519-646-2222Category: Insolvency News
HOW TO GET CREDIT AFTER BANKRUPTCY
Credit becomes available surprisingly quickly after discharge from bankruptcy. Some companies actively solicit credit business from former bankrupts simply because it makes sense, really good business sense. Here’s why, most people who have filed for bankruptcy do not want to do it again. Most people who have filed for bankruptcy want to re-establish credit and […]
Read moreARE YOU READY FOR THE INTEREST RATE INCREASE?
Apparently it is coming and that is not doom and gloom hype. We have been blogging about rate increases for months and it looks like they are finally coming. Due to low incomes and the proliferation of contract and part time jobs in Canada most Canadians have become dependent on debt to meet the basic […]
Read moreCOLLECTION CALLS CAN BE VERY ANNOYING
Proposals or bankruptcies can help stop them. We service London, Chatham, Sarnia, Woodstock and Windsor – when you need help we are there! Even though Collection Agencies are regulated some seem to play close to the line with the frequency of telephone calls and the volume of demand letters. It’s hard to go it alone, […]
Read moreIMAGINE HOW SOCIETY WOULD CHANGE
If 70% of Canadian families could be supported on one income It’s not an unrealistic ideal in the early 1970s at least 70% of Canadian families were supported on a single income. Women had been in the workforce right up until the end of the second world war then during the baby-boom years of the […]
Read moreRSPs, Investments and Debts
Strange bedfellows on the face of it but there is a strong adverse relationship between savings and debt. For several decades Canadians had great retirement opportunities through many larger employers, mostly manufacturing and other industrial companies with union negotiated pensions. Unfortunately, during the past 2-3 decades those opportunities have been eroded at an alarming rate. […]
Read moreCanadians struggle to live without debt
Job stability and income are both in decline but the use of debt continues to increase. A saving grace for some Canadians has been the recent surge in real estate values, but that value increase can create a deeper debt problem for many others. Moving unsecured debt from credit cards and lines of credit to […]
Read moreHOW MUCH DOES IT COST TO GO BANKRUPT?
And why should I pay anyway? One of the primary considerations for people contemplating bankruptcy is cost. If you call around it seems that trustee fees are all very similar but are they? The average cost for a (no-asset and no-surplus income) bankruptcy seems to range between $1,800 -$2,400 but that is not always the […]
Read moreBANKRUPTCY – THE PROCESS
This blog provides you with a quick overview of the process of bankruptcy – what to expect. SEEKING HELP Only a Licensed Insolvency Trustee can file a bankruptcy – credit counsellors or debt consultants can only help you to find a trustee. Sometimes they will charge you a fee for the referral. You can find […]
Read moreTOO MUCH DEBT
How do you know when you have too much debt, and what are you going to do about it? There are many clues to having too much debt (credit) some of which seem obvious but others are not so clear. According to recent statistical reports the average Canadian owes about 1.7 times annual income in […]
Read moreWHAT HAPPENS TO MY HOUSE IN A BANKRUPTCY?
Without knowing the specifics of your situation the answer is not entirely clear but let us lay out some possible scenarios for you. First of all the underlying purpose of the Bankruptcy & Insolvency Act is to help an honest person find relief from the burden of debt so that they may continue to […]
Read moreTARGET STORE – CCAA FILING
The Companies’ Creditors Arrangement Act (CCAA) provisions are facilitated by a trustee in bankruptcy working in conjunction with lawyers and the courts. In layman’s terms a CCAA is essentially a large dollar value proposal filed as an adjunctive provision of the Bankruptcy & Insolvency Act (“BIA”) through a bankruptcy trustee. Some trustee’s specialize in filing […]
Read moreDO YOU RENT YOUR HOUSE FROM THE CRA?
Some people do and don’t even realize it! The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) is notorious for its sometimes seemingly draconian collection abilities. They can garnishee incomes and accounts and register on title of property with the need for Court Orders. When the Agency makes mistakes, and they do, there is little recourse unless it is […]
Read moreWHAT HAPPENS TO STATUTE BARRED DEBTS
IN BANKRUPTCY PROCEEDINGS? The Limitations Act of Ontario sets the basic limitation period at two years. Accordingly, if you owe a debt, that you have stopped making payments on for a period of two years or more the creditor is “barred” from resorting to legal proceedings to collect the obligation. In other words the creditor […]
Read moreWHAT IS THE NUMBER ONE CAUSE OF BANKRUPTCY?
Would you be surprised if I said “too much debt”? It goes without saying that having too much debt is the main reason that anyone would consider filing for bankruptcy but when is too much debt really too much? If you are reading this post you most likely have debts – very few people are […]
Read moreLiving without debt is possible
We just need to change our expectations Canadians, of all income levels, have developed an unprecedented dependency on debt. Contrary to widely held views, most people struggling with debt are middle and high-income earners. People with low or no income simply do not qualify for loans or credit cards. Interestingly, very few Canadians have a […]
Read moreHAVE YOU EVER ASKED YOURSELF “WHY DID I SIGN THAT?”
I’ll bet that many people have, and usually right after something they co-signed for has gone awry. Most people seem not to think of it this way – when they hear about loan refusals or people not qualifying for a mortgage and so on – but banks are in the business of lending money. Banks […]
Read moreWHAT IS AN AVERAGE INCOME?
Statistics Canada compiles oddly confusing information that seems to suggest that average Canadian income levels are higher than they really are. Part of the problem is that in their calculations they factor high income earners into the averages. Of an estimated 25.5 million people – from the 2011 calculations – we find that the average […]
Read moreIS A PROPOSAL BETTER THAN A BANKRUPTCY?
The answer depends who you ask and for whose benefit. Many trustee firms prefer consumer proposals to bankruptcy filings as they tend to be less (cost and) labour intensive. Proposals have the advantage to trustees of paying more fees over a longer period of time and the fees, unlike with bankruptcies, can be taken at […]
Read moreTHE TEN TOP REASONS PEOPLE GO BANKRUPT
The top two may seem may seem obvious but as you dig behind the causes of those two situations you will find that many of the other causes interplay. In any event although listed numerically, except for the first two, these are not necessarily in prior order. 1. Low Income2. Excess of Debt3. Marital Breakdown […]
Read moreCHRISTMAS SHOPPING = CHRISTMAS DEBT
Christmas is the busiest retail season of the year and it is competitive on many levels. We all know that the term Christmas has its roots in Catholicism being the time of a Mass for Christ – to celebrate the supposed birth of Jesus – but these days less and less people see it as […]
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