Feeling overwhelmed by your debts? If you're ready to regain your financial freedom, this book is exactly what you need! Step by step, Attorney Robin Leonard shows you how to: prioritize debts create a budget negotiate with creditors stop collector harassment challenge wage attachments contend with repossessions respond to creditor lawsuits qualify for a mortgage rebuild credit To make the process easier, Money Troubles also includes sample letters to creditors, as well as worksheets and charts to calculate your debts and expenses and help you create a repayment plan. With the completely updated and revised 9th edition, learn how to deal with identity theft, choose a reverse mortgage, opt out of telemarketers' lists and defend your property from creditors who are collecting a debt.

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Dreading that climax of all human ills, The inflammation of one's weekly bills. -- George Gordon, Lord Byron, English poet, 1788-1824 A debt is an obligation to pay someone money. It may be a large obligation, such as a home mortgage or monthly rent, or a small obligation, like a newspaper or magazine bill. If you don't pay, you often suffer some consequences. At the serious end of the scale, if you don't pay your mortgage or rent, your house may be foreclosed on or you may be evicted. At the minor inconvenience end, if you overlook paying a subscription, it will be canceled and you will be sent letters demanding that you pay for copies you've already received. The purpose of this chapter is to help you figure out the kinds of debts you have. You may think of your debts in several different ways, such as: Debts to people you know, such as a loan from your Aunt Muriel or a bill you owe Angelo, the owner of the local grocery store -- versus debts you owe to impersonal creditors, for example, a credit card company. Your regular monthly obligations, for instance, rent, phone bill or gas bill -- versus debts you pay only when you buy something on credit. Debts for goods or services you are currently receiving, for example, a newspaper subscription or credit card bill -- versus debts to repay money borrowed many years ago, such as a student loan. Debts you'd rather not pay and wonder if you really owe, such as back taxes -- versus debts you don't have any reasonable grounds to object to paying, for example, your utility bill. Groupings such as these may be relevant in helping you decide how and in what order you will pay your bills. Legally, however, these categories are irrelevant. Instead, the law puts debts into two primary groups: secured and unsecured. To understand your debts and to intelligently decide what to do about each one, you must understand the difference. This point cannot be overemphasized. The consequences of not paying a secured debt differ tremendously from not paying an unsecured debt. (These consequences are explained in Chapter 8.) If, after reading Sections A and B, you are still not sure you can tell a secured debt from an unsecured debt, reread the material. Secured Debts Secured debts are linked to specific items of property, called collateral. The collateral guarantees payment of the debt. If you don't pay, the creditor is entitled to take the property designated as the collateral. If you've ever had property, such as a car, repossessed when you failed to pay a loan, you already know how secured debts work. These debts should be your highest priority. If you don't pay them, you will lose the collateral backing them up. Even if you don't hear from these creditors, don't assume they won't collect the debt. Because secured collectors have such a powerful weapon (they can seize the collateral if you stop making payments), they don't need to hound you the way that collectors with lower priority debts do. There are two types of secured debts -- those you agree to and those created without your consent. 1. Security Interests -- Liens You Agree To A security interest is an agreement in which you specify precisely what collateral (remember, that's a fancy word for property) can be taken by the creditor if you default. It also creates a "lien" -- the creditor's legal right to take possession of the collateral in the event you don't pay. Security interests are of two kinds: Purchase money. With a purchase money security interest, you pledge as collateral the property you buy using the loan proceeds. This is usually a home, motor vehicle, piece of furniture, large appliance or electronic equipment.

 

I. Being in Debt Is Not As Bad As You Think 1. Secured and Unsecured Debts 2. How Much Do You Owe? 3. If You're Married, Divorced or Separated 4. Debts You May Not Owe 5. Prioritizing Your Debts 6. Negotiating With Your Creditor 7. Finding Money to Pay Your Debt 8. The Consequences of Ignoring Your Debts 9. When the Debt Collector Calls 10. Credit, Charge and Debit Cards 11. Consumer Loans 12. Reporting Credit Violations 13. Student Loans 14. Child Support and Alimony 15. If You Are Sued 16. Bankruptcy: The Ultimate Weapon 17. Property You Do--and Don't--Get To Keep 18. Rebuilding Your Credit 19. Credit Discrimination 20. Help Beyond the Book Appendix 1. Glossary Appendix 2. State and Federal Exemption Tables Index

If you feel powerless under the weight of your bills, this book will give you strength and the skills needed to respond to bill collectors and to rebuild your credit and -- just as important -- your self esteem.

 

Reading attorney Robin Leonard's book 'Money Troubles' should help you in dealing with the jackals.

 

This is one of the best books you can buy on all aspects of personal debt. It helps with all the strategies (including worksheets) necessary to get out of debt and rebuild your credit. It contains state-by-state charts on property liens and state and federal exemptions; sample letters, information on student loans, child support and alimony, credit cards and bankruptcy.

 

Attorney Robin Leonard has been featured as a money and credit advisor on Good Morning America and CNN, and in publications across the country, including Kiplinger’s Personal Finance Magazine, U.S. News & World Report, Money, Forbes and the Los Angeles Times. She is the author of many Nolo books including Money Troubles: Legal Strategies to Cope with Your Debts, Credit Repair, Take Control of Your Student Loan Debt, and Bankruptcy: Is It the Right Solution to Your Debt Problems? and co-author of How to File for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy and A Legal Guide for Lesbian and Gay Couples.

 

Money Troubles by Robin Leonard
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