Only someone who has discharged a debt in bankruptcy can be “judgment proof” as to that debt.
Wait? What? Absolutely no such thing as judgment proof. Below is an article written by Attorney Peter Francis Geraci. Read more articles by PFG @ https://www.infotapes.com/Articles
“Judgment proof” THERE IS NO SUCH THING. Only someone who has discharged a debt in bankruptcy can be “judgment proof” as to that debt.
Otherwise, it is a fallacy perpetuated by the uninformed.
Even if someone has only SS and no property to be attached, a creditor may file a suit, entering a judgment, garnish, record liens, establishing citation proceedings, seeking to garnish them, etc A debtor still has to appear in court and claim an exemption or appear at a citation so it does not turn into a rule to show cause or a body attachment.
Judgments remain for 10 years and can be renewed multiple times, and there is nothing preventing a creditor from collecting on a judgment with property acquired in the future. Often, debtors do not want to deal with all of this, and that is why they file bankruptcy. It is entirely false for someone to allege a debtor does not need to file bankruptcy because they are “judgment proof.”
Dial 1-800-CALL-PFG for a free phone mini-consultation, or make an appointment online 24/7 at www.infotapes.com. Bankruptcy laws are in place to help you. Who knows bankruptcy like Geraci Law? Geraci Law has 30,000 5-star reviews since November 2016!
Back to School tips and photos from Geraci Law attorneys and staff!
We all know it is not the back to school we thought it would be, but it’s back to school time nonetheless! Here is some advice from Geraci Law staff. We hope everyone had a GREAT first week (or multiple weeks if you’ve been back for a while) and a Happy 3 Day Weekend!
Attorney Felicia Petroff Milwaukee, Wisconsin with a throwback school photo!
Attorney David Lugardo, Berwyn Illinois son on his first day of school!
Allyson Patterson, Indianapolis Indiana says, “August 23rd will be the first day of my last year of law school. I am looking forward to the school year and hope it goes by smoothly for me and for all the students!
Lane Smith, Chicago Illinois with a throwback school picture!
Attorney Rodney Geer, Merrillville/South Bend Indiana children on the traditional front porch picture!
Salvador Polanco, Westchester Illinois says, “The advice I wish I had taken when I was young and in school….talk to the quiet/loner kids. They’re usually the coolest.”
Dial 1-800-CALL-PFG for a free phone mini-consultation, or make an appointment online 24/7 at www.infotapes.com. Bankruptcy laws are in place to help you. Who knows bankruptcy like Geraci Law? Geraci Law has 30,000 5-star reviews since November 2016!
No. Bankruptcy is GOOD! Bill collectors, however, have us hypnotized that we need “credit” and we have to pay til we die so we have “credit.”
So many people believe bankruptcy is bad – it’s really the opposite. It could be the fresh start so many of us need during this pandemic.
Attorney Peter Francis Geraci answers the question on everyone’s mind – Is Bankruptcy Bad?
Is Bankruptcy a Bad Thing?
No. Bankruptcy is GOOD! It’s in the Bible, and it’s been in the U.S. Constitution since 1787. Bill collectors, however, have us hypnotized that we need “credit” and we have to pay til we die so we have “credit.”
The real question is, “if I get debt discharged in bankruptcy,” can I get into debt again? Can I buy a house and car? Can I get another credit card and start fresh?
Can I Get Credit Again After Bankruptcy?
Yes, Yes, Yes and Yes! You CAN get into debt again, buy a house and car, get another credit card, and start fresh. Here’s why:
Bankruptcy means you list all your debts and ask the Court to discharge your obligations as much as possible. Both Chapter 7 elimination and Chapter 13 repayment end with you getting a Discharge.
As soon as you file, all collection actions must stop, with a few exceptions. Most people who file have bad credit, and a credit score in the 500’s. You cannot get credit when your credit is bad.
So, how does your credit get better by obtaining a Chapter 7 or 13 discharge?
Your debt to income ratio improves: You have less debt.
Your credit score improves, unless you’re unemployed, because now you have less debt.
Creditors see that you can afford to repay them, whereas before your discharge everyone was after you. Find out why we call it “THANKRUPTCY.”
Most car dealers will finance a brand new vehicle for you the day you file Chapter 7. Amazing, but TRUE. Go ask them. We get many people who are told by the car dealer to go file Chapter 7 and then come back to get financing.
You can’t buy a house when you are subject to lawsuits. You can buy a house after bankruptcy discharge. With a bankruptcy Discharge, most creditors can’t sue you and attach a lien on the house, or grab your paycheck so you miss house payments. You are instantly way more reliable with a discharge of debt. Wait two years, save some money, and apply for your mortgage.
So, if you’re overloaded with debt, don’t be afraid of getting a fresh start. Bankruptcy is not bad, it’s GOOD. Read some of our over 30,000 5-star reviews for actual stories from real Geraci Law clients just like you.
Bankruptcy is a safety valve. Most of my clients have credit scores below 600. Go to Infotapes.com for access to a free credit report. Owing money you cannot pay is bad. Most people end up without money because of circumstances beyond their control. Bankruptcy adjusts the debt situation to 0 again. You start out even. You get a fresh start, while still keeping the necessities of life. But the prevailing attitude about bankruptcy is that is “bad.”
Bankruptcy is in the Constitution
Bankruptcy was so important to the Founding Fathers of the United States, that, when the U.S. Constitution was written in 1787, they directed Congress to make uniform bankruptcy laws. Article III, Section 8 of the United States Constitution states: “Congress shall make uniform laws relating to Bankruptcy.”
There was little disagreement between the Founding Fathers of the United States of America, when it came to having a bankruptcy law. Freedom from debt was important, and so was the ability to start fresh. Bankruptcy is more fundamental to the United States of America than freedom of the press and freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures.
Bankruptcy is in the Bible
The origin of bankruptcy can be found in ancient traditions, like the Bible, Deuteronomy 15.1: “In the 7th year, each creditor shall release his debtors. This shall be known as The Lord’s Release.” In the Old Testament, it was the policy that a debt could exist only 6 years, and should be relaxed or forgiven in the seventh year. The purpose was to prevent damage to society by allowing a debt to live forever. The lender was cautioned to lend only as much as the borrower could reasonably be expected to repay.
There are other Biblical references to debt, such as St. Paul’s admonition in Romans 13:8; “Strive to owe no debt, except that debt that binds us to love one another.” I have found nothing in any religion that states that owing money to another is “good.” In the Koran, there is a prohibition against lending money at interest. In most Moslem countries today, Moslems borrow at no interest from “banks of the faithful.”
Bankruptcy is not “Bad.” Bankruptcy is a fundamental right with origins deeply rooted in our history and heritages.
Dial 1-800-CALL-PFG for a free phone mini-consultation, or make an appointment online 24/7 at www.infotapes.com. Bankruptcy laws are in place to help you. Who knows bankruptcy like Geraci Law? Geraci Law has 30,000 5-star reviews since November 2016!
Congratulations to Attorney Sharon Hunt on celebrating 20 years with Geraci Law!
Attorney Sharon Hunt celebrated her 20th year with Geraci Law joining the 20 year club with several Geraci Law attorneys. With Geraci Law you get the experience and expertise of Geraci Law attorneys!
Congratulations to Attorney Sharon Hunt!
Dial 1-800-CALL-PFG for a free phone mini-consultation, or make an appointment online 24/7 at www.infotapes.com. Bankruptcy laws are in place to help you. Who knows bankruptcy like Geraci Law? Geraci Law has 30,000 5-star reviews since November 2016!
Beverages & Budgeting – take a look at your monthly expenses, let’s see if Geraci Law can help!
School is starting, the weather is changing – it’s almost time for Football. So let’s take advantage of a nice weekend and think about finances.
Geraci Law has the tools to help! It does not matter if you are trying to figure out a savings plan or if it’s time to take a good hard look at what your expenses are. If you are seeing on the monthly budget that you are operating in the negative – it might be time to realign.
So pick out your favorite cold one, grab a calculator (there’s one on your iPhone) and let’s figure out your budget!
Check out below. You can fill in your monthly expenses. Take note – your Starbucks coffee (a beverage part of budgeting) should list under Entertainment. Tip: go to your bank account and look how much you are spending each month.
Next – let’s take a look at your income. You can use this as a guide! Tip: if you are paid salary, use one paycheck since your income does not change. If you are paid hourly, take the average of the last 3 months.
After that, take the amount in TOTAL MONTHLY INCOME and subtract from your Total from the monthly expense worksheet….
THIS is your disposable income – it’s the amount you have left at the end of the month to either save or spend.
When you have debt including credit cards, Pay Day loans, medical bills (note bill NOT expense) the minimum payment is substracted from your disposable income NOT from your expenses.
If the amount is high and you are not paying DOWN the balance on the debt, reexamine the budget. Go back to the disposable income amount – if you eliminate the debt payment, this is the money that goes back to YOU.
If you have $1,000 in disposable income every month and are paying $1,000 in minimum payments – if you are then using your credit card to pay the monthly expenses (from the first worksheet) your plan is NOT working.
Instead if you account for the monthly expenses where you can pay for the bill without relying on credit, you have disposable income to put into a savings account. $1,000 per month for 12 months is $12,000 an amazing start to retirement, paying for college, down payment on a home, etc.
Dial 1-800-CALL-PFG for a free phone mini-consultation, or make an appointment online 24/7 at www.infotapes.com. Bankruptcy laws are in place to help you. Who knows bankruptcy like Geraci Law? Geraci Law has 30,000 5-star reviews since November 2016!
Utilities, Cable, Phone Bills and Bankruptcy. With summer heat raging across the country, if you are behind on your electric bill and worried about a shut off – bankruptcy CAN help. Attorney Peter Geraci answers your questions about utilities, cable bills and those pesky cell phone balances.
Bills are Usually Dischargeable
Bills for utilities such as gas, electric, water, sewer and phone are what we call unsecured debts, and they are dischargeable under either Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy. The only exception is fraud, such as where you hooked up the gas illegally.
When to List Utility Bills in Bankruptcy
In order to make it worthwhile to list a utility bill, calculate the average month utility bill, and multiply by three. So if your average electric bill is 140, three times is $420. So if you list a $420 past due electric bill in a chapter 7, you won’t have to pay it, but you’ll most likely have to put up a deposit of three times the average bill, or $420, and now you’re back to square one.
So the three times an average bill rule applies for gas and electric. And you’ll have to put up a deposit.
Avoiding Utility Shut-offs
Filing on gas and electric doesn’t make much sense unless you have run up a huge bill, and by now you have been shut off. What happens in cold states like Wisconsin, where they don’t shut off your winter gas until April, and then we get a rush of bankruptcies because it’s still cold enough to need gas and its off.
We also get a rush with people who have lived without gas all summer, and when it gets to be Halloween I need the gas back on. Those bills are usually several thousand, so putting up of $420 deposit isn’t too bad. Filing either Chapter 7 or 13 will require the utility to turn your electric or gas back on after you put up the deposit.
Water and Sewer Bills in Bankruptcy
Water and sewer bills are a little bit different. They usually aren’t very high, and in most cities, they are a lien on the real estate. So if you have a single-family home or multi-unit that you own, and you don’t pay the water and sewer bill, not only can they shut off the water, but there is a lien on the real estate. We don’t see too many water and sewer bills in bankruptcy but there treated pretty much the same as gas and electric.
Cable and Phone Bills in Bankruptcy
Cable and phone bills are a little different. Since so many people are disconnecting from cable TV, it’s not a real big issue if you’re three months behind on the $200 cable bill, and don’t particularly care for the service anyway. Otherwise they don’t have to give you credit again. Nobody has a land-line, so you’re talking about a cell phone bill, and those bills are never included in a bankruptcy because they cut you off after two months and now you have no cell phone service, which is something we rarely see.
In Summary
So in a nutshell, for gas or electric that is more than three months behind throw it in there, and as far as water and sewer pay it. Cable and telephone, either get a cell phone with a different carrier and a different cable service, or pay them to continue service.
Dial 1-800-CALL-PFG for a free phone mini-consultation, or make an appointment online 24/7 at www.infotapes.com. Bankruptcy laws are in place to help you. Who knows bankruptcy like Geraci Law? Geraci Law has 30,000 5-star reviews since November 2016!
There’s a ton of information about debt, financial resources and bankruptcy. The B word can be intimidating and maybe it’s time to answer the question – How does bankruptcy filing work?
Attorney Peter Francis Geraci answers this question and reviews what you can expect when filing for bankruptcy.
Organize Your Debt
1. How MUCH debt do you have? Is it around $10,000 or more in debt you can eliminate, like medical bills, lawsuits, credit cards, personal loans, repossessions? Make a list of all your debt and what it is for. You can find a form at Infotapes.com. Remember, some debts don’t appear on credit reports, so gather your bills, and even old debts can chase you for 5 or 10 years or more
2. What KIND of debt do you have? So if you have $10,000 or more in debt, is it the kind you can get rid of, or the kind you want to pay, like vehicles or credit unions, or is it just government student loans?
So, you can make a short list, using our form, you can get a free credit report to see what your creditors are reporting to credit bureaus.
Consult with a Law Firm
3. Get a free phone mini-consultation. You will need competent advice on whether Chapter 7 or 13 is right for the type and amount of debt, and also for your income level. Don’t make the mistake of thinking you can pick your Chapter, because you don’t know as much as Geraci Law’s highly experience attorneys.
4. Start uploading your documents. If we decide that we can help you, we’ll give you access to the Geraci Law Client Corner, run an Experian soft-pull, get a Kelly Blue Book value on your vehicles, estimate your house value if you have one, and more. You can then upload necessary documents to our Geraci Law Client Corner client portal, such as pay stubs, bank statements, contracts, bills and tax returns.
Meet with a Bankruptcy Lawyer for Free
5. Get a virtual or in-office interview and get your options, costs, and retain us, little or no money down. Figure a payment plan, and you’ve got yourself a lawyer! We’ll refer you to take a 20 minute online finance course, which costs $25. Take the course before you file. You can take my credit counseling course online for free to see what it’s like.
Review and Sign your Bankruptcy Paperwork
6. We’ll then prepare a bankruptcy petition of about 50 pages for you to review, and assemble the necessary documents you have uploaded, and after you sign it, we’ll file it with the Court.
File your Bankruptcy in Court
7. After we file in court, we’ll post all your documents on your secure Geraci Law Client Corner portal, where you will get all your messages, instructions, documents, and even videos about your meeting of creditors and taking your second Debtor Education Course. The bankruptcy court requires you to take the second course to get a discharge. I teach it, and the Administrative office of the U.S. Trustee in bankruptcy certifies it. The court is one of the only courses actually taught by an experienced bankruptcy attorney.
Attend your Meeting of the Creditors
8. We will go with you, either by Zoom or in-person, to a brief interview with a Court appointed bankruptcy Trustee to go over your petition and approve it. If you filed Chapter 13, your plan will be confirmed and you will make the necessary monthly payment. If you filed Chapter 7, we will handle any paperwork with vehicles or mortgages you want to keep, and you will get a discharge around 4 months from date of filing.
Dial 1-800-CALL-PFG for a free phone mini-consultation, or make an appointment online 24/7 at www.infotapes.com. Bankruptcy laws are in place to help you. Who knows bankruptcy like Geraci Law? Geraci Law has 30,000 5-star reviews since November 2016!
Geraci Law L.L.C. is now taking cases in Michigan! We are handling cases out of Lansing, Detroit, Flint, Grand Rapids and Marquette. Michiganders get the same great service that clients come to expect from Geraci Law.
Geraci Law L.L.C. is now taking cases in Michigan! We are handling cases out of Lansing, Detroit, Flint, Grand Rapids and Marquette. Michiganders get the same great service that clients come to expect from Geraci Law.
Attorney Jason Kara is a senior attorney for Geraci Law L.L.C. He has extensive knowledge of complicated bankruptcy issues.
Attorney Kara is responsible for reviewing over-median Chapter 7 bankruptcies. He is originally from Cleveland and moved to the Detroit area during high school.
Attorney Kara attended Law School at Michigan State University (Go Green!) where he graduated Magna Cume Laude. While attending law school, Attorney Kara served on the Journal of Business and Securities Law. He spends his free time with his wife and two small children. He enjoys just about any athletic activity and is active in his community.
Dial 1-800-CALL-PFG for a free phone mini-consultation, or make an appointment online 24/7 at www.infotapes.com. Bankruptcy laws are in place to help you. Who knows bankruptcy like Geraci Law? Geraci Law has 30,000 5-star reviews since November 2016!
Here is an “unknown” attorney advertising for bankruptcy on Google Local Leads. Know that when choosing a lawyer, there are BIG differences! Anyone with $10 can put up a Google Ad. This person looks nice, but is
a. a one person shop
b. less than 20 reviews and other ratings not good
c. claims to have 5 office locations sure, how when you are 1 person?
d. Licensed for over 10 years but nothing to tell where, no CV on website. (sure sign of trouble)
e. lists a cell phone for an office phone
f. claims to answer every call in person! and text. must be very busy. or not.
g. apparently just blew into town? claims to have experience but no clue where
h. only speaks English
f. LICENSE? one revoked, probably abandoned, just resigned another, only remaining license just “updated”. no mention of federal court admission which is required for bankruptcy law. Probably has a federal license, but kind of sloppy not to mention it.
So, you pick this ADVERTISEMENT? why? because you have an inferiority complex, you don’t know how to select an attorney, you think you are going to “get a cheap lawyer” for a 50 page federal bankruptcy filing to eliminate 40,000 in debt and get experienced advice?
Then you find out that ALL LAWYERS CHARGE ABOUT THE SAME, MOST EXACTLY THE SAME, for Chapter 13, and within a couple hundred of each other for Chapter 7, depending on the type of Chapter 7, and there are over 15 types!
Seems to me this attorney is one step away from bankruptcy, totally unknown, working out of a basement, instead of 100 attorneys and staff, 500 years of combined experience, 40,000 FIVE STAR REVIEWS, real offices, Client Corner portal, PFG Debtor Education, and more!
We don’t like to “sell against the competition” but they sure like to do it to us….paper does not refuse ink, and Google doesn’t refuse paid ads!
Be careful. Why? Rumor has it that that attorneys FIRED from law firms for making phony entries about client matters, or just plain incompetence, or hiding their past, end up as solo practitioners, legends in their own mind.
Dial 1-800-CALL-PFG for a free phone mini-consultation, or make an appointment online 24/7 at www.infotapes.com. Bankruptcy laws are in place to help you. Who knows bankruptcy like Geraci Law? Geraci Law has 30,000 5-star reviews since November 2016!
The housing market is booming – houses are selling non-stop. Your house is your asset! Geraci Law wants to protect your asset in a bankruptcy. You want Geraci Law on your side.
The real estate market is booming but folks are struggling to pay down debt. Whether high minimum payments or job loss/income change – debt is a problem. So what do you do if you own real estate and need bankruptcy help? Some common questions we get:
Will I lose my home if I file for bankruptcy?
Can I keep my home if I file for bankruptcy?
I have equity in my home – what happens to it if I file for bankruptcy?
Attorney Peter Francis Geraci answers your questions about Bankruptcy and Homes.
The housing market is booming – houses are selling non-stop. Your house is your asset! Geraci Law wants to protect your asset in a bankruptcy. You want Geraci Law on your side. You only meet with attorneys at Geraci Law – you are not meeting with a paralegal or a petition preparer.
Best news? Consultations are free with Geraci Law Attorneys. Geraci Law is currently taking cases in the great states of Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Florida and Michigan.
Dial 1-800-CALL-PFG for a free phone mini-consultation, or make an appointment online 24/7 at www.infotapes.com. Bankruptcy laws are in place to help you. Who knows bankruptcy like Geraci Law? Geraci Law has 30,000 5-star reviews since November 2016!
since November 2016!
Bankruptcy Attorney News - Peter Francis Geraci Law, call us at 800 CALL PFG 