MYTHS OF BANKRUPTCY
10 Lies Smeloff & Associates will clear up
Your Creditors Do Not Want You To Read This:
Myths of bankruptcy are the bill collectors’ best friend. As long as you go on believing all the malarkey about bankruptcy your creditors know they can continue to pound away at you. They know they are better off if they keep you in the dark. If they can keep you believing the lies, they can keep you and your family chained in debt. They want to keep you paying, paying and paying month in month out, year after year….for the rest of your life. They want to scare you into paying.
Myth1: You Will Never Get Credit Again.
Not True. In fact just the opposite is true. You are a better credit risk after you file, than if you don’t file. After you have completed your bankruptcy you are debt free! Your debt to income ratio is excellent. There are no delinquent bills reported on your credit any more. There are no more bills or bill collectors waiting to jump out of the woodwork and bite you like a snake.
Most of my clients’ credit scores shoot up over 100 points in the first year after the filing…Like the bankruptcy never even happened. I filed a case for a close friend of mine who went through a divorce and he had a significant amount of debt and 2 foreclosures. Less than 2 years later he was able to purchase a new condominium.
Myth 2: Filing Bankruptcy Means You’re A Bad Person.
Totally Wrong. Filing bankruptcy means you’re a good person, acting responsibly to take control of your life and start fresh. To protect your family. Everyone wants to pay their bills and everyone wants to take care of their family and provide them with all the things they need. But if you can’t do both, which is more important? Your family of course. Filing bankruptcy frees you from crushing debts and frees up monies to better take care of your family.
Putting your family first is honorable and noble and doing so means you are a good person.
Myth 3: You Will Lose Everything You Have
False. Our clients never lose any property. That’s why you hire counsel, to properly assess your specific circumstances and develop an appropriate legal strategy.
Sometimes a client will elect to surrender certain property such as an investment property that is underwater, or a car that is a lemon. But that is strictly a client’s choice.
The laws provide exemptions to protect your property such as the Massachusetts Homestead exemption for your house.
There are exemptions for your car, truck, household furnishings, tools, IRA, 401k, pension, jewelry, life insurance, bank accounts and even personal injury claims and on and on. There is even a wild card exemption that you can apply to any property you choose! Again, you will not lose any property.
Myth 4: Everyone Will Know I Filed
Just the opposite is true. No one will know. The only people who will know are the people you tell. This information is not published in newspapers or anywhere else.
Myth 5: Filing Bankruptcy is Too Expensive
Not with Smeloff & Associates. We charge generally lower fees than other lawyers because our costs are less due to efficiencies created by being the largest consumer bankruptcy firm in Massachusetts. We have bankruptcy down to a science. And we give you personal one on one attention.
Specifically, we don’t charge by the hour. We don’t bill you for copies. We don’t charge you for phone calls or any of that other nonsense. Once we have evaluated your specific circumstances, we will tell you exactly what we can do for you and what we can’t do, and what it will cost. Upfront. No mysteries. We charge low flat fees with payment plans and put it in writing.
Myth 6: If You’re Married, Both Spouses Have to File
Just the opposite is true. It’s never a “requirement” under the law. If one spouse has all the loans in his or her name, it wouldn’t make sense for the other spouse to file. In many cases where both the husband and the wife have a lot of debt, it makes sense and saves money for both of them to file jointly.
Strictly your call. But the bottom line is we can file for the spouse that needs the help and leave the other spouse completely out of it.
Myth 7: Even If You File Bankruptcy, Bill Collectors Will Still Harass You
Nothing could be further from the truth. Upon the filing of your case, the Bankruptcy Court issues an order prohibiting your creditors from taking any further action against you. It’s a cease and desist order and it has a name. It is called the “automatic stay”. It is very powerful and in brings to bear the full weight of The United States Federal Court to work for you, to ensure that the bill collectors leave you alone.
Even better, if a creditor violates the automatic stay, you have the right to bring the creditor before the Court to answer for Contempt of Court Charges. Believe me, Bankruptcy Judges Feeny, Hillman, Bailey, Boroff, and Hoffman in Massachusetts do not take kindly to creditors who ignore the automatic stay and these Judges have been known to punish creditors severely.
My, how the tables turn once you reach out for help that only bankruptcy can provide. No more phone calls, repossessions, or lawsuits or foreclosures! No more threats.
Myth 8: It’s Really Hard To File Bankruptcy
Not if you have the right law firm. With Smeloff & Associates the process is handled entirely by us. We give you the VIP treatment and take full responsibility. We have the experience as the largest consumer bankruptcy firm in Massachusetts. It’s not by accident. We are demanding of ourselves and our paralegals. As a result we enjoy a steady stream of referrals from satisfied clients.
Myth 9: Only Deadbeats File For Bankruptcy
Just the opposite is true. Most of my clients who file bankruptcy are good, honest hardworking people, who file as a last resort after months or years of struggling to pay the bills. It is one of the most positive, responsible, honorable and noble steps you can take on behalf of your family’s future happiness and prosperity.
It’s not your fault that you were saddled with overwhelming debt as a result of a life changing event such as illness, divorce or business failure or simply as a result of unscrupulous lenders with usurious interest rates.
Myth 10: Under The New Bankruptcy Law, There Is No More Help.
Not true. Nothing could be further from the truth. The news media sensationalized the whole story. In fact, the new law actually increased the benefits of filing bankruptcy.
As it happens, many of my clients are getting a better break under the new law. It took us a while to figure it all out but other than increasing work for us and more paperwork submitted to the Court, it was all overcooked in the press.