Milton Snavely Hershey 1857-1945 Mr. Hershey, the founder of Hershey’s chocolate had only a 4th grade education, but he was determined to create a good product that the public would want to purchase. Hershey started four candy companies that failed and he filed for bankruptcy. His fifth attempt was what is now the tremendously successful Hershey’s Foods Corporation.     Henry Ford 1863-1947 Henry Ford’s first two automobile manufacturing companies failed. The first company filed for bankruptcy and the second ended dues to a disagreement with his business partner. Then in 1903, at the age of 40, Ford created the [...]

Filing for bankruptcy has historically had a negative societal stigma unnecessarily. Even in 2011, when everyone knows someone who has filed for bankruptcy, the fear of what people will think of them, and what their financial future will be keeps many people tied up in disastrous financial situations. Back in the late 1990s, 1% of households in the U.S. were filing bankruptcy annually, in 2006 the number went up to 1.8. University of Michigan researcher Michelle J. White estimated that based on the debt to income ratio, at least 17% of U.S. households would be better off financially if they [...]

America has become a “do it yourself” culture. Some people feel that it is worth investing the time necessary to learn how to do tasks such as minor car repairs, or home remodeling projects if it saves them a few dollars in the end. There isn’t much harm in a minor interior design flaw, or a small car repair gone bad, but bankruptcy on the other hand is a serious legal matter, and if it isn’t handled properly, it could cost you time, money, and some of your possessions. Bankruptcy law is a complex law. There are six different types [...]

Eliminate Your Credit Card Debt As long as your credit card debts are unsecured (meaning that your creditors don’t have any liens on any of your property) bankruptcy is a great way to wipe out credit card debt. If you file for Chapter 13 bankruptcy as opposed to Chapter 7, you may be required to pay back a portion of your unsecured debts. However, any unsecured debts leftover once your repayment plan is complete will be discharged. Stop Creditor Harassment and Collection Filing for bankruptcy will put an end to creditor harassment. Many times creditors engage in nasty debt collection [...]

Many Los Angeles businesses fear filing for bankruptcy due to the stigma that exists socially after a business declares bankruptcy. In truth, bankruptcy was established to provide relief to a struggling business by either discharging their debts, or configuring a repayment plan to help the business get back on their feet. No business is exempt from financial hardships and the baseball team the Los Angeles Dodgers are no different. In June of 2011, the LA Dodgers filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Although it is uncommon to see the words bankruptcy and a major league baseball team’s name in the same [...]

Getting a car loan after filing for bankruptcy is not impossible. You might need to be more diligent than the person who has not filed bankruptcy, but if you are persistent, and follow some of the guidelines that I have outlined below, you can get a car loan after bankruptcy. Make Sure a Car Loan is a Priority Sure buying a new car is a great experience, and making your payments for that new car will improve your credit. However, chances are, if you have recently filed for bankruptcy you might still be reorganizing your finances, and trying to stabilize [...]

Many people believe that filing for bankruptcy is a cure-all for their financial woes, but in reality, there are certain types of debts that cannot be discharged through the bankruptcy process. In this blog post, we will discuss what bankruptcy can’t do. Child Support and Alimony Filing for bankruptcy will not eliminate child support and alimony obligations. These debts will remain exactly as they were before you filed for bankruptcy. In fact, if you file for Chapter 13 Bankruptcy your repayment plan will have to include these debts, and they will need to be repaid in full. Secured Debts While [...]

According to a research done by the American Bankruptcy Institute, consumer bankruptcy filings for the first half of 2010 were considerably higher than any six-month period since 2005. Consumer bankruptcy filings are up 14 percent to roughly 770,117 bankruptcy filings compared to the same period last year. This is the highest number of bankruptcy filings since the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Act was passed five years ago. The American Bankruptcy Institute anticipates that there will be at least 1.6 million bankruptcy filings before the end of the year. Are Bankruptcy Rates Up? In June, bankruptcy filings dropped seven percent [...]

The nation’s largest federal bankruptcy court has declared that the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act is unconstitutional. The Defense of Marriage Act allows only male-female couples to claim federal marriage benefits and authorizes states to deny recognition to same-sex couples legally wed elsewhere. The money saving benefits given to male-female married couples include; joint income tax returns, Social Security survivors’ payments and the right to sponsor a spouse for immigration. Joint bankruptcy filing are also allowed to help people in financial turmoil to avoid paying multiple filing fees, and instead allow couples to combine their incomes to pay off each [...]

When you start a small business, it can either be the beginning of a dream or the beginning of your worst nightmare. To avoid the worst, one of the areas you must adequately address as a business owner is your legal vulnerability. When you own a business, the risks of the business can impact your business assets as well as your personal assets, unless you take the appropriate legal steps to mitigate your risk. These are some of the legal areas where many businesses make big mistakes and fail to properly manage their risk… Not Organizing their Business as the [...]