 With the struggling economy, many people are finding themselves deep in credit card debt. Therefore, consumers are forced to turn to debt consolidation in order to get control of their finances. However, before a person decides to consolidate their credit card debt, they need to be aware of the credit... |
|
Living with debt is by no means easy. There’s the constant concern of living paycheck to paycheck and the never ending issue of covering monthly bills and living expenses. While most of us pride ourselves on being self-sufficient, it’s hard to ignore that we all sometimes live well beyond our means.... |
A more complete debt settlement calculator
|
|
| Florida |
|
Florida is a state that has famously generous bankruptcy protections. So much so in fact, it’s one of the main destinations of the “bankruptcy carpetbagger”—someone who intentionally switches states so they could avoid having their assets liquidated when they declared bankruptcy. When legislators wrote the bankruptcy reform bill in 2005, they specifically put in provisions that forced debtors who had moved to a new state within the past 731 days to use the bankruptcy exemptions of the state where they resided previously. The key change to the law for most people, however, is that you may no longer be able to choose which chapter bankruptcy you wish to file if your income is too high. Now, if your income is above the median income in Florida, your income and expenses will be scrutinized to determine whether you can reasonably afford to pay off at least part of your debt in a Chapter 13 bankruptcy. The process of evaluating your income and expenses is known formally as the bankruptcy means test. The following is a list of rough figures of the median income in Florida as of 2006: 2-person families: 49,234 3-person families: 55,347 4-person families: 65,024 5-person families: 62,246 6-person families: 59,606 7-or-more-person families: 55,126 Having to jump through more hoops and unsure of whether bankruptcy will even help them, more consumers in Florida are turning to debt consolidation options like credit card debt settlement & negotiation and consumer credit card counseling. These types of programs can help consumers consolidate their debt into one low monthly payment. Florida Consumer Credit Counseling Services Florida Bankruptcy Laws Florida Debt Collection Florida Bankruptcy Figures 2004: 84,706 2005: 106,250 2006: 24,709 Florida has historically been a state with a high number of personal bankruptcy filings, largely because of the favorable bankruptcy protections allow debtors to keep a majority of their assets in the event they declare. That being said, the number of bankruptcy cases dropped dramatically between 2005 and 2006, by more than 76% when it was all said and done. Due to the more strict prohibitions of the bankruptcy law, more Floridians instead turned to easier methods for debt management like debt settlement or credit card debt counseling. |
Featured Articles
|
Credit is a useful tool and when handled responsibly allows us to obtain credit cards, loans for homes, cars and other big ticket items. The better we handle our credit, the better the terms that are offered to us from lenders including higher credit lines and lower interest rates.
If, however, a... |
The dismal economy is having an adverse effect on people around the globe with millions facing tremendous amounts of debt. For many, escaping their debt seems like a far off dream but it doesn't have to be! By applying a few simple guidelines to your spending habits, you can begin to reduce credit card... |