In 2013, the U.S. Congress extended the tax break for people who sold their houses at short sales, or gave up their houses, and were forgiven the balance of the loan. But, so far, in 2014, they let that tax relief expire. See my blog
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Archives for General legal topics
Life after Bankruptcy– Estate Planning
The best event of any bankruptcy case is when the Bankruptcy Court issues the Discharge Order. This means that the Bankruptcy case is done, and the debtor has finished it successfully. In a Chapter 7, that means that all of the unsecured debt is eliminated,
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Debt Settlement Consumer Protection Act in Illinois
A while back, I wrote about Debt Settlement, and whether it was a good way to avoid bankruptcy. Most people don’t want to file bankruptcy, and try many different things to avoid bankruptcy. Debt Settlement, in certain circumstances, can help. There are pitfalls. I mentioned
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Your HAMP Mortgage Payments May Bounce Up Soon in Illinois and Across the US
Back in 2009, the US Government announced the HAMP Program, Home Affordable Modification Program. The first group of homeowners started getting modifications, and many of those loan modifications had an “interest only” time period, usually 5 years. Now, the 5 years is coming up, and
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How to Repair Your Credit after Identity Theft
Identity theft is a problem that has been around as long as people have been getting credit. A criminal steals your wallet, and starts applying for credit in your name, getting credit cards, and uses their address on the applications. Now, criminals have even more
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When Will You Need a Lawyer?
This is a continuation of my series of articles on what lawyers can do for you. My last article, “What do Lawyers do for You?” explained what good lawyers can do to help their clients, generally. You might not think about it, but, at just
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What Do Lawyers Do for You?
Most people hope that they never have to use a lawyer, ever. If you watch late-night TV, or listen to stand-up comedians, and that’s all you knew, you wouldn’t want to either. And I’m just talking about the jokes! Late-night TV is also filled with
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