As a bankruptcy lawyer in Memphis, I know a lot of people who come to see me are worried about their privacy, especially in the case of a foreclosure. Will a foreclosure be embarrassing? Will everyone know about it? First off, foreclosures are public record in Memphis, which means other people can find out about them. If there’s no evidence around your house that it’s being foreclosed, people might have to look up the information through the courts. It’s not likely they’d ever do that, so at that point in the process your situation would probably remain relatively private. However, over time certain things will happen as part of the foreclosure process that will make it more obvious you’re facing
The news looks great: Over the last year in Memphis and Shelby County, foreclosures are down 23% from the same point in 2015.* This adds to an overall trend since the worst days of the recession. Foreclosures in Memphis are going down, and that’s a great thing. But there’s a little more to the story: The recession hit Memphis hard. At the end of 2008, Memphis had 3,925 homes in foreclosure inventory (foreclosed but not resold yet). One subdivision in Cordova – the Countrywood South subdivision – had 9 foreclosures in 2009. Almost anything would be great in comparison to those numbers. As of July 2016, there were 2,070 homes foreclosed and not yet resold in Memphis. But that’s only mid-way through
A recent Forbes article described student loan debt as both the best and worst debt you can have, and what they said made a lot of sense (as you’d think it would being Forbes and all). How can student loan debt be good? Well, when it improves your financial future. Money for education is an investment, and just like in business, your financial success depends on your return on investment (or ROI). On average, according to the US Department of Education, getting a college degree will see your initial earnings jump at least 25% compared to only earning a high school diploma. However, when talking ROI, you need to look at how much money you’re taking out from student loans
Credit card debt isn’t just on the rise. It’s reached the point where the average person may never pay it back. As Memphis Business Journal reports: The average indebted household’s balance is projected at $7,813 by year end, the highest amount since the recession and $615 below the tipping point CardHub identifies as being unsustainable. That means almost every American family with any credit card debt at all is at the breaking point. Think about that. We’re talking about millions and millions of families unable to pay off their debt. We’re talking more than $900 billon owed to companies that might never be paid. That’s a terrible situation for those families, and also for American businesses. But as I discussed last
If you’re 55 years or older and you’re struggling financially, there are some things you need to think about. I talk about that in this video. Video Transcript Hello, this is Darrell Castle. I’m an attorney licensed to practice law in the state of Tennessee and on this video I want to talk to you about something that should be of great concern to you if you’re 55 years or older and that is financial problems – having financial difficulties later in life. Perhaps your home is in foreclosure or at least threatened with foreclosure and you’re very concerned about that as you should be. What are some things to think about? What are some things to ask yourself? Well,
By: Darrell Castle Are you facing a foreclosure? Are you about to lose your car? Are your wages being garnished? There are many things that can make you a candidate for bankruptcy. If you’re struggling financially and want to talk to someone experienced about your situation, then our FREE financial consultation is perfect for you. To schedule your appointment today, call (901) 327-2100. Or, you can fill out one of the contact forms on this page (to the right or at the bottom) to have someone from our office contact YOU! Video Transcript Are you a candidate for bankruptcy? How do you know whether you are or not? Hi, I’m Darrell Castle and I’m an attorney licensed to practice law
Finding out you’re disabled because of some medical issue or freak accident is a scary thing. What’s even scarier is finding out it could have been avoided if your doctor would have treated you differently. When we go into a doctor’s office to see our physician or we have surgery to do some maintenance on our body to fix an issue, we trust that medical professional to be able to do their job correctly and get us out of there better than we went in. However, just like we are prone to in our profession, doctors can make mistakes as well because, after all, they are human just like us. Since doctors do have a very important and life-altering job,
More than 7 million vehicles are reportedly affected by a potential murderer in wait. By: Darrell Castle These vehicles possess Takata airbags, which are now known to be defective and likely to shoot shrapnel inflator parts when they deploy. Separate recalls in April, June and now October have showed that Takata is having a difficult time pinpointing which cars used its defective airbags. Here’s a full list of the affected vehicles. Toyota, one of the affected makes, reported no related injuries or deaths with its vehicles, however the New York Times reported last month that there have been at least 139 reported injures across all automakers. Honda, in particular, has reported at least two deaths and 30 injures in their
Here are some ways to avoid being overcharged by medical bills & tips on how you can get rid of your medical debt By: Darrell Castle Americans are putting more of their take-home pay toward medical costs than ever before, according to NerdWallet. Credit card debt is bad – we hear about it and witness it all the time. It’s become increasingly easy to obtain a credit card and swipe it to make purchases when your bank account says you can’t afford to. However, despite how bad credit card debt has gotten in America, medical debt is worse! Americans pay triple the amount in third-party collections of medical debt than they pay for bank and credit card debt COMBINED, according
Why you shouldn’t be too embarrassed or ashamed to file for bankruptcy By: Darrell Castle Does the thought of filing for bankruptcy embarrass you? Are you ashamed of the position you’ve gotten yourself into? Are you disappointed? I’ve seen all of these emotions result in a barrier that stops people from filing. I’ve also seen many of the same people so ashamed of their debt that they wait and wait to file, hoping it’ll fix itself or that their job will come back, but it doesn’t, and the debt gets so high that their embarrassment turns into urgency to get rid of it. But, a bankruptcy protects those accounts! However, their embarrassment and reluctancy to file for bankruptcy results in