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My Husband Lied About $350,000 of CRA Debt. What Now?
A READER ASKS: Hello, we are 37 F+M married in Ontario for 17 years. Teenage kids. I make $70k in a government job with pension. He owns a contracting business that he opened about 15 years ago. We are well known. He is very successful with several great employees and we get a lot of business. After expenses and wages he might clear $100k. We have $109,000 in the bank combined, today. Through our entire relationship he has paid for everything in cash. Even multiple vehicles. Trips. He saves for what he wants and buys it. He has never had a credit card. All our finances are separate and we…
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Consumer Proposal Car Ownership Problem
A READER ASKS: My wife is exploring filing a consumer proposal. We have checked with four insolvency trustee offices. We’re confused on vehicle ownership, and we are getting different answers. 3 years ago, we bought our second car (currently worth 28k). For insurance purposes, I was already the primary driver on the first car, so I was advised that to make her primary, the car should be in her name. At that time, I went ahead and purchased the vehicle and put it in her name. However, I used MY line of credit and MY account to issue the bank draft. Our mutual understanding was that the vehicle is MINE…
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My Wife Has Made a Huge Mistake
A READER ASKS: I’ve always been a debt averse person and very conservative with my money. I don’t make a substantial income I grossed $57,000 in 2018 and support my children (1 year and 5 years) and my wife who is currently a stay at home ma, and a great one at that. When my wife and I were married in 2014 we made a joint bank account (added her to my account) and we share our income and expenses freely and equitably. Since then (with a few minor setbacks) we have been able to accumulate $10,000 in savings in our RBC e-savings account, its not much but it took…
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Submitting a consumer proposal to your creditors (Video)
Summary A Licensed Insolvency Trustee explains to Mary and Paul that a consumer proposal might be the way to resolve their financial situation. The trustee tells them how a consumer proposal is different from bankruptcy and what they need to do. Meet Mary. Mary took a job right out of college but recently she has had to take a lot of time off to care for her sick husband, Paul. With reduced income and their debts mounting, they are now considering bankruptcy. Their first step was to visit a Licensed Insolvency Trustee, a professional who is licensed by the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy Canada. To their surprise, the…
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How To Deal with Credit Card Debt
In theory, the process for paying off your credit card debt is rather simple: Review the annual interest rates on all of your credit cards. Focus your financial resources on paying off the credit card balance with the highest rate of interest while maintaining the minimum payments on your other credit card balances. Once the credit card balance with highest interest rate has been paid in full, repeat step 2 for the credit card balance with the next highest interest rate. Repeat this process until all your credit card balances are paid in full. What if you don’t have the financial resources to do this because your income is too…
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Consumer Proposal or Home Equity Loan – Which is Better?
Introduction If you are struggling with high interest credit card debt or balancing multiple loan payments every month you may be looking for a way to consolidate your debt into your home mortgage, a second mortgage or a home equity loan. This assumes that the equity in your home is greater than what you owe. But you need to ask yourself, is this the best option or are there other options that are better? Before going to your bank, mortgage broker or a credit counsellor, you should consider seeing a Licensed Insolvency Trustee (“LIT”) to talk about a consumer proposal. A consumer proposal is a way to combine your unsecured…
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Replacing your Licensed Insolvency Trustee
So you’ve filed your personal bankruptcy or consumer proposal with a Licensed Insolvency Trustee but for whatever reason, you haven’t been happy with the service you’ve received. Is it possible to replace your Trustee? This will depend on the type of engagement you’re currently undergoing. CONSUMER PROPOSAL Your proposal hasn’t yet been approved If you’ve filed a consumer proposal and it’s been deemed approved by your creditors and the bankruptcy court (i.e., it’s been more than 60 days since the day your proposal was filed and no meeting of creditors has been called), then you’re stuck with your Trustee. However, if your consumer proposal has not yet been deemed approved…
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How will a Trump Presidency affect you? A guide for Canadians
TRUMP PRESIDENCY – INTRODUCTION As we head into the year 2017, we are faced with the possible consequences of a Trump Presidency; consequences that will reverberate throughout the world. Trump will certainly have an impact of the geopolitical landscape, but the economic impact of his administration will be even more acute, particularly within countries with high levels of household debt. One of the most significant impacts of “Trumponomics” will be on interest rates. President Trump has promised a massive infrastructure rebuilding program in the United States of $1 Trillion dollars. This has already had an impact on the bond market – yields have increased due to expectations of inflation. This…
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How creditors approve consumer proposals
When a consumer proposal is filed by a Licensed Insolvency Trustee with the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy (“OSB”), the trustee will send a copy of the proposal to your creditors for their review and evaluation. Your creditors have 45 days from the date your proposal was filed with the OSB to contact your trustee and file the following legal documents: a proof of claim – this a statement signed by the creditor (and witnessed) with supporting documentation indicating that the creditor is owed money by you. a voting letter – this is a document indicating that the creditor shall be : voting in favour of the consumer proposal…
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Case Study: the Student
Student With Credit Card Debt Kerri (not her real name) was a third-year student enrolled at York University working towards the completion of her psychology degree. She had accumulated credit card debt since her first year of university after applying for a credit card on campus. She had $12,000 in credit card debt. In addition to this, she also had $10,000 in government student loan debts under OSAP. Student Loans Aren’t Discharged As Kerri was still a student, she was well aware that there was nothing we can do about her student loan debt. Under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act, student loans granted under a provincial or federal program cannot…
