วันพุธที่ 14 พฤษภาคม พ.ศ. 2551

Paying More Attention to Personal Injuries

By Karen Moris



Many people are victims of personal injuries due to irresponsible behaviors, recklessness and negligence. This has been a common situation in the modern society because intolerance and disrespect is a part of a person's thoughts and actions.

If you have been hurt or experienced personal injury, you may take legal action and complain about the personal damages that you have suffered and the materials that have been wasted and damaged.

This may be the option but if you are going to look at it, it is worthless and time consuming because for most cases, the victim does not receive money for his compensation which includes the cost of the damages, the medical expenses and the private treatment for his recovery from the accident.

Several cases are related to the long-term processes and the personal injury that does not let the victim benefit from the civil damages and those that require medical attention in order to get their emotional stability and tranquility back.

If you have experienced personal injury, you need to seek the advice of an attorney before you establish your claim even if you do not consult a specialist in the field. With this situation, you can be sure that your case is valid before the law.

You need to have your own lawyer whether you like it or not because the lawyer will be the one to handle your case and take care of the proceedings. Some people may have been injured of the accidents while some from medical malpractice.

Some people may have intentionally harmed another mentally and physically. In this case, another person is made responsible for causing the personal injury. The individual who have caused the injury should pay the compensation for all the damages that are made.

In cases such as these, legal professional guidance play an important role to represent you during the whole process of the court because the direction of the case will the result depend on. The lawyers will be able to respond to your compensation leaving you well-compensated by the insurance companies with all the health care and other services that you need. It will also include loss of income and the damaged items.


For more information regarding the author and the article please visit PI Los Angeles Attorneys

วันอังคารที่ 13 พฤษภาคม พ.ศ. 2551

5 Bankruptcy Questions To Ask Your Attorney Before Filing

By Darnell Scott

If you think that being bankrupt is the worst thing that could happen to you than think again! Yes you are right�Worst is yet to come, but of course you can control and eliminate that worst scenario by simply making correct decisions! Hiring a wrong attorney for filing your bankruptcy can be like a nightmare coming true!

So it is better that before hiring you do some research and make sure that you find an attorney who could really show you way attorney who could really show you way out from the bankruptcy mess!

Facts about selecting the Attorneys:

As most of the attorneys are usually overworked, they aren't able to give ear to full details of your case. You may feel that your attorney isn't pursuing your case the way you want him to pursue and ultimately you will feel irritated.

Many of the attorneys aren't qualified enough to lead your bankruptcy case. So such attorneys don't fulfill your expectations. Certificates are important indicators to judge whether the attorney is qualified enough or not.

Asking from friends won't take you to any good lawyer, unless your friend has gone through filing for bankruptcy but it may be useful to take advice from legal professionals.

You can even go to a bankruptcy court and observe the attorneys there. Maybe during your observation, you will find some attorneys who are good enough for you. Once you find the attorney, you can satisfy yourself completely by asking him the right questions. A short conversation can tell you a lot about the attorney you have chosen. You can ask him about his expertise and his working and consultation hours. After conversation, you can evaluate the attorney to see if that attorney is really right for you or not!

Once you select the attorney, you must discuss with him what type of bankruptcy should you file? There are eight different types for filing bankruptcy. You attorney can best point out which type suits you for filing bankruptcy.

Secondly, you need to ask him how you can file for bankruptcy. You have to file for your bankruptcy in the state where you are living. The Attorney can prepare the necessary paperwork that would be needed to present to the courts.

Thirdly, you must know the fees that are involved in the filing for bankruptcy. The total fees will comprise of the attorney's fees plus the court fees that you need to submit to file for your bankruptcy.

Fourth, you must know where you should file your bankruptcy claim. You need to consult your attorney on how to get there and what documentation is required. Finally you must know the after effects of filing for bankruptcy. As soon as you file for bankruptcy, creditors will receive notification from the courts and will not be allowed to contact debtor for payments. A hearing in court will be set. The case will proceed depending on type of bankruptcy filed.

Remember that this is your fight, so you have to be really involved in it and follow the case. You just cannot leave everything on the attorney!

Are you looking for more thorough information on filing for bankruptcy? Or have the idea of filing for bankruptcy ever crossed your mind? If so feel free to visit our debt consolidation blog for more information on the procedures and what you must know before filing.

วันจันทร์ที่ 12 พฤษภาคม พ.ศ. 2551

Do I Need a Residential Lease or Rental Agreement?

By David Fagan

The fact is most states only allow a oral contract between the tenant and landlord to be legal for a short period of time, because oral contracts often go to court it is necessary to have a written lease or rental agreement. The rental or lease agreement is used to specify the length of tenancy, the amount to pay, the number of people living on the property, pets, who pays utilities, whether your allowed to sub lease the property, when the landlord can access the property, and who is responsible for paying attorney fees if there is a lawsuit.

The difference between a rental agreement and a lease agreement is a rental agreement is automatically renewed (usually on a month to month basis) and the landlord can change the terms with "proper written notice."

A lease agreement is only for a set term, usually 6 months or more. The lease agreement allows the tenant stay on the property as long as he/she pays the rent and complies with the terms. A lease agreement does not automatically renew itself.

If you need a lease or rental agreement usually the local office supply store is not your best option. These forms may sometimes be out of date or often use too much legal jargon to easily understand. The best place to look is online, and try to find a website with a money back guarantee or satisfaction guaranteed, these places are good about updating a form as soon as theirs a complaint or they notice out of date forms.

This article was brought to you by LegalFormsBank.biz where you can download your state's specific up-to-date Residential Lease Form, Residential Lease Contract, or Residential Lease Agreement Form.

วันอาทิตย์ที่ 11 พฤษภาคม พ.ศ. 2551

3 Strategies For Buying Property With No Money Down

By Donna Robinson

Everyone has heard a story or read about someone who bought a property without paying a single dime as a down payment. But how does this work?

There are several "classic" methods commonly used to purchase real estate with no money down. There are an infinite variety of situations in a real estate transaction that could lead to a deal with no down payment. But for the sake of reality, I will focus on those that are most commonly seen in the current market.

1. Seller second - The buyer obtains a new first mortgage for most but not all of the total purchase price. The seller finances the rest.

Purchase price: $100,000

Buyers loan: $90,000 (90% LTV) (new first mortgage)

Sellers finances $10,000 (in the form of a new second mortgage)

The buyer has borrowed 100% of the purchase price. Thus, you have100% financing, and no down payment was paid by buyer.

This is not a difficult strategy to employ if the seller has enough equity, is willing to hold a second, and the first mortgage lender approves.

One thing that is not mentioned in most articles about this strategy is the requirement for lender approval. The lender who is making the 90% loan will have to agree to allow the seller to take back a second mortgage. In cases where the buyer has better credit, this is usually OK with the lender. But if the buyer has a lower credit score, the lender may not approve of this. If your credit score is on the lower side, but you have good documented income, you may still qualify.

Herein lies the fundamental issue that makes it so difficult to write about your financing options and what to expect:

The fact is that lenders who are making the first mortgages on a property can change the rules or make new rules in the middle of a deal. Therefore every deal is different. Every buyer's credit and income are different and lenders vary in their underwriting requirements.

It is a moving target. So while it can be said that you can get a 100% loan to buy a property, there are usually specific credit requirements, income requirements, etc. It makes this game rather unpredictable.

Talk to your lender ahead of time and find out if creative financing options such as a seller second would be allowed. Make sure you have a lender who is used to working on investment property loans. Some mortgage companies only have programs for owner occupants. You need to go to a lender who specializes in loans for investors.

2. Another common way to obtain a no down payment loan is to utilize one of the many low or no down payment programs that exist. Many of these are intended for owner occupants, but some are available for investors. Again, it is important to talk to the right lender.

If you have an investment property that you want to sell, consider taking back a second mortgage for 5-10%. This is not a huge amount, and it can help you sell your property faster.

When it comes to finding a seller who will help you create a no money down deal, consider buying from an investor who is willing to be flexible. Some investors are willing to do creative financing simply because they understand that it helps them sell houses. It never hurts to make an offer that includes a seller second. You never know until you ask.

There are some points to remember when purchasing investment property with no money down. A key point is the comparison of monthly payments to expected rental income. When you are financing 100% of the purchase price, your payments will be higher. If you have a second mortgage payment to add to a first mortgage, your payment may be even higher. Be sure your rental income will cover the entire monthly payment.

3. More common among professional investors is buying wholesale properties, using hard money to purchase and rehab.

When the rehab is done, you get a new mortgage that pays off the hard money loan. Since this is a refinance, you can take cash out of the property. You may have to bring some money to closing on the hard money loan, but you get it all back when you refinance, so you end up with no money out of pocket. This becomes not only a "no down payment" deal, but also a "cash back at closing" deal.

It works like this:

Purchase price $100,000

Repairs $15,000

Hard money loan $115,000

Purchase and repair, then get new loan to pay off hard money.

New loan is based on 90% of After Repair Value.

For our example, the ARV is $150,000

90% of $150,000 is $135,000.

New loan for $135,000. Subtract hard money loan pay off of $115,000 leaves $20,000.

You keep the extra $20,000 in cash, tax free since it is a loan, rent your house out and let the tenant pay the loan back.

Your gross profit is $20,000 cash and $15,000 equity. Total gross profit $35,000. Not too bad for a couple months work.

Down payment by definition means specifically money that is used to "pay down" the total purchase price. This does not include money for closing costs, points, interest, and other items such as insurance. But if you are buying wholesale properties, fixing them and refinancing to pull cash out, you should be able to pay all your expenses and have a nice profit at the end of the day. (Just keep some of that cash in reserve for emergencies)

If you do 3 houses per year, and you only net $25,000 total, after paying all expenses on each of the 3 houses, you are still netting $75,000 cash and equity in about 6 to 8 months. Plus, if you are renting these properties, you are also creating additional streams of income through monthly cash flow as well as accumulating equity in each property.

This is a solid strategy to achieve a retirement nest egg and ongoing income for life in less than 10 years. If you look around at the real estate investors who are wealthy, the vast majority own rental property, be it residential or commercial.

They understand the concept of buying at a discount, then holding their properties for years. They get to the point where their holdings are worth double or triple the price paid. This is free money that you can earn simply by buying and holding long term.

There are wholesaling companies in every major city that specialize in selling fixer upper properties that fit with strategy number 3 in this article.

Look for their signs on the side of the road, their ads in the paper, or ads in local thrifty nickel type shopping papers.

Most deals do require some out of pocket cash, even if it is only temporary, until you refinance.

True no down payment opportunities are pretty rare these days, with interest rates at historic lows. If interest rates go back up, (and they will), we will see more creative financing and more "no down payment" opportunities in the future.

If you are in the Atlanta, GA area, or wish to buy property in the Atlanta area, you can contact me at service@realestatewholesaling.com

I have properties, land, financing sources and property management services for Atlanta investors.

Donna Robinson is a real estate investor, consultant, and author. Her articles are read by thousands of subscribers each month. You may read more of her articles on her website or subscribe to her free newsletter at http://www.RealEstateInvestorHelp.com

วันพฤหัสบดีที่ 17 เมษายน พ.ศ. 2551

Atlanta Bankruptcy Lawyers

Bankruptcy derives its meaning from the Italian word “banca rotta”, which means broken bench. Broken bench represents the ancient Italian custom of breaking a businessman’s trading bench if he did not pay his debts. Over the centuries, the law has been framed to protect the interests of both creditors as well as debtors as a decent way to manage the debtor’s financial crisis. The US bankruptcy law is a court process for managing bankruptcy that may hit both consumers as well as businesses. A bankruptcy lawyer would help to eliminate and repay debts as per the bankruptcy court’s protection system.

Bankruptcy is of two kinds: liquidation and reorganization. Liquidation bankruptcy, covered under Chapter 7, involves the wiping out of the debts by selling nonexempt property and using the credits to pay the creditors. On the other hand, in a reorganization bankruptcy, which is covered under Chapters 11, 12 and 13, the debtor makes a plan to repay either a part of the debt or the entire debt. The pay off period under reorganized bankruptcy is usually around 3 to 5 years.

Hiring a lawyer in a bankruptcy case would prove to be very useful at all stages of the bankruptcy process. Bankruptcy lawyers would help in settling unsecured accounts like credit cards, personal loans, utility bills etc for less than the debt amount, thus providing an alternative to bankruptcy. Bankruptcy lawyers would also help to evaluate the options as to the kind of bankruptcy that has to be filed. They also help to settle assets in order and handle the files if the debts are too large and involve considerable assets.

Bankruptcy forms in Georgia are also similar to those in other states, though some additional forms may be required as per local rules. Atlanta bankruptcy lawyers are bound by the fee guidelines given by the Atlanta bankruptcy court. These fees are similar to those paid to bankruptcy lawyers in other major metropolitan area in the US. While choosing a bankruptcy lawyer in Atlanta, care should be taken to select one who has experience in handling bankruptcy cases and who has a proven track record of handling such cases successfully.

Information about Atlanta bankruptcy lawyers is available in yellow pages, via search engines like Google and Yahoo, and through advertisements of law firms. There are also attorney directories available on the internet which would provide comprehensive information about Atlanta bankruptcy lawyers. Information about Atlanta bankruptcy lawyers is also available through the county bar association and the state Bar Association, which is a part of the American Bar Association. Friends and family members may also provide useful referrals for good bankruptcy lawyers.

Atlanta Lawyers provides detailed information about Atlanta lawyers, Atlanta bankruptcy lawyers, Atlanta business lawyers, and more. Atlanta Lawyers is affiliated with Legal Malpractice.