Sader Law Firm Blog

Can I Use Crowdfunding to Pay My Past Due Hospital Bills?

Posted on June 26, 2017 by The Sader Law Firm

A recent article published by Bloomberg suggests that an increasing number of Americans, even those with health insurance, are turning to crowdfunding services to fund their medical bills. Crowdfunding services work by soliciting online donations from thousands of other people. According to an article, 70 percent of YouCaring campaigns involve medical bills. GoFundMe’s CEO has also reported that medical bills have helped business boom. While some people may successfully use crowdfunding to pay their medical bills, many others fail to reach their fundraising goals. According to a 2015 study released by NerdWallet, a financial analytics website, only 11 percent of crowdfunding campaigns for medical bills are successful. To be considered successful by the study, the campaign needed to meet its target goal. Fundraising goals also varied depending on the crowdfunding service. An additional study conducted by the University of Washington discovered that only 10 percent of these campaigns met their…
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Will Changes to the Three Credit Bureaus Improve My Credit Score?

Posted on June 21, 2017 by The Sader Law Firm

In the next few months, there will be changes to how your credit scores are calculated by the three major credit bureaus. Specifically, the bureaus will adopt the new VantageScore system. The following information will be treated differently under the new scoring system: Medical bills: VantageScore attaches less importance to unpaid medical bills. In fact, it will ignore debts that are less than six months old. This could make it easier for you to contest medical bills before they can damage your credit scores. In addition, past due medical bills will hurt your score less. Tax liens and civil judgments: VantageScore does not report civil judgments or tax liens unless those records contain certain identifying information. For example, they would have to include your name, address, birthday and Social Security number. These changes were also adopted by the new FICO scoring system. Credit utilization: Under VantageScore, a greater emphasis is…
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How Does Filing Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Affect My Cosigner?

Posted on June 19, 2017 by The Sader Law Firm

Filing Chapter 13 bankruptcy can help you discharge cumbersome debts and keep important assets. However, if you have cosigners on your debts, it is important to understand how they could be affected if you choose to file for bankruptcy. After you file for Chapter 13 bankruptcy, an automatic stay goes into effect that protects you from collection attempts by creditors. The codebtor stay during a Chapter 13 bankruptcy case can also protect cosigners from collection attempts. However, creditors may attempt to lift a codebtor stay under the following circumstances: The case involves non-consumer debts: The codebtor stay only applies to consumer debts. For example, credit cards used to pay for groceries or household expenses could qualify as a consumer debt. However, creditors can attempt to collect from your cosigner for business debts. Credit cards used to pay for business expenses would qualify as business debts. You fail to complete your…
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