How long will my bankruptcy last if I go bankrupt.
If this is your first time filing for bankruptcy and you have no Surplus Income requirements, you will be automatically discharged nine (9) months after the date when you filed the bankruptcy.
If you are required to pay Surplus Income (monthly payments as calculated by the trustee, using the formula set by the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy), payments are required for 21 months and you will be automatically discharged from bankruptcy at the end of that time.
If this is your second bankruptcy you will be automatically discharged after 24 months, or after 36 months if the trustee calculates that you are required to make Surplus Income payments.
NOTE: The above lengths of bankruptcy are also minimums. If you have not fulfilled your duties with the trustee, or you disagree with the trustee about those duties, the Trustee may oppose your discharge. IF a creditor wants to bring its position before the court, they may also file an opposition, and you will remain undischarged until the issues are resolved.
Contact Rumanek & Company Ltd. for more information on bankruptcy and debt solutions. Or please fill out the free bankruptcy evaluation form. To learn more please visit our YouTube Channel. Rumanek & Company have been helping individuals and families overcome debt for more than 25 years.
Debt Settlement bill needs to set rates: OAIRP – November 14, 2013
By Ashley Csanady
Administrator
A sweeping consumer protection bill would crack down on predatory debt settlement companies, but one arm of the industry worries the legislation as written doesn’t go far enough.
Bill 55, the stronger protection for Ontario consumers act1, is in the midst of a heated committee process, where its proposed measures to crack down on door-to-door water heater sales have stirred controversy2. Public hearings on the bill have wrapped up and clause-by-clause consideration of the bill began in committee last week. The debt-settlement schedules have already been passed with relatively few changes.
That concerns the Ontario Association of Insolvency and Restructuring Professionals (OAIRP), which has long supported the bill, but fears it will leave loopholes open for predatory practices.
The group of federally-licensed bankruptcy trustees is especially keen on changes to disallow settlement firms from charging upfront fees; however, it would have like to see the bill amended to legislate those rates and ensure they are calculated based on payments and not the client’s total debt.
“I just want it regulated at a reasonable percentage, based on what the other provinces (Manitoba and Alberta have similar legislation) have already done and based on payment, and not debt,” Jordan Rumanek, who sits on the OAIRP board, said in an interview. He added he is a huge proponent of the bill overall, it could just be stronger.
He’s a bankruptcy trustee who is federally licensed and whose practice falls under very stringent regulation. His and other trustees’ practices have long competed with the unlicensed, unregulated and sometimes unethical debt-settlement companies ─ which are also split on how to regulate the industry3.
Bill 55 intends to ban those firms from misleading advertising, collecting upfront fees and increase transparency for clients. Those are all good moves, but after committee failed to amend the bill to set rates for those fees, Rumanek said “I’m going to try again come regulation time.”
In essence, he’d like to see fees for debt settlement capped somewhere between 10 and 15 per cent, as is the case in other jurisdictions. And he wants to ensure that’s calculated based off the clients’ monthly payments and not total debt, as the latter would allow unethical firms to advise them to rack up their debt before settling it.
And the government plans to look into just that should the bill pass into law. Ministry of Consumer Services spokesperson Bryan Leblanc said regulation is a better place to set fees than legislation as the former is easier to amend quickly. He also said the discussion of how those rates would be calculated and based off what would be had when the time to draft those regulations rolls around.
Contact Rumanek & Company Ltd. for more information on bankruptcy and debt solutions. Or please fill out the free bankruptcy evaluation form. To learn more please visit our YouTube Channel. Rumanek & Company have been helping individuals and families overcome debt for more than 25 years.
A major consumer protection bill before the legislature has garnered a lot of attention for its efforts to crack down on door-to-door water heater sales.
Bill 55, Stronger Protections for Ontario Consumers Act, was up for debate again Thursday morning as MPPs focused on door-to-door salespeople. (Tory MPP Frank Klees gave an impassioned speech defending the practice and detailing his own sales experience.)
But Bill 55 contains many other important consumer protections measures, including new restrictions on companies that offer debt settlement services, sometimes called credit counselling services. The industry seeks to help debtors get out from under their liabilities and come to an agreement with their creditors.
If passed, the legislation would require more disclosure, ban misleading advertising and put a cap on fees charged, among other changes. But the industry is divided over the bill, split along fault lines between the for-profit and not for- profit side of the marketplace.
Credit counsellors are often not-for-profit entities that receive some funding from charities such as the United Way and sometimes couple services with other forms of family, financial and personal counselling. Many of these groups are also closely tied to banks, credit card companies and other lending institutions. Board members from banks sometimes sit on these companies’ boards.
“These companies work for the credit card companies, not the consumer,” said Richard Cooper, chair of the Canadian Association of Debt Assistance, a recently created lobby group for the for-profit side of the industry.
He spoke at a Queen’s Park press conference on Wednesday to push for changes to Bill 55 to make sure the non-profit and for-profit sides of the industry are treated equally.
“Ontario shouldn’t repeat the mistake made in some other provinces whereby consumer protection legislation exempts credit counselling service providers,” Cooper said, referring to Alberta and Manitoba.
The province says it won’t make that mistake. “Bill 55, if passed, will regulate all companies or entities that offer debt settlement services in Ontario, whether they are a for-profit or a non-profit enterprise,” Bryan Leblanc, spokesman for Minister of Consumer Services Tracy MacCharles, said in an email.
Even if the law covers both sides, controversy and confusion remain about who does a better job for consumers.
CADA welcomes many of the proposed changes, Cooper said, adding that unscrupulous firms from south of the border have given his industry a bad name.
Because the non-profit industry is tied to creditors, Cooper said, the private companies are the only ones that really fight for consumers and often get them much better settlements. The proposed cap on upfront fees could gut his side of the industry if the bill isn’t amended, he warned.
Henrietta Ross, CEO and executive director of the Canadian Association of Credit Counselling Services, which represents the non-profit side of the industry, said the for-profit side is predatory and hurts people at their most desperate.
“Unsuspecting consumers can be left with more debt, less money and a bad credit rating as debt settlement companies obfuscate around issues and fail to negotiate settlements while pocketing huge up-front fees,” Ross said in an email to QP Briefing upon the bill’s introduction. “Consumer complaints about these services are mounting with these consumers increasingly coming to credit counselling services for help.”
The Ontario Association of Solvency and Restructuring Professionals, which represents bankruptcy trustees, doesn’t see much value in any form of debt settlement.
Only federally licensed bankruptcy trustees can actually stop collection calls, and despite common perception, a large majority of their cases don’t result in bankruptcy at all, said board member Jordan Rumanek. About 60 per cent of debtors who come to his family firm end up settling their debt with a proposal to creditors, he said.
“What we believe is happening right now is that the debt settlement companies are operating in such a way that I’m not allowed to operate,” Rumanek said, referring to misleading ads and promised cure-alls.
“No other business would be taking money without doing work.”
Contact Rumanek & Company Ltd. for more information on bankruptcy and debt solutions. Or please fill out the free bankruptcy evaluation form. To learn more please visit our YouTube Channel. Rumanek & Company have been helping individuals and families overcome debt for more than 25 years.
Marin was a single mother with two children. She worked full time and had a personal loan for $12, 500 and a credit card with an outstanding balance of $17, 500. Marin had a history of always paying the minimum monthly payment on her personal loan and credit card each month by its due date.
Due to a restructure at work, Marin was no longer able to work overtime. She needs a Informal Credit Card or Debt Arrangement.
The Problem: Due to the loss of overtime, Marin was finding it increasingly difficult to pay the minimum monthly payment on both her personal loan and credit card. She was falling behind with her repayments.
The Solution: Rumanek & Company contacted both of her creditors, explained her position and negotiated a workable solution.
With the assistance of Rumanek & Company, the banks (her creditors) agreed to provide Marin with a 3-month moratorium. That meant that for an agreed 3 month period she was not required to make any monthly repayments towards her personal loan and credit card. This 3 month moratorium provided Marin with enough time to find a part time job.
Marin found a part time job and recommenced her minimum monthly repayments to the banks. She had avoided falling further into arrears and possibly having her credit rating affected. In short, once creditors are contacted and are informed of your financial position, many, when aware of genuine financial difficulties, will assist in a informal credit arrangement or a debt arrangements.
Contact Rumanek & Company Ltd. for more information on bankruptcy and debt solutions. Or please fill out the free bankruptcy evaluation form. To learn more please visit our YouTube Channel. Rumanek & Company have been helping individuals and families overcome debt for more than 25 years.
Marin was a single mother with two children. She worked full time and had a personal loan for $12, 500 and a credit card with an outstanding balance of $17, 500. Marin had a history of always paying the minimum monthly payment on her personal loan and credit card each month by its due date.