Category Archives: Dealing with debt

Bankruptcy Alphabet: X is for OEX

X is for OEX

I had to stretch, I admit,  for X in my Bankruptcy Alphabet. An OEX under California debtor/creditor law is an Order Of Examination that is issued when a creditor has a judgment.  It’s a tool for the creditor to find and collect his money.  The OEX allows the judgment creditor to eXamine the judgment debtor…

Collections: Boogie Man For Businesses Too

boogie man

“Being sent to collections” is a boogie man for businesses as well as for individuals, I learned this week. I was counseling a small business with lots of vendor debt.? We were looking for a strategy that could keep them in business.? When I suggested that management sort their payables into vendors they needed and…

Why Fear The Debt Collector?

Debt collectors as sharks?

When I tell a bankruptcy prospect to stop paying the credit cards and the bank lines of credit, they look at me as though I’d suggested they jump into shark infested waters. “But they’ll start calling me”, they wail.? “I’ll be sent to collection“, as though “collection” was a real place, with manacles dangling? and…

Why Credit Cards Win Clash of Titans

Credit cards vanquish tax collector

In the tug o war of which creditor to pay, why is it that credit cards win over taxes and child support? I’m accustomed to clients who pay creditors rather than provide for their own health care, emergency fund, or retirement.? That’s taking care of commitments to others before self. But I haven’t figured out…

Bankruptcy and “Ruining your credit score”

tight rope act

Liz Weston, L.A. Times financial writer, walked a room full of bankruptcy attorneys at the Sacramento Valley Bankruptcy Forum through the impact of various credit events on your credit score last weekend. She recounted how, after meeting some debtors as she worked on stories, she no longer saw debtors as deadbeats. She saw the challenges…