San Jose Bankruptcy: What Mistakes To Avoid While Filing Bankruptcy In San Jose California

San Jose, Calif: What Mistakes To Avoid While Filing Bankruptcy:

   

1. It is not a great idea to Wait Too Long - It is human nature to put off unpleasant events.  Foreclosure, repossession and other collection efforts can be stopped by filing bankruptcy.  But  you have to act before your property is foreclosed.  Once the bank takes your home or repossesses your car, it is too late.   Get advice…San Jose bankruptcy lawyer Geoffrey Nwosu offers a free and confidential initial consultation to help you make an informed decision before it is too late.
2. Failing To List All Of Your Creditors – A common mistake is to try to “protect” someone you owe by not listing them as a creditor.  This is a mistake.  There is a way to re-affirm a debt after bankruptcy.  If you do not list a creditor, then the debt you owe that creditor may not be discharged in bankruptcy.  You should list all creditors, even if you have a co-debtor/co-signer or you intend to repay that debt.  Don’t “muddy the water”.  List all of your creditors. 
3. Reaffirming Burdensome Debt - You can reaffirm (keep) any of your debts.  Do not reaffirm debts that are unreasonable.  Doing so will make it difficult or impossible for your to recover financially.  Bankruptcy laws were written to give a person a fresh start.  You will feel better about your self when you get a fresh start and pay your bills on time.  If bankruptcy is the option you choose, accept the relief.  Do not weigh yourself down.  Get a fresh start. 
4. Having Too Much Cash – Bankruptcy laws give you a fresh start, but they do not allow you to hold onto a large sum of cash.  You are limited on how much cash you can protect in a bankruptcy case.  There are many factors that determine exactly how much cash that you can keep.  It is advisable to get the advice of an attorney to determine how much cash you can keep on hand or in a bank account. That is why we offer a free initial consultation. 
5. Filing Bankruptcy Before Large Tax Refund Comes – It can be tempting to try to get a financial “boost” from a tax refund after they receive a fresh start from a bankruptcy.  Don’t count on it.  Tax refunds are treated just like cash in the bank. As stated above, there is a limit on how much cash you can protect in a bankruptcy case.  
6. Extensive Credit Card Use Two Years Prior to Filing Bankruptcy- Large cash advances, balance transfers or purchases in the 24 months before filing will be a reason for choosing a Chapter 13 bankruptcy over a Chapter 7 bankruptcy. The legal issue is that the court will consider is whether or not you were increasing your debt at a time that you could not afford to repay it. If the credit card company can show that, then you may be stuck with that credit card debt in a Chapter 7. There are many factors that must be considered before you file bankruptcy.  A qualified attorney can help.  Be sure to discuss recent credit card activity with your attorney.  
7. Repaying Family Members, Friends or Business Partners Before Filing – many people try to debts to friends, family or business partners before they file bankruptcy.  The court views this as an unfair move on your part and there are consequences to showing preferential treatment to one creditor over another.  In a Chapter 7, those “preferences” can be taken back, then distributed to creditors on a pro-rata basis. If the Chapter 7 trustee cannot recover those preferences (the money you paid prior to filing bankruptcy), then he can use that as a basis for objecting to your discharge, which then forces you to come up with the money that you paid.   Essentially, you will pay the debt twice. So, don’t do it. In a Chapter 13, all it does is increase the monthly plan payment. 
8. Transferring Assets – Sometimes people will give valuable assets to a friend or family member prior to filing bankruptcy so that the asset will not be taken by creditors.  Assets transferred in anticipation of filing bankruptcy may be recovered by the Trustee in a Chapter 7 as a fraudulent transfer. In a Chapter 13, it would cause your plan payment to increase. Besides, you can protect your stuff while it’s in your possession or control, but not after you have given it to someone.  Find a qualified bankruptcy attorney who can give you confidential legal advice. 
9. Expecting An Inheritance – Property inherited within 6 months after filing bankruptcy is deemed to be part of the bankruptcy estate.  If you expect an inheritance, make sure that you discuss this with your attorney.  
10. Intending On Selling Your House Before Your Bankruptcy Case Is Over – This is only an issue in a Chapter 13 case because it lasts 3-5 years, whereas a Chapter 7 only lasts 90 days.   Selling your house while you are in bankruptcy can be very complicated.  If you think that you must sell your house before your bankruptcy is discharged, discuss it with your attorney to find alternatives.

Please contact the law office of Geoffrey C. Nwosu at http://www.nwosulaw.com/ or 408-912-5983 if you have any qestions regarding debt relief or bankruptcy. Our bay area bankruptcy lawyers and debt relief attorneys will assist you.

San Jose bankruptcy news / blog : Filing Bankruptcy can be a viable option when facing default and foreclosure

Bay Area delinquency notices on the rise

As reported Pete Carey of

pcarey@mercurynews.com on 11/10/2011 12:01:00 AM PST, deliquency notices filed is on the rise.

Thousands of homeowners in the Bay Area received delinquency notices last month, as lenders worked their way through a backlog of distressed mortgages that began building nearly a year ago, according to a report released Thursday by RealtyTrac.

"We're definitely seeing signs that lenders are ramping back up," said Daren Blomquist, of RealtyTrac.com, an online foreclosure marketplace headquartered in Irvine.
Default notices are the first step in the foreclosure process and are sent to homeowners who are behind three months or more on their mortgage payments. But many of these homeowners actually have been delinquent for a year or more, Blomquist said. Lenders until recently have been bogged down in a robo-signing scandal, and default notices have been slow to go out.
"A lot of these are delayed or deferred foreclosures that under normal circumstances we would have seen earlier this year," he said. "But because of delays, many have not been making their payments for more than a year."
Lenders sent out nearly 3,500 default notices in October to homeowners in Contra Costa, Alameda, San Mateo and Santa Clara counties, according to RealtyTrac's data. That was up more than 10 percent from September but about even with September 2010.
"We're getting back close to where we were before all this robo-signing and foreclosure documentation controversy hit," Blomquist said.
Default notices were up 14 percent from last year in Contra Costa County and 18 percent in Santa Clara County and were almost unchanged in Alameda County. Only San Mateo County saw a drop.

More defaults could be on the way if the economy doesn't start adding jobs. Carlos Jimenez, a former state worker who lives in Tracy, said he's been out of work since June and is facing a grim choice -- make the credit card payment or pay the mortgage. It's not unlike the decisions thousands of families have had to make since the housing crisis began.
"You pay the credit card, because these credit card companies are worse than the banks," Jimenez said. His unemployment insurance runs out Jan. 7, and his wife's job is not covering their expenses. His efforts to get some relief from state and federal housing assistance programs have gone nowhere, he said.
Total foreclosure activity, including notices of trustee sale and bank-seized property, dropped 8.5 percent from a year ago but was little changed from September in the four counties.
Actual foreclosures, in which a bank sells a foreclosed home, were level with a year ago but up from September.
With so many more homes entering the foreclosure process now, actual foreclosures are expected to rise in the months to come.
Lenders still appear to be working their way through the backlog methodically, careful not to flood the market with foreclosed homes. Foreclosures often sell for 20 percent or more below the market price and can lower the value of surrounding homes.
The figures for default notices show that despite employment gains in some sectors such as tech, many Bay Areas homeowners continue to struggle to make their mortgage payments.
How quickly the default notices carry through to actual foreclosures depends on several factors: the volume of foreclosures being processed, how big a hit banks are willing to take on their balance sheets and the success of state and federal programs to prevent foreclosures.

At the law offices of Geoffrey C Nwosu in San jose Ca., we help many people faced with financial difficulties eliminate their debts. Our bankruptcy lawyer or debt relief attorney can be reached at http://www.nwosulaw.com/ or 408-375-7703

San Jose Foreclosure News

San Jose: Community group urges residents to fight foreclosure

As reported by San Jose Mercury News on 09/15/2011 05:55:31 PM PDT , as part of a statewide effort to help people keep their homes, a group of community activists urged residents in San Jose's Tropicana neighborhood Thursday to get angry about the housing crisis -- and then do something about it.

"We have to stand up," said Louise Vaughn, a member of the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment. "It's time for us to start talking to each other, writing letters, making phone calls."
A coalition of community groups kicked off their "Refund and Rebuild California" campaign by releasing a report called "The Wall Street Wrecking Ball, What Foreclosures are Costing San Jose Neighborhoods" at a news conference in front of a foreclosed home.
Prepared by ACCE and the California Reinvestment Coalition, a nonprofit organization that advocates for equal access to banking for low-income communities, the report claims San Jose homeowners will have lost $22 billion in home values as a result of the more than 43,500 homes foreclosed here from 2008 through next year. As a result, the city of San Jose has lost an estimated $135 million in property tax revenue.
"When people lose their homes, it affects all of us," said David Sharples, a member of the alliance. "Property tax revenues plummet, police, firefighters and teachers get laid off. We want banks to give homeowners reductions on their principal so they can stay in their homes."
According to the report, there have been 1.2 million foreclosures
statewide since 2008, "with the number expected to exceed 2 million by the end of 2012." In San Jose, in addition to the 43,544 foreclosures, more than 51,000 homeowners are underwater on their loans, meaning the debt is more than the property's current market value.
As Sharples and others talked, a tight core of activists chanted, "Shame on the banks. Shame on us for putting money in the banks. It's all about the money." Some held signs saying "Stop Foreclosures" and "Save Homes."
The group also claimed that once homes are foreclosed, banks allow them to remain empty and uncared for in the community for too long.
But Beth Mills, spokeswoman for the California Bankers Association, said state legislation passed a few years ago requires banks to maintain a property once it assumes ownership, or risk fines up to $1,000 a day.
"It takes over 300 days to complete a foreclosure," she said. "Banks can't come in and take care of that property until it's officially theirs."
Mills said banks in California and around the country have "been helping borrowers to stay in their homes when possible. We can try, when we can but what's consistently overlooked is that a good portion of borrowers have either lost their jobs or are underemployed and cannot make the mortgage payment."
For them, foreclosure is likely, she said.
After releasing copies of the foreclosure report Thursday afternoon, a couple dozen community activists walked through the Tropicana neighborhood knocking on doors.
"One woman said she's used all of her savings trying to hold onto her house," said Ana Guardado, 46, an alliance member and East Side resident for 27 years. "She expects to lose her home."
As the housing crisis worsened, Guardado said she watched longtime friends move away as they lost their homes on South King Road. "Two years ago, I saw a family standing outside in the yard on Christmas Day, and I decided I had to get involved. The family had all this stuff spread out and they had a Christmas tree in the front yard so their kids could have Christmas."

If you have any question about filing bankruptcy in San Jose, please contact San Jose Bankruptcy attorney or debt relief lawyer at the law office of Geoffrey Nwosu at http://www.nwosulaw.com/ or 408-912-5983. A bay area bankruptcy attorney will discuss your case with you.

San Jose Accident: Serious Injury from San Jose Accident

San Jose: Train crash survivors, one recovering, another "fighting for life"

As reported by Lisa Fernandez lfernandez@mercurynews.com on 11/11/2011 11:12:43 AM PST, two South Bay residents who were hit by trains and survived remain hospitalized, one of them is expected to recover and the other is in a coma, clinging to life, according to their families.

The two people were hit by trains five days apart, both in San Jose. Their families insist they were not trying to commit suicide.
David Hughes, 47, was hit by a Caltrain near Willow Street and Highway 87 on Nov. 4. Sandra Hughes, his sister, told this newspaper that her brother, told her that he fell asleep alongside the tracks.
When he awoke, she said he told he was "sideswiped" by the train, which was traveling at a speed of 25 mph heading toward the Diridon station.
"He didn't see or hear it coming," Hughes said.
Hughes said her brother is expected to recover from his injuries and soon leave Valley Medical Center. She said that her brother told her that he had been in a fight with someone and drinking before he fell asleep by the tracks, where he used to live when he was homeless. She said her brother lives with her in Campbell now.
The victim of an earlier train accident on Oct. 30 is in much worse shape.
But the family of Patricia Brosio hasn't been able to find out what happened yet, because the 55-year-old woman can't speak and is still in a coma at Regional Medical Center, according to Ben Cardoza, 54, her brother.
Brosio was struck by a VTA light rail at 10:45 p.m. at the intersection of Berryessa Road and
Capitol Avenue. San Jose police are investigating why she had been crossing the tracks.
Cardoza is anxious to get the results of the investigation: He said he simply wants to know if his sister was at fault, or the train operator.
He acknowledged that Brosio, who had once worked in San Mateo County as an advocate for battered women, had been battling alcoholism. But he added, "she's been doing extremely well for the last two years and had no reason to be suicidal."
She had two sons, ages 35 and 28, one of whom had been in a coma himself when he was in a car accident five years to the day of Brosio's train collision. Cardoza said his nephew was in a friend's Jaguar, and the driver was racing down Highway 101 near the San Francisco International Airport when the accident occurred. Since then, Brosio has been taking care of her son.
Cardoza said his sister has been heavily sedated, after suffering numerous strokes and bleeding in her liver. "She is fighting for her life, literally," he said.

If you have any question about San Jose auto accident, Car accident, Motorcycle accident or Pedestrian accident, please contact the accident injury law office of Geoffrey Nwosu at http://www.nwosulaw.com/ or 408-912-5983. An accident attorney will discuss your injury case with you.

San Jose bankruptcy Lawyer blogs about Bankruptcy

Federal judge releases Vallejo from bankruptcy

As reported by the Associated Press on 11/02/2011 11:56:33 AM 

VALLEJO, Calif.—Vallejo has finally emerged from bankruptcy. A federal judge released the historic Northern California town from bankruptcy Tuesday, putting an end to Vallejo's three-year bout as one of the nation's first and largest bankrupt cities.
Located about 30 miles northeast of San Francisco, Vallejo was the original capital of California. The city of 120,000 filed for bankruptcy protection in 2008, facing large deficits and a revenue crisis.
Since then, the city has closed fire stations and cut funding to senior centers, libraries and public works to save money, and worked to find new sources of revenue. Declaring bankruptcy gave the city protection from its creditors and allowed it to renegotiate contracts with employees, but The San Francisco Chronicle reports court proceedings also cost Vallejo $8 million in legal fees

Are you thinking about filing Bankruptcy in bay area, California? Please contact the Law Office of Geoffrey C. Nwosu at http://www.nwosulaw.com/ or 408-912-5983 to discuss your financial options and determine if filing bankruptcy will help you to eliminate your debts.