publish a list of bankruptcies, but the list is only for those who look like businesses.  For instance "Doug Peterson, d/b/a Doug's Auto Body" might be listed.  But it is very unlikely that the Star Tribute and Pioneer Press would list just "Doug Peterson".  There are specialist newspapers, such as Finance and Commerce, in the Metro area, that list bankruptcies.  And for some reason the Duluth News Tribune seems to publish filing information for cases which are filed in Duluth.  But other than those, I am not aware of any Minnesota newspaper that publishes bankruptcy notices. 

If someone subscribes to the PACER system they can look up a case, but they have to be a subscriber and they have to pay a fee to do so (if the lookups exceed a certain amount per calendar quarter) and they have to look for your case specifically.

Also, a bankruptcy is in the federal court system, not the state court system.  Nothing will be automatically filed in the courthouse in the county in which you live (St. Cloud for Stearns County, Foley for Benton County, etc.).  So anyone looking in your local courthouse will not learn of your bankruptcy filing from those records, unless there was a specific reason to file a bankruptcy notice in a specific case.

I hope this eases your concern about how public your "public record" would be.

As always, if you have questions, feel free to call me at  320-252-4473.

They filed bankruptcy? (Baseball edition)

We are a little more than halfway through the baseball season.  We can hope the Twins make it to the playoffs AND that they don't have to face the Yankees.

Nowadays major league baseball players make a lot of money.  The minimum salary is $720,000 in 2023;  players like Byron Buxton and Carlos Correa make much, much more.

But baseball players are just people;  and like all people they can, and sometimes do, get into financial difficulty.

The following well-known players have filed bankruptcy:

Tony Gwynn (Padres), chapter 7, 1987

Lenny Dykstra (Mets and Phillies), chapter 11, 2009

Jack Clark (Giants, Cardinals, others), chapter 7, 2018

Gaylord Perry (Giants, seven other teams), chapter 7, 1986

Graig Nettles (Yankees, Twins, four other teams), chapter 11, 1988,

Rollie Fingers (As, Padres, Brewers), chapter 7, 1989

Jose Canseco (As, six other teams), chapter 7, 2012.

I hope you're not in financial trouble.  But if you are, just like the baseball players listed above, bankruptcy may help you through a  tough spot..  Feel free to call me at 320-252-4473.

About credit cards

 Long ago I wrote the following post:  

Clients often ask if they should stop paying their credit card bills before we file their bankruptcy case.

There are at least two issues.  The case to continue payments is that there is an argument that the more "lates" you have on your credit report, the lower your credit score will be. 

The counter argument is that if you need to file bankruptcy, you need to be saving your money to, for instance, catch up your home mortgage payments.  Money paid to the credit card company is gone and you are not going to get it back.

There is another "legal" issue, which is as follows:  Bankruptcy trustees are on the lookout for payments to unsecured creditors which exceed $600 per creditor in the 90 days before the case was filed (one year for 'insiders'-- basically, people who are relatives or close friends.)  The reason is that such a payment may be a "preference".  I usually say that there is nothing immoral, illegal or fattening about a preference, but the point from the trustee's standpoint is that he or she can recover the preferential payments and earn a commission for doing so.

So, you don't get the money back and the company you paid doesn't get to keep the money. Sort of a lose-lose proposition.

So, I think as a general matter, once you have decided that you have to file bankruptcy, stop paying the credit cards.

A related question is whether any of your credit cards will still be usable after your case is filed.  My thought is that you should expect your cards to be closed.  Many card companies subscribe to services such as AACER which every day access the bankruptcy court website to see if Social Security number such-and-such filed bankruptcy that day.  AACER then notifies the card company about that filing so that the card company can match that Social Security number to their account number.  Once they match your Social Security number to their account number, they can close your account.

As usual, there are exceptions to every rule;  be sure to ask about your specific question by calling me at 320-252-4473.

About "living wills"

 A while ago I came across a very short and simple "living will" published by the Twin Cities Medical Society.  "Living will" is an older term;  we call it "advance directive" or "health care directive" now.  

An advance directive is defined as:  Advance directives are legal documents that provide instructions for medical care and only go into effect if you cannot communicate your own wishes.

The Twin Cities Medical Society has now transferred its work on advance directives to a group called "Light the Legacy".  The address for that is https://www.lightthelegacy.org and you can download several versions of the advance directive at that site.  One of the versions is very simple:  You fill in your name, birth date, the name and relationship and phone number of the person you want to talk for yourself;  and then you sign the form and have your signature notarized or witnessed.  The form is literally one side of one sheet of paper, with instructions and suggestions on the back.  There are versions in English, Somali, Vietnamese, Chinese, Hmong, Russian and Spanish

The site includes a longer, eight-page version if you are willing to go into more detail about your wishes and hopes.

If you come to my office I will give you the short form -- free!  

I am also looking into a video version of a health care directive through an organization called Mideo.  Their website is:  https://mideohealth.com/ "Their website says:  MIDEO® is created via a facilitated medical evaluation with a licensed medical provider. From that evaluation a medical prescription for your care is created. It is then recorded and placed in our secure servers. We utilize ID cards called MIDEO ID cards and ask that they be kept with your insurance Cards and drivers license in your wallet or purse. You also receive a MIDEO Magnet for your refrigerator as we often train paramedics to look on the side of your refrigerator for your living will or advance directive."

There is apparently a cost, which may be covered by health insurance or Medicare.

I encourage you to at least have a paper short-form health care directive as part of your planning process.

sam calvert attorney at law client results foreclosure 720p

Some student loans to be forgiven

 A class action suit in California seems to provide that about 200,000 students who attended 151 particular colleges would have their Direct Loan or their FFEL loan and who filed requests for borrower defense will have their student loan automatically forgiven.

You should check to see if your institution is on this list!

Of interest to Minnesotans I see Capella University, Brown Institute and Minnesota School of Business on this list.

This is a little hard to read in this format;  if you send me your email address I will send you an easier-to-read copy of the list.

NOTE:  This is NOT the plan by the Biden Administration to forgive $10,000 worth of loans -- that is an entirely different issue.

But I love my credit union!

 Many of the people I meet have their accounts at a credit union.  Usually they like their credit union and assume that the credit union likes them back.  And that may be true, generally.

But I recently came across a credit card agreement from a local credit union, for a Visa card.

On the second page of the agreement was this language:

THE GRANTING OF THIS SECURITY INTEREST IS A CONDITION FOR THE ISSUANCE OF CREDIT UNDER THIS AGREEMENT.

YOU SPECIFICALLY GRANT US A CONSENSUAL SECURITY INTEREST IN ALL INDIVIDUAL AND JOINT ACCOUNTS YOU HAVE WITH US NOW AND IN THE FUTURE TO SECURE REPAYMENT OF CREDIT EXTENDED UNDER THIS AGREEMENT. YOU ALSO AGREE THAT WE HAVE SIMILAR STATUTORY LIEN RIGHTS UNDER STATE AND/OR FEDERAL LAW. IF YOU ARE IN DEFAULT, WE CAN APPLY YOUR SHARES TO THE AMOUNT YOU OWE.

Shares and deposits in an Individual Retirement Account or any other account that would lose special tax treatment under state or federal law if given are not subject to this security interest.

If you have other loans with us, collateral securing such loans will also secure your obligations under this Agreement, unless that other collateral is your principal residence or non-purchase money household goods.

On the face of it, this means that if you have a credit card through that credit union, and if you have your wages or other income deposited into a checking or savings account at that same credit union, your money could be taken by the credit union and applied to your Visa card.

And if you file bankruptcy the credit union may freeze the funds on deposit on the day of filing and try to apply them to the Visa bill.

This is just another reason to not keep your money in the same place you owe money to!

Is bankruptcy for me?

 

Bankruptcy is often feared, and the decision to file for bankruptcy can be a difficult choice.  But, bankruptcy can be necessary for someone facing overwhelming debt, because it can give them a fresh start financially.  If you wonder whether bankruptcy is the right choice for you, let’s talk.

 The two most common types of bankruptcies are Chapter 7 and Chapter 13.  (Chapter 12 is for farmers, Chapter 11 is generally for businesses):

Chapter 7:   In chapter 7 you may have to give up or buy back your “non-exempt” assets.   However, in very many cases there are no “non-exempt” assets.  A chapter 7 may remain on your credit report for 10 years, but usually you can obtain credit cards and auto loans soon after bankruptcy, although your interest rate may not be as good as if you had perfect credit.  I see people who filed bankruptcy getting perfectly routine home loans a few years after their case.

Chapter 13:   Sometimes known as “wage earned” bankruptcy, a Chapter 13 can restructure your debts, catching up mortgage payments, re-writing car loans, etc.  A chapter 13 lasts between three and five years, but ordinarily you do not lose any assets that you want to keep. A Chapter 13 filing can remain on your credit report for up to seven years.  

 I am often asked how bankruptcy will affect a credit score.  Usually, the credit score is already poor because you are overloaded with debt and may be in collection. If so, bankruptcy probably won’t sink your score a lot more and because it stops the reporting of future late payments you may be able to rebuild your credit faster.

 Once your bankruptcy is over, you likely can get credit in the future.  But that will depend on your income and how you handle credit after filing.  For instance, you can get a secured credit card and use that to show that you are responsible in making payments on time.  You want to not overload yourself with credit card debt in the future, however.

Debt problems can feel overwhelming.  Being broke is tough.  Being broke can be hard on marriages.  Bankruptcy lets you shed old debt.  Good resources for budgeting after bankruptcy are The Village Family Services (800-450-4019) or Lutheran Social Services (888-577-2227) or, in the St. Cloud area, Caritas (320-650-1550).

I understand being in debt is stressful, but I’ve helped many, many people through the process.

Call me for a no-obligation discussion of your situation at 320-252-4473.