As lawyers specializing in Suffolk County bankruptcy, we not only help our Long Island clients accurately assess their bankruptcy risks, but our bankruptcy attorneys also guide clients toward options best suited to manage their specific debt problems. While bankruptcy might be the best option in the end, our Long Island bankruptcy attorneys have often seen Suffolk County clients benefiting more from bankruptcy alternatives.

 

For example, our lawyers can help stop harassment from creditors by taking advantage of federal and New York state debt collection laws that protect you from abusive and harassing debt collector conduct. We can also help you negotiate with your creditors. If you have some level of income or even some assets you’re willing to liquidate, negotiating with your creditors for extra time to get back on your feet or settling your debt for less than you owe may leave you better off than filing for bankruptcy. Our bankruptcy lawyers have also had success brokering repayment plans with clients’ creditors or collection agencies.

 

You wouldn’t pilot a plane without proper certifications required to understand the laws of the sky. Risking what remains of your financial future to novice understanding of rules and regulations surrounding the laws of bankruptcy doesn’t make much sense either. With Suffolk County bankruptcy lawyers on your side, you can set the best course needed to help your financial troubles fly right.

Many people mistakenly believe that bankruptcy is one all-encompassing concept – something that releases debtors from some or all of their debts.

However, the law takes a much more detailed approach to the concept of bankruptcy, and divides it into several sub-categories in an attempt to ensure that all parties are best served by the bankruptcy protection process. That’s why it’s critical to work with only an experienced bankruptcy attorney in Suffolk who knows the ins and outs of the bankruptcy process.

The two most common types of bankruptcies are Chapter 7 (also known as Liquidation bankruptcy) and Chapter 13 (known as Reorganization bankruptcy.) While both have their pros and cons, an experienced bankruptcy attorney in Suffolk can help guide you through the process, so you can decide which one is best for you.

Chapter 7 bankruptcy is commonly used when the debtor has few if any assets other than basic necessities (such as furniture and clothing.) Most unsecured debts can be eliminated completely, and the process often progresses much more rapidly than other types of bankruptcies. Again, a bankruptcy attorney in Suffolk can advise you in further detail if Chapter 7 might be right for you.

The goal of Chapter 13, on the other hand, is to reorganize your finances in order for you to pay off as much of the debt as you can, while having the remainder legally eliminated by the court if possible. One big attraction of Chapter 13 over Chapter 7 is that it lets you retain most of your property.

If you’re in a financial bind and wake up every morning wondering how you’ll get through the day, filing bankruptcy might be the right choice for you. While there are some downsides to filing bankruptcy, the benefits can be truly life changing.

Whichever option you’re contemplating, it’s imperative that you seek competent legal counsel from a reputable bankruptcy attorney in Suffolk, who can give you the advice you need, so you can start down the road to fiscal recovery.

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When you model an economy on Vegas principles, you’re bound to lose.  That is precisely what we have done.  Americans gambled by borrowing and living beyond our means, and our banking systems gambled that we would somehow miraculously find a way to pay it all back.  Well, we didn’t find a way, and so here we are- scalding in the lava of a financial meltdown.   Furthermore, if history is any indicator of what to expect, this situation will potentially worsen before it gets better.  To minimize the damage and rebuild what we have lost, we must gain a unilateral understanding of how we got into this mess.  First and foremost, we need to accept some responsibility, and recognize that we all played an important part in this crisis.   In 2007, the debt to income ratio for Americans was 130%.  This means that we were spending all the income we generated, and then some.  In plain terms, we spent nearly a trillion dollars more than we earned.  Because of the housing boom and liquid credit markets that existed since the late nineties, we assumed challenging mortgages, purchased investment and vacation homes, demanded high-energy vehicles, and maxed out our credit cards- assuming the boom would continue and we would meet all our financial obligations.  Who did we turn to in order to finance all this?  That’s right- American banks.   Would you lend money to someone whose debt to income ratio was 130%?  Well, our lending institutions in this country did exactly that.  Banks made what are called subprime loans.  Subprime loans are issued to people whose credit is substandard.  These types of loans carry high interest rates and thus are profitable, but they also carry high default rates, and thus are considered risky.  Banks leveraged this risk by securitizing mortgage payments and credit portfolios and selling them to investors; turning an enormous profit in the meantime.  The most important of these are known as Mortgage-Backed Securities (MBS), and they are an integral part of the global marketplace.   Risk often means great rewards to investors; the riskier the investment, the higher the return.  American investors purchased the MBS, betting that more borrowers would pay than would default, and that the housing boom would continue.  However, as we all know, the housing boom did not continue.   Eventually, homeowners began to default on their loans.  The predatory lending practices that were widespread during the housing boom were starting to have an effect as teaser rates and other favorable terms expired, and homeowners found their interest and payment sometimes doubling or more.   Investors began to flee mortgage-backed securities too late, while banks simultaneously either failed altogether, or greatly tightened lending requirements.  In fact, the tightening of credit not only applied to mortgages and credit cards, but banks also stopped lending to each other.  This resulted in the credit “freeze”.  The credit freeze has made it nearly impossible for most companies and businesses to perform or procure work; resulting in layoffs, closings, sell-offs, and one of the highest unemployment rates in American history.   As homeowners defaulted on their loans and abandoned their properties, this coupled with the great surplus of homes built during the preceding few years served to drive the price of existing homes downward dramatically.  For many, homes were devalued to the point that they were worth less than the mortgage itself.   Thousands of people lost more than just money- they lost their life-savings and their livelihoods.  The personal wealth of Americans in general plummeted.   It certainly didn’t help that, during all of this, we also experienced an oil crisis.  Because of this, we are paying more for literally everything; from daily commuting expenses to groceries.  For the first time, Americans as a whole have begun to feel the strain of an economy gone astray.   We can see now where we have gone wrong: we as individuals gambled our personal wealth and spent beyond our means.  Our banking institutions gambled by looking the other way and ignoring pertinent information while making us loans that they should not have made.  Investors gambled that just the right amount of people would pay, and that just the right amount would default.  We all gambled that the housing boom would continue, and we all bet that our prized American lifestyle could not be interfered with.  But this is one bet that we lost- so far to the depressing tune of $700,000,000,000.   The question now is: “What are we going to do about it?”  Well, some tottering steps have been taken.  Six months ago Americans received an economic stimulus package.  Recently, our government rescued several organizations, and assumed a great deal of unhealthy mortgages.  Last week, we passed the “bailout” legislation.  But what more is the financial sector doing to solve these problems, and what will all this mean as we move toward 2009?  Bookmark this blog for clear, accurate answers!     –