Credit Card Debt Laws That You Need to Know
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...
Paying Off Debt With Debt Consolidation
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....


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Vermont
With the bankruptcy changes in 2005, more consumers in Vermont have been forced to find other credit solutions instead of dealing with the more stringent laws. The chief difference between the new bankruptcy and the old one lies in the fact that people who earn more than the median income in Vermont (and the rest of the country is bankruptcy is a federal law) can be required to pay off some or all of their debt in a Chapter 13 payment plan. Detailed below is a rough estimate of the median income figures for 2006 in Vermont.

2-person families: 52,137
3-person families: 60,113
4-person families: 67,884
5-person families: 75,147
6-person families: 64,886
7-or-more-person families: 57,279

If your income is above the median, you may be forced to pass the bankruptcy means test in order to qualify for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, where your debt is eliminated for free in many cases (minus court and bankruptcy attorney costs).

To learn more about what options exist outside of bankruptcy, submit a form and PayingPaul.Com will refer you to a debt relief service for help! You can also read some of PayingPaul.Com’s other articles about debt, credit & Vermont.

Vermont Consumer Credit Counseling Services
Vermont Bankruptcy Laws
Vermont Debt Collection

Vermont Bankruptcy Figures

2004: 1,613
2005: 2,544
2006: 619

Vermont is a state that historically has very low rates of bankruptcy filings, but this value dropped even further with the implementation of the new bankruptcy reform laws in October of 2005. From 2005 until 2006 bankruptcy filings in Vermont dropped by 75.6 percent down to 619 total cases. Underlying all of these developments is the new bankruptcy law, which has made sweeping changes to how easy it is to qualify, as well as the financial implications of declaring. For this reason, many Vermonters have opted instead to seek debt relief through other solutions.
 

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