Category: Insolvency News

INTERESTING ROUNDTABLE BUDGET DISCUSSION

September 5, 2017

Are you earning enough to live on? This morning in a discussion involving nine professionals, with backgrounds ranging from accounting to lending and investing and small business, it was determined that by their best estimate one or two people living a modest lifestyle in London (ON) would require a take home pay of about $3,600.00. […]

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HOW CAN I BECOME A BANKRUPTCY TRUSTEE?

September 5, 2017

When jobs are scarce people look to areas they believe are busy. Becoming a bankruptcy trustee is not easy.  Although the course required has changed making it easier to get a license it will still take 3-4 years of self study and you must obtain practical on-the-job experience.

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FEBRUARY IS PSYCHOLOGY MONTH:

September 5, 2017

February is “Psychology Month” in Canada – we have just come off another month dedicated to raising public awareness of mental health issues for children.   The terms “psychology” and “mental health” carry with them a great deal of stigma, most people still prefer to avoid discussing their own mental well-being.   Think about it!   After all […]

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Paying your debts – a moral dilemma

September 5, 2017

Sadly, mounting numbers of Canadian consumers are using debt to pay for debt. There is very little doubt that lenders have become facilitators, banks now offer variety packs of credit cards (VISA ‘and’ Amex ‘and’ MasterCard – where they formerly only offered one credit card).  Couple these credit cards with various lines of credit and […]

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Consumer Proposals – to pay out or not to pay out?

September 5, 2017

Here are some problems with early payout We have seen a recent surge of people paying out their consumer proposals earlier than expected, but this may not be the smartest thing to do, and here are some reasons why:Many of the payouts have come from refinancing real estate. Imagine a scenario where the debtor has […]

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CANADIANS IN RECESSION

September 5, 2017

We seem to go in an out of recessions… It is not unusual to read about fears of recession or depression in the media – but at what point does a recession become a depression?  One might suppose that depends on who you and what is happening in your life. According to economists the definition […]

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GETTING CREDIT AFTER BANKRUPTCY

September 5, 2017

Re-establishing credit after a bankruptcy is usually a lot easier than expected. Interestingly enough, one of the first questions that people ask after they have just filed for bankruptcy is “how long does it take to get my credit back?”  The question is not an easy one to answer since there are many factors that […]

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DEBT CONSULTANT SCHEME

September 5, 2017

Debt consulting proposal loans purportedly confer an “advantage” to the borrower but do they? Are such loans in some way fraudulent or are they just questionably ethical? The “advantage loan” scheme involves trustees who work with particular debt consultants.  It doesn’t matter who see the client first, the trustee or the debt consultant.  Either way […]

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IT’S EVERYWHERE YOU WANT TO BE

September 5, 2017

Remember the slogans used by credit card companies “it’s everywhere you want to be” and “don’t leave home without it”? Yes, the convenience that was being sold is certainly “everywhere you want to be” but what about the debt?  Do you really-not want to “leave home without it”? Just imagine being in a place where […]

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THE PROBLEM WITH DEBT SETTLEMENTS

September 5, 2017

There are actually many problems with debt settlements but let’s discuss a few. The first problem is finding someone you can trust and count on to represent your best interests, not just their own.  Neither law firms nor collection agencies work for either free or cheap. O.K. so let’s say you found a reasonably priced […]

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REGULATING CREDIT CARDS

September 5, 2017

Lenders will not regulate themselves – but they clearly need rules. The government has imposed some rules on credit card issuers for instance requiring that they inform consumers how long it will take them to pay off their balances with minimum monthly payments.  That is of little comfort to elderly borrowers on fixed incomes with […]

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LIFE IN TAX PURGATORY AND PROPOSALS TO THE CRA

September 5, 2017

Proposals can be a good way of solving many debt problems including CRA tax issues but they can be far more problematic for the debtor if they are not carefully and thoughtfully conceived. Many self-employed people have tax problems from unwanted audits to arbitrary assessments.  Self-employed people are far more likely to attract the attention […]

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407 ETR SUPREME COURT OF CANADA DECISION STILL PENDING

September 5, 2017

It seems that the Supreme Court is really moving slowly on resolving this issue. The question at hand for the Supreme Court is largely the supremacy of legislation and whether or not the Federal Bankruptcy & Insolvency Act effectively trumps Provincial Statutes such as the Ontario Highway Traffic Act. But there is a far more […]

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ARE YOU A HIGH TAX DEBTOR?

September 5, 2017

If you have high tax debts here are some things you need to know. High tax debts are personal taxes over a value of $200,000 that constitute 75% or more of the debtor’s total unsecured debts. So for example if you owed Revenue Canada $300,000 for income taxes and only owed $100,000 on other debts […]

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COULD YOU SURVIVE A RATE INCREASE?

September 5, 2017

If you have a $200,000.00 mortgage at 3% interest amortized over 25 years with a five year term, your monthly payments would be about $946.00. During the five year term you will pay about $27,739.00 in interest.  If you had to pay the same mortgage at the rate of 6% over the same term, you […]

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DO YOU OWN YOUR HOME OR DO YOU RENT IT FROM THE MORTGAGEE?

September 5, 2017

You might not like the answer. The fact is that more Canadians (69% of households) have their names on title on their homes than ever before – but they also own far less of the value of the property than ever before.  There are more mortgages, institutional and private than ever in history. According to […]

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CONSUMER PROPOSAL ACCEPTANCE:

September 5, 2017

A question I am frequently asked is: “what are the chances that my consumer proposal will be accepted by my creditors?”  The answer in a nutshell is “very good!”  The reason is that a basic premise underlying all consumer proposal filings is that they must provide the creditors with a better return than they would […]

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CASH STORES vs FIRST TIER LENDERS

September 5, 2017

This is an excellent article by Doug Hoyes on the perils of payday loans and borrowing money from Cash Advance outlets, whether on the Main Street or found online.   Interestingly, toward the end of the article, Doug turns his attention to a problem that I have frequently blogged about “irresponsible top tier lending”.  Unfortunately he […]

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IS BANKRUPTCY STILL TOO CUMBERSOME TO BE PRACTICAL?

September 5, 2017

The bankruptcy provisions under the Bankruptcy & Insolvency Act (“BIA”) were streamlined several decades ago to make it easier for consumers to get out of debt, but at that time it was still harder for people to acquire debt. Bank deregulation and lack of viable consumer protection has created a very predatory lending environment over […]

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CANADA REVENUE AGENCY AND PROPOSALS

September 5, 2017

Is the CRA too aggressive and adversarial with consumer debtors? The Canada Revenue Agency is notorious for asking for additional (enforcement) clauses to be added to proposals to “require” debtors to stay on top of current filing and remittances throughout the life of the proposal.  They have even taken this notion a step further at […]

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