By: Darrell Castle When you’re struggling with debt you can’t pay, your first worry should be getting rid of it in the most-efficient way possible. For some, that may just be making small budget changes and fixing bad spending habits. But for others, the debt may be too large and the bad situation too deep. You need another option. You really just need a fresh start. And that’s where a bankruptcy can help you. However, many people are too embarrassed to file for bankruptcy. It’s true, I hear it all the time from clients. But the embarrassment is usually caused by false assumptions of what they think bankruptcy is. Here are three things I tell my clients when they’re embarrassed
By: Darrell Castle Video Transcript Hello, I’m Darrell Castle and I’m an attorney licensed to practice law in the state of Tennessee, and on this video today I want to talk to you about Social Security Disability. How do you get it? How do you qualify for it? Can you make income and still get it? Do you have to be medically-unable to work in order to get it? Do you have to have worked in the past for any amount of time? All of those questions are important and difficult to answer. That’s why I wrote a report — or booklet if you will. In this report, you’ll find the answers to those questions and a lot more. Everything
By: Darrell Castle According to a report from the National Center of Elder Abuse, available data shows an increasing trend in elder abuse reports. However, an overwhelming number of abuse and neglect incidents go undetected and untreated each year. We won’t stand for nursing home abuse here at Darrell Castle & Associates. When caregivers mistreat the vulnerable patients they’re paid to care for, someone needs to be held accountable. And we’ll fight to make sure someone is. But we can’t do this alone. We need your help. We need you to know the signs of nursing home abuse so you can be sure your loved one is being properly cared for. And when things aren’t right, you need to report it.
Does this story sound familiar? Lisa was on a roll. She graduated college with a business degree and only had to borrow around $25,000 worth of student loans, which is hovering right around the national average. After graduation, she landed a good job with a large company making $45,000 a year, more than enough to comfortably pay back her student loans over a 10 year span. She also went out and rented a new apartment closer to work and leased a used car only a couple of years old to replace her beat-up car that magically lasted through college. Lisa had two credit cards she was using wisely and she was saving money on a regular basis. She was
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If you’re riding a motorcycle in Tennessee, you must wear a helmet. If you’re riding a bicycle, you must wear a helmet if you’re younger than 16 years old. Find out more in my video. If video above doesn’t work, click here Video Transcript Hello, I’m Darrell Castle. I’m an attorney licensed to practice law in the state of Tennessee and on this video, I’m going to answer the question of whether or not you have to wear a helmet in Tennessee when you ride a motorcycle or a bicycle. As to motorcycles, the answer is yes, you have to wear a helmet. It is unlawful not to. That helmet has to meet federal safety standards and have a sticker
A report yesterday stated that the US Department of Education has made it known they want to be more aggressive in policing for-profit colleges. This means introducing rules to easily discontinue funding to low-performing schools and possibly forcing colleges to help borrowers stuck with high debt and low earnings. With these new rule propositions, if a school is not preparing its students for “gainful employment” then it could lose access to federal loans. This could force some for-profit schools to close because often federal loans account for all of the revenue. These new rules would be the beginning of a process in which the department would determine which schools prepare students for “gainful employment” and which do not. About 3
Tips to improve your oh-so-important credit score By: Darrell Castle Video Transcript Hello, this is Darrell Castle. I’m an attorney licensed to practice law in the state of Tennessee and I’ve been doing a series of videos on the topic of credit. And today on this video, we’re going to be talking about how to raise your credit score. Your credit is very very important. It is what banks and other lending institutions use as a reference point to decide what your credit will cost, what your interest rate will be or even if you will be able to get financing. So, it is very very important. But I admonish you when you’re using credit, be careful with it; it
By: Darrell Castle A common myth about bankruptcy is that it will ruin your credit. And that’s just what it is — a MYTH. Will a bankruptcy go on your credit report? Yes. But was your credit good before you filed for bankruptcy? No, it probably wasn’t. Why do people file for bankruptcy? Because they have debt they can’t pay. And how do people find themselves in debt? They missed payments on important bills and fell behind. With the above being true, since one of the biggest factors in determining your credit score is on-time payments, wouldn’t those missed payments that got you into the debt you’re currently in actually HURT your credit score? Yes. In most cases, filing for
The importance of a good nursing home abuse attorney By: Darrell Castle Nursing home abuse has been on the rise in the United States, especially in Tennessee, for a while now. When your loved one suffers from gruesome abuse, you want justice and compensation for it. So do we. Mandatory arbitration clauses, as we’ve detailed before, can often times hold these cases up from ever going to court and being seen in front of a jury. Experienced nursing home attorneys, such as the ones at Darrell Castle & Associates, know these arbitrators are far less likely to give a favorable verdict to the victim in comparison to a jury. This is where we can help. Often times, relatives are unable to