Bankruptcy Kitchener Blog by Scott Schaefer

A wage garnishment by a creditor is stopped on the date that someone files a consumer proposal or personal bankruptcy. From my office in Kitchener, I e-file the consumer proposal or personal bankruptcy documents to the government right after they are signed. From that moment in time, there is a “Stay of Proceedings” that stops garnishment. This stay of proceedings is then faxed to the payroll department to advise them that the garnishment must stop.

Let’s talk about the process and timing to get to the point when the garnishment is stopped. The first thing we need to do is to arrange a free meeting in my Kitchener office to sit down and discuss the situation and options in detail. This meeting can take 30 minutes to 1 hour. From there, if a consumer proposal or personal bankruptcy is decided on, we need to complete an application with basic information. The application information is inputted into our computers and official government documents are printed – ones to be sent to the government and creditors. If there is a garnishment in place, we can complete the paperwork in a timely manner. The final step to make the procedure official is to come back into the office to sign all the paperwork.

Garnishments happen for many different reasons but the fact of the matter is that if someone is having part of their pay taken for an existing debt, it can really affect their ability to pay everyday living expenses. If you have a garnishment or are facing a garnishment and want to discuss your options with me in my Kitchener office, please call me at 310-PLAN or send me an e-mail.

Please note, that neither a personal bankruptcy nor a consumer proposal can stop or change family law support garnishments.

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Since the last snowfall, the government has been issuing warnings to consumers to reduce debts as interest rates will be rising in the future. This of course is in despite of the government not listening to their own advice as the government debts are rising too, but that is another issue. We just witnessed the Bank of Canada make their first increase, so when are we going to see interest rates increase again and how fast? What do these warnings mean to consumers?

Consumer debts are reaching new levels and as all debts are tied to interest rates, any increase will have a significant affect. I have an economic degree from Wilfrid Laurier University so analyzing trends and effects is quite interesting to me, but one does not need this degree to see the impact interest rates will have on the people from Kitchener Waterloo. Every increase in an interest rate will affect everyone’s amount they have to pay. Let’s consider some of the following areas:

- First through the debts that they pay as interest rates are tied to prime – for example, line of credits, overdrafts, new loans, etc.
- Second, the cost of items we buy will have to rise over time due to businesses carrying debt. If the costs to a business go up, then they will have to pass these on to the consumer in order to maintain their profits.
- Third, higher interest rates could affect government debts as well, which are paid through taxes.

Overall, we have seen very low interest rates for a long time. People are not talking today about how mortgages used to be at 20% back in the early 1980s. That is like paying your mortgage on a visa card today. I am not saying we are going to see these high rates again, but the government is warning us to be ready for rates to increase.

The hard part is, as consumers we need to spend to help us recover from the recession, so if we are paying off our debts verses spending the money on consumer goods our economy could take longer to recover. With rising debts and costs, the question people are asking is how do we reduce our debts and still afford to live. Everyone’s situation is different so the same solution is not always available to everyone.

If you are from the Kitchener Waterloo area and feel that your situation is too tight now, then it may be time to consider a plan to deal with your debts. A debt management plan to pay 100% of your debts without interest may be one solution or a consumer proposal where you make one monthly payment to pay back part of your debts may be another. We can arrange a free consultation in my Kitchener office to review your situation and gain an understanding of how the various options would work in your situation. I can be reached at 310-PLAN or by e-mail.

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Wells Fargo announced yesterday that they are closing their Canadian operations. The following notice was posted on the Wells Fargos website yesterday:

“Effective June 9, 2010, Wells Fargo Financial Corporation Canada discontinued sales of new customer loans, and closed Wells Fargo Financial store locations across Canada. We have shifted our focus to serving existing real estate, auto, and consumer loan accounts. There will be no change to our customers´ existing account terms and conditions.”

Wells Fargo had a store location in both Kitchener and Waterloo. Several local residents used Wells Fargo as a lender for many different reasons. One of the main reasons was that the banks had turned them down. So with this lender now not available in Kitchener Waterloo, individuals may not be able to consolidate their debts or renew their mortgages the same as they could in the past. This is one more example of the fall out of the financial crisis and recession has lead to.

If you feel your debt load is now too large to manage and want understand how a consumer proposal or a personal bankruptcy would work in your case, call me in my Kitchener office at 519-747-0660 or send me an e-mail. We will sit down and have a free meeting to discuss your facts and impact of each option.

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