As a practicing bankruptcy attorney for over 25 years, I have talked to thousands of people about the pros and cons of filing bankruptcy. One of the most frequent reasons cited against filing by potential clients is the “morality” question. I often hear comments such as: “I wasn’t raised that way,” or “I am a very religious person and it isn’t the moral thing to do,” or “I have always paid my bills, can’t we negotiate a payment plan?” Dealing with potential clients’ feelings of a moral lapse or inadequacy is not easy. The fact is that no matter what I tell some folks with these concerns, they will always feel that filing bankruptcy is a moral failure on their part. These feelings are sometimes reinforced by what they hear in the media, from neighbors or acquaintances and sometimes even from the pulpit. While I try not to disagree with…
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Even as more Americans are piling on debt, fewer are seeking counseling or other kinds of relief to try and get their finances back in order. Poverty has increased. Unemployment stubbornly hovers around 9%. Meanwhile, consumers accumulated $18.4 billion more in credit card debt in the second quarter than they did in the first quarter, according to a new study from CardHub.com. That is up 66% from the same quarter in 2010 and up 368% from two years ago. “People need help more than ever, but they are not coming to us,” says Gail Cunningham, spokeswoman for the National Foundation for Credit Counseling. “I think some are just tired of trying and have given up.” Consider: The number of people who went to a credit counselor declined 20% last year from 2009, and the downturn has continued so far this year, the NFCC says. Fewer consumers are signing up for…
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Bank of America blinked on Tuesday. The bank, the nation’s second-largest, said it was abandoning its plan to charge customers a $5 fee to use their debit cards for purchases. Only a month earlier, the bank had announced the new charge, immediately setting off a huge uproar from consumers. Despite an outpouring of complaints online and at branch offices, the bank had remained steadfast in its plans until last Friday, according to a person briefed on the situation, planning to ease just some of the conditions for avoiding the fee. But over the weekend, after two major competitors b Wells Fargo and the nation’s largest bank, JPMorgan Chase b said they were backing away from their plans to levy similar charges, two high-ranking Bank of America officers recommended to Brian Moynihan, the bank’s chief executive, that the bank simply drop the fee. Then, on Monday morning, when SunTrust, a regional…
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*Credit card payments will not be accepted for bankruptcy cases, unless pre-approved by The Sader Law Firm. If you have a question about a credit card payment, please call our Office Manager at (816) 561 1818.
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