College Football, Bankruptcy, and a Fresh Start
The 2018 college football season is in high gear, exploding out of college football stadiums and onto our television screens with many exciting games. Go Gators! Okay, as a graduate of the University of Florida – Levin College of Law (1989) I can shout out Go Gators! (Psst…, I can also say, Go Knights! With an undergraduate degree from the University of Central Florida I can shout out a Go Knights to the still undefeated, unofficial, National Champions!)
The LSU Tigers defeated the University of Miami Hurricanes in game one this year, a game that almost never happened. Barely two years ago the state of Louisiana was broke and came close to canceling out the LSU football program to save money. Great games under the lights in Death Valley would have been no more. The thousands of LSU Tiger faithful would have been devastated by the loss of their team to the state’s financial difficulties. Louisiana would have canceled out a team loved by thousands along with a slew of SEC traditions and history.
How many individuals and families share in a similar set of facts? Sometimes you just feel devastated following unexpected events in your life. Whether it’s the result of a divorce, medical problems, or the loss of a job, among other reasons, sometimes you’re forced to cancel out some of the things you love to survive financially.
The LSU football team got a “Fresh Start” when the Louisiana legislature found the means to come up with enough funds for the university to keep the football team going. LSU football took their Fresh Start seriously, and, today they are once again in the national championship conversation.
You can get a Fresh Start through filing either a chapter 7 or a chapter 13 bankruptcy. What would a “Fresh Start” mean to you? Here are some ways a Fresh Start following bankruptcy can benefit you:
First, creditors cannot call you or bill you anymore! One of the main reasons people choose to file a bankruptcy case is to stop the onslaught of telephone calls and dunning letters. Once you commence a bankruptcy case, creditors cannot call you in any way to ask you to pay. Your day will have less stress, and you won’t be afraid to go out to the mailbox.
Second, creditors cannot garnish you anymore. When you file a bankruptcy case, your Fresh Start acts to block any court process to collect from you. Your creditors cannot sue you or continue a lawsuit against you. If a garnishment had commenced, it must be stopped upon your filing a bankruptcy case.
Third, your Fresh Start will lead to a higher credit score. Much research indicates that after individuals file a bankruptcy case, their credit score starts to recover almost immediately. This result makes sense considering before the filing of a bankruptcy case the credit bureau only received negative reports for delinquent debts which have now been Discharged in the bankruptcy case.
Fourth, you are not alone in your Fresh Start to financial recovery! Any individual, from any job or profession, across any income level, files for bankruptcy seeking a Fresh Start daily in the United States. Did you know that four U.S. Presidents filed personal bankruptcy cases during their lifetime (Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant, and William McKinley); top business leaders and captains of industry (Charles Goodyear, Henry Ford, Henry John Heinz, Milton Hersey, Walt Disney, P.T. Barnum); famous authors (Mark Twain, Oscar Wilde); and many actors, entertainers and athletes (Larry King, Kim Basinger, Mickey Rooney, Debbie Reynolds, Johnny Unitas, Mike Tyson, Curt Schilling, Jerry Lee Lewis, Burt Reynolds, Tom Petty, Marvin Gaye, Francis Ford Coppola).
Fifth, the mainstay of a Fresh Start is the Discharge in Bankruptcy which is entered at the end of chapter 7 or chapter 13 bankruptcy cases that relieves you from your obligation to pay a debt. The Discharge frees up your future income from the chain of previous debts. A Discharge in Bankruptcy is a legal injunction against the commencement or continuation of an action to collect, recover or offset an obligation as a personal liability against you. The Discharge is your goal line, your Fresh Start, that which you look forward to after the bankruptcy case is filed.
This week the LSU Tigers travel to Gainesville to battle the University of Florida Gators in the Swamp, where only Gators get out alive! Go Gators! Whatever the outcome, none of this suggests that one should file bankruptcy just for bankruptcy’s sake. But too many people carry with them too much guilt over the decision to file for bankruptcy. My lifetime motto is to “Press on Regardless!” Each person must Press on Regardless to do the right thing, guilt-free, for themselves and their family. Each person is entitled to a Fresh Start! Call us today at 813-308-9045.
