Recently, con-artists have been posing as bankruptcy attorneys to prey on clients. Across the country, people who have filed for bankruptcy or plan to have been targeted and taken advantage of. The imposters have used software to mimic the caller ID system, making it appear as if the client’s bankruptcy attorney is calling them.

When filing for bankruptcy, you may be able to keep your home; however, this will depend on your particular situation and which chapter of bankruptcy you decide to file. Chapter 13 bankruptcy allows you to keep your property (including your car and home) as long as you keep up with your payment plan, which usually lasts three to five years.

Though the Dallas community is very affluent, many people still find themselves facing financial challenges and obstacles, often leading them to file for bankruptcy. While countless consumers choose to pursue this financial option each and every year, it is important that you understand how bankruptcy will personally affect

Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 each offer different options in your bankruptcy case. Depending on your particular situation and your plans for the future, one may be more suitable than the other. Both options require a basic fee and will likely have additional expenses stemming from attorney fees.

There are fees for filing for bankruptcy, and additional costs may arise in the bankruptcy process. Chapter 7 bankruptcy costs $2,300 and Chapter 13 bankruptcy costs $3,300.

If your income is higher than the Texas median household income, you must pass the Texas means test before becoming eligible for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. The means test involves your average household income.

The type of bankruptcy you are eligible for and the category of a particular debt determines whether or not a debt can be wiped out by bankruptcy. Debts that are eligible for removal are known as dischargeable debts.

As we've written in the last two blogs, Texas has a generous set of exemptions. As a result, all of the assets belonging to most people filing a straight Chapter 7 bankruptcy are exempt, protected from the reach of the bankruptcy trustee and, thus, from their creditors.

In a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, federal law lets you use Texas exemptions, which usually protect all your assets from your creditors and from the bankruptcy trustee.

More than most other states, Texas protects its residents from their creditors with relatively generous exemptions both for their homestead and for their personal property.

We are fortunate that Texas is one of the few states in the nation that generally doesn't permit the garnishment of wages in consumer debt collection. But there still ARE major exceptions in which wage garnishment CAN happen

In the most straightforward Chapter 7 cases, you qualify to file because your income is not too high, everything you own is "exempt" and protected, none of your debts have any collateral or else are current on them, and all your debts will be written off ("discharged"). Many cases fit this description. But what if your situation is not so straightforward?

These two options are very different. They each have their advantages and disadvantages. Sometimes it's quite clear which one is better for you, but other times it's more up in the air. Some of those advantages and disadvantages are often obvious. But there may be other important ones that you don't know about. That's why you should discuss both alternatives with your attorney with an open mind even if you think that one is the right one for you.

The major bankruptcy options are organized in the U.S. Bankruptcy Code into different "chapters" of the Code. Chapters 7 and 13 are the ones mostly used by people with consumer and small business debt. So if that is your situation, most likely one of those is your best option. But if you are a farmer, rancher or fisherman, Chapter 12 may instead be the most appropriate for you. Chapter 11 can be used by people with an unusually large amount of consumer and/or business debt, but is mostly used by corporations and other business entities. Chapter 9 is for city, county and other governmental bankruptcies.

You should be aware of all your options. Bankruptcy is not the best solution for everyone. If your financial problems look like they can be solved some other way, that alternative should be explored, looking closely at its advantages and disadvantages. Here are three bankruptcy alternatives, along with some of their risks

Bankruptcy is much easier to understand and be comfortable with if you know who the players are and what they do.

The Debtor: an individual or business who files the bankruptcy case. A debtor and spouse can file a joint petition in bankruptcy. The debtor's most important job is to be honest and cooperative throughout the process, working closely with his or her attorney to present the appropriate paperwork and documents.

What is bankruptcy? It's a choice that may or may not be right for you. It gives you legally approved options for addressing your debt in an honest and sensible way.

The U.S. Constitution directly authorized bankruptcy. It gives Congress the "Power . . . to establish . . . uniform Laws on the subject of Bankruptcies throughout the United States." ( See Article 1, Section 8, Clause 4.) Bankruptcies are governed by federal law, contained in the Bankruptcy Code (Title 11 of the United States Code). State laws also have a direct effect on bankruptcies, especially in providing for the property exemptions that its residents may use to protect their assets from creditors.

Bankruptcy can help with your property taxes, either by allowing you to write off your other debts or by buying you more time to catch up with paying your debts.

Since Texas has no state income tax, homeowners pay relatively high property taxes. Property tax is the biggest single source of funding for all local governmental services.

Nothing prompts a long and intimate conversation with a friend as well as an emotional entanglement of some kind. We all have lots to say, share and dissect when we're excited, frustrated or annoyed about a person in our lives.

The natural and even healthy tendency to discuss our emotional lives can cause problems, though, when that discussion is carried out on FaceBook, Twitter or another form of social media. Why? Social media:

• Provides a record in the event of litigation


• Reaches many more people than on a face-to-face conversation