The Difference Between Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 Bankruptcy

There are two different bankruptcy procedures for individuals. These proceedings are known as Chapter 7 and Chapter 13. While you may be familiar with the term Chapter 11 from the news, that chapter applies to business owners only.

Prior to October of 2005, going through a personal bankruptcy was a fairly simple and painless process. It did ruin your credit but it also allowed for a more liberal discharging of debt. In 2005, the law changed and is designed to provide an incentive to people to file under Chapter 13 rather than Chapter 7. For people with a steady income, Chapter 13 allows them to keep some property like a house or a car that they would otherwise lose in a Chapter 7 filing. Chapter 13 is a court approved "pay back" plan that can run for as long as five years.
Chapter 7 is known as straight bankruptcy, and involves liquidation of all assets that are not exempt. Exempt property may include automobiles, work-related tools, and basic household furnishings. Other property could be sold by a court appointed trustee or given directly to a creditor as payment of your debt. There is also a limitation of how much you can earn during this process. It is not designed for you to profit by not having to pay your debts.
There is another significant difference between Chapter 7 and 13. With Chapter 7, a person must wait eight years before they are able to file it again. Chapter 13 has only a two year waiting period before a person can refile.
Both Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 can eliminate unsecured debt, stop foreclosure proceedings, and halt collection processes. The differences lies in the way that those debts are discharged. Some debts such as alimony, child support, student loans and some taxes are exempt from the bankruptcy proceedings and cannot be eliminated.
Unlike the liquidation proceedings in a Chapter 7, Chapter 13 is designed to allow the debtor to pay off all the debt over a period of time. However, the court must be satisfied with the pay back plan otherwise it can order that other property such as boats, cars etc be sold to insure that the debts are fully paid. Arriving at a reasonable pay back plan is essential if the debtor wishes to keep his property.

In the past, bankruptcies clogged the courts as they were easy to get. Today the law tries to slow that processdown by requiring all persons desiring to file bankruptcy, to attend a government appoved counseling course regarding personal finance and credit. This requirement was added in the hopes that the debt problemcould be resolved outside the court. In addition, persons wanting to file Chapter 7 now have to have the approval of the Court regarding their income. If the Court feels that an individual's income is too high, they will not let them walk away from the debt through liquidation.

The decision to file for bankruptcy can be a very emotional one and one that can cause a great deal of friction within a family. Don't make the stress greater by trying to do it yourself. Seek out a qualified bankruptcy attorney to guide you throught the process.

About the Author
Chris A Smith follows the personal finance industry and reports on credit card law, credit reporting companies, personal bankruptcy, credit repair, alternative banking products and more. To find more information on bankruptcy and alternative plans, go to the informative credit site CreditFix

Phoenix Foreclosures - Go Ahead to Invest by Paying Only Fraction Amount

Property value is facing the downward trend after the period of increasingly rising economic recession. While the foreclosures graph is dramatically shooting up nationwide. Phoenix foreclosures are not the exception. So, the people can save more money by investing in foreclosures that are repossessed by the lender or the bank to recoup amount that is still owed on the mortgage. In this case, the lender does not bother about the market value of the property as they are not the real estate personnel. They deal in finance. Their aim is to just take out their loan amount plus additional expenses. So, they sell the property at fractional rate of actual price.
There are three different phases of the Phoenix foreclosures which are: • The first stage is the pre-foreclosure which is also known as the grace period and is granted to the owner to pay back his debts. The owner can either sell the property or refinance it. The period varies with the state. • The next stage is auction where the property is foreclosed and is put for public auction for non-payment of debt even in grace period. • When the property is not sold at auction, it is given back to the bank where bank pay off any back taxes attached to the property and is now considered as REO means the real estate owned property.

Phoenix the capital of Arizona is known for the main financial, cultural, transportation, economic and industrial center of southwestern US. To invest in Phoenix foreclosures one must keep track on daily basis. That is, it will be more beneficial if one have sound knowledge about the field. Some good web sites service its customers by providing A to Z information which saves lot of time and money which was otherwise spent while contacting agents and brokers earlier. The information includes: • Updated listings that can be searched based on various factors such as area wise, location wise, date wise, etc. • All types of foreclosures for example: FSBO, bank foreclosure, government foreclosures, etc. • Contact name and number of the seller. • Photo and particulars of the property like price, area covered number of bedrooms and bath, etc. • Tips to buy Phoenix foreclosures. • Nationwide foreclosures laws. • Latest news and articles on foreclosures.

Description: Phoenix foreclosures are the best opportunity to invest in as the city is the major transportation hub of North America and there are increasing number of foreclosures due to economic downturn. Thus Phoenix foreclosures are gaining more popularity and hence investors have a bright chance to get some lucrative property at quite cheap price.

About the Author
Ron Akins is Chief Writer on Real Estates and Foreclosures with over 20 years of experience in writing and provides expert tips on buying Phoenix Foreclosures. For more details please visit Phoenix Foreclosures

Tips for Buying a Property from Louisville Foreclosures

The down turn in the global economy has made pay cuts and job loss the order of the day. A lot of people are defaulting on their loan and mortgage payments and as a result they are being foreclosed by banks or financial institutions. That is why there are a lot of foreclosed properties available in the market for home buyers to choose from. Louisville in Jefferson County of Kentucky, USA is also not an exception to this trend. If you are planning to settle down in Louisville by buying a property there then you should first peruse various listing of Louisville Foreclosures. There are various steps of buying a foreclosures property and these basic steps are as follows: • Know about the various types of Foreclosure properties and their legal aspects • Find out about your own specifications about the property you want to buy • Set your budget for buying a foreclosed property and secure your finance • Settle on a representative to bid for you in force closure auctions. However, before settling on a property from the Louisville Foreclosures you should keep certain key things in mind. You should glean extensive information about different types of foreclosed properties like Notice of Default (NOD), Notice of Trustee (NOT) and Real Estate Owned (RTO) foreclosed properties. You should decide which end of the foreclosure cycle you want to buy the property from. It would be safer to buy a property already foreclosed by a bank or government but then again with these properties you have to deal with a larger pool of buyers. Secondly, you should understand your own requirements first if you are planning to buy a property from Louisville Foreclosures for your own use. You should first decide what size of property you need, that means settling on the number of bedrooms and bathrooms you might need. Then fine tune the other specification like pools and yards. If you have got small children then you surely need a home with a yard to play for them. Various foreclosures listing websites available in the internet can be of immense help to you in this regard. Before you refine your property search you can use these broader criterions to check out the various foreclosed properties available in the market. All you need to do is to log into these websites and get registered with them for a small fee. Then you can avail all those information about foreclosure listings which were earlier available to professional real estate agents. Once you have settled on a property from the list of Louisville Foreclosures then you should ensure it fits your budget. You should try to secure your finances as soon as you zero on the property. It is always recommended for a buyer to be pre-qualified to buy the property because that would give you the strongest point to negotiate with the property sells.

About the Author
Ron Akins is Chief Writer on Real Estates and Foreclosures with over 20 years of experience in writing and provides expert tips on buying Louisville Foreclosures. For more details please visit Louisville Foreclosures

Dollar Collapse - Will The Dollar Really Collapse?

If the thought of the US dollar crashing, or devaluing makes you laugh, or shake your head because its just a myth, think again!

I was listening to Ben Bernanke's (Federal Reserve Chairman) Audio last week. Who in front of Congress blatantly admitted to having no concern for the dollar. He stated his job was to stimulate the economy, (not to mention his own bank account!) Which means print off money and throw it around into the markets and other companies that don't need it in the first place.

That is only part of the reason why the market has been heading north full steam ahead….

I must be the first one to say here, that if you go back hundreds of years, in any economy and see the consequences of such actions and its not rosey picture.

Let's take for example South Africa, or what has happened in Zimbabwe recently. The consequences of such actions has already taken place there and many crazy pictures are showing up on the internet. When you have a look at them (see below) It's like some sort of bizarre scene out of a "Gods must be crazy" Film. But the only crazy people are the ones running this show. The governements and media.

In Zimbabwe things are drastic and their country has fully collapsed. Hyperinflation has riddled the country, destroying their currencies and the true gentle spirit nature of it's people.

Check this picture out below. It's is a picture of one of the locals racing off to the shops to errrr… buy a loaf of bread! Ah you forgot your wheelbarrow mate! "Oh you couldn't afford one!…RIGHT!"

Jokes aside, this is a serious situation. It's sad really!!!! I would not want to be living in a place like this, that's for sure.

The scary thing is that the US and some other countries are about to undergo a massive currency correction, and valuation also. How much?, well….time will tell? But the effect will have dramatic consequences on many families, young and old, rich and poor!

THERE ARE BIG CHANGES COMING FOR MAJOR COUNTRIES AROUND THE WORLD. Zimbabwe is only one small portion, that has already felt these effects.

What will really matter is how this will affect people psychologically. I know that people are in trouble now financially but when people get DESPERATE, they can sometimes do DESPERATE things.

Anyway….Its kinda hard to explain what is going on without showing some charts. Here is one that will simply BLOW YOUR MIND!.