Clients come to us with many consumer and personal bankruptcy questions. One recent question we hear is about the transfer of a high, or moderate, interest car loan to a low or zero interest credit card loans. Is this wise? Read more

Do you have errors in your credit report?  Have you checked?  Credit Report errors could have significant impact on your ability to get a loan, or to get a fair interest rate on a loan. Read more

We have written about the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) since it was in the mind’s eye of Elizabeth Warren, the Massachusetts candidate for United States Senate. Ms. Warren, a professor at Harvard Law School, was a consultant to the United States Congress while the Dodd Frank legislation was pending, and was hired by President Obama to implement the legislation and to set up the CFPB. Politics being what they are, she would not be confirmed by the Senate, so she returned to Massachusetts to run for office.
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We have been representing clients filing for Massachusetts bankruptcy for over 26 years. For the folks that qualify, even after the 2005 Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act, we regularly get the question: how can I increase my credit after a bankruptcy?
 
We have a web page entitled Life After Bankruptcy which addresses this issue. The web page outlines the percentages for each part of your credit score.
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What is the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau up to these days? And how can they help Massachusetts bankruptcy filers who are still underwater, or treading water, in this prolonged economic trough. According to the CFPB, they received 45,630 consumer complaints in the year ending July 1, 2012! 44% of those complaints were via their website, which you can access by clicking on the words Consumer Financial Protection Bureau above.
THE CFPB explains that the complaints about credit card companies are mostly about billing. These they forward to the companies for initial review.
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As a Massachusetts bankruptcy attorney, we get calls from clients and potential clients with mortgage questions all the time. Calls from folks who are refinancing in Massachusetts are perhaps the most common these days, but so are calls from folks who are buying their first house, including rental properties. Thus, we try to keep Massachusetts consumers apprised of new developments coming out of Washington or the Massachusetts State House. Fortunately, there is some good news in the name of public disclosures for consumer protection.
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As a Massachusetts bankruptcy lawyer, one of the most frequent questions we get is: how can I improve my credit following a personal bankruptcy in Massachusetts? Check out the Life After Massachusetts Bankruptcy section of our website. The following is news from the feds.
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People are wired differently. That is, the human brain’s “wires” are activated, or stimulated differently. In a study regarding credit cards and debt management undertaken by University of Michigan Ross School of Business Professor Scott Rick and others, the “insula” part of the brain had vastly different reactions to the same consumer stimuli. In controlled testing, about 30% experienced a “fired up” stimulation to the presentation of consumer products, while 50% had a “measured response” and 20% had a pleasure response. The “fired up insula” is analogous to a negative reaction to a smell, or injustice.
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Many folks come to us to discharge their debts in Massachusetts bankruptcy and get a fresh start. Often we see payday loans on their credit report. Massachusetts has very strict laws regarding payday loans. There are no actual payday lenders in Massachusetts, so folks often use the internet. However, in Massachusetts, payday loans require full documentation, the due date of the loan must be in writing, there cannot be any pre-payment penalties, the whole transaction must be complete within 14 days, and there are strict rules on how unpaid loans can be collected against. Of significance, interest rates cannot exceed 23%. These consumer protections are why we don’t see as many payday loans: they just are hard to get in Massachusetts. On the other hand, many of our clients have worked in other states, where the loans have become onerous.
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As a Massachusetts bankruptcy attorney, I regularly tell clients that a Chapter 7 bankruptcy discharge gives you a “fresh start” and that all dischargeable debts are discharged by federal law. Those debts include, but are not limited to, credit card bills, personal unsecured loans, and remaining balances on motor vehicles and home mortgages that have been returned to the lender. They don’t include student loans, some taxes, and numerous other protected debtors.
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