Michigan Bankruptcy Legal Questions

No law I know of stands in the way of your trying to do this. It does not seem as likely to be effective as a Chapter 13, under which, if things fit as they should, you can pay what the rules say you can afford for a period of 36 or 60 months, and have any unpaid balance discharged at the end of the period. Generally, if you tell the truth and the papers are set up right, creditors cannot successfully object. Find a skilled BR lawyer to advise and represent you. It's almost always worth the investment.... Read More

Hospitals are usually private, profit seeking businesses (although many are tax exempt, none are nonprofit). Private businesses can only garnish your wages if they have a court order. If the hospital is a governmental agency, they may have the power to garnish your wages without a court order.... Read More

No, only the living and active legal entities (corporations, cities etc) may file bankruptcy. Probating an estate serves the same function as bankruptcy, probate determines the assets and obligations, determines the priority of the obligations, sells the assets and uses the funds to pay off the liabilities and after the end of the probate all obligations are considered settled whether there is enough money to pay all or not.... Read More

The first thing you need to check is the exact wording of your divorce decree. Did the judge order the short sale or merely allow it. Did the judge order each of you to pay 1/2 the short sale deficiency as support or is the decree silent on the subject? If the decree ordered it, the you can force him to cooperate in the short sale by a contempt of court order. If the deficiency is treated as support the bankruptcy will not relieve him of this obligation. Otherwise, the bankruptcy will delay the short sale and you will be the only person liable on the short sale.... Read More

You have the right to ask that 3rd party collectors not call you ever again. But it is up to you to follow up this request in writing to gain any legal rights as a result of making this request. And you must inform the 3rd party creditor how it can contact you about this debt. That is only fair. No creditor is obligated to offer to change the terms of the contract you have to repay them. When you fail to live up to the terms of any contract, whatever the excuse might be, the creditor can sue you to collect, and you have the right to present any legal defense you may have. Your current financial situation is not a legal defense. It often takes several months before any creditor will sue you, and many collection companies never sue but rely on you needing to clean up your credit in order to get paid.... Read More

Fifth Grade Math ? what is the ratio of your total unsecured debt to your annual income? How much money do you have left in your budget after paying for necessary living expenses? If you paid everything left over in your budget that amount for the next five years, would you have paid more than 25% of your unsecured debt? If so, then you would not pass the GOOD FAITH test and would not be qualified to file Chapter 7. Fifth Grad Math is not easy, is it?... Read More

In general, you would not have a general right to surrender the car and cancel the note unless the dealer agrees. So you might well try to win the dealer's agreement. A bankruptcy would rid you of the debt. It is possible that the dealer's delay in completing the registration shows some back story involving fraud. A dealer is expected to give good title to a car in return for your payments and agreement to pay more in the future. So one possible basis for cancelling the whole deal is that the dealer cannot give what you bargained for clear title to the car. (Clear but for any lien the dealer may have.) Discuss this with a Consumer Rights lawyer in your locality.... Read More

Retaining a lawyer well-versed in Consumer Law and real estate matters may save you a lot of grief. I would suggest that you first contact the lender which has been entering these mistaken reports. Since the debt was not reaffirmed, they should not be making any adverse notations on your credit report. If you don't have a lawyer, you can write the creditor yourself. Be polite, but be firm, and demand immediate action. Be sure to include all relevant facts, account numbers, bankruptcy case number, etc. At the same time, you can write each of the three major credit reporting agencies (Experian, Trans-Union, and a third), tell them of the improper reporting and ask them to investigate and correct their reports. Check first with the potential new mortgage lender, since its people may have already started this process. I doubt that the correction can be made in the next two weeks, and depending on what your new lender is willing to do, you may need to delay the closing.... Read More

Your question is a bit confusing. There is no 'judgment' as such in a typical bankruptcy case. You file the case, there is a meeting of creditors a month or so after, and if no creditor or Trustee tries to exclude some particular claim, or all claims, from discharge, you receive the discharge after about 3 months in a Chapter 7. Furthermore, because of the Automatic Stay, no judgment can be entered against you from the instant you file the case. Doing so is a contempt of the federal court. Your lawyer can demand that the creditor vacate a judgment (obviously from a different court) if it is docketed after the Automatic Stay takes effect. If you don't have a skilled BR lawyer, it would be an excellent idea to retain one. That said, your fiance is not liable for any debts of yours which arose prior to your wedding.... Read More