3 Tips For Renting After A Bankruptcy
You already know that having a bankruptcy on your credit report will affect your ability to finance a car or get a mortgage on a house. But can it keep you from renting an apartment? Unfortunately, it might. A survey conducted by one of the major credit reporting bureaus shows that almost one in two landlords named the credit check one of the top three things they used to make a decision about whether to rent to a specific tenant. So how can you get approved to rent an apartment when you have a bankruptcy sitting on your record? Take a look at some tips that can help you get your lease application approved. Rely on Your Rental History If you’ve been a great tenant in the past, your credit history may not matter as much. After all, a landlord doesn’t care if you get behind on your student loans, credit card payments, or medical bills. All the landlord is worried about is getting their rent in a timely fashion. So if you have a great rental history, a new landlord might be willing to overlook the bankruptcy. Contact your previous or current landlords and make sure that they’re willing to give you a glowing reference. When you meet with your prospective landlord, you should make sure to specifically point out that your rental history is good and that you have references that can back you up. Come Clean You’re going to have to address the issue of your bankruptcy head-on if you want to be able to rent. If you don’t mention the bankruptcy before your landlord does a credit check, there’s a good chance that they’ll just deny your application. But if you bring it up ahead of time, you’ll have a chance to tell your story and set the tone for the conversation about your credit history. If your bankruptcy was recent, make sure to point out that with all the old debts and payments out of the way, you’re now in a perfect position to make sure that your bills get paid on time. You have more disposable income than you did when you were trying to pay off mountains of debt. If the bankruptcy was several years ago, then make it a point to explain what you’ve been doing to rebuild your credit and manage your finances responsibly. Pull your own credit report so you know what it says, and point out accounts in good standing that have been opened since your bankruptcy was completed. By bringing up the bankruptcy yourself, you’re taking the opportunity to show why you’d be a good renter in spite of the bankruptcy. You may also save yourself some money this way – if the landlord absolutely won’t consider you due to your credit history, at least you’ll know it before you pay a non-refundable credit check fee for that apartment. Offer Something More You may have to offer more than other tenants if you want to have your lease application approved. For example, a landlord might be swayed if you offer to pay a higher security deposit. Consider offering to pay double the normal security deposit. Or, if you have the cash on hand, offer to pay several months of rent in advance. Your credit rating and bankruptcy status...
read moreTwo Rare Exceptions When The Banruptcy Trustee Can Take Your Social Security Disabilty Payments
Typically when you file bankruptcy, your income and savings becomes part of your bankruptcy estate. The trustee will take any non-exempt funds and use them to pay off your creditors. Most of the time, social security disability income is protected from this type of trustee action by both bankruptcy laws and the Social Security Act. However, there are two times when the trustee can take that money. Here’s more info about these exceptions. Lump Sum Payments The automatic exemptions provided by bankruptcy laws and Social Security typically only apply to the monthly payments you receive going forward. If you receive a lump sum payment from the Social Security Administration for past benefits owed to you, you may be required to turn part of that money over to the bankruptcy court. Whether or not you have to depend on a few factors: When you receive the money The amount you receive The bankruptcy court in your area The exemption laws in your state Where you live will have the biggest impact on whether you’ll be made to turn over some of the money from your lump sum payment. Many bankruptcy courts consider any type of SSDI income to be untouchable. In other courts, however, the bankruptcy trustee will calculate the amount of money required to pay your basic needs (housing, food, and support) and take anything left over. For instance, if you receive a $20,000 lump sum from the Social Security Administration and the trustee calculates your living expenses to be $15,000, he or she will require you to hand over the remaining $5,000 to pay your creditors. Sometimes you can use the exemptions available in your state to protect that income. For instance, Maryland has a $6,000 wildcard exemption that can be used to protect cash or property from being seized by the trustee. You could use that exemption to cover the remaining $5,000 in the above example. When you receive the money will also impact its exemption status. Money you receive from the Social Security Administration after you file bankruptcy is typically protected. However, lump sum payments received prior to filing may not be. Again, this depends on where you live. For example, in a 2008 court case, the Minnesota bankruptcy court ruled that the person could not use the federal bankruptcy exemptions to protect the $17,000 he had received prior to filing a petition and still retained. According the judge’s interpretation, the law only protected future money received from the SSA. The laws can get complex when dealing with lump sum social security disability payments, so it’s essential that you work with a bankruptcy attorney to find ways to protect your benefits. Comingled Funds Another way the bankruptcy trustee can come after your social security disability payments is if you comingle the funds with other non-protected money. If you deposit your SSD checks into the same account as your regular paychecks, for example, then the trustee may make the argument that you can’t determine which money in your bank account came from the Social Security Administration and which came from your place of employment. This is particularly true if you don’t keep good records. As with lump sum payments, you can protect comingled funds using bankruptcy exemptions. If you’ve been saving the money and haven’t spent any...
read moreThings To Avoid Before Filing A Chapter 7 Bankruptcy
Coming to the realization that you need to file a Chapter 7 bankruptcy usually doesn’t happen suddenly. Typically, people in financial distress severe enough to contemplate bankruptcy spend many sleepless nights worrying about how to pay their bills and they avoid answering phone calls because they may be from creditors. During this time, they may unknowingly make mistakes that could cause problems when they do file for bankruptcy. If you are beginning to realize that a bankruptcy filing is on the horizon, you’ll need to avoid doing the following things. Do not pay certain creditors and not others When you’re strapped for cash, it’s often difficult to juggle bills so all your creditors are paid. Often, people in this situation find themselves paying certain creditors and not others. Perhaps they are trying to keep their vehicle from being repossessed so they avoid paying a credit card bill, or they owe a family member money and want to stay on good terms with him or her so they repay them and ignore their other creditors. You’ll want to avoid favoritism because choosing one creditor over others is considered fraudulent activity in bankruptcy court. Do not transfer funds In a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, all of your assets will be assessed and some will be taken from you to pay your debt. If you transfer funds before you file for bankruptcy, the trustee assigned to your case may file what is called an adversary complaint for constructive fraud. For example, if you have a savings account and you try to protect it by transferring the money to a relative to hold on to it for you, this can be considered a fraudulent activity. Do not sell real estate property Selling real estate property before a bankruptcy filing can be considered fraudulent, especially if the money from the sale was not used to repay debt. It’s important to understand that your bankruptcy trustee will look over all of your financial documents and records, including the time leading up to your financial situation at the time of filing. This means that he or she will see your financial history and will be able to tell if you sold property and what you did with the money if you did. An example is if you sell property and use the money to buy things like new furniture, clothing, or other things you know will be exempt from the bankruptcy. This would also be considered fraudulent activity. Do not go on spending sprees with your credit cards Creditors in a Chapter 7 bankruptcy are able to file adversary complaints if they believe you went on spending sprees with their credit cards before you file for bankruptcy. This type of complaint would actually be a lawsuit filed against you within your bankruptcy case. If this happens, you will receive a summons and be required to submit an answer within a specified number of days according to the laws of your state. If you do not file an answer, the court will award the plaintiff a default judgement, which could mean you’d be obligated to repay that debt and it will not be discharged as part of your bankruptcy case. An example of this type of fraudulent activity would be if you were to take your family on...
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I never thought that I would personally be dealing with a bankruptcy situation. However, we found ourselves in a situation where filing for bankruptcy was the best option for moving forward. There are many different types of bankruptcy that a person or a business can file for. Additionally, there are attorneys that specialize in dealing with different types of bankruptcy situations. Figuring out what option to go with can a bit tricky and intimidating for the average person. The purpose of this blog is to assist you in figuring out what you need to do and which type of attorney you need to hire to assist you with filing for bankruptcy.