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They’re not supposed to. But of course they frequently do. Federal law prohibits this type of collection activity. This is usually a big surprise to people when they hear it, but it is an absolute violation of your consumer rights for a collection agency to call your cell phone when they attempt to collect on a debt.

The specific laws that regulate collection agencies are the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) and the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). These consumer-based laws dictate what the collection agencies can and can’t do. If there is a violation of these laws, the court will hold that your rights have been violated, and the collection agency will be required to pay damages (i.e. an amount of money to be paid in compensation for having violated your rights). So for instance, 15 U.S.C. §1692f(5) makes it a violation for collectors to call your cell phone. And most of the time, they are calling not once, but several times a day. Showing proof of the violation is as simple as providing cell phone billing records (because every time you answer your cell phone, it will register on your monthly statement). The reason why federal law prohibits this kind of collection activity is because every time you answer your cell phone, you are incurring a cost (i.e. you are being charged for the minutes used in your plan). It is therefore unlawful for a collection agency to cause you to incur a cost in their attempts to collect.

There are other kinds of violations as well. For instance, the collection agencies are not supposed to call excessively throughout the day and night. So if they are calling more than two or three times in a day, it is possible that another violation has occurred. If the collector is verbally abusive or threatens you in any way, this is also a clear violation of the Act. And if they are calling friends, family, or your place of work, it is almost certain that their actions have in some way harmed your federal rights.

No, you can file individually. You certainly have the opportunity to file jointly if you are married. But it is not necessary (although, there may very well be circumstances in which a joint filing makes more sense, depending on the debts involved).

Filing individually is fine, but you will still need to supply some information to the court regarding your spouse. For instance, the court requires that all sources of household income must be disclosed for the six month prior to filing. This is normally taken care of by providing your attorney with any and all paystubs that may have been received. But because the court is interested in all of the household income, your attorney will be asking for your spouse’s paystubs over the last six months as well (again, even if that person is not filing with you). Why? Let me give you an example of why it is so important:

According to the government, the average (or median) income for a household of two is $51,120. Let’s assume that you have are in fact a household of two (you and your spouse), and your household income is below this level (in other words, the combined income from all sources between you and your spouse is less than $51,120), then you qualify for a St. Louis Chapter 7 bankruptcy (assuming you have not filed a Missouri Chapter within the last eight years). This type of filing is commonly described as a ‘straight discharge,’ wherein unsecured creditors (like credit cards, medical bills, payday loans, etc.) are knocked out forever (putting you on the road to financial rebuilding in a relatively short period of time). But the only way to prove to the government that you do indeed qualify for such a filing is by providing income verification.

No, you cannot. Domestic obligations such as child support and alimony (or any arrearage thereof that you have fallen behind on) are described as non-dischargeable debts. In other words, after your bankruptcy goes through its normal course, all other debts will get discharged (such as credit cards, medical bills, payday loans, etc.). But child support and alimony payments will continue to exist.

This is true whether you file a St. Louis Chapter 7 bankruptcy or a St. Louis Chapter 13 bankruptcy. However, it is possible to repay child support arrearage back through a Chapter 13 repayment plan. This spreads the payments out over a period of time (over the course of three to five years), giving you a little bit of breathing room so that you aren’t forced into a situation of having to get caught up on the arrearage over a short period of time (sometimes as short as six months).

Additionally, if the state of Missouri is garnishing your wages as a result of back child support not being paid, the filing of the bankruptcy will stop the garnishment. This can provide some additional relief. But it should be noted that the state will still expect you to make arrangements to come current on the arrearage sooner rather than later.

Probably because Congress felt like that sounded like an appropriate number of years when they drafted the code (actually, it was the credit industry and their lawyers who drafted the code, and the members of Congress simply voted “Yes” for it). But regardless of why they chose the 3-5 year period, what is important for an individual contemplating bankruptcy is to understand which length of time is best for them.

To begin with, there is definite hard rule when it comes to the length of a St. Louis Chapter 13 bankruptcy. If you are above the median income level, you will have to do a five year plan. If you are below the median income level, you can do a three, four, or five year plan. Why the variability as to median income levels? Congress can tell you anything they want, but the real reason is because they assume that if you are above the median income level, you can afford to be in the Chapter 13 plan for a greater length of time (so that you end up paying more in interest).

Median income levels are determined by the federal government, and are actuated by way of various standards set by the IRS (and are commonly referred to as ‘cost of living’ standards). These levels are adjusted from time to time (in an attempt to mirror what the average (or median) income levels are across the United State). So for instance, according to the federal government, the median income for a household of two is: $51,120.00. If your household income (wages, unemployment benefits, child support, etc.) is above this figure, you will have to do a five year plan in a Missouri Chapter 13. If you are below that level, you can opt for the three or four year plan.

Yes, you will. And a lot quicker than you may think.

When you file for bankruptcy, unsecured creditors (such as credit cards, medical bills, payday loans, etc.) are discharged. They are knocked out forever. When this happens, there is instant relief. But most people believe that their chances of ever owning a credit card again are dashed once the discharge occurs. Well, the exact opposite is true. In fact, once you receive your official discharge of debts, you will be flooded with credit card applications. The sheer weight of all the credit apps you’ll receive will nearly cause your mailbox to collapse.

And the reason for this is simple: Overnight, you will have become the most attractive candidate in the world. All of your old debt will have been wiped out, which presumably means you’ll be able to make monthly minimum payments much more easily. And the creditors know that you won’t be able to get another bankruptcy discharge for several years (for example, the rules state that you can only file a St. Louis Chapter 7 bankruptcy every eight years; and a discharge of unsecured creditors in a St. Louis Chapter 13 bankruptcy can be had so long as several requires are first met).

Yes, it does. In fact, the threshold question as to which chapter of bankruptcy you can file very often comes down to what your household income is. That’s why it is so important to disclose to the court all sources of income in the six months preceding the filing of a Missouri bankruptcy.

So let me give you a real world example: Let’s say you are a household of four (yourself, spouse, and two children). According to the federal government, the average (or median) income for a household of four is: $69,832.00. In other words, the government’s statistics show that a household of this size should bring in on average this amount of income. If the total household income (from your employment, your spouse’s employment, child support, unemployment benefits, food stamps; literally, from all sources) is less than $69,832, then you will generally qualify for a St. Louis Chapter 7 bankruptcy. A Chapter 7 bankruptcy is a situation in which all unsecured debts (like credit cards, medical bills, payday loans, etc.) are discharged.

If your household income is substantially higher than $69,832.00, than it may involve a situation in which a St. Louis Chapter 13 would be filed. A Chapter 13 is described as a repayment plan over the course of three to five years. Depending on your particular set of circumstances, a Missouri Chapter 13 can be enormously beneficial. It provides an opportunity to get caught up on things like mortgage arrears, tax debt, and delinquent child support; there is an opportunity to pay off your car with a much lower interest than you’re currently stuck with; and there is still a chance to get your unsecured debt discharged.

In short, because they can. I can’t even begin to tell you the number of clients I have had over the past several years who have described to me the following story: They fall behind on their mortgage because of a loss of income or loss of job; they still want to keep their house, and they have heard about several new programs out there that allow you to modify your home loan; they contact the mortgage company, who in turn assures them that they do indeed offer such a program; the mortgage company tells the individual that all they need to do is fill out the paperwork, collect the necessary documents (and have them signed and notarized), send them into the mortgage company, and all will be well; after spending a huge amount of time doing precisely that, and turning everything in on time, the mortgage company turns around and claims that they never got the information; the individual home owner then fills all the paperwork out again, gets it notarized, and sends it all over; the mortgage company again claims that they didn’t receive all the documents, but to please try again. This happens over and over again, sometimes for as long as a year. All the while, the individual is being reassured by the mortgage company that a modification can be had, and therefore the individual should not worry that they are falling further and further behind in arrears.

And I have seen situations in which a foreclosure sale date is set by the mortgage company because of the arrearage building up during the modification process, but the mortgage company still insists that the modification will go through. Only to pull the rug out from underneath the individual at the eleventh hour (literally, as in the night before the foreclosure is set to take place).

I’ve come to believe that the foregoing situation is a tactic on the part of the mortgage company. In other words, it is a purposeful delay that they initiate so as to ensure either one of two things: 1) you give up on your efforts to reach a modification (because of all the delays and misrepresentations about whether or not they actually received the information), or 2) that the transaction results in a foreclosure, because they are wanting to get the asset off their books (because they probably should not have signed a loan agreement with you in the first place). Either way, it puts you in a heck of a bind, especially if the goal is to keep the house.

Because the main job of the Trustee is find any assets that you might have with equity, sell them, and use the proceeds of the sale to pay towards the unsecured creditors that are to be discharged in your case. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that there is anything in your particular case that the Trustee is interested in. The Trustee isn’t going to waste his time with assets that do not have substantial market value.

To begin with, a bankruptcy Trustee is the person hired by the federal government to oversee your bankruptcy estate. He/she is the individual whose job it is to look into and ask questions about what you own. If the Trustee determines that there are such assets, then he/she has the option of liquidating them. Which assets will the Trustee truly be interested in? Let me give you a few examples: If you own a car with a great deal of equity, then the Trustee is probably going to want to at least look into the value of the automobile, so as to make a proper determination. If there is significant value, the Trustee will demand turnover. In a Missouri bankruptcy, you are given a $3,000 exemption to cover any equity that may exist in your car. So if you currently owe $7,000 against the car, and the fair market value (usually, Blue Book value) is $9,000, then there is $2,000 worth of equity in the asset. But after you apply the $3,000 exemption that the government gives you, the equity is eliminated (in fact, you’ve got $1,000 to spare).

Sometimes, there are situation in which the value of your asset exceeds the exemptions that you have available. What do you do then? Well, to be honest, one option is to simply not file for bankruptcy. Because if you know there is a risk of losing the asset to the Trustee, then it becomes a question of whether or not you want to hold onto the asset (but keep all the creditors who are calling you non-stop), or risk losing the asset (but get rid of all the unsecured debts, like credit cards, medical bills, payday loans, etc.) Additionally, there is also an opportunity to try and cut a deal with the Trustee. So if you file a St. Louis Chapter 7 bankruptcy, and you have a car that is paid in full (and therefore a lot of equity), it’s possible to try and work something out. For instance, if your car’s Blue Book value is $5,000 (and there are no liens against it), the Trustee might want to liquidate the vehicle because of the extra $2,000 worth of equity. But if you want to keep the car, you can make an offer to the Trustee to buy out the equity (because to be honest, the Trustee could care less where the money comes from; either through the sale of the vehicle to the highest bidder, or by you buying out the equity).

No, if won’t. And to be honest, once you receive a discharge at the end of your bankruptcy, you can expect the credit card companies to start sending you applications right away. In fact, you can probably expect your mailbox to be flooded with credit card applications the moment you receive your discharge.

Why is this the case? Well, if you think about it, it makes sense (at least from their point of view). After a bankruptcy has run its course, you receive what is called an official discharge of debts. This means that all unsecured creditors (such as credit cards, medical bills, payday loans, deficiencies on a repossessed car, overdrawn bank account, etc.) are knocked out forever. You are not obligated on these debts anymore, and your former creditors can no longer demand payment or pursue any collection activity. All debts are quite literally wiped away, and you can begin your life fresh again.

And the credit card companies know this as well. But instead of it being a detriment to your ever having another card again, it actually works in your favor. This is because once you’ve had all your old debts wiped clean, you literally get a ‘re-do,’ a ‘start-over.’ You begin at ground zero. You are debt free. And to the credit card industry (even those same companies that you might have discharged in your bankruptcy) will now look at you with covetous eyes. They will view you as the most attractive candidate in the world. Overnight, you will have had your old debts knocked out. And to them, this means you are in a perfect position to begin making minimum monthly payments on a new card.

Yes, it is possible to get rid of a second mortgage if you file a St. Louis Chapter 13 bankruptcy. Such a filing allows for the possibility of stripping off any junior liens on a piece of real estate. And so long as you complete the Chapter 13 plan, the only thing you’ll have left at the end of the bankruptcy will be your first mortgage.

Here’s how it works: Let’s say you have a house with a first and second mortgage. You owe $100,000 on the first mortgage, and $25,000 on the second mortgage. But the fair market value of your home is only $75,000. In this scenario, it would be possible to strip out the second mortgage because no equity exists in the first mortgage (i.e. the first mortgage is underwater by about $25,000).

If you think about it, it makes sense. If you were to sell this house at $75,000, obviously all of that money would go to the holder of the first mortgage (because they are literally first in line, and are the senior lien holder). The junior lien holder (the second mortgage) would get nothing. From the court’s point of view, if there is nothing supporting the second mortgage, then it should be stripped out.