Bankruptcy Law, Credit

Hospital Bankruptcies the Result of a Downward Trend

A recent study by the Department of Health Services Administration at the University of Alabama, reveals that it is not simply a “bad year” but a downward trend over time, decreasing volumes, reimbursement changes and deteriorating physician relationships that results in a hospital filing for bankruptcy.

While 67 percent of hospitals that filed for bankruptcy eventually closed, one-third completed a re-organization. The study examined a six-year period from 2000 to 2006, during which 42 hospitals across the nation filed for bankruptcy. Data was compiled from the American Hospital Association and trade publications to get detailed information on these organizations.

The study revealed that filing hospitals tend to be smaller and many factors were involved, including: poor financial management, changes in pay, reimbursement reductions, overzealous construction, purchasing of physician practices, decrease in volume and demographic shifts.

Many organizations often overlook the signs and wait until they are in a very poor financial condition before filing. If the hospital starts pursuing strategies to change earlier, they have a better chance at restructuring afterward. Hospitals need to look at the issue from a positive perspective. First, bankruptcy can be a good way for hospitals to get debt relief and be purchased by a system or other hospital. It also gives time to pause and think about how they will move forward in the future.


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If you are in a financial crisis and are considering filing bankruptcy, contact an experienced Miami bankruptcy attorney who can advise you of all of your options. As an experienced CPA as well as a proven bankruptcy lawyer, Timothy Kingcade knows how to help clients take full advantage of the bankruptcy laws to protect their assets and get successful results. Since 1996 Kingcade & Garcia, P.A. has been helping people from all walks of life build a better tomorrow. Our attorneys’ help thousands of people every year take advantage of their rights under bankruptcy protection to restart, rebuild and recover. The day you hire our firm, we will contact your creditors to stop the harassment. You can also find useful consumer information on the Kingcade & Garcia website at www.miamibankruptcy.com.

Bankruptcy Law, Foreclosures, Timothy Kingcade Posts

Proposed ordinance in Coral Gables requires banks to maintain foreclosed homes

City commissioners tentatively approved an ordinance Tuesday that will require banks to maintain foreclosed homes in Coral Gables. This new ordinance will increase the annual cost of keeping a property on the city’s registry of abandoned homes, allow police to issue trespassing warnings on those properties and allow the city attorney and city manager to take legal action against lenders.

The move is in an effort to keep banks focused on dealing with the amount of abandoned properties and get them back on the market quickly so property values do not suffer. The registration fee is increasing from $200 to $600 annually. This will cover the city’s “additional costs in monitoring the property,” according to the ordinance. This registration will also give police the ability to issue trespassing warnings to squatters. At present time, 94 homes in Coral Gables are listed as bank-owned, according to RealtyTrac.

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If you are in a financial crisis and are considering filing bankruptcy, contact an experienced Miami bankruptcy attorney who can advise you of all of your options. As an experienced CPA as well as a proven bankruptcy lawyer, Timothy Kingcade knows how to help clients take full advantage of the bankruptcy laws to protect their assets and get successful results. Since 1996 Kingcade & Garcia, P.A. has been helping people from all walks of life build a better tomorrow. Our attorneys’ help thousands of people every year take advantage of their rights under bankruptcy protection to restart, rebuild and recover. The day you hire our firm, we will contact your creditors to stop the harassment. You can also find useful consumer information on the Kingcade & Garcia website at www.miamibankruptcy.com.

Bankruptcy Law, Credit, Timothy Kingcade Posts

4 Tax Changes you Should Know about in 2014

As many of us are sorting through tax documents for the 2013 filing season, there are some important changes coming up in 2014 that will affect the way you plan your finances and budget for the coming year.

1. Additional 2013 taxes for high earners. Tax year 2013 marked the start of two new taxes for high earners: a 0.9% Medicare tax and a 3.8% tax on unearned/investment income. If you are subject to these, be prepared to pay them by April 15, 2014. Good planning throughout the year can go a long way.

2. Joint returns for same-sex couples. Since the recent Supreme Court ruling DOMA, married same-sex couples can now file joint federal returns. It is also possible to amend past returns (from up to three years) to reflect the filing status.

3. Tax breaks expiring at the end of 2013. If you have relied on certain tax breaks the last few years, you may be disappointed to find out that some are expiring at the end of 2013.

These include:

• Credits for certain energy-efficient home improvements
• Deduction for university tuition and fees
• Deductions for teachers who purchased classroom supplies out of their own pockets
• Deduction for PMI payments

4. Changes from the debt-ceiling battle. Tax changes are inevitable if there is another debt-ceiling battle. If there is another government shutdown, delays could be seen during the tax filing season. The best advice is to get your tax return prepared as early as possible so you are not trying to figure out what to do when delays become a problem.


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If you are in a financial crisis and are considering filing bankruptcy, contact an experienced Miami bankruptcy attorney who can advise you of all of your options. As an experienced CPA as well as a proven bankruptcy lawyer, Timothy Kingcade knows how to help clients take full advantage of the bankruptcy laws to protect their assets and get successful results. Since 1996 Kingcade & Garcia, P.A. has been helping people from all walks of life build a better tomorrow. Our attorneys’ help thousands of people every year take advantage of their rights under bankruptcy protection to restart, rebuild and recover. The day you hire our firm, we will contact your creditors to stop the harassment. You can also find useful consumer information on the Kingcade & Garcia website at www.miamibankruptcy.com.

Bankruptcy Law, Credit, Timothy Kingcade Posts

Mel Gibson’s Ex Files for Bankruptcy

Oksana Grigorieva, Mel Gibson’s ex has filed for bankruptcy over her legal debts just years after turning down a $15 million custody settlement. The legal debts are said to be in the range of $250,000. In legal documents obtained by TMZ, Oksana has just $10 in cash to her name. The musician, who is the mother to Mel’s four-year-old daughter Lucia, has $48,000 in assets and $438,000 in debts.

During her custody battle with Mel, Oksana used more than 40 lawyers. At the end of it all, Mel was ordered to pay $750,000 to Grigorieva, which he is paying in installments. According to legal documents, she is receiving $20,000 a month in child support for Lucia, while Timothy Dalton pays her $2,500 for their son Alexander.

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If you are in a financial crisis and are considering filing bankruptcy, contact an experienced Miami bankruptcy attorney who can advise you of all of your options. As an experienced CPA as well as a proven bankruptcy lawyer, Timothy Kingcade knows how to help clients take full advantage of the bankruptcy laws to protect their assets and get successful results. Since 1996 Kingcade & Garcia, P.A. has been helping people from all walks of life build a better tomorrow. Our attorneys’ help thousands of people every year take advantage of their rights under bankruptcy protection to restart, rebuild and recover. The day you hire our firm, we will contact your creditors to stop the harassment. You can also find useful consumer information on the Kingcade & Garcia website at www.miamibankruptcy.com.

Bankruptcy Law

More Americans Facing Retirement with Debt

According to a recent study, the majority of people who contribute to retirement plans, such as 401(k)s, have accumulated more debt than retirement savings in recent years. More troubling is the fact that those approaching retirement- between 50 and 65 years old- had a monthly debt obligation in 2010 equivalent to 22% of their earnings, up 69% from 1992, according to the analysis.

A study by the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College found that the proportion of people in their 60s with debt increased from just under half in 1998 to nearly two-thirds in 2010. Debt as a percentage of assets nearly doubled, from 10% to 18% over that time frame.

Mortgages account for the largest portion of that debt. Older Americans are not only more likely to have mortgages than in previous years; they are also taking longer to pay them off. Some owners enjoy low enough mortgage rates and large enough investment assets to feel comfortable taking out a home equity line of credit to pay for emergency expenses. But in some cases, this is not a good idea. Many financial institutions are encouraging homeowners to look at their houses as a cash machines, with low interest rates. A lot of baby boomers have done this and are now stuck with higher mortgages. To keep debt from derailing your retirement plans, it is important to meet with an experienced financial advisor to manage your post-retirement cash flow.

The typical worker – between 50 and 65 years old- has saved enough for just two years of working income, even though the median post-retirement life span is about 17 years. Balancing debt and saving for retirement starts with carefully measuring what your income and your expenses will be. Many people facing retirement will be on a fixed-income. It is important to make sure that the income streams have the ability to pay your debt.

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If you are in a financial crisis and are considering filing bankruptcy, contact an experienced Miami bankruptcy attorney who can advise you of all of your options. As an experienced CPA as well as a proven bankruptcy lawyer, Timothy Kingcade knows how to help clients take full advantage of the bankruptcy laws to protect their assets and get successful results. Since 1996 Kingcade & Garcia, P.A. has been helping people from all walks of life build a better tomorrow. Our attorneys’ help thousands of people every year take advantage of their rights under bankruptcy protection to restart, rebuild and recover. The day you hire our firm, we will contact your creditors to stop the harassment. You can also find useful consumer information on the Kingcade & Garcia website at www.miamibankruptcy.com.

Credit, Foreclosures, Timothy Kingcade Posts

NEW Mortgage Protections for Members of the Military

The responsibilities of home ownership and having a mortgage are demanding enough for the average consumer, but the process becomes increasingly more complicated for borrowers who are serving our country.

To help ease these hardships- which include job and relocation stress, along with time constraints- the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has written new mortgage protections for these consumers, which are now in place for military men and women.

Holly Petraeus, head of the CFPB’s military office said the new rules have come after the CFPB conducted nationwide listening sessions and heard stories from military families about poor mortgage servicing practices, inconsistent foreclosure practices and sloppy recordkeeping by lenders. These new rules will help military families struggling with a mortgage and those that just got orders requiring them to relocate.

Some of CFPB’s new rules include:

• Require a servicer to evaluate a borrower for all available options as soon as they receive an application for mortgage help.

• Servicers must have policies in place to ensure consistent and constant contact with borrowers.

• One of the big changes relates to what is known as dual-tracking. In the past, a member of the military struggling to make a mortgage payment might have been working on a potential loan modification at the same time their servicer was moving to foreclose on the home. This practice is now restricted under the new rules.

• Eliminate the issue of misplacing documents and other factors that make it hard for borrowers to get accurate and consistent answers regarding their mortgage.

• Mortgage servicers are now required to train their employees to be more readily able to answer questions for borrowers who run into trouble and must assign someone to help military borrowers to ensure a positive experience.

• In the past, service members had to apply multiple times for programs to help keep their homes. The new rules require mortgage servicers to evaluate a borrower who files a complete application for help for all the options that are available to that borrower. This will eliminate multiple rounds of applications.

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Choosing the right attorney can make the difference between whether or not you can keep your home. A well-qualified Miami foreclosure defense attorney will not only help you keep your home, but they will be able to negotiate a loan that has payments you can afford. Miami foreclosure defense attorney Timothy Kingcade has helped many facing foreclosure alleviate their stress by letting them stay in their homes for at least another year, allowing them to re-organize their lives. If you have any questions on the topic of foreclosure please feel free to contact me at (305) 285-9100. You can also find useful consumer information on the Kingcade & Garcia website at www.miamibankruptcy.com.

Bankruptcy Law, Foreclosures, Timothy Kingcade Posts

Foreclosures Hit Lowest Level in More than Six Years

Banks took back 30,226 homes last month, a 4 percent drop from December, according to RealtyTrac. Lenders have repossessed fewer U.S. homes in January, bringing the number of foreclosures down to its lowest level in more than six years.

Even with the recent drop, many states posted a sharp increase in the number of homes entering the foreclosure process for the first time, a trend that raises the likelihood that those states will see a surge in foreclosed homes later this year.

It looks as if the U.S. housing market has finally emerged from its slump. Home prices have steadily increased, there has been steady job growth and more homeowners are keeping up with their mortgage payments.

Florida and New York, two states which continue to have a backlog of homes with unpaid mortgages, are only now entering the foreclosure process or being scheduled for auction. Foreclosures peaked in 2010 at 1.05 million and have been declining ever since.

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Choosing the right attorney can make the difference between whether or not you can keep your home. A well-qualified Miami foreclosure defense attorney will not only help you keep your home, but they will be able to negotiate a loan that has payments you can afford. Miami foreclosure defense attorney Timothy Kingcade has helped many facing foreclosure alleviate their stress by letting them stay in their homes for at least another year, allowing them to re-organize their lives. If you have any questions on the topic of foreclosure please feel free to contact me at (305) 285-9100. You can also find useful consumer information on the Kingcade & Garcia website at www.miamibankruptcy.com.

Bankruptcy Law, Credit, Timothy Kingcade Posts

1 in 4 Families Face Medical Debt Crisis

According to a recent report released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), one out of every four American families struggled with medical debt last year. Even more compelling is the fact that one out of every 10 individuals with medical debt is “unable to pay at all.” The typical American family of four had total healthcare costs exceeding $22,000 last year, which included out-of-pocket costs of $3,600.

The nation’s out-of-pocket healthcare costs for 2013 are estimated to have totaled $322 billion, representing a significant amount of debt. Millions of these medical accounts are sent to collection agencies annually. Medical bills comprise more than half of the accounts in collections, according to research by the Federal Reserve.

Families that had children under the age of 18 were more at risk of falling into financial trouble due to medical expenses, along with those families who were within 250 percent of the federal poverty level.

The report revealed that having a mixture of coverage types increased the chances of families falling victim to medical debt. For example, a family of four with two individuals on Medicaid and two individuals on private insurance had an increased risk.

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Medical bills can be financially devastating- even if you have health insurance and are employed. Filing for bankruptcy can eliminate your medical debt and give you a fresh financial start. If you are in a financial crisis and are considering filing bankruptcy, contact an experienced Miami bankruptcy attorney who can advise you of all of your options. As an experienced CPA as well as a proven bankruptcy lawyer, Timothy Kingcade knows how to help clients take full advantage of the bankruptcy laws to protect their assets and get successful results. Since 1996 Kingcade & Garcia, P.A. has been helping people from all walks of life build a better tomorrow. Our attorneys’ help thousands of people every year take advantage of their rights under bankruptcy protection to restart, rebuild and recover. The day you hire our firm, we will contact your creditors to stop the harassment. You can also find useful consumer information on the Kingcade & Garcia website at www.miamibankruptcy.com.

Related Resources:
http://www.foxbusiness.com/personal-finance/2014/01/15/how-long-does-it-take-for-medical-debt-to-go-to-collections/

Bankruptcy Law, Credit, Timothy Kingcade Posts

Medical Debt: The Number One Cause of Personal Bankruptcy

This year it is expected that 1.7 million American households will be forced to file for bankruptcy due to overwhelming medical debt. This makes medical debt the largest cause of personal bankruptcy filings- surpassing credit card bills and unpaid mortgages, according to new data. Even having health insurance does not shield many Americans from the weight of medical debt.

According to recent data, 25 million Americans hesitate to take their medications in an effort to control medical costs. However, delaying the needed medication is only a short-term fix which can often result in expensive emergency room visits or worse.

More than 20 percent of the population between the ages of 19 and 64 will struggle to pay some sort of medical debt. High-deductible insurance plans, requiring consumers to pay more out-of-pocket expenses, are the most challenging for Americans. With the average American family bringing home just $50,000 a year, an unexpected medical bill coupled with a high-deductible insurance premium can quickly become unmanageable debt.

Obamacare is not likely to fix the problem. While the Affordable Care Act will give more people coverage, those with year-round coverage are likely to still be overwhelmed with medical debt. The number of households forecast to file for medical-related bankruptcies this year is three out of every five filings.

Data from NerdWallet Health revealed that 15 million people will deplete their savings to cover unexpected medical bills. Another 10 million will be unable to pay for necessities such as rent, food and utilities because of those bills.

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If you are in a financial crisis and are considering filing bankruptcy, contact an experienced Miami bankruptcy attorney who can advise you of all of your options. As an experienced CPA as well as a proven bankruptcy lawyer, Timothy Kingcade knows how to help clients take full advantage of the bankruptcy laws to protect their assets and get successful results. Since 1996 Kingcade & Garcia, P.A. has been helping people from all walks of life build a better tomorrow. Our attorneys’ help thousands of people every year take advantage of their rights under bankruptcy protection to restart, rebuild and recover. The day you hire our firm, we will contact your creditors to stop the harassment. You can also find useful consumer information on the Kingcade & Garcia website at www.miamibankruptcy.com.

Bankruptcy Law, Credit, Timothy Kingcade Posts

Distressed Real Estate Continues to Hold Down Miami-Dade’s Housing Market

According to a recent report from Core Logic, distressed real estate continues to put a damper on Miami-Dade’s housing market. New numbers show a nearly four-point spread between price gains in the overall housing market and price gains when distressed sales are eliminated. That is higher than the one-point spread nationwide and Broward’s spread of 1.5 percentage points.

In Miami-Dade, home prices increased 10.6 percent at the end of 2013 compared to the end of 2012. When leaving out sales of distressed properties (i.e. – sales by banks or homes in the foreclosure process) the gain would have been 14.5 percent, Core Logic said.

In Broward, the overall market saw prices rise 13.7 percent. Leaving out sales of distressed properties, the gains were 15.2 percent. Nationwide, it was an 11-percent gain for all property sales and a gain of 9.9 percent for non-distressed properties, according to Core Logic.

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Choosing the right attorney can make the difference between whether or not you can keep your home. A well-qualified Miami foreclosure defense attorney will not only help you keep your home, but they will be able to negotiate a loan that has payments you can afford. Miami foreclosure defense attorney Timothy Kingcade has helped many facing foreclosure alleviate their stress by letting them stay in their homes for at least another year, allowing them to re-organize their lives. If you have any questions on the topic of foreclosure please feel free to contact me at (305) 285-9100. You can also find useful consumer information on the Kingcade & Garcia website at www.miamibankruptcy.com.