519-646-2222Blog Articles
NEW MORTGAGE RULES AND YOU
You may be affected by the introduction of new mortgage rules. New mortgage qualifying rules will affect many Canadians, especially those with little or no money down and with relatively low incomes. The rules will have the greatest impact on Realtors by cooling off the market as less people qualify for financing. This will likely […]
Read more¿QUIERES SABER MAS ACERCA DE LA INSOLVENCIA?
Busque nuestro artículo y el anuncio acompañante en la revista Latina sobre el 31 de enero y 15 de febrero. El artículo será en un formato de preguntas y respuestas y responderá a muchas preguntas comunes y conceptos erróneos acerca de la insolvencia. En Locke Consulting Inc. tratamos de hablar un poco de español.
Read moreMORTGAGE PENALTIES
IRD – Interest Rate Differential When you meet your banker to sign for your mortgage you probably don’t have enough time to read through the entire document, and even if you did it is unlikely you would understand it all anyway. Similary when you meet with your lawyer s/he is also unlikely to go through […]
Read moreINCOME TAX DEBT HELP
CORPORATE TAXES IN DECLINE – INDIVIDUAL TAXES UP When Prime Minister Stephen Harper came to power in 2006, the federal corporate tax rate was 21 per cent. That was down from 24.5 per cent in 1990 and 30 per cent in 1980. Ottawa reduced it to 19 per cent in 2009, 18 per cent in […]
Read moreMORE PEOPLE CHOOSE LOCKE CONSULTING
Year over year for the last four years more and more consumers have visited our web site and engaged our services. If you or someone you know is experiencing financial difficulties, because of mounting debts, contact the office and arrange your free, no obligation, consultation.
Read moreCREDIT CARD DEBT SOLUTIONS
Credit card debt solutions are incredibly simple. Many people fall into the credit card trap because they are easy to obtain and the limits keep increasing as long as regular payments are made. Getting out of the trap is simple but takes resolve. Your first step is to stop using the card(s) – and to […]
Read moreWHY CREDIT CARD INTEREST RATES ARE SO HIGH
Credit card interest rates have always been higher than installment loan rates. Various forms of credit cards have been around since the late 1800s when they were used for the convenience of regular customers in large department stores and by local merchants. By the mid-1900s credit cards had evolved to resemble the type of card […]
Read moreTHE TROUBLE WITH 1-800-BANKRUPTCY
There can be problems for consumers when dealing with virtual offices. Now don’t get me wrong our firm also has satellite offices and we believe that we do a pretty good job servicing them but there is still a lack of immediacy relative to our main office. What follows the excitement of the initial courtship […]
Read moreHOW LONG WILL YOU BE IN DEBT?
Have you got a plan to get out of debt or do you simply accept debt as a way of life? Attitudes towards debt have changed considerably in the past several decades. Currently people not only find it acceptable to be in debt they also seem to find debt desirable. Obviously lenders have done a […]
Read moreDebt is not an income supplement
Attitudes towards debt need to change At risk of sounding like a broken record the main reason people in Canada rely so heavily on debt (you might prefer the bankers’ politically correct term of “credit” but let’s call a spade a spade it is “debt”) is insidiously high taxation and ever dropping incomes. Canadians pay […]
Read moreHOW MUCH DOES A BANKRUPTCY COST?
Some trustees are evasive about answering this question because the answer isn’t always simple. Many people ask that question as a prelude to deciding whether or not they will file for bankruptcy. The answer is quite a bit more complex than it might appear. Although the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy (Industry Canada) sets […]
Read moreMY PROPOSAL WAS ANNULLED – NOW WHAT?
Consumer proposals can be revived – don’t panic there are options. If you fall behind on your payments under a proposal you shouldn’t panic. Consumer proposals can be revived in one of two ways – first of all they can be revived automatically by the Administrator (Trustee) if you bring your payments up to current […]
Read moreWHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN INSOLVENCY AND BANKRUPTCY?
Many people and companies are or can be insolvent without being bankrupt. One of the criteria for becoming bankrupt is being insolvent. We might use the analogy that all apples come from trees but not all trees produce apples. Liquidity is a word that we hear bantered around – back in 2008/9 Canadian banks were […]
Read moreINTERESTING ARTICLE
The article identifies some areas of ethical concern When should we be concerned about the relationship between debt consultants and bankruptcy trustees? Posted on September 13, 2015 by Mark Silverthorn I can empathize with a bankruptcy trustee who not only has to compete for revenues with other trustees but also credit counselling agencies and debt […]
Read more407 ETR JUDGEMENT TO BE RELEASED
The Supreme Court of Canada will release judgement this week. Finally the supreme Court of Canada will be releasing its decision on the now reknowned 407 ETR appeal case this Friday the 13th of November at 9:45 a.m. stay tuned for the update.
Read moreTOP 1% EARN (AND OWN) MORE THAN 99%
Hardly news but mainstream media reports suggest it is. There is no doubt that the disparity between rich and poor has been growing steadily over the last 4-5 decades. In fact the divide between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have nots’ is worse today than it was during feudal Britain when serfs owned no property at all, this […]
Read moreSHHH! DON’T TELL THE KIDS WE WENT BANKRUPT!
NO! Don’t tell them that life is anything but a reflection of Hollywood! What a way to set your children up for future problems. Believe it or not it is very healthy for children to be educated in all sorts of real life skills and that includes knowing how to manage financial challenges. Unfortunately, our […]
Read moreCAN YOU LIVE WITHOUT USING SOME FORM OF CREDIT?
Most people cringe and get very uncomfortable about acknowledging they can’t handle money and debt! Chances are, if you’re an average Canadian, you will find it impossible to get through even one month without using a credit card, overdraft protection or a line of credit. Try it! Credit has become an insidious economic reality for […]
Read moreSURPLUS INCOME – A SOCIAL DILEMMA
The calculation of surplus income is often misunderstood even by insolvency professionals, the concept behind is even more mysterious. The notion that people these days have surplus income suggests that they are living very simple lives or making lots of money, neither of which are the case for most Canadians. Average family incomes, adjusted for […]
Read moreCREDIT CARDS SHOULD NOT REPLACE INCOMES
Here’s the test. Can you pay off – not just down but completely OFF – all of your credit cards and lines of credit over the next twelve months? If you answered “NO” then you have already started to replace your income with credit cards or “DEBT” – you are in debt so far that […]
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