I admit it. I am a bit of a WWII buff. That period reveals the best and worst of humanity. I am particularly partial to Winston Churchill's optimism, which I think springs from his determination to persevere. Never give in - never, never, never, in nothing great or small, large or petty, never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.
I don't care who you are, how powerful you are, or how much money you have - life inevitably throws something at you that looks insurmountable. Every one of us faces the decision of whether to give up or to carry on. Today I want to encourage you to keep going. Keep trying. Keep believing in yourself. Don't look at the mountain and say I cannot go over it. Instead, take one more step and then one more step. If you cannot go over the mountain, you will go under it or through it. The journey of 1000 miles begins with one step. Keep on keeping on step after step.
Remember too that, as I have written so many times before, that you are not alone. There is always someone who will help you along the way.
If you re facing something you cannot handle by yourself or you are ready to quit. If you are facing a mountain of debt you cannot pay, don't give up. Call our Williamsport and Lycoming County 17701lawyers. We will help you figure out how to get out from the medical bills, loans, credit cards, business debts or whatever the debt is. Our bankruptcy attorneys care passionately about helping people to be debt free. Let our bankruptcy attorneys work for you!
If you need help in other areas of the law, our firm handles injury cases, bankruptcy, general litigation, and family law.
When you need help, you can count on us. Call our attorneys if you live in Williamsport, PA 17701, Wellsboro, Tioga County, PA 16901, Potter County 16915 or McKean County. We offer appointments in person and by telephone.
We do not charge for car accident consultation or for a bankruptcy evaluation. We take most injury cases on a contingency basis, which mean that you will not owe us anything unless we get money for you. Leave our office armed with powerful information about your rights. For Lycoming and Tioga Counties reach us at (570) 309-6690. For help in McKean and Potter County 16915, call us at (814) 274-8612.
Posted by: David B. Ross, Esq. AT 07:45 am
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There are upwards of 5 million auto accidents a year with approxiately 30,000 of them involving fatalities and over 2 million involving injuries. While the government and car manufacturers have taken steps to decrease the number of accidents, if you have been injured in a car crash, then you know that one crash is one too many. As attorneys who have handled way too many car accidents in Wellsboro, Pa 16901, Coudersport and Potter County 16915, Bradford, PA and McKean County and in other states, we have seen the absolute havoc that an accident can cause. In short, it willl change or end your life.
So here are some thougths from our accident lawyers about avoiding and coping with accidents and the effects of a truck or car crash.
1. The best advice is to avoid an accident in the first place. Practice defensive driving. Avoid distactions like your phone, and assume that others are distracted and pay attention to what they are doing.
2. Accidents often are not avoidable. Think safety first after an accident. Be careful as other drivers will be distracted by the crash scene. Make sure you are in a safe place so something else doesn't happen.
3. Get as much information as you can about the other party, names of witnesses, photos. This information will be very useful later if you can get it. We recently had a case where the driver denied backing into a pedestrian. We tracked down a witness who said the driver was waiving at a blonde woman walking down the street while backing up. No wonder he didn't want to admit it! As you can imagine the matter resolved after we found the witness.
4. See an attorney early. There is no substitute for early assistance.
5. Take care of your body. That means seeking appropriate treatment and following through with the treatment advice. As an personal injury lawyer, I do not have the ability to heal you. Failing to get treatment will keep you from getting better and hurt your legal claim.
When you need help, you can count on us. Call our attorneys if you live in Williamsport, PA 17701, Wellsboro, Tioga County, PA 16901, Potter County 16915 or McKean County. We offer appointments in person and by telephone.
We do not charge for car accident consultation or for a bankruptcy evaluation. We take most injury cases on a contingency basis, which mean that you will not owe us anything unless we get money for you. Leave our office armed with
powerful information about your rights. For Lycoming and Tioga Counties reach us at (570) 309-6690. For help in McKean and Potter County 16915, call us at (814) 274-8612.
If you need help in other areas of the law, our firm handles injury cases, bankrupty, general litigation, and family law.
Today's post is about the Meeting of Creditors in a Bankruptcy Case. Our firm handles cases in Lycoming, Tioga, Potter, McKean, Elk and Cameron Counties.
If you have looked into Bankruptcy, then you have probably come across something talking about a 341 Meeting of Creditors. But what is the purpose of the meeting and what happens there?
The meeting of creditors gets its name from section 341 of the Bankruptcy Code. The 341 meeting of creditors is, in my opinion, a misnomer in as much as creditors very, very rarely come to the meeting. That is good news. It means that you will not have to worry about seeing a representative of the bank, or hospital, or credit card company. The primary purpose of the meeting is so that the attorney serving as a Trustee in the bankruptcy case can verify under oath and by reviewing documents who you are and also to ask you questions about the bankruptcy petition that you filed. The Trustee will ask you if you read the Petition and signed it. He will ask you if you read and understood the bankruptcy information sheet provided by the Office of the Trustee. He might then ask you specific questions about your Petition such as "How did you determine the value of your home?"
The meeting does allow creditors to attend. Out of all of the filings that I have done, I have had a creditor attend one time. In that case, it was because the debtor was surrendering a tractor-trailer and the creditor wanted to know where the truck was located.
Most 341 meetings last ten minutes or less, and if you have been honest in your Petition and the Petition was prepared by a competent attorney, then you have absolutely nothing to worry about.
When you are ready to file for bankruptcy, you can count on us. Call our bankruptcy attorneys if you live in Williamsport, PA 17701 or the surrounding areas. We offer appointments in person and by telephone.
If you are in trouble, pick up the phone. Come see us. We do not charge for an initial bankruptcy appointment. Leave our office armed with
powerful information about your true choices. (570) 309-6690.
In addition to family law, personal injury and car accident cases, our lawyers file bankruptcy for people in Williamsport, PA 17701, 17702 and
for people in McKean County, Tioga County, and Potter County 16915 (814) 274-8612.
It is important that we do not face the perilous seas of life alone. Yet, many of us are lone because we have been hurt by others or do not know how to be trusting. The cornerstone of any relationship is trust. As an attorney with bankruptcy and family law practice in Coudersport, Pennsylvania, it is sad to see that so many people are unable to communicate with others and the breakdown of trust that occurs in important relationships. So many of life's nasty disputes could be resolved if only others were trustworthy or if we ourselves could learn to be trusting.
I associate the word trust most with the words: love, respect, comfort, and safety. Having trust means that you have someone with whom feel safe physically and emotionally. Trust is the basis around which all human relationships are built. Without trust there can be no relationship. Trust leads to connection with others. It allows you to be available to other people and it allows you to be available to them. In a way, trust is loyalty. Trust involves respect for a person, their abilities, and acceptance of their faults along with their strengths. Trust allows us to forge relationships and to accomplish things that we cannot do by ourselves.
There is power in trust and in unity and connection with others that you simply cannot find outside of a trusting relationship. One of the reasons that our law firm is so successful is that we have all learned to work as a team, trust each other, and build on each other's strengths.
Let me encourage you to find people that you can trust to counsel you, to console you, and to be there for you. You can do that, in part, by listening to others before you seek to be heard yourself, by making yourself available to others, by being loyal, and by yourself being trustworthy.
If you find yourself in need of someone to talk to about a legal problem, you can trust our staff and attorneys. We understand trust and loyalty and practice it every day with our clients and between our attorneys and staff. We want to hear and to understand your problems, and our Coudersport, Potter County lawyers have the experience to help with Chapter 7 Bankruptcy, Chapter 13 Bankruptcy and many other legal problems, which include, debt solutions, medical bills, credit card debt, debt defense, car accidents and personal injury, adoptions, family law, and violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.
You can count on us. Call our attorneys if you live in Coudersport, PA 16915 or Smethport or McKean County. We offer appointments in person and by telephone.
If you are in trouble, pick up the phone. Come see us. We do not charge for an initial bankruptcy or personal injury appointment. Leave our office armed withpowerful information about your true choices. In Lycoming and Tioga Counties call (570) 309-6690.
If you live in Potter or McKean Counties, please call (814) 274-8612.
A friend of mine wrote about her strengths recently and lamented that sometimes they become a problem. My Dad used to say that your biggest strength is your greatest weakness. It took me a while to understand, but I now recognize the wisdom in what he said.
We all have gifts - unique gifts to share with the world. Some people are great communicators. Some people have energy and can get things done. Some people are visionaries that have world transforming ideas. Some people have the gift of empathy and are great listeners. Some people are strong.
But regardless of the gift, for most of us, our strength is often our greatest weakness if we do not learn how to expand ourselves beyond our strengths or how to control the use of our gift. Here are some example of what I am talking about:
If you like to control everything, learn to delegate and trust others.
If you listen well but don't talk much - try expressing yourself.
If you are a visionary, couple your vision with concrete plans. Learn to not only see the future but to bring it to pass.
If you are a great organizer, you're too inflexible. Learn to relax. You don't have to control everything.
If you are a great talker, remember to listen. You'll learn a lot.
Take your gifts. Give them to the world, but remember to expand and change. You can do more than you think if you develop beyond your natural strength, learn balance, and learn to see the gifts in others.
Our lawyers love the opportunity to tell you to leave your problems with us.
If you are in trouble, pick up the phone. Come see us. We do not charge for an initial bankruptcy appointment. Leave our office armed with
powerful information about your true choices. (570) 309-6690.
In addition to family law, personal injury and car accident cases, our lawyers file bankruptcy for people in Williamsport, PA 17701, 17702 and
for people in McKean County, Tioga County, and Potter County 16915 (814) 274-8612.
As I sit here, it is one day past the Fall Back time of year when we all set our clocks back an hour, and it seemed like a good opportunity to talk about the time benefits of a Chapter 13 Bankruptcy. In today's post, we will talk about gaining time in order to sell your home. In a future post, we will talk about gaining time to pay off arrears on your mortgage.
So here's the scenario. You are behind on your mortgage. You have significant equity in your home that will be lost if the bank forecloses, which will leave you will little or nothing. You have talked to the bank, but they will not give you the time required to sell your home. It looks like game over. Do not pass go. Do not collect $200.00. You think the bank has all the power, and you will be out on the street.
Then you come to our office, and you learn that there is something that you can do. Together, we can force the bank to stop foreclosing and give you time to sell the home. Here's how it works. Bankruptcy is kinda like a life hack under the right circumstances. No time. No problem. Bankruptcy includes an automatic stay on collection activity. That means that a federal judge will order the bank that they may not take any steps to collect its debt when you file for bankruptcy. The automatic stay remains in place until dissolved by the Judge.
In this fact pattern, we would file a chapter 13 bankruptcy, which stops the threatened foreclosure. Then we would likely propose a plan under which you pay off the mortgage arrears through the sale of the home. The bankruptcy will stop the foreclosure and likely give you enough time to find a buyer for the property. Problem solved.
Our lawyers love the opportunity to tell you to leave your problems with us.
If you are in trouble, pick up the phone. Come see us. We do not charge for an initial bankruptcy appointment. Leave our office armed with powerful information about your true choices. Wellsboro and Tioga County (570) 309-6690. Bradford, Coudersport, Smethport (814) 274-8612
In addition to family law, personal injury and car accident cases, our lawyers file bankruptcy for people in Williamsport, PA 17701, 17702 and for people in McKean County, Wellsboro, zip code 16901 Tioga County, and Potter County.
It's a fair question in the same vein as what do you want out of life? If you don't ask yourself where you want to be, chances are you will never get to where you really want to be. Life happens. We all know that. Are you someone who just reacts and gets swept along or are you someone who plans, adapts and conquers?
Our attorneys can help you figure out what you want and how to get their. We will also help you along the way. The truth is that life is not easy. Dealing with life's messes is not easy. If you want to be debt free, for example, we will take a hard look at whether to file a Chapter 7 bankruptcy and figure out whether you want to keep that expensive second car or whether you want to surrender it in the banruptcy. Our lawyers will help you figure out whether it is best for the children to live with you or with your spouse and help you to pursue that goal.
Our attorneys will help you carry your burden because it will take work and courage to reach your goals. We have friendly and helpful staff members when you just need to talk to someone to know that someone's got you back.
Give us a call today: (814) 274-8612 or (570) 309-6690
* Federal law requires the following disclosure: We are a debt relief agency helping people file for relief through bankruptcy under the bankruptcy code.
** There are other types of bankruptcies. Chapter 11 is for businesses and Chapter 12 applies to farms.
***Legal Disclaimer: The contents of this site are for informational purposes only and do not constitute legal advice. No lawyer-client relationship exists until one of our attorneys meets with you and agrees to accept you as a client.
Pennsylvania Cities served by County:
McKean County, PA
Aiken, Betula, Big Shanty, Bradford, Bullis Mills, Burning Well, Ceres, Clermont, Colegrove, Corwins Corners, Coryville, Crosby, Custer City, Cyclone, Dallas City, Degolia, Derrick City, Duke Center, East Kane, East Smethport, Eldred, Farmers Valley, Foster Brook, Freeman, Gardeau, Gifford, Gilmore, Griffiths, Hazel Hurst, Hazelton Mills, Hutchins, Kane, Kanesholm, Kasson, Kushequa, Lafayette, Lantz Corners, Larabee, Lewis Run, Liberty, Ludlow, Marshburg, Marvindale, Mount Alton, Mount Jewett, Myrtle, Ormsby, Port Allegany, Prentisvale, Rew, Rixford, Sergeant, Smethport, Tally Ho, Turtlepoint, Westline, Westmore, Wrights, Wrights Corners
Potter County, PA
Andrews Settlement, Austin, Brookland, Burtville, Carter Camp , Cherry Springs, Clara, Colesburg, Coneville, Conrad, Costello, Coudersport, Cross Fork, Eleven Mile, Ellisburg, Elmer, Galeton, Genesee, Germania, Germania Station, Gold, Harrison Valley, Hebron, Hebron Center, Honeoye, Inez, Keating Summit, Loucks Mills, Millport, Mills, Mina, Newfield, North Bingham, North Fork, Odin, Oleona, Oswayo, Potato City, Raymond, Roulette, Sharon Center, Shinglehouse, Sunderlinville, Sweden Valley, Ulysses, West Bingham, Wharton
Tioga County, PA
Academy Corners, Ansonia, Antrim, Arnot, Austinburg, Blackwell, Blossburg, Brookfield, Canoe Camp, Cherry Flats, Covington, Cowanesque, Daggett, Davis, Draper, Eastpoint, Elbridge, Elkland, Fallbrook, Farmington, Gaines, Gleason, Hartfield, Holliday, Jackson Summit, Jobs Corner, Keeneyville, Knapp, Knoxville, Lawrenceville, Leetonia, Leolyn, Liberty, Little Marsh, Mainesburg, Mansfield, Marshland, Middlebury Center, Millerton, Morris, Morris Run, Nauvoo, Nelson, Niles Valley, Ogdensburg, Osceola, Potter Brook, Rexford, Roaring Branch, Roseville, Round Top, Sabinsville, Sebring, Stonyfork, Tiadaghton, Tioga, Trowbridge, Watrous, Wellsboro, Westfield
Our attorneys are licensed in PA and GA. We cannot provide legal advice involving any other state.
THOUGHTS ON DEBT, DEBT COLLECTION ABUSE, AND BANKRUPTCY
By David B. Ross, Esq.*
Hard Times
Feeling the pinch of this economic downturn? You are not alone! Our law firm added debt relief services as a result of close friends and clients who were struggling with debt and debt collection. After talking with our friends and our clients, I realized there are lot if misconceptions about debt and options for debt relief including what creditors or debt collectors can and cannot do. More importantly, I realized that many good people end up alone and frustrated – afraid to talk and afraid to get help. That is the wrong approach and not only can it devastate credit scores for a much longer period of time but also the stress and uncertainty can lead to depression and anxiety. I wanted to the get the message out that you are not alone and that there are tools that can help in almost every case.
Hurting Nationally
According to the most recent data available from the United State Government, bankruptcy filings are on the rise. For the last reported period ending in 2010, there were 1,531,997 bankruptcies filed. That is a 27% increase over 2009 reported statistics. The national trend appears to be true locally as well.
Hurting Locally
While no local statistics were available for comparison, anecdotal evidence from our clients suggests that bankruptcy filings are on the rise locally as well. We have seen a lot of hard working folks who have been laid off who are simply no longer able to make payments on their credit cards, their mortgage, or their medical bills. It appears that there are lots of folks still reeling from Adelphia collapsing who have been limping along, who have not been able to find employment at the pay levels at which they were previously employed, and whose property value has decreased such that refinancing is no longer a viable option to provide additional income until the economy picks up. Likewise, lots of folks who started their own businesses have been unable to make a go of it. We have seen truck drivers who have had to contend with the dual blows of a bad economy and higher fuel prices. The result is that with decreased or negative cash flow coming into the business, folks are no longer able to repair and keep their trucks on the road, and the business goes with it. Unfortunately, the fuel bills, repair bills and other bills don’t stop when the trucks are pulled off the road.
Will the calls ever stop?
A common scenario that we see in our office is that once people fall behind, creditors and debt collectors begin to call and send letters and some of them are not very nice. While some contact between a creditor/collector and an individual is appropriate, many times the contact becomes abusive and designed to frighten and coerce individuals into paying debts they may or may not owe. As a recent example, the Pennsylvania Attorney General filed suit against a credit collection company in Erie, PA because it was allegedly using fake court notices delivered by fake deputies to trick people into showing up at a fake court appearances for the purpose of frightening people into paying money.
It is not only the content of the communication but the number of contacts that can be abusive. Some companies call repeatedly throughout the day and call friends, family and work. Other companies pressure people into giving them their account information for a “one time” payment by check and then continue to take funds out without authority to do so, which can result in overdraft and other fees to consumers.
Many of the practices outlined above violate the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) and State laws. Congress and the Pennsylvania Legislature realized that debt collection tactics had become oppressive and put limits on what a creditor/debt collector could do. For instance, they are prohibited from calling except between 8:00 AM and 9:00 PM. They cannot call repeatedly. They cannot make false and misleading statements. They cannot collect an amount or fees not authorized by the original agreement. The cannot call and disparage you. They cannot call other people and disclose that you owe a debt in order to publically humiliate you.
The FDCPA also provides avenues to make the debt collector stop calling you. If you retain an attorney and inform them (preferably in writing) of the name of your attorney, they must cease contact with you. If you inform them in writing of your desire that that they stop contacting you, then they must stop calling and writing to you (with certain limited exceptions). This does not mean that the debt goes away, but it puts an end to harassing contact. The creditor still has the right to file suit and prove up their damages in court if they can. If they refuse to stop contacting you, this is an additional violation of the FDCPA.
Penalties for violation of the FDCPA.
If a debt collector violates the FDCPA, they are liable for the greater of $1,000.00 or actual damages. Better still, the debt collector has to pay your attorneys fees, so law offices like our office will handle your claim for you with no fee to you. The goal of this legislation is to stop oppressive collection activity while providing for legitimate contact between debt collectors and our citizens. Enforcement through private legal actions ensures that creditors are not abusive to our citizens.
Keep your head up
Bankruptcy takes a bad rap, but it shouldn’t. The idea of a fresh start has ancient roots. For example, you will find in the Bible debt forgiveness every seven years in what was known as the Year of Jubilee. Try as we might, we have not been able to find a better solution to insolvency. Our English cousins tried debtors prisons. Thankfully, we rejected that idea. Throwing people in prison did nothing to address the debt. It did not help society, and did not help the debtor to be a producing member of society.
Bankruptcy is good for debtors. It gives them a fresh start. It helps them to become producing members of society. Today, the modern prison is the debt collection box where creditors impose interest rates so high on people that they can never pay off debt once they fall behind, and these rates apply regardless of the reason that people fall behind. That means that the hard working Joe is treated the same as (what I believe is the extreme minority of people) the person who is simply irresponsible. That means that there is no way out regardless of how hard an individual works. Under a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, qualified individuals can get rid of unsecured debt and keep what they own. For individuals who make too much money, own too much stuff, or are behind on their mortgage payment, a successful Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Plan allows them to pay back some or all of their creditors over time and keep their house.
Bankruptcy is fair to creditors. Most creditors today who extend credit are very sophisticated companies who assess credit risk and charge interest rates based upon risk. The inability to repay the debt is a risk that is factored into the cost of credit and many times the debts they seek to collect are mostly the result of interest, late fees, over limit fees and the like rather than credit actually extended to consumers. Bankruptcy protects creditors by making sure there are not any hidden assets, limiting the amount of years between filings, forcing the sale of certain assets if individuals have too many assets, and when individuals have sufficient income – creating a repayment plan that pays creditors back over time (Chapter 13 Bankruptcy).
In summary, these are difficult times. Bankruptcy filings are on the rise, and they serve a good purpose in our society in clearing out debt that hard working folks cannot pay regardless of their desire to do so. Dealing with delinquent debt is difficult enough without people harassing you, but you don’t have to let them kick you in the teeth. You can force debt collectors to stop harassing you. The best approach is to be proactive. Come to terms with the problem and take active steps to tackle it. Bankruptcy may be an option, but you should explore all of your options and find the one that best suits your needs.
If you would like further information on bankruptcy, debt relief, the FDCPA, or stopping harassing debt collection practices, feel free to contact our firm at (814) 274-8612. There is no fee for the initial consultation.
* David B. Ross is a partner at the law firm of Ross & Ross, LLC
From offices in Coudersport, Potter County, Pennsylvania, Ross and Ross, LLC serves the personal injury, bankruptcy, social security disability, divorce and family law needs of Western, Northwestern, Central and North Central Pennsylvania including the communities of Coudersport, Galeton, Shinglehouse, West Branch, Smethport, Port Allegany, Bradford, Roulette and Wellsboro, as well as Potter County, McKean County, Tioga County, Bradford County and other areas of Western PA and Central PA.
* Federal law requires the following disclosure: We are a debt relief agency helping people file for relief through bankruptcy under the bankruptcy code.
** There are other types of bankruptcies. Chapter 11 is for businesses and chapter 12 applies to farms. ***Legal Disclaimer: The contents of this site are for informational purposes only and do not constitute legal advice. No lawyer-client relationship exists until one of our attorneys meets with you and agrees to accept you as a client.
Ross & Ross Law Office
One East Third Street
Coudersport, PA 16915
Phone: (814)274-8612
Email: TheRossLawFirm@gmail.com
* Free initial consultation applies to bankruptcy and personal injury cases.
Privacy policy: We understand that privacy is important. We do not collect any information unless you choose to contact us. If you choose to contact us, we collect your contact information, which is not disclosed to any third party. It is used solely to allow us to contact you if you have requested us to contact you.
THOUGHTS ON DEBT, DEBT COLLECTION ABUSE, AND BANKRUPTCY