519-646-2222Category: Insolvency News
Bankrupts and home ownership
Can bankrupts buy house after they are discharged, and should they? People filing for bankruptcy either own a house or can’t wait until they repair their credit to the point that buying a home is a reality. But buying a house according to some experts is a fools paradise. “Will I qualify for a mortgage […]
Read moreDEBT CONSULTANTS AND TRUSTEES
“Wag the Dog”. Debt consultants could not exist without the support of trustees. The fact is that debt consultants can do little or nothing to help debtors find relief except to refer them to a trustee in bankruptcy for help. Only licensed collection agencies, trustees in bankruptcy and lawyers can provide debt settlement services. Generally […]
Read moreSTAY OUT OF DEBT
Getting out of debt is easy! How can you break your reliance on debt to make ends meet? An imperative is that you must live within your “means” – in other words “change your lifestyle expectations”. Reduce eating out, fewer vacations, less impulsivity and monitor what you are spending your money on. How much do you […]
Read moreIMAGINE HAVING ANOTHER $800.00 A MONTH IN YOUR BANK ACCOUNT
If you are an average Canadian, servicing an average amount of debt that is how much you spend each month on minimum monthly payments. The average Canadian household is carrying about $29,000.00 in unsecured (credit card, loans and lines of credit) debt. Minimum monthly payments are usually in the range of 2.5% – 3% of the […]
Read moreVISA & Mastercard Debt Increases
Bank issued credit card debt levels may be out of control According to the Canadian Bankers Association there were 8.2 million bank issued VISA and Mastercards in circulation in Canada in 1977. That would be about one credit card per Canadian family. By 2017, a mere forty years later, that number has soared to almost […]
Read moreA BETTER FORMULA FOR CREDIT CARDS
Adjusting minimum monthly payments might put me out of work – but here’s an idea nonetheless. Look down at the bottom of your credit card statement, yes, way down there – in the fine print, where it tells you how long it will take for you to become debt free by making minimum monthly payments on your […]
Read morePRACTICAL SOLUTIONS FOR DEBT PROBLEMS
Who’s who and how does it work? The insolvency industry is getting very confusing – recent changes from the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy haven’t helped – Bankruptcy Trustees are now called “Licensed Insolvency Trustees” or “LIT” for short. Although the internet and radio airwaves have been alive with suggestions of “New Government Programmes” […]
Read moreWHICH CREDIT CARDS HAVE THE BEST REPAYMENT TERMS?
Now of course there is an element of sarcasm to the question and we will exam that in the blog. Nonetheless, it is a very serious question that deserves contemplation. We recently met with two very separate retirees – in two very seperate communities – each well past retirement age and neither will be able […]
Read moreGOOD DEBT VERSUS BAD DEBT
Do you have good debt or bad debt? Language is often used to manipulate our thoughts and feelings. Some terms, such as credit and debt, are common in everyday parlance but we take them to have vastly divergent interpretations. Everyone wants to have credit but no one wants to have debt. Imagine someone trying to […]
Read moreHousing Bubble or Debt Bubble:
The government is working to cool the housing market but perhaps they are focused on the wrong side of the problem. There are some positive effects to the current housing bubble: The injection of fresh money into the Canadian economy by the nouveau riche from such burgeoning economies as China. We have seen in recent […]
Read moreGETTING CREDIT AFTER BANKRUPTCY
Many people think you can’t get credit for seven years after a bankruptcy – is that true? No!!! That story is just another urban myth that is based on the length of time that the credit bureaus report bankruptcy filings. The fact is that almost everything, good, bad and indifferent, is reported for a period […]
Read moreBANKS’ RIGHT OF OFFSET OR SETOFF
In some situations banks have rights that extend beyond legal limitation barriers. Limitations Acts are designed to provide a regulatory framework for our legal system forcing actions to be taken within reasonable timeframes. This effectively stops the accrual of interest over a protracted term and prevents elements of undue hardship being imposed through negligence or […]
Read moreDO YOU NEED HELP GETTING OUT OF DEBT?
If you live in London, Chatham, Sarnia, Windsor or Woodstock we can help! Locke Consulting has offices throughout Southwestern Ontario to help you to find solutions for problem debts. Consider all of your options from an informal restructuring to a formal insolvency proceeding. We will lay out the costs and consequences of all the options […]
Read moreHOW DO PROPOSAL ADMINISTRATORS (BANKRUPTCY TRUSTEES) GET PAID?
Call us at 519-646-2222 for more information The answer to this question can be quite complicated because every individual’s financial situation is different including assets and other monies that are available to pay creditors and to pay trustee fees. However, all trustees are governed by the Bankruptcy & Insolvency Act (“BIA”) and the Rules and […]
Read moreGETTING OUT OF DEBT IS THE EASY PART
The real challenge is getting back into debt in a manageable way. One of the greatest fears we hear expressed from people filing either a bankruptcy or a proposal is that they will never get credit again. A common urban myth is that it will take seven years to rebuild credit – the “seven years” […]
Read moreWHY I DON’T LIKE REVERSE MORTGAGES
Reverse mortgages can be predatory by targeting vulnerable and often ill-informed senior citizens. Let’s assume your un-mortgaged home is worth $350,000 and you take out a reverse mortgage at age 65. The mortgage can go to as much as 55% of the property value so $192,500. Additionally you will have to pay, up-front, an appraisal fee, legal costs […]
Read moreARE YOU LIVING DEBT FREE?
Are you comfortable living with debt? According to Trans Union the average Canadian consumer’s debt load is continuing to increase. So it would appear that being indentured is not only a way of life for Canadians but one that we have become very accustomed to. Statistics get very difficult to interpret as data is often […]
Read moreWHY THE INCREASE IN CANADIAN MORTGAGE DEBT?
The answer is simple – people are broke and money is cheap! Whether the trigger is a loss of job, decreasing family incomes or simply a refusal to change lifestyle people, find themselves leveraging the equity in their homes again and again to manage out of control credit card and other unsecured debt. Mortgages are […]
Read moreCREDIT IS LIKE A PARTY BALLOON
Bright and shiny helium filled balloons fill the room, they are filled with joy, happiness and hope. Credit is very similar to brightly coloured party balloons. When you have a line of credit and several credit cards, each has the promise of something desireable. A vacation, new clothes, furniture, each credit limit is filled with promise, […]
Read moreBankruptcy & Insolvency Myths:
Myths are often fact based and there are exceptions to all rules, the following represent a number of general misconceptions about how the Bankruptcy & Insolvency Act is applied. 1. The trustee will control my bank account – ordinarily the trustee has no reason to take control of your bank account. In corporate insolvencies the […]
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