What is Bankruptcy?
Bankruptcy is a legal proceeding in which people who cannot pay their bills can get a fresh financial start. The right to file for bankruptcy is provided by federal law, and all bankruptcy cases are handled in federal court. Filing for bankruptcy immediately stops all of your creditors from seeking to collect debts from you, at least until your debts are sorted out according to the law. Thus, hiring for professional Baltimore bankruptcy attorney services is advised for people who are going through a rough financial path.
What Can Bankruptcy Do for Me?
Bankruptcy may make it possible for you to:
- Eliminate the legal obligation to pay most or all of your debts. This is called a “discharge” of debts. It is designed to give you a fresh financial start.
- Stop foreclosure on your house or mobile home and allow you an opportunity to catch up on missed payments. (Bankruptcy does not, however, automatically eliminate mortgages and other liens on your property without payment.)
- Prevent repossession of a car or other property, or force the creditor to return property even after it has been repossessed.
- Stop wage garnishment, debt collection harassment, and similar creditor actions to collect a debt.
- Restore or prevent termination of utility service.
- Allow you to challenge the claims of creditors who have committed fraud or who are otherwise trying to collect more than you really owe.
What Doesn’t Bankruptcy Do?
Bankruptcy, however, cannot cure every financial problem. Nor is it the right step for every individual. In bankruptcy, it is usually not possible to:
- Eliminate certain rights of “secured” creditors. A “secured” creditor has taken a mortgage or other lien on property as collateral for the loan. Common examples are car loans and home mortgages. You can force secured creditors to take payment over time in the bankruptcy process and bankruptcy can eliminate your obligation to pay any additional money if your property is taken. However, you generally cannot keep the collateral unless you continue to pay the debt.
- Discharge certain types of debts singled out by the bankruptcy law for special treatment such as child support, alimony, some student loans, court restitution orders, criminal fines, and some taxes.
- Protect cosigners on your debts. When a relative or friend has co‑signed a loan, and the consumer discharges the loan in bankruptcy, the cosigner may still have to repay all or part of the loan.
- Discharge debts that arise after bankruptcy has been filed.
Don’t Be Ashamed
MANY FAMOUS PEOPLE, CELEBRITIES, PRESIDENTS, BUSINESS MOGULS, ACTORS AND ACTRESSES, ENTERTAINMENT AND SPORTS SUPERSTARS HAVE FILED FOR BANKRUPTCY.
- Rembrandt
- Burt Reynolds
- P.T. Barnum
- Wayne Newton
- Samuel Clemens, aka Mark Twain
- Kim Bassigner
- Mathew Brady, Civil War photographer
- MC Hammer(Stanley Burrell)
- Henry John Heinz
- Larry King
- Milton Hershey
- Johnny Unitas
- Henry Ford
- Tony Martin
- Donald Trump filed for his casino company
- Lawrence Taylor
- Walt Disney
- Lawrence Taylor
- Charles Goodyear
- Mike Tyson
- Mickey Roone
- Lorraine Bracco
- Debbie Reynolds
- Gary Coleman
- Jerry Lee Lewis
- Redd Foxx
- Sherman Hemsley
- Grace Jones
- Randy Quaid
- Buster Keaton
- Lynn Redgrave
- Jerry Lewis
- Burt Reynolds
- Pat Paulson
- Mickey Rooney
- Latoya Jackson
How about some SPORTS STARS:
- Bruce Berenyi – 1991 bankruptcy
- Reggie Roby
- Rocky Bleir
- Leon Spinks
- Bjorn Borg
- Roscoe Tanner
- Rollie Fingers
- Lawrence Taylor
- Tony Gwynn
- Bryan Trottier
- Dorothy Hamill
- Johnny Unitus
- Harmon Killebrew
- Danny White
- Joe Louis
- Gaylord Perry
- Harvey Martin
- Craig Nettles
- Denny McClain
- Craig Morton
Now, some FAMOUS PEOPLE:
- Melvin Belli
- Nelson Bunker Hunt – once the world’s richest man, filed the largest personal bankruptcy as of the date of filing in 1990
- Peter Bogdonovitch – famous director filed bankruptcy in 1985
- Bowie Kuhn- Baseball Commissioner
- Francis Ford Coppola – the Godfather director filed personal bankruptcy in 1983
- Marvin Mitchelson – “palimony” lawyer
- Walt Disney – a company owed him money, went bankrupt and caused Disney to file bankruptcy in 1922
- Anna Nicole Smith
- James Folger – of Folger’s Coffee fame filed bankruptcy in 1865
- Stan Lee, creator of “Spider Man”
- George Huntington Hartford II – A & P supermarket heir filed chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1992
- Gloria Vanderbilt
- Paulo Gucci – filed bankruptcy in 1993
Famous POLITICIANS:
- John Connally – former Texas Governor and Treasury Secretary
- Thomas Jefferson, President of the United States
- George McGovern – filed for bankruptcy in 1991
- Ulysses Grant, Civil War General and President of the United States
In FAMOUS PEOPLE:
- John Wayne Bobbitt
- Margaux Hemingway
- Morton Downey, Jr.
- E. Howard Hunt – helped bring President Nixon down and filed bankruptcy in 1995
- Bernard Goetz – subway vigilante
MUSICIANS:
- Toni Braxton – 1998
- MC Hammer – 1996
- David Crosby – 1985
- Isaac Hayes – 1976
- Vic Damone – 1960’s
- Dr. Hook – 1970’s
- Eddie Fisher – 1972
- Ronald Isley – 1998
- Mick Fleetwood – 1984
- Latoya Jackson – 1995
- Marvin Gaye – 1070’s
- Cindy Lauper – 1981
- Andy Gibb – 1987
- Jerry Lee Lewis – 1998
- Merle Haggard – 1993
- Meat Loaf – 1983
- Tom Petty – 1979
- Wayne Newton – 1992
- Run DMC -Chapter 11 in 1993
- Tammy Wynette – 1988
- Michael Jackson
Many of these people went to succeed and make fortunes after bankruptcy. The others simply went on with their lives. Misfortune can befall anyone. There is life, i.e. the FRESH START, after bankruptcy. So, when you are facing financial difficulties and do not know how to deal with it, consider professional Baltimore bankruptcy attorney services..
