519-646-2222Blog Articles
Consumer Proposals – to pay out or not to pay out?
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 […]
Read moreCANADIANS IN RECESSION
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 […]
Read moreGETTING CREDIT AFTER BANKRUPTCY
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 […]
Read moreDEBT CONSULTANT SCHEME
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 […]
Read moreIT’S EVERYWHERE YOU WANT TO BE
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 […]
Read moreTHE PROBLEM WITH DEBT SETTLEMENTS
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 […]
Read moreREGULATING CREDIT CARDS
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 […]
Read moreLIFE IN TAX PURGATORY AND PROPOSALS TO THE CRA
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 […]
Read more407 ETR SUPREME COURT OF CANADA DECISION STILL PENDING
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 […]
Read moreARE YOU A HIGH TAX DEBTOR?
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 […]
Read moreCOULD YOU SURVIVE A RATE INCREASE?
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 […]
Read moreDO YOU OWN YOUR HOME OR DO YOU RENT IT FROM THE MORTGAGEE?
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 […]
Read moreCONSUMER PROPOSAL ACCEPTANCE:
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 […]
Read moreCASH STORES vs FIRST TIER LENDERS
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 […]
Read moreIS BANKRUPTCY STILL TOO CUMBERSOME TO BE PRACTICAL?
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 […]
Read moreCANADA REVENUE AGENCY AND PROPOSALS
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 […]
Read moreThe reason for getting out of debt
It may seem obvious why people want to get out of debt, but the reason is may not be what you expect. Yes, people are stressed, frustrated, wasting money on trying to maintain impossible minimum monthly payments, moving debt from one form of credit to another, they need relief, they want to break free from […]
Read moreIMAGINE WINNING MILLIONS OF DOLLARS – WHAT WOULD YOU DO?
Like most people, I have often dreamed of what it would be like to have a lot of money, to become suddenly rich either by developing that great new widget or winning the lottery. And I, probably like you, have sometimes wondered how much would be enough. Throughout my life I have encountered, in various […]
Read moreWHO HAS THE HIGHEST DEBT TO INCOME RATIO?
Your knee jerk reaction to that question may be way off the mark. Many people still seem to stigmatize the less advantaged. When talking about debt problems the people who are in denial are the ones who are in fact most vulnerable to excessive debt. The common notion is that poor, less educated people or […]
Read moreARE CANADIAN BANKS AND THE CRA IN A COMPETITION
To see which can take the most of your money! Tax Freedom Day was on June 26th this year – that means that every single penny you earned up until that date went to the government in some form of taxation. With that knowledge and some other government statistics let have some fun with numbers. […]
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