Business Bankruptcy Law | Small Business Bankruptcy Laws

I found a job which I thought would be good fit for me. I’m starting to realize that I work for a boss who is discriminating, an alcoholic and has made several attempts to come on me, I have not given him any responses. I have brought his business back to life because when I took the position I thought he was kind and honest and he made it seem like people had used him and taken advantage of him. Now I feel that he’s been playing head games with me because I wont give in to his advances. He told me directly that he wants me to hire someone for him who is "loose and easy" and other things which I wont mention. I usually dont pay much attention because he’s drunk. He’s constantly lying to people, things of which I know are not true. I’ve seen him watching porn at work. He is an alcoholic and sees patients while hes fully drunk. I would leave but Im having a hard time with this economy to find anything else. I also feel that he’s using me to fix his own problems and when hes not able to fulfill his responsibilities, he holds me responsible. He cant drive due to several DUI’s which I just found out about and asks me to pick him up and drop him off at home which is out of my way. I’be been doing it out of the goodness of my heart and having good work ethics. He’s going through divorce, bankruptcy and many law suits from previous employees. I really need the job as I am putting myself through school and dont have any other source. I have been praying and asking God for help. What do I do in the meantime ?
As an empath I feel he’s feeding off of me and draining me so I would give in eventually. What do I do, in the meantime? Please advice.

Thank you

for instance there are any number of individuals such as CEOs, actors, athle;tes and the like who make several millions of dollars a year, even as the government goes bankrupt. In most cases these individuals have signed contracts that entitle them to whatever money they receive, although this is subject to change under certain circumstances. At any rate, it would seem to me that someone who is making million or more a year could stand to have at least a mere million taken from their annual salary, and would likely not even feel the difference from this reduction. Moreover, a reduction of million from the salary of 1,000 such people would alone generate billion over the course of a year, which would take on a whole new meaning when multiplied several times. With that said, has no one considered the idea of garnering additional income from cuts such as the aforemetioned, with or without the addition of cuts from wasteful spending as it relates to entitlement programs and/or other programs? I just think that the salary cuts I have mentioned would have a much better chance of improving the economy with less of an impact on the American people in general.

As far as raising taxes, I am not sure if this is being considered by Obama as an alternate way of increasing revenue in light of the government bankruptcy, but the fact is that this will do no such thing, in fact it will more likely make things worse than they are currently. Small businesses for instance will lay people off or hire less due to having to pay more in taxes. Raising taxes will also likely cause inflation due to monietary manipulation in the event that things continue on this path.

I have no one to talk to about my situation, not even my best friends and family. This is a very private decision.

However, I need to know if I am thinking clearly and would so appreciate your help.

When the economy collapsed, so did our business. One year later and we are still living off of savings, depleting our retirement accounts just to stay alive. While I certainly realize that we were at least lucky enough to have this to fall back on, we are in our mid 50’s and this money is what we planned to retire on. Couple that with ,000 in credit card debt that has been incurred to pay our vendors when the business went down, by trying to do the right thing and not filing for bankruptcy, and this has taken a tremendous toll.

We have a differing opinion about how to move forward. I want to sell our home, in which we have significant equity, and move into a smaller, more modest home. The problem for my husband is that this is our dream home, a 3000 sq ft home we built 5 years ago and planned to live the rest of our lives in. I hope I don’t sound too obnoxious when I say it is a very beautiful home.

Of course we won’t get out of the home what we have into it, cash wise. We will be taking a pretty big loss because property values have dropped. I don’t care. While I WANT to live in this home, I don’t NEED to live in this home. My husband is not budging, and is content to spend what we have saved until the business can get going again. When………I have no clue. It’s not looking good.

I am so afraid to lose everything that we have worked so hard for these past 20 years. And if we continue on this path, we will.

I want to sell the house, restock the 401K to where it was, pay off all our credit card debt and purchase a more modest home.

He wants to stay in the house, use our saving to live with hopes that the business will come back.

I feel so desperate that I am thinking of filing for divorce so that I can at least protect my half of what’s left, forcing the sale of the home. I NEED that security. I can not live, hoping that things will turn around while watching every last cent of our retirement go to pay interest payments.

We have been to counseling for weeks now and he is still not giving. We have one HS child left at home. This would devastate our family, but I need that security.

Am I being unreasonable?

Thank you.
He is the one that wants to keep the "material" thing (the home), not me.

I want the security.

I am not trying to "recoup" cash. I want to take the cash to pay the bills we have racked up, buy a smaller home (smaller home, lower bills) and go from there.
I am not trying to "recoup" cash. I want to take the cash to pay the bills we have racked up, buy a smaller home (smaller home, lower bills) and go from there.
Mikey, We have a financial adviser and he is with me.

The American Journal of Medicine says over 3 out of 5 personal bankruptcies are due to medical debt (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bankruptcy_in_the_United_States).

Wouldn’t it be great on the economy to have Universal Healthcare? The UK spends only 8% of GDP on healthcare while the US spends 16% and still has to pay for insurance! Further, UK small businesses are not burdened with having to pay for employees insurance making them more competitive. As a Conservative, wouldn’t you agree that slashing federal spending on healthcare by 50% and decreasing costs for small business is a great idea?
Well, I am actually a medical insurance broker and I can tell you 1) prices are not set by governments, they’re set by the cost of medical care which is set by hospitals and 2) if people paid for healthcare through their taxes, non-payment wouldn’t be an issues unless the people were evading taxes which is another issue.
Capital: So are you saying that the published statistics that show every UHC country spends less GDP on healthcare are all lies? Every stat is wrong and you are right because you said so? Hmm…

I almost always try not to listen to people in public. I was raised it’s not polite, but yesterday really bothered me. I am currently in a chapter 13 bankruptcy. The bankruptcy occurred because of my husband losing a job back in 2002. He was living off credit cards and a 401K savings.
So I’m aware the problems with a foreclosure and excess credit cards can do to your credit.

A young mother under 30 came into my bank while I was there paying bills yesterday. She was crying pretty hard and wanted to speak to a manager. She had just moved into a newly built home and didn’t have any money in the bank. She was waiting for a credit card to arrive but it never did. The card was issued by my bank and she thought that she could get cash advance from her line of credit. The address she mentioned is on the same subdivision as my husband’s friend and I know that they are expensive homes.

The manager asked her about her situation and she said that she using credit cards to buy food and such. He advised her to go to a financial adviser.

I was thinking about something I heard on Suze Orman’s show a week or so ago that a family was living off of their cards as was nearly in 100K debt and about to lose their home.

I’ve been down that road with my husband before we were married. It is absolutely awful. Living through a foreclosure is very hard on a person. I wonder if I should have said something to her but I didn’t have the nerve to do so. I wasn’t any of my business, but I looked at that little baby in the stroller and wondered how this is going to affect her?

Would you have offered advice to this person? Why would anyone in today’s economy buy a house and then have nothing to live on? The area I live in has these new "ugly" houses all around us. They have no yard, no trees and look like monopoly hotels.

How would you have handled this?

I thought this was interesting I am sorry for the detail, but I received this in an e-mail, and I find it hard to believe that we can accept this.
I am pasting a post that I just wrote on my blog about the
>
> URGENT! Please Read and Act!!!
>
> Okay People…I do not write this lightly. I am begging you
> to read this post, research the links, and act now!
>
> About a week ago I received an email posted on a homeschool
> loop I am on about the new Consumer Product Safety
> Improvement Act. This act was signed into law last August
> and will be in effect on Feb. 10th of this year. Rebecca
> Wilson from Hope Chest Legacy, a homeschool vendor who will
> closing down her business as a result of this Act says
> explains it better than I can:
>
> "This law may have been intentioned to protect
> American children from lead and high PCB levels, but what it
> will actually do is cause havoc in American homes and in our
> economy. It is a VERY badly written law, vague and open
> ended in many ways. Although written with China made
> products in mind, it is open for ANY item sold in the USA
> regardless of where the item was manufactured.
>
> This law requires that ANY item that comes in contact with
> a child who is 12 years old and under, to be tested at a
> government approved testing facility and have a
> ‘certification’ placed on the item. Sounds simple
> enough, but the fallout is much more intense.
>
> The cost of having a single wood block tested is 0. To
> have a wooden baby’s teething rattle tested would be
> 00. Even books, DVDs, clothing, handmade toys or
> blankets, children’s clothing, the bags items are packed
> in and sold in, etc come under this new law. ANYTHING that
> comes into contact with a child under 12 years of age is
> required to be tested and certified."
>
> I honestly figured this was hype when I received the first
> email and blew it off. Until I received the email from
> Rebecca Wilson. I adore her products and the fact that this
> was hitting so close to home had me concerned. So I started
> researching…
>
> Check out this post on a forum from a woman named Kathleen
> Fasenella who has been to Washington D.C. in attempt to
> fight this. She says:
>
> "Dear Friends
> There is a grave crisis in the industry. I don’t post
> here much so if you don’t know me, I don’t blame you
> for thinking I’m a kook, alarmist, extremist or
> conspiracy theorist. What I’m going to tell you is all
> too true. In a nutshell, as of 2/10/2009, it will be illegal
> to sell most products intended for children 12 and younger
> unless you undergo expensive product testing to certify your
> products as safe. There are no exemptions or exceptions.
> This includes wahm or grandmas making items for bazaars,
> craft shows, etsy, ebay, or just person to person sales. As
> of February 10, 2009 (National Bankruptcy Day) anything
> without a General Conformity Certificate is legally
> considered Banned Hazardous Material."
>
> Let me break this down…ANYONE WHO SELLS PRODUCTS, NEW OR
> USED, THAT ARE INTENDED FOR CHILDREN AGES 12 AND UNDER WILL
> BE REQUIRED TO HAVE ALL OF THESE PRODUCTS UNDERGO EXPENSIVE
> TESTING…I’m talking toys, clothes, BOOKS,
> CURRICULUM…Even selling used toys/books to your friends
> WILL BECOME ILLEGAL without having them tested.
>
> This means no more selling children’s products on Ebay
> or Etsy.
>
> I received an email that said Amazon has ALREADY contacted
> their vendors to let them know they will not sell
> children’s items without the testing. I contacted an
> amazon.com rep this morning who verified that vendors had
> been notified that they would need to comply with this act!
> But she obviously didn’t understand that in order to
> comply with the act, anyone who wanted to sell their used
> copy of Goodnight Moon for on amazon.com that was
> published pre-2009 would first need to have it tested for
> 0+. She gave me the fax and address for their legal dept.
> for further questions.
>
> Children’s Consignment Stores will have to close.
> GOODWILL HAS ALREADY DECIDED THEY WILL NO LONGER CARRY
> CHILDREN’S PRODUCTS AND SOME OF THEM ARE CLOSING.
>
> Do you realize how this will effect the homeschool
> community? Almost every company that I buy homeschool books,
> curriculum, and products from are a mom and pop organization
> that will not be able to afford this kind of testing. We
> will no longer be allowed to sell used products for our
> children online and will be breaking the law if we do it in
> person. How many homeschool moms do you know earn extra
> income by making hairbows, blankets, and toys? They would no
> longer be able to do that.
>
> My husband and I have been in contact with HSLDA
> (Homeschool Legal Defense Association) and they just found
> out about this YESTERDAY! They are looking into it as I
> type.
>
> HOMESCHOOLERS, MOMS AND DADS

I personally own 4 properties. Each of these are in my name. I have a private loan set up from a hard money lender on each of these properties. one of them is my main residence. The others are rented out. I use the money from the renters to pay the lender. He is a nice guy, and will let the loan ride out as long as I need to. I’ve been working with him for years. I’ve borrowed on each of these homes about half of their value. But through the years, the prices/equity has been cut down, so now there is probably only about 10K profit on each house.

On top of these 4 houses, I have 3 homes that are currently in my name as well, but I am working on remodeling/reselling. My dilemma is complex. I have two other business partners. My dad, and my husband. We’ve never had problems working together, its just we’ve run into problems in the finance dept. Currently, we have a business account for the three of us. We only have enough money for our business to run for one more month. Currently, our bills run about 9K a month. We’re waiting for a house to sell, its valued at 80 but we’re trying to take ANYTHING that will keep us going…so maybe around 60/etc….I dont even know exactly what we’ll take for it, or if it’ll even sell b/c of the economy. We’re trying to pull a loan on it instead to keep things going. But the problem with that, is that we have to use the money we’re going to pull on a loan to remodel another property (we’ll call property #2). We already pulled an 80K loan on property #2 for 80K but its coming in two draws. We spent the first draw on business expenses to keep the business running, and as soon as we spend 20K on the house #2 (its a big time fixer in the napa, ca vacation community) we can get the second draw of 40K, of which, we will have to spend maybe 30K on the house.

All and all, this is the worst case scenario we’ve ever been in. We even have a small rinky dink house #3 tied into the loan of house #2 to protect the investors. House #3 is only worth about 20K….thats why we didnt mind backing it against the other one.

On top of worrying if we’re going to have enough money to survive financially, once we get the napa vacation house (#2) on the market, we dont even know if it will sell at a low/fair market price. We just want to get rid of the house and get rid of the loan and hope to keep business going with the bills.

Also where it gets weird, and concerning the bankruptcy talk….there is an attorney who I owe some money to. At first he was kind, we got along great, and he saw a lot of potential in myself, the business that I do. A few years ago I was needing money so he lent me 20K at 80% interest. I knew that where I placed the money would help me to continue working, and would be worth it in the long run. It was….its just, I havent paid him back yet, so he’s already made about 20K off of the loan, and im continuing to pay him 1,200 per month of interest. He tacked on an old attorney bill from his other firm, but at one point he said he discounted it, but now he’s charging me again. All and all, and please, without judgement of me or him, nothing has been written on paper, and I know there is that saying that a verbal contract is as good as the paper its written on. So all an all. He’s screwing me in several ways. He practically ‘but kindly’ demands that I send several leads to him, to where he’ll make 50-100 on residential properties that are sent his way by ME.

The positions for goes as follows:
My dad has been in charge of the finances and working with the attorney.
My husband has been doing the computer work and finding leads
I have the bank account in my name, go to court, and use MY name on EVERYTHING. Everything that we do between the three of us is open for all 3 of us to see on paper. There is no money laundering or anything strange between us. We are all best friends.

I am just REALLY REALLY freaking stressed. Mainly because I am so young, and worry about my future. If I were to file bankruptcy couldnt I put the houses in a trust or my sisters name and bankrupty off the attorney? I know its ridiculous but we dont even know how much we owe him. It could be 50K or it could be 100K.

If the business fails, what precautions can I take before hand??? I may only have a month or two before it hits the fan….I was thinking of opening a second bank account at another bank, it case we go broke with the one, and get into check systems, at least i’d have another account, b/c once you go into it you cant open another account. Im so scared. And not that I want to make this a focal point of my storyline, but my dad has a 400K life insurance policy. He said that if something ‘happened to him’ and he died, we would get it. Im worried about our business, my ‘name’ in general, losing my family, my future….im stressed and need advice. On ANYTHING. Im young and fragile righ

I personally own 4 properties. Each of these are in my name. I have a private loan set up from a hard money lender on each of these properties. one of them is my main residence. The others are rented out. I use the money from the renters to pay the lender. He is a nice guy, and will let the loan ride out as long as I need to. I’ve been working with him for years. I’ve borrowed on each of these homes about half of their value. But through the years, the prices/equity has been cut down, so now there is probably only about 10K profit on each house.

On top of these 4 houses, I have 3 homes that are currently in my name as well, but I am working on remodeling/reselling. My dilemma is complex. I have two other business partners. My dad, and my husband. We’ve never had problems working together, its just we’ve run into problems in the finance dept. Currently, we have a business account for the three of us. We only have enough money for our business to run for one more month. Currently, our bills run about 9K a month. We’re waiting for a house to sell, its valued at 80 but we’re trying to take ANYTHING that will keep us going…so maybe around 60/etc….I dont even know exactly what we’ll take for it, or if it’ll even sell b/c of the economy. We’re trying to pull a loan on it instead to keep things going. But the problem with that, is that we have to use the money we’re going to pull on a loan to remodel another property (we’ll call property #2). We already pulled an 80K loan on property #2 for 80K but its coming in two draws. We spent the first draw on business expenses to keep the business running, and as soon as we spend 20K on the house #2 (its a big time fixer in the napa, ca vacation community) we can get the second draw of 40K, of which, we will have to spend maybe 30K on the house.

All and all, this is the worst case scenario we’ve ever been in. We even have a small rinky dink house #3 tied into the loan of house #2 to protect the investors. House #3 is only worth about 20K….thats why we didnt mind backing it against the other one.

On top of worrying if we’re going to have enough money to survive financially, once we get the napa vacation house (#2) on the market, we dont even know if it will sell at a low/fair market price. We just want to get rid of the house and get rid of the loan and hope to keep business going with the bills.

Also where it gets weird, and concerning the bankruptcy talk….there is an attorney who I owe some money to. At first he was kind, we got along great, and he saw a lot of potential in myself, the business that I do. A few years ago I was needing money so he lent me 20K at 80% interest. I knew that where I placed the money would help me to continue working, and would be worth it in the long run. It was….its just, I havent paid him back yet, so he’s already made about 20K off of the loan, and im continuing to pay him 1,200 per month of interest. He tacked on an old attorney bill from his other firm, but at one point he said he discounted it, but now he’s charging me again. All and all, and please, without judgement of me or him, nothing has been written on paper, and I know there is that saying that a verbal contract is as good as the paper its written on. So all an all. He’s screwing me in several ways. He practically ‘but kindly’ demands that I send several leads to him, to where he’ll make 50-100 on residential properties that are sent his way by ME.

The positions for goes as follows:
My dad has been in charge of the finances and working with the attorney.
My husband has been doing the computer work and finding leads
I have the bank account in my name, go to court, and use MY name on EVERYTHING. Everything that we do between the three of us is open for all 3 of us to see on paper. There is no money laundering or anything strange between us. We are all best friends.

I am just REALLY REALLY freaking stressed. Mainly because I am so young, and worry about my future. If I were to file bankruptcy couldnt I put the houses in a trust or my sisters name and bankrupty off the attorney? I know its ridiculous but we dont even know how much we owe him. It could be 50K or it could be 100K.

If the business fails, what precautions can I take before hand??? I may only have a month or two before it hits the fan….I was thinking of opening a second bank account at another bank, it case we go broke with the one, and get into check systems, at least i’d have another account, b/c once you go into it you cant open another account. Im so scared. And not that I want to make this a focal point of my storyline, but my dad has a 400K life insurance policy. He said that if something ‘happened to him’ and he died, we would get it. Im worried about our business, my ‘name’ in general, losing my family, my future….im stressed and need advice. On ANYTHING. Im young and fragile righ

I personally own 4 properties. Each of these are in my name. I have a private loan set up from a hard money lender on each of these properties. one of them is my main residence. The others are rented out. I use the money from the renters to pay the lender. He is a nice guy, and will let the loan ride out as long as I need to. I’ve been working with him for years. I’ve borrowed on each of these homes about half of their value. But through the years, the prices/equity has been cut down, so now there is probably only about 10K profit on each house.

On top of these 4 houses, I have 3 homes that are currently in my name as well, but I am working on remodeling/reselling. My dilemma is complex. I have two other business partners. My dad, and my husband. We’ve never had problems working together, its just we’ve run into problems in the finance dept. Currently, we have a business account for the three of us. We only have enough money for our business to run for one more month. Currently, our bills run about 9K a month. We’re waiting for a house to sell, its valued at 80 but we’re trying to take ANYTHING that will keep us going…so maybe around 60/etc….I dont even know exactly what we’ll take for it, or if it’ll even sell b/c of the economy. We’re trying to pull a loan on it instead to keep things going. But the problem with that, is that we have to use the money we’re going to pull on a loan to remodel another property (we’ll call property #2). We already pulled an 80K loan on property #2 for 80K but its coming in two draws. We spent the first draw on business expenses to keep the business running, and as soon as we spend 20K on the house #2 (its a big time fixer in the napa, ca vacation community) we can get the second draw of 40K, of which, we will have to spend maybe 30K on the house.

All and all, this is the worst case scenario we’ve ever been in. We even have a small rinky dink house #3 tied into the loan of house #2 to protect the investors. House #3 is only worth about 20K….thats why we didnt mind backing it against the other one.

On top of worrying if we’re going to have enough money to survive financially, once we get the napa vacation house (#2) on the market, we dont even know if it will sell at a low/fair market price. We just want to get rid of the house and get rid of the loan and hope to keep business going with the bills.

Also where it gets weird, and concerning the bankruptcy talk….there is an attorney who I owe some money to. At first he was kind, we got along great, and he saw a lot of potential in myself, the business that I do. A few years ago I was needing money so he lent me 20K at 80% interest. I knew that where I placed the money would help me to continue working, and would be worth it in the long run. It was….its just, I havent paid him back yet, so he’s already made about 20K off of the loan, and im continuing to pay him 1,200 per month of interest. He tacked on an old attorney bill from his other firm, but at one point he said he discounted it, but now he’s charging me again. All and all, and please, without judgement of me or him, nothing has been written on paper, and I know there is that saying that a verbal contract is as good as the paper its written on. So all an all. He’s screwing me in several ways. He practically ‘but kindly’ demands that I send several leads to him, to where he’ll make 50-100 on residential properties that are sent his way by ME.

The positions for goes as follows:
My dad has been in charge of the finances and working with the attorney.
My husband has been doing the computer work and finding leads
I have the bank account in my name, go to court, and use MY name on EVERYTHING. Everything that we do between the three of us is open for all 3 of us to see on paper. There is no money laundering or anything strange between us. We are all best friends.

I am just REALLY REALLY freaking stressed. Mainly because I am so young, and worry about my future. If I were to file bankruptcy couldnt I put the houses in a trust or my sisters name and bankrupty off the attorney? I know its ridiculous but we dont even know how much we owe him. It could be 50K or it could be 100K.

If the business fails, what precautions can I take before hand??? I may only have a month or two before it hits the fan….I was thinking of opening a second bank account at another bank, it case we go broke with the one, and get into check systems, at least i’d have another account, b/c once you go into it you cant open another account. Im so scared. And not that I want to make this a focal point of my storyline, but my dad has a 400K life insurance policy. He said that if something ‘happened to him’ and he died, we would get it. Im worried about our business, my ‘name’ in general, losing my family, my future….im stressed and need advice. On ANYTHING. Im young and fragile righ

I personally own 4 properties. Each of these are in my name. I have a private loan set up from a hard money lender on each of these properties. one of them is my main residence. The others are rented out. I use the money from the renters to pay the lender. He is a nice guy, and will let the loan ride out as long as I need to. I’ve been working with him for years. I’ve borrowed on each of these homes about half of their value. But through the years, the prices/equity has been cut down, so now there is probably only about 10K profit on each house.

On top of these 4 houses, I have 3 homes that are currently in my name as well, but I am working on remodeling/reselling. My dilemma is complex. I have two other business partners. My dad, and my husband. We’ve never had problems working together, its just we’ve run into problems in the finance dept. Currently, we have a business account for the three of us. We only have enough money for our business to run for one more month. Currently, our bills run about 9K a month. We’re waiting for a house to sell, its valued at 80 but we’re trying to take ANYTHING that will keep us going…so maybe around 60/etc….I dont even know exactly what we’ll take for it, or if it’ll even sell b/c of the economy. We’re trying to pull a loan on it instead to keep things going. But the problem with that, is that we have to use the money we’re going to pull on a loan to remodel another property (we’ll call property #2). We already pulled an 80K loan on property #2 for 80K but its coming in two draws. We spent the first draw on business expenses to keep the business running, and as soon as we spend 20K on the house #2 (its a big time fixer in the napa, ca vacation community) we can get the second draw of 40K, of which, we will have to spend maybe 30K on the house.

All and all, this is the worst case scenario we’ve ever been in. We even have a small rinky dink house #3 tied into the loan of house #2 to protect the investors. House #3 is only worth about 20K….thats why we didnt mind backing it against the other one.

On top of worrying if we’re going to have enough money to survive financially, once we get the napa vacation house (#2) on the market, we dont even know if it will sell at a low/fair market price. We just want to get rid of the house and get rid of the loan and hope to keep business going with the bills.

Also where it gets weird, and concerning the bankruptcy talk….there is an attorney who I owe some money to. At first he was kind, we got along great, and he saw a lot of potential in myself, the business that I do. A few years ago I was needing money so he lent me 20K at 80% interest. I knew that where I placed the money would help me to continue working, and would be worth it in the long run. It was….its just, I havent paid him back yet, so he’s already made about 20K off of the loan, and im continuing to pay him 1,200 per month of interest. He tacked on an old attorney bill from his other firm, but at one point he said he discounted it, but now he’s charging me again. All and all, and please, without judgement of me or him, nothing has been written on paper, and I know there is that saying that a verbal contract is as good as the paper its written on. So all an all. He’s screwing me in several ways. He practically ‘but kindly’ demands that I send several leads to him, to where he’ll make 50-100 on residential properties that are sent his way by ME.

The positions for goes as follows:
My dad has been in charge of the finances and working with the attorney.
My husband has been doing the computer work and finding leads
I have the bank account in my name, go to court, and use MY name on EVERYTHING. Everything that we do between the three of us is open for all 3 of us to see on paper. There is no money laundering or anything strange between us. We are all best friends.

I am just REALLY REALLY freaking stressed. Mainly because I am so young, and worry about my future. If I were to file bankruptcy couldnt I put the houses in a trust or my sisters name and bankrupty off the attorney? I know its ridiculous but we dont even know how much we owe him. It could be 50K or it could be 100K.

If the business fails, what precautions can I take before hand??? I may only have a month or two before it hits the fan….I was thinking of opening a second bank account at another bank, it case we go broke with the one, and get into check systems, at least i’d have another account, b/c once you go into it you cant open another account. Im so scared. And not that I want to make this a focal point of my storyline, but my dad has a 400K life insurance policy. He said that if something ‘happened to him’ and he died, we would get it. Im worried about our business, my ‘name’ in general, losing my family, my future….im stressed and need advice. On ANYTHING. Im young and fragile righ

Unfortunately my business failed. I had numerous credit cards that were used to purchase business supplies, inventory, etc. When the economy fell, the business took a huge dip, leaving me with no way to pay for the monthly expenses to keep the business afloat. Not to mention, no way to purchase inventory to keep the business from failing further. I am in over my head and have considered bankruptcy but I have some circumstances that have caused me to have to delay the inevitable. In the mean time, creditors are threatening law suits etc. I have a family and this situation was an honest try to make a business work but obviously didn’t. Needless to say, I am worried about the amount that can be garnished as we are struggling already, living pay check to pay check. Can someone answer my question?

Please I really need ideas from teens, parents, grandparents, anyone who has some good idea’s. My nephew Ryan is turning 14 and we cannot be there with him.
Gifts or gift cards (are those good ideas?) anything that can be sent overnight or express is great.
I will tell you a little of what’s happening in my nephew Ryan’s life right now and his worries because it may help to know why his 14th birthday will be tougher than any others he’s had.
Please know I am not mentioning this for sympathy or pity or anything like that but for help just to get him something – one day without worry would be great- but we cannot do that so any ideas about something special that he might love would be really appreciated.
This is Ryan’s last birthday at home since my his mom who is my sister become ill (she has lost the use of both hands and arms-they keep thinking it’s one thing then another 2 surgeries later no answers) and had to stop working. My brother-in law re-builds cars and also builds hot rods that sort of thing. His work is awesome and he’s doing it this work since about he was 15. With his 26+ experience they call him first when they can for jobs but no one really is putting anything together or getting cars repaired either due to the economy so he picks up whatever work he can find. Their house is going through foreclosure and as much as tried not to they have had to declare bankruptcy. Blessedly they do have a place to go though.
Ryan is also worried because or other problems that are going on such as his maternal Grandparents lost their home recently to foreclosure after 22 years there and also had to go through bankruptcy in order to save the small business they have. His paternal Grandparents also lost there home to foreclosure and went though bankruptcy because of severe health problems and his Grandmother has recently became blind do to an illness no one knew about. Because as with everyone I know and know of she has/had the same problem because even with payment plans if they have them you still cannot afford eye, dental, or hearing exams.There is only so many things you can cut back on to pay bills. Good news is Ryan’s paternal Grandparents moved in with my brother-in-laws older sister and her family and they all get along great. My nephew is especially close to his paternal grandparents he has been around them his whole life and now they since they are settled in and happy this should help him be less worried wouldn’t it?
He says he’s fine but we all said that as kids. I think the fact he also knows just how sick his Grandparents on both sides of the family are he is really worried about them and of course so worried about his Mom and no doubt knows his Dad’s frustration.
Ryan is well aware there are people who have it way worse. However we believe he has a right to feel normal feelings of fear, sadness, anger, frustration, and even unfairness. This is a grieving process as when somebody dies. Also having the rug yanked out from under you regardless of age even if you know it’s coming is still nothing like when you actually go through it. We know how important it is to let him feel how he feels without the guilt. If feelings/emotions are ignored or pushed away they will always come back at some point in some form sometimes quite dangerous forms. His school counselor are aware of what is happening so they can help watch for anger issues, depression and so on and he knows he can talk to them. Kids are so much more aware of what’s going on.
So you know what’s happening in his life and why I am worried. Advice would be appreciated in how to reassure him.
In regards to idea’s of something extra fun or can lift his spirits for his birthday? Now a gift card would be great and he loves those because he can get what he wants but how can it be done with a little excitement or be brightened up?
How about a birthday balloon bouquet? Now the gift card will have to be sent separately as it cannot be sent with any bouquet if I get it from his favorite store. Will a teddy bear attached a balloon bouquet be or seem to childish for a 14 year old boy?
Thank you for reading this and for your answers.

I’ll leave out the details but I am almost certainly going to file. Already spoken to 3 lawyers and picked one. Would like to hear from folks whov’e been through this in the past. I’m curious what "life is like" after it’s all said and done. Do you have regrets? I never in a million years thought I would be ever filing bankruptcy but I started a side business 6 years ago and it’s failed in this economy. And I’ve spent every penny I had saved up.

I’ve been told after it’s discharged, you will be able to get a loan to say, buy a car within 6 months? And a mortgage within a year? (I need to re-fil my home on the lower rates).

Thanks in advance.

I know the basics of bankruptcy, but I have a specific situation and I was just wondering what differences there might be with it…If anyone could help explain this I’d be very grateful.

So, my dad owned a small chain of local banks. After the economy crashed, it struggled…given more time and–well I won’t get into details–basically, the FDIC claimed it wasn’t strong enough/had too many bad loans/wasn’t going to make it. So then they took over.

Long story short, my dad was owner, CEO, and president. So everything that went wrong fell on his shoulders (even though it wasn’t his fault)….now, after investigating the loans and business that my dad’s banks were making, the FDIC is suing my dad for 35,000,000 dollars.
We don’t have that kind of money.
My parents will have to file for bankruptcy; but will it be different because it’s the government that’s suing him? Will there be more to it? More "strings attached" so to speak? I’m not really sure what questions to ask — if anyone could just shed some light on the situation….I’d appreciate it.

Own a small retail incorporated business not doing well due to the economy. Having to use business credit cards, and creeping into personal credit cards, they have become overwhelming. Could I declare personal bankruptcy and continue to keep my business open?

I’m self employed. I recently fell on some hard times with my business and this economy. I’m still making money, but not nearly enough to cover my mortgage, business rent, and credit cards. For the past few months I’ve been spinning my wheels with the credit card companies and mortgage mods, but those just seem impossible. They aren’t helping me and are now hurting my credit.

I’ve heard about this bankruptcy thing, but I don’t want to lose the few assets and savings I have. I want to keep them in case I lose everything or for real emergency. If I sell it all off or use my savings I’ll still be behind so I need another plan. Thanks much for any advice on this!
thanks andy. what’s killing me is my mortgage combined with my business rent. I should be doing better in 3-6 months, but at this rate my credit will be ruined unless i somehow change something. i’m working on new income of course, but it just doesn’t seem like it will be enough and fast enough

i’ve been charged with violation NEW YORK PUBLIC SAFETY LAW 10-131,G,1 by selling 30 imitation firearms.
A silver-colored plastic gun and muzzle in red paint on color.
I consulted the wholesale sector, they told me that the item can be sold legally.I do not know if I am not innocent, because I do not understand the law, why the Government did not give small businesses the law made the manual.
The most i would like to know about whichs how much money will be fined? I do not know why small businesses will be selected,Now the economy is so depressed and my business is getting worse every day are at a loss, too much to pay if I can only apply for a bankruptcy.
I would like to know what can or should i do next?
To find a lawyer or directly to The Legal Services Division Center?

I am not sure what kind of BK atty to contact if any. I have a great job, make good money, and I have less than K in personal debt outside of my home. I am having to close down a small business. The problem is I have a personal guarantee on the business loan, lease, and equipment for the business. The equipment has enough equity to take care of itself, but it leaves the loan and lease. I owe roughly K on the loan, and have roughly 0K on the lease left. I don’t have any toys or extras, as my family leads a very modest lifestyle, and ultimately have fallen victims to the bad economy. The business is three years old, and we were on pace to have the business debt free within 5 years. We paid everything in advance, and now looking back was a mistake. All options to extend the debt and restructure have been exhausted. We are now going to be on the hook for almost 0K that we will never have means to pay off. I don’t know where to begin. Do I contact a business atty, a personal atty, or should I be thinking of other options. The loan is with an individual, while the lease is with a major leasing company.

My dad has owned his own small business (very small, like only 2 employees) in concrete and construction for over 30 years now. Aside from concrete work, he has done some small home repairs, c.o. work, digging foundations for houses (he has a backhoe) and the like. The thing is, with the economy how it is now, he can no longer find any work, it has been like this for a while and he is having trouble paying the bills. He is now seriously considering bankruptcy. Does anyone know what types of positions he could get with his experience?

I loaned a "friend" (of 14 years) 00 appx 3 years ago. She was going through a difficult time. She was self employed as a staffer for the car business and after the economy bottomed out she was on the verge of losing her home to foreclosure. She also was about to have her phone shut off and was worried she wouldn’t be able to get back on her feet if she couldn’t conduct her business. Her boyfriend also self employed. He bought things from estate sales and resold them on EBay. Their mortgage was behind by 00, her phone bill was almost 0 and the EBay acct was suspended owing 8.00. At the time my family was doing okay as I had just received some money from an insurance settlement and I had it to loan. I had western unioned her 00 in cash, put her phone bill on my credit card and sent them money through PayPal to pay off the EBay acct.

It was always understood it was a loan but because they were going through such a rough time, I didn’t want to pressure her with a repayment date and just said, "pay me back as soon as you can or if I ever need it back". She has made mention over the last 3 years that she hadn’t forgotten that she will pay me back soon and had once made a payment of 0 dropping her debt to me down to 50.

6 months ago our financial situation had changed. My husbands hours had started to be cut back. At first we juggled and managed but soon after it got worse and we also got hit with a few unexpected bills. I had approached my "friend" and asked if she could pay me back the money she owed me. If she couldn’t handle the whole amount, I would accept payment installments but we really needed that money back. She said she would see what she could do and then shortly after picked a fight with me over something trivial. I saw that ploy for what it was and insisted that she pay me back all of it or else…

She had just filed for chapter 13 BK and stated that she couldn’t be behind on any debt or have a new debt added or it would unwind the BK. I didn’t want to cause any trouble for her but I needed my money back and told her as much. She had promised she would have the money to me by the end of May. The deadline came and went and not a word from her. My husband had finally gotten his hours back but not soon enough and because we had no other money coming in, all we could do was hope she would be honorable and pay, so we held off our creditors as long as we could. As a result our truck, that we had paid diligently for over 3.5 yrs had gotten repossessed. We are going to be able to get it back but we’re going to have to let go of a few other bills to do so and its going to causes us much trouble. The money she owes me would put us right back on track.

I’m starting to see that unless I get "official" with her I’m not going to see my money back any time soon. Recently, on one of the rare occasions when we had a cordial conversation, she had let it slip that she’s had steady employment for the last year and through some sort of loophole, she’s been able to stay in her condo for the last 36 months and her car (a benz) for the last 18 months without having to pay anything and that her boyfriend just bought a new car. Now I’m furious! While my truck sits in a lot as we try to come up with 00 by Friday to get our truck back and try to figure out how we’re going to feed the family and keep the lights on, they’re doing just fine! In what universe does that seem fair? So now I’m ready to role up my sleeves and get serious. You just don’t do that to people, especially after a decade and a half of "friendship". Its all so pathetic and cliche!

Problem is, I live in Colorado and she in California. I looked into it and I can’t sue her in small claims from here. I’d either have to hire a lawyer to handle the suit or file myself but I’d have to do it from there. Obviously can’t afford that right now. I’ve looked into hiring a collection agency but the few that I found that will take on a personal, non-business loan want between 30-50% upfront in fees (and some after). I’ve kept all the proof (WU receipt, credit card bill, paypal transaction showing all the money I sent her, along with the emails where she acknowledges her debt to me and that she would be paying me back what she owed me, in full, by May, 2010).

I want to know if I can hire a lawyer (preferably in SoCal) to scare her into paying me back by sending her a letter on my behalf stating my intent to pursue all my legal options to get the money owed back within 30 days, without having to pay a retainer and if so how much would something like that cost?

And if anyone can think of anything else that I can do to get the money owed to me back, that would be greatly appreciated. Maybe a SoCal atty that would be willing to handle this probono?

Thank
Thank you all in advance for any and all advice. Sorry it was so long but I wanted to add the full history in case someone could think of anything else I could do. Maybe someone knows of a SoCal atty or firm that would be willing to take this on probono?