Many people ask me whether there is actually an alternative to bankruptcy. Well actually it might surprise you, but the answer is yes! There are many substitutes for bankruptcy and not all of these are suitable for everybody, it is necessary to look at each method in detail before making a decision. This will allow the debtor to find out which method will best suit them. Some of the bankruptcy substitutes may put the debtor in a more dangerous position, while others might just prolong the agony. There are a few solutions to this and we’ll take a look below.
Debt Settlement
Many debtors use debt settlement and then ultimately end up filing for insolvency. In some situations this is a reasonable substitute for bancruptcy, however many studies have shown that many of the people using this method will still end up filing for bankruptcy eventually.
There are some hidden things about debt settlements that very few people are aware about. The IRS (Internal Revenue Service) can actually tax the amount of the debt settlement as this is seen as a form of income. By law every creditor is obliged to report this debt reduction figure to the IRS. The lender will send you a form known as a 1099, you must complete this and include it with your personal taxes. If say you settle with a lender to reduce your debts by $1000 then the IRS sees this $1000 as a form of income, they will therefore use this as part of your taxable income. For more info see http://www.filingpersonalbankruptcyhelp.com/Bankruptcy_Attorney/ on Bankruptcy Attorney
Consolidate your debts
This is the most popular alternative to filing for bancruptcy, this is basically another loan that pays off all of your other loans. There could also be hidden factors at work when taking out a consolidation loan. You must be careful when choosing a consolidation loan, some of them are very hard to get your head around. You must make sure that this new loan is actually cheaper than what you are paying at the moment.
Normally these consolidation loans work by spreading the same amount of money out over a longer period of time. This makes it look as though you pay less money each month, which fair enough you do. But you will pay back much more interest in the long run than you would of to your original lender. Also many debt consolidation loans require a final balloon payment at the end. This is very inconvenient as the debtor will have to find a large sum of money all in one go, it could well be that the lender will have to take out another loan to finance this balloon payment.
