In this article I’m going to share with you three options you have when you’re facing a debt collection lawsuit. If you’ve been sued by a debt collector and you recently just got the summons and the complaint and the process server showed up at your house, you’re probably feeling a lot of stress right now, a lot of anxiety and most of that comes from the fact that you aren’t sure exactly what you need to do or what the end result is going to be. I even run into a lot of people in my law practice that think that they’re going to go to jail over this. It’s important to know that jail is not on t ..read more

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We are living in strange times. With the worldwide efforts to stop the spread of the Coronavirus / COVID-19, we are seeing most schools and large events being canceled. There are even discussions of shutting down all non-essential services throughout the United States. These actions may be necessary to deal with the virus, but there are significant financial consequences to families as it relates to being able to pay for their monthly expenses and making payments on debt like car payments, house payments, credit cards, medical bills, etc. In a study often cited by Dave Ramsey, approximately 78 ..read more

You may feel like there is never enough money to pay all of your bills. Dave Ramsey often cites to the statistic that nearly 80% of Americans are living pay-check-to-pay-check. When money is tight, even a small amount of debt can put a lot of stress on a family. A question many people struggling debt have is whether they even have enough debt to justify filing for bankruptcy. Most are surprised you aren’t required to have any debt to file for bankruptcy (although it is difficult to think of a reason you would want to file bankruptcy without a debt problem). In most cases, the amount of debt yo ..read more

In this article, I am going to give you the inside scoop on how to successfully settle your debts for less than what you owe. When struggling with serious debt problems you really have three options: (1) pay them in full; (2) file bankruptcy; or (3) negotiate a settlement where you agree to pay less than what is owed, and the creditor agrees to eliminate the debt and stop collection activity. Most of the people I meet with would very much like to pay their debts in full – they just simply aren’t in a position to do so. Let’s begin with the assumption that if you are reading this article that ..read more

Can a debt collector put a lien on your home? Worse yet, can a debt collector foreclose on your house? *** New Arizona Court Decision *** Recently, the Arizona Court of Appeals addressed these questions in Pac. W. Bank v. Castleton, No. 1 CA-CV 17-0667 (Ariz. Ct. App. Dec. 27, 2018). This court decision brought some needed clarity to the question of whether or not your home is in danger if you are struggling to pay your credit card bills. Let’s address these questions separately. Can a Debt Collector Put a Lien on My Home? Before a debt collector can even think of putting a lien on your h ..read more

I have helped Arizona families deal with serious debt problems for nearly two decades. During that time the biggest hurdle for most families that desperately needed debt relief was how they could afford to pay the legal fees associated with filing for bankruptcy. In times past, when it came to filing a chapter 7 bankruptcy case in Arizona you were required to pay all of the legal fees and the court filing fees before the bankruptcy case was filed. I often referred to this as the “bankruptcy paradox”. How can a family that is already struggling to make ends meet come up with a couple thous ..read more

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For years Arizona law as it relates to the statute of limitations on credit cards has been murky at best. Recently the Arizona Supreme Court provided a lot of clarity when it comes to calculating when the statute of limitations starts ticking on credit card debt. But before I get into what the Arizona Supreme Court said, let’s discuss what the statute of limitations is and how it is applied to credit card debt in Arizona. The statute of limitations is the amount of time that the credit card company has to file a lawsuit against you. In Arizona, the law states that creditors have six (6) years ..read more