Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005

Among the various reasons to avoid bankruptcy, one of the most important reason that has come up recently is the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 (BAPCPA). The law introduced some new changes in the way a consumer filled bankruptcy. The laws imposed few additional requirements on bankruptcy filings that made it more difficult and costly for consumers to file. The glance of the BAPCPA Act 2005 is summarized below:

• After coming up of the BAPCPA Act a debtor need to go through a means test before filling a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy (the bankruptcy which discharges the debts in full). The means test ensures that a consumer is not abusing the bankruptcy privilege and he is really not in a position to repay his debts.

• Anyone fails in the means test means that he - is able to repay the debts - and must file Chapter 13 bankruptcy, the bankruptcy in which debts are repaid over a 5 year period.

• A debtor filling a bankruptcy must go through a consumer credit counseling at least six months before filing, from an approved credit counseling agency.

The survey revealed that bankruptcy filings had been dropped significantly after the introduction of the BAPCPA. The statistics shows that total bankruptcy filings in 2006 were 617,660 which was a 70% drop from 2005 total filings - 2,078,415. This is just because of the strict requirements for chapter 7 filling that led to the increased percentage in filling of chapter 13 bankruptcies filling. The chapter 13 filling had showed an increase of 40% while it had declined considerably in case of chapter 7 filling.

Getting Student Loans

Almost all prospective students are faced with doubts about college affordability. And indeed it may be a big trouble especially for students who haven’t saved money for college. Student loan is one of the easiest loans to get. All you usually need is a reliable co-signer, and you can get a good sum of money to pay for the college expenses.

Student loans have very flexible payments system. You don’t have to start paying the loan while you are a student and another nice thing about these loans is that they are interest free. There are 2 types of student loans: federal loans and private ones.

There is a wide range of federal loans you can choose from. These loans are usually granted for applicants who experience a financial need. Moreover, there are some requirements for a federal student loan:

• You must show a financial need;

• You must be studying for an eligible degree or programme;

• You must maintain satisfactory academic progress;

• You mustn’t be in default on a federal student loan.

If you are not eligible for a federal loan, you can always try to find a private one. Every private student loan has its own requirements, but as a rule they are not difficult to fulfill. Students qualify for private loans mostly based on their credit score. Be sure you have really exhausted all possible federal loans and scholarships before turning to private loans, whose rates are usually variable, and therefore susceptible to market conditions, as opposed to a fixed rate loan, which you can get from the government.

When A Loan Modification Should Be Used Rather Than Debt Settlement or Debt Consolidation

A loan modification, debt settlement, and debt consolidation all accomplish the exact same thing. Each of these options can help to lower your monthly expenses. But a loan modification and debt settlement can actually eliminate a portion of your monthly debt, where debt consolidation will not. Debt consolidation will also require a min. credit score to qualify, where the other two options do not (in general)

Here is a brief overview of these three options:

Loan Modification

A loan mod is when the terms of a mortgage are changed to make it more affordable for someone who has experienced a hardship. In most cases, you will need to be behind on your payments and will need to prove your hardship to qualify.

There are three areas of a loan that are changed when a modification is approved. In some cases only one of the loan circumstances are changed, while in others, all three are changed.

1. The term of the loan
2. The interest rate of the loan
3. The payoff amount of the loan

By changing any of these three items (or all three if you are a good negotiator), the monthly mortgage payment will be drastically reduced.

Debt Settlement

This option is similar to a mortgage modification, because the term, rate, and balance are generally reduced for unsecured debt. Debt Settlement is not intended for mortgages, but can be used along with a loan modification. Debt settlement generally refers to reducing the balance or interest rate of unsecured debt (credit cards, mainly). In most cases, it's possible to take credit card debt that may have never been paid off otherwise, and reduce the balance and establish a fixed repayment plan. This allows the debtor to pay the debt of in just a few years, opposed to the rest of their life.

Debt Consolidation

Debt consolidation is the process of getting a larger loan and paying off a bunch of smaller loan. Generally this is done to get a lower percentage rate. Good credit is required, or enough collateral to secure the loan. Most debt consolidation loans are secured with real estate. A second mortgage or home equity line is common examples of a debt consolidation loan.

Each of these options can have a negative impact on your credit, however, they should all be a better option than bankruptcy (for your credit). If you have having financial troubles, or if you have to pick and choose which bills are paid each month, then it's time to start looking for relief. There is no reason to struggle each month because you are ashamed to ask for help.

Your Mortgage Company and/or credit card companies have put you (and most of America) in this position and it's time to take back control! Get your life back on track today by considering one of the options above.

Basic tips on Mortgage Refinancing

The word “refinancing” indicates a way to replace your existing debt burden with the newer one with some changes in terms and conditions that will save some good amount of money in hand of the consumer. As Refinancing is mostly seen in case of home loans a common term has come up recently is “mortgage refinancing”.

Mortgage refinancing describes a situation when a consumer has a loan from a lender bearing a fixed interest rate mortgage which is now been declined considerably with a loan from some other lender. In this case a consumer would definitely like to avail a loan with a lower interest rates and better financial conditions with the same mortgage assets. A consumer needs to be well aware of some basic facts before applying for a refinancing. A mortgage refinancing is available to consumer when he has a mortgage on home and applying for a second loan to repay the old debts. The decision for refinancing a mortgage should be weighed well before applying, by balancing the cost of prepayment for loan and other financial terms & conditions for a newer one.

In today’s competitive environment interest on second loan is declined considerably unlike the older ones. A consumer should be well informed that in mortgage financing his property will be pledged as a security for the second loan and so he should plan well in advance about the future flow of income for repayment of the loan. The loan repayment is not only the factor to consider in this case, factors like interest charges, processing fee, and prepayment charges, long term budget constraints etc should also be kept in mind.

Make your Christmas more enjoyable with a Christmas Loan.

Although we are going through global financial crisis, but Christmas cannot be avoided. You may not have saved much for Christmas, but this festive season cannot be put on hold. They are lot of expectations of your family members when it comes to holiday season, and in such situation, Christmas loan can help you to overcome your financial stress.

Christmas loan is basically a personal loan and comes with low interest rates. The requirements are quite simple: you need to have an average credit score and a fixed monthly income to afford the monthly payment. Christmas loan is for everyone and anyone can apply for it.

You can get a Christmas loan from local banks and also from private lenders. There are many private lenders who offer a Christmas loan in a quick time. You can be sure of getting a loan from these lenders, as they have a high approval rate than other local banks. Even if you have bad credit, you can get a Christmas loan from private lenders.

Wishing all of you a very happy Christmas

Put Some Money in Commodity - For Your Own Sake

I just come across the following news...

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http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/29/us/29foodstamps.html?pagewanted=1&ei=5087&en=3bd53ccfc8d24b4c&ex=1275195600

Food Stamp Use Soars, and Stigma Fades

MARTINSVILLE, Ohio — With food stamp use at record highs and climbing every month, a program once scorned as a failed welfare scheme now helps feed one in eight (12.5%) Americans and one in four children(25%).

......

From the ailing resorts of the Florida Keys to Alaskan villages along the Bering Sea, the program is now expanding at a pace of about 20,000 people a day.

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Well, this is just another Indicator, showing that the economy and the jobless situation in the US is NOT getting better at all. Yet, a very interesting thing is that despite the economy is still bad and with some recent news on Dubai crisis, it does not bring the market to go down at all.

One way to look at it is that the currency is getting to lose it value faster.

Looking from another angle, US is the world largest food producer. It has no problem to supply more food stamps to their own citizens. All it need to do is just to cut back some bio-fuel production or donation to some poor countries.

Unfortunately, there are many part of the world need to import such commodities. And, when the economy is getting worst, then they do not have such a Food Stamp System to feed their citizens... many things would then happen.

Also that regardless of the economy situation, people need to eat for a living... with the world population keep increasing... Currencies devaluing...

So...

Just have a recommendation here: To preserve the value of your hard earned money, put some of them in Commodity ETF to hedge against the hyper-inflation due to high speed increase in money supply.

The following is a Tape-Reading chart of a commodity ETF (DBC).

Bless You

KH Tang

“Vision without action is merely a dream.

Action without vision just passes the time.

Vision with action can change the world.”

- Joel Arthur Barker