Category: Consumer Columnists

THIS week is Holy Week again. The whole Christian world observes the passion of Jesus Christ. In many countries, the faithful reenact the passion and suffering of Jesus. They wear a crown made from thorns, flagellate themselves, and some even carry a heavy wooden cross on which they may be tied or nailed to it,…

CLIENT no. 1 is 50 years old and is the manager of a big retail store. He’s been working there for 30 years. His spouse got into an accident and is now on disability. He owns a house with $200,000 of equity. He has, believe it or not, 11 children from age 2 to 18….

CLIENT no. 1 is 50 years old and is the manager of a big retail store. He’s been working there for 30 years. His spouse got into an accident and is now on disability. He owns a house with $200,000 of equity. He has, believe it or not, 11 children from age 2 to 18….

OUR client, Teresa,* has always lived with a serious lung condition since childhood. Although Teresa knew that her condition limited her activities, she did her best to live a productive work life. She finished her schooling in the Philippines and worked in several skilled jobs there before she came to the U.S. with her two…

SLEEPLESS nights… Stressed out… Worried about the future.. Always broke no matter how hard they work…Feeling hopeless about their situation. This is what most people are going through when they are considering bankruptcy in order to get out of debt.  The word “bankruptcy” often produces negative feelings because some people equate it with failure. They…

Freak accident liability  I want to discuss the client with the freak accident first. The first client is 45. This is really a very unusual case. In fact, I have never encountered a case like this before in the last 30 years. The client has a rental condo that needs plumbing repair because of a…

AS a cellphone owner, you have most likely experienced unwanted calls from telemarketers, robocallers, and spammy text messages. There are common measures you can take to minimize unwanted calls. CNN Business detailed a list of free applications and software available from major cellphone carriers that you can download to your phone (or that may already…

ANAHIT Shirvanyan, 63 years old, worked as a kitchen staff at Los Angeles Valley College (LAVC), a licensed childcare facility in Van Nuys, CA, which is part of the Los Angeles Community College District. After several years of work for LAVC, Shirvanyan began experiencing pain in her right hand and arm. This was due to…

WHEN I say the client is young, I mean she’s in her 20s. She is married and has a toddler son. Before becoming a mother, she was working full-time and earning about $60,000 a year. That’s a good salary for a young person. So how did she rack up so much credit card debt? Wait,…

YOU may not like what I have to say in this article. But oftentimes, the truth hurts. But if you find yourself broke every payday because of too much debt, you may find the information here helpful to change your life for the better. Did you know that more than 90% of the population lives…

SOMETIMES debtors cannot decide whether they should seek debt relief through Chapter 7 wipeout of all dischargeable debts or consolidation and reorganization through a Chapter 13. They usually ask me what they should do in their financial situation.  I know after handling thousands of bankruptcy cases in the last 30 years, debtors are often depressed…

Q: AFTER12 weeks of medical leave for a surgery, I told my employer I could not go back to work yet. One day after I was supposed to be due back at work, I was fired. HR told me the company had a strict 12-week leave policy and employees not able to return to work…

“Obviously, something else will now have to be chopped off. The credit cards have to be chopped off to free them of having topay $1400 a month. Anyway, they have paid this minimum of $1400 for the last 10 years.” CLIENT is 72. He still works his normal job and makes about $3K a month….

THE U.S .Women Soccer Team (“Women’s Team”) has won a record three World Cup championships, four Olympic gold medals, and many other international competitions. It is the three-time winner of the U.S. Olympic Committee’s Team of the Year Award and has been Sports Illustrated’s Athlete of the Year. It is currently ranked number one in…

“ This means that most of what you are paying goes to interest alone and you may be stuck in debt for the rest of your life.” WHEN people think of bankruptcy, oftentimes they think of the worst thing that could happen to them- losing their home, cars and other assets that they have. The…

“The debtor gets to keep most, if not all of his assets, including the house, furniture, cars, retirement accounts, bank deposits etc., subject to qualifying under a system of asset exemption.” AS you probably are aware of, an individual can file either Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 under the bankruptcy code when he or she…

JACQUELINE C. worked as a caregiver for ABC Senior Care at its facility in Ventura, California.  She was assigned to care for only one patient who lives at the facility. Ginnie P. worked as a Certified Nursing Assistant/Caregiver for an ABC Senior Care facility in Los Angeles, California. She was assigned to work caring for…

ARE you seriously in debt and don’t know what to do? Individuals who have accumulated excessive debt are often left to ponder whether bankruptcy is their only realistic way to get out of debt. However, they hesitate to do so because of all the negative things they’ve heard about bankruptcy. Sometimes, these people feel that…

THE client is 66. He says he is now old all of a sudden. He migrated here in 2004 so that’s 15 years ago. When he deplaned at LAX, he was just 51 and single. He says he’s been working hard since he arrived, but hasn’t really been able to amass any wealth. He worked…

SO you applied for a job. Your prospective employer may likely do a background check on you. This is true particularly for those applying in sensitive job positions. Some employers will do their investigation in-house. Others may hire an outside company to do background checks. Here are some of the information that can be found…

ARE you in debt and are starting to feel very frustrated with your situation? Do you find yourself always worried and stressed because you don’t have enough money to pay all your bills?  Has the idea of filing bankruptcy crossed your mind but you just don’t know enough about it to know whether or not…

THE client is 65 and a widow. Wanting some male attention, I guess, she posted her picture on the Internet. She looks much younger in the posted picture, which she showed me. She looked like she was 48. But she said that the picture was taken only last year. If her purpose was to get…