Starting today, Thursday August 20th, banks must start complying with part of the Credit Card Act of 2009.  Some of the initial requirementsare that banks must mail monthly bills at least 21 days before payment is due on the card, and by providing at least 45 days notice before making any significant changes to interest rates or fees.  In the past credit card companies were allowed to send bills out with as little as 14 days notice prior to the bill being due and only had to provide 15 days notice prior making changes in fees or interest rates.

The Wall Street Journal reports that in anticipation of the new law going into effect major credit card companies have been raising rates, reducing credit lines, and closing accounts.  See http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204044204574358612543642536.html.  The majority of the provisions in the new law go into effect in February 2010.  Among the new provisions are new disclosure rules and limits on interest-rate increases on existing balances.

Credit card debt is one of the main reasons people file for bankruptcy.  Regardless of the type of bankruptcy you file (Chapter 7 or Chapter 13), you will be able to eliminate all or nearly all of your credit card debt.  If you are struggling with credit card debt and want to learn how bankruptcy can help you, attorney John Skiba offers a free bankruptcy consultation to discuss your particular situation.

Perhaps you have found this post and are one of many Americans faced with the possibility of foreclosure on your home. If this is the case, a foreclosure attorney in Arizona at Jackson White can help. Please call us at 877-612-9872 to set up a free consultation with a foreclosure attorney.

Home foreclosures climbed to a record high for the third time in five months this past July.  July 2009 foreclosure rate was up 32%  when compared to the same time the previous year and up nearly 7% from June 2009.  Arizona is third in the nation behind Nevada and California when it comes to foreclosures.  One in every 135 households in Arizona, including Phoenix, are in foreclosure.

Similarly, bankruptcies are up 36% in the first half of 2009 when compared to the first half of 2008 with total filings for the nation at 711,550 bankruptcy cases so far in 2009.

Attorney John Skiba, in Mesa Arizona, offers a free bankruptcy consultation to help those who are facing foreclosure or are considering bankruptcy.

A precept in bankruptcy is generally that unsecured creditors should be treated similarly in your bankruptcy case.  For example, if you have ten credit cards and file for bankruptcy, each of the credit cards will get, if anything, the same amount — regardless of the amount that is owed on each specific card.  Thus we run into problems when clients favor one creditor over another, and this is especially true when the favored creditor happens to be a relative or business partner, prior to the filing of a bankruptcy case.

The bankruptcy code provides that the trustee assigned to your bankruptcy case can undo any payment made to a creditor made within 90 days of filing your bankruptcy.  If the creditor happens to be a family member or business partner, the trustee can look back up to one year before your filing and try and undo those payments.  The process for undoing those transactions will be done through a lawsuit filed against the creditor who received the payment.

The purpose of this post is to provide guidance to potential filers, that if you are planning or even thinking of filing bankruptcy, it is best not to try and pay off any specific debt or worse to pay a family member over your other creditors.  Such transfers/payments are likely preferences and could result in delay for your bankruptcy case and your creditor being forced to defend a law suit in the bankruptcy court.

Arizona Bankruptcy Attorney John Skiba provides a free bankruptcy consulation where your specific financial situation can be discussed.