By: Darrell Castle Do you ever wonder what God thinks about the debt you have? If you do, then you’re not alone! As a Christian bankruptcy attorney, clients ask me about that topic all the time. You may be worried you’re doing something wrong. You may be ashamed of yourself. But you don’t need to feel that way. I believe that a better Biblical understanding of debt can lead to better financial decisions. Good News for the Poor In the Bible, debt and poverty were one and the same. Only people who were very desperate took out debt. Nowadays, debt is much more common. However, people who can’t pay back their debts STILL feel desperate. In both Luke and Matthew,
How to not let debt get you down By: Darrell Castle Are you behind on medical bills? Do you owe way too much money on your credit cards? Are your wages being garnished? Are you about to lose your home or car because you’re behind on your payments? It doesn’t matter why you’re in debt, but that you ARE in debt. Not having the ability to pay your bills because you owe so much money is a stressful thing and can really bring a person down. A bankruptcy law firm Memphis, TN trusts, like the team at Darrell Castle & Associates, can help manage the best timing for your case. Is this you? Are you living paycheck to paycheck worrying
Sometimes clients or friends are concerned about the morals of filing a medical malpractice claim. They’re afraid malpractice cases are frivolous or hurt doctors and the health care industry so much that they shouldn’t be pursued. This is a reasonable question. After all, doctors do pay a lot for medical malpractice insurance, and a malpractice claim could damage their practice and cause them a lot of anguish. In understanding the right and wrong of filing medical malpractice claims, there are a few things to keep in mind: Bad cases get thrown out. In many states, you have to prove your case is legitimate through expert testimony. No one – doctors, insurance companies, judges, and juries included – like to see
Memphis home sales have risen in 2012, and house prices have increased, according to The Commercial Appeal. Sales rose 7.4% in July compared to July 2011, with a price rise of 14.1%. While the article cited offers some exciting figures for the year so far, it also admits the numbers could be a bit deceiving. After all, comparing rates to 2011 can give a sense of false hope since 2011 was a very rough year on the Memphis housing market. As bankruptcy attorneys in Memphis, we certainly see the flip side of this story in our office every day. It’s wonderful to hear good news every once in a while, but the fact is many Memphians aren’t experiencing that good
Q: When someone comes to repossess my car, is it public record? Will everyone find out about it? A: Generally, no. In Tennessee, we have a system called self help repossession that allows creditors to repo the car without a court order. Without a court order, there’s no record it happened. So there’s no way for anyone to find out except if they see it happen or figure it out when they notice your car is gone. If the court orders a repossession, it becomes public record. While not usually necessary in TN, this does sometimes happen. If the person hides the car or seems aggressive, the creditor may want or need the sheriff to tow it instead of the
Memphis area realtors report increased sales in the last couple of months. According to their records, January and February of 2012 brought almost a 50% increase in amount of homes sold, along with an increase in the costs of those houses. More Memphis homes selling at a higher price makes sense next to another local real estate statistic: in December 2011, Memphis-area foreclosures beat the national average and decreased from the same time in 2010. So clearly, many people are buying homes or keeping the ones they have. At the same time, the rate of mortgage borrowers who have gone 90 days or more without making a payment increased at the end of 2011 to 6.24%. And 9.26 percent of
A Commercial Appeal article yesterday by Richard Locker detailed State Senator Jim Summerville’s view of the Tennessee Lottery. Summerville described the lottery as “blight,…immoral…and corrupt.” He is now advocating his bill to require all lottery advertising to have the warning: “You will probably lose money playing the lottery.” As a Memphis bankruptcy attorney, I agree with him 100%. It’s an abomination against the poor and the State shouldn’t be in that business. “Maybe you, like I, have seen people in convenience stores, liquor stores – which even I patronize – watching some poor son-of-a-gun line up his Social Security numbers, birthdays, marriages, death days in order to select the best possible combination of numbers to lift them out of the economic calamity of
Workers’ compensation is a form of insurance provided by an employer when employees are injured as a result of work or on-the-job accidents. In general, workers’ compensation covers a wide range of injuries; but in the case of transportation, things can be a little tricky. While most of us would never commute to work unless it was job-related, that commute isn’t covered by workers’ comp because of a law called the “coming and going” rule. This rule limits workers’ compensation claims so employers aren’t obligated to pay for accidents or injuries caused by traveling to and from work. So if a car hits you on your way into the office, or you’re injured on your bike while traveling home, your
Lately our drug injury lawyers in Memphis have been hearing a lot about back surgery problems, especially after the patients received a bone graft.Perhaps you were injured during a back surgery. You may be concerned it was medical malpractice. Maybe you’re wondering: “Did the doctor made a mistake? Did the surgery not go as planned?” But it could be neither of these things. There’s a type of bone graft right now that’s under severe scrutiny: the Medtronic INFUSE® Bone Graft. If you were injured during a back or neck surgery, you may want to look into this product as a possible cause. Basically, INFUSE® helps regrow bone during and after a surgery. It’s supposed to be used in specially-approved lower
Why you shouldn’t compare YOUR credit card debt to others’ By: Darrell Castle Daily Finance posted an article online today in which it posed two questions: 1. Is your credit card debt average? 2. What is average? The article went on to state that getting a definitive answer can be a challenge as different sources have gathered different information. Listed were three different sources – MagnifyMoney.com, NerdWallet.com and CreditCards.com. Based on their findings, if you have anywhere from $5,000 to $11,000 in credit card debt, you’re average. My answer? It doesn’t matter! You shouldn’t judge your credit card debt based on what the average US consumer’s credit card debt is. Instead, you should be basing your credit card debt on