June 16th, 2009

I have a business in danger of going out of business but I'd like to know if California SBOE can continue collections even if my business files for bankruptcy.

If an unincorporated business (sole proprietorship or partnership) goes out of business, the owners are still responsible for the collected taxes. It does not matter if they or the business file bankruptcy, the debt survives.

If a corporation goes out of business, the Board of Equalization can, and will, make an assessment against the responsible people in the corporation and collect from then.

Posted in business bankruptcy | 3 Comments »

June 15th, 2009

This may be a question asked many time. But I would like to know exactly what should I do when, on the first day of the job, the company asked me to apply for an Amex corporate card? I filled for bankruptcy two years ago and still have a poor credit rating. The job is purely technical (software) and requires credit card only for traveling& expense. What should I do? Should I refuse? Blindly apply to get rejected later? What are the implications on my job? The issue of credit had never been discussed during the interviews. I would like to hear from anyone with similar experience and how it ended up for you.

If the company is requiring you to use their corporate account, isn't it just a matter of them adding you as an authorized user to the account? Or are they insisting you apply for a new account?

I've had to do a lot of business travel. Some of the VPs had company Amex cards — all one corporate account billed to and paid directly by the company. Most of us peons had to use our own credit cards or cash, submit reimbursement request, and pay our own cards.

Posted in corporate bankruptcy | 1 Comment »

June 13th, 2009

This may be a question asked many time. But I would like to know exactly what should I do when, on the first day of the job, the company asked me to apply for an Amex corporate card? I filled for bankruptcy two years ago and still have a poor credit rating. The job is purely technical (software) and requires credit card only for traveling& expense. What should I do? Should I refuse? Blindly apply to get rejected later? What are the implications on my job? The issue of credit had never been discussed during the interviews. I would like to hear from anyone with similar experience and how it ended up for you.

Your personal credit has nothing to do with your company corporate card. DO NOT REFUSE to get a company corporate card. For most large corporations management employees who travel for work related reasons are required to put all expenses on the company card. Check your expense and reimbursement policy at your company - you may find that an employee who uses their personal credit card to pay for a company expense may be REFUSED reimbursement. LIkewise, an employee who uses the corporate card to purchase personal items/services can be immediately dismissed.

As a management employee you will most likely be responsible to submit your expenses each month via an AP system that will be sent for approval by your immediate supervisor. This is how payments are process automatically.

It is a corporate card so legally you cannot be held liable for charges on the card if you do not pay; however, you can be fired for misuse of the card and you would not want to have a bad reputation that goes along with that.

Posted in corporate bankruptcy | 4 Comments »

June 13th, 2009

About a week ago I got a business card from the county Deputy Marshall on my door. I called back and left a message but got no response. A few days after this I started receiving random letters from cracker-jack law firms saying a lawsuit had been filed against me in my county and offering to represent me or help me file chapter 7 or 13 bankruptcy.

I went to the courthouse and couldn't find anything filed on me there at all so I was confused. Yesterday I got another letter from a lawfirm offering the same services as the others, but it listed a case number. The collection agency(I assume) filed it and miss spelled my last name which is why I could not find anything before.

So my question is this. The lawsuit has been filed, but I have not been served yet. Suit was filed on June 1st and it is the 11th but I have not received a notice yet. Can they proceed with anything in court if I haven't been served? I am still trying to research it but the collection agency suing me does not show up anywhere on my credit report I just pulled yesterday and any accounts I had in collections are from back in 2004 and have been charged off.

Also if they miss spelled my name on the lawsuit can I get it dismissed and make them re-file it? I'm hoping that I can settle this before it goes to court, but I just don't want them to do something in court w/o me knowing if I haven't been served the official notice of the lawsuit yet.
Just some other info. I don't need to file bankruptcy, any debt they would be coming after me for wouldn't be anything more than $500 at least according to what is on my credit report. I want to settle it, I just want to make sure they can't pass any judgements on me in court if I haven't been officially notified by being served the papers. Oh and state is GA in case that has anything to do with the filing and serving laws.

Until you are served don't worry. They cannot do anything. You can go to the courthouse and ask about the case number, that would be a good idea. But I doubt that you have anything to worry about until you are served. There was a scam going around where somebody was claiming to be a bill collector and threatening people if they didn't pay him he was going to take everything they owned. It was a scam.

If you call an attorney now he'll just tell you the same things. Find out what is going on. He cannot have an opinion until he has read the filing.

Posted in bankruptcy law firms | 3 Comments »

June 11th, 2009

I think the question says it all. And if you can, roughly include what you call the levels of bankruptcy, I heard level 7 is the highest. Thanks! Let's hope we learn from this question!

You can learn how the legal procedure works at { http://www.legalformsbank.biz/bankruptcy.asp }.

Posted in bankruptcy alternatives | 7 Comments »

June 8th, 2009

im looking for a unsecured credit card company that will give me a credit card after bankruptcy. any suggestions? ive looked all over the web, but cant find one.

your only chance is to tie that to a bank account where you will hold some agreed upon minimum balance. But that will be the security to your credit.
I doubt that AMEX will take a chance with your credit.
Don't bother with Chase or BofA.
CapitalOne keeps sending lots of offers but I do not know much about them aside from their funny TV commercials that have sort of ceased as of recent.

Posted in credit card bankruptcy | 1 Comment »

June 7th, 2009

I just received my bankruptcy discharge. I want to get a card so I can build up my credit again. Please do not suggest First Premier Bank, they charge too many fees.
Thanks.

I got a Orchard Bank credit card 4 months after filing chapter 7. Starting limit is only $300, but it will help build my credit up in the long run as long as I keep balance below 50% and make all payments on time. I've heard that First Premier card for bad credit is a good one too.

Good luck to you!

Posted in credit card bankruptcy | 5 Comments »

June 5th, 2009

I've been out of work for over a year and have needed to use my credit cards to live on, but now am no longer able to make the payments and am planning on filing for bankruptcy. If I use the airline miles to purchase a ticket can they cancel the ticket?

Unless you have millions of airline miles that you are able to cash in, chances are good that your bankruptcy attorney will be able to exempt the value of the airline miles (or a ticket bought with them) from being taken to pay your creditors.

Your airline miles probably are an asset though, and will need to be accounted for in your bankruptcy schedules.

Be sure to tell your attorney about them. Nothing is "automatically" exempt from being taken to pay creditors, so your attorney will have to specifically look for a way to exempt them in your state (particular exemptions which are available vary from one state to another).

Posted in credit card bankruptcy | 2 Comments »

June 5th, 2009

I have a corporate bond that has gradually declined to JUNK status. The issuing company is now offering to buy it back at about 50% of it's value. The company has not filed for bankruptcy. The bond comes due in 2013. What are the risks associated with holding onto this bond?

The risk is that they default on the bond. They typically present a tender offer because they are trying to shore up their balance sheet to avoid violating the bond covenants and being forced into bankruptcy. I would review the covenants and their financial statements to see how bad the situation is and then make a decision. The risk you take is a pure default on the bond.

Posted in corporate bankruptcy | 3 Comments »

June 4th, 2009

I want to buy a new car but the everyday news talks a lot about the bankruptcy of some auto makers. I just wounder if I should wait till the end of the year or this kind of news have no much affect?

The best time to buy a car is in the fall, when the new models come out….
However right now would be a great time to buy a new 2008, I'm sure the bigger dealers still have some that they want to get rid of…

Posted in bankruptcy alternatives | 9 Comments »