Help Bankruptcy Blog

Bankruptcy Law Chapter 7 refers to the process of liquidation of a debtor’s assets in order to pay debt. A bankruptcy trustee will handle your case and he will be responsible to liquidate or sell your assets that are non-exempt and distribute the proceeds among your creditors.

One thing about Bankruptcy Law Chapter 7 is most people who qualify under it have few or no valuable assets that can be liquidated. For instance, if the equity or resale value of the house, any real estate property or a car is very little, then the owners can keep it. .

Whether or not you have assets that are worth liquidating, most of your unsecured type of debt may be erased or discharged through Bankruptcy Law Chapter 7. This may include credit cards, medical bills and personal loans. However, not all your financial obligations can be discharged such as student loans, family support and criminal fines.

An individual, married couple or a business organization can file under a Bankruptcy Law Chapter 7. The criteria for eligibility are:

* You have not received a Chapter 7 bankruptcy discharge in the last 8 years
* You have not received a Chapter 13 discharge in the last 6 years
* You do not have a Chapter 7 petition dismissed within the last 180 days
* You have not attempted to deceive your creditors or the bankruptcy court.
* Your income is equal or below the median income in your state. You will be required to take the means test to determine your income and eligibility.

If you are qualified to file under Bankruptcy Law Chapter 7, the first thing you are required to do is to complete a credit counseling session with an agency certified by the United States Trustee.

After counseling comes the paperwork. You will need to fill out official bankruptcy forms and prepare other documents required for filing under Bankruptcy Law Chapter 7 such as a detailed statement of your income and expense statements, a list of your assets and liabilities, current tax returns and a copy of your credit counseling certificate.

Once you have filed your petition at your local bankruptcy court, you can expect two things to happen:

First, a feature of the Chapter 7 bankruptcy law called the ‘automatic stay’ takes effect prohibiting wage garnishment, foreclosure, car repossession, and lawsuits from creditors. The law also prevents most of your creditors from calling you or sending you bills to collect payment. You can refer your creditors to your lawyer, if you have one.

Second, you will have to go to court to attend what is called the First Meeting of Creditors or 341 Meeting. Usually, this is scheduled within 30 to 40 days after filing. During this short meeting, you will be under oath and the trustee will be questioning you to find out if all information you have provided the court is complete and accurate.

Normally after 60 to 75 days following this meeting the bankruptcy court will issue the discharge. The whole process of filing for chapter 7 bankruptcy may take from 4 to 6 months and the fee costs $299.

Bankruptcy filing can be a complicated process. So, while you can do it by yourself, you may want to get a lawyer who specializes in bankruptcy law to assist you in filing and give you legal advice. Lawyer’s fees vary from $600 up to $1200.

Whether you filed for Bankruptcy Law Chapter 7 or any other chapter in the bankruptcy code, there will be a record of it on your credit report for 10 years and it may take several years before you can re-establish your credit. So think hard and do your research to be certain if Bankruptcy Law Chapter 7 is what you really need.

Online Forex trading can be a great way to learn and make money at the same time. Of course, trading forex online is a lot like the stock market - you can make money and you can lose money. So while this may seem like a great thing to get into, you really should research it thoroughly before you plunge right in. If you don’t at least have an idea what you are doing, you can really get in over your head.

Online Forex trading is where individuals buy and sell different currencies in the hopes of making a profit. The idea is pretty simple, but predicting the patterns of exchange rates can be a challenge. The exchange rate is simply how much of one currency it will take to buy another currency. The object is to sell the same currency for more of your currency than it cost you to buy it. For example, if you buy a certain amount of euros for one hundred dollars, the object is to sell or trade that same amount of euros for more than one hundred dollars. This way you get back your initial investment plus a profit.

One reason that online Forex trading is appealing to some people is the hours that you are able to trade. A lot of investments that you can get into are open for buying and selling only at certain times of the day. However, because it is always daytime somewhere, and because the internet is functional at all times of the day, online Forex trading is not limited in this way. If you are a person that sleeps days and works nights, this can be a great idea. You don’t have to be awake at hours that are normally your bed times to monitor or alter your investments. Trading times will be when you decide. Also, if you are on a regular daytime schedule, but you don’t decide to sell until nightfall, that is still not a problem. Exchange rates are constantly changing, and you don’t have to wait twelve hours to react to a change.

You can get a lot of advice about online Forex trading from online sources. However, if you do this, remember to use good judgment when deciding what advice to follow. Anyone can give you pointers, but it is your money, so it would be your loss if you listen to untrained people. As with all investments, be careful, do your research, and use your common sense.

The forex trading software is one of the more overlooked aspects of online forex trading. For those who are not familiar with the Forex market, it is extremely fast-paced and volatile. That is why all brokers claim that their software offers the minimum latency in providing real-market updates. Unfortunately, this is a very generous statement and it does not take into account the client’s internet connection or his geographic location.

The client’s connection to the web is obviously the most important factor regarding receiving real-market updates from the broker. It really should be the best connection that one can afford, whether it is cable, satellite or ISDN. Cable is the preferred connection, as it is more secure and offers greater bandwidth.

And then there is geography. It is common sense that Broker X who is located in Toronto can establish contact with Client A located in Montreal much faster than Client B, who is located all the way down in Mexico City. The fact is that all internet connections are affected by distance. The farther a client is away from his broker, the more delay he will receive as a result because of the physical limitations imposed on wiring. Thus, always research your broker’s geographic location before selecting it as the right one for you. For best results, always choose a broker who is closer to you.

Any decent broker will offer its trading software for free. Some will even offer different versions of its software for traders of different skill levels. Usually, “advanced” versions loaded with extra features are available for free to those who request them.

Trading software comes in two flavors- web based and client based software. If your broker offers both kinds, great! Each has its own advantages, but it is the general consensus that web-based software is better.

Web based software operates completely on the broker’s server and is interfaced through a web browser like Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox. This creates a lot of flexibility for the client, as he can access his Forex account anywhere providing he has access to an ISP and a browser. Security with web based software is not an issue, as all exchanges between the client and the broker take place over secured sockets and are heavily encrypted.

Client-based software is downloaded onto the computer and executed from there. It is faster and more convenient to access, and is more “homely” in the sense that it will blend into your desktop environment. However because client based software resides on your computer and stores sensitive information like name and passwords locally, it is very vulnerable to hackers. If they managed to sneak pass your firewall through Trojans or some other backdoor virus, they can do great harm to your bank account.

If you are just starting off with Forex, be sure to take these factors into consideration when selecting the best broker. Analyze the features of the provided software to make sure that they’re right for you. So with all that said, good luck and happy trading!