Here's a review I just posed on Amazon.com about a book I liked a lot, Bounce Back from Bankruptcy by Paula Langguth Ryan:
Bounce Back from Bankruptcy is Boffo, March 21, 2009
By
Joseph C. McDaniel (Phoenix, Arizona) - See all my reviews I love this little book. It's easy to read, well laid out, and absolutely without pretension. It's written by a nice lady who went through bankruptcy and got scammed after she filed by a company which offered her a credit card if she jumped through the right (expensive) hoops with their company. The result, after a year of effort and expense, wasn't pretty. But like everybody who becomes successful, she took the money she was scammed out of as just another tuition payment, and worked harder to find ways to rehabilitate her credit. And she did. It took her longer than it should have, which she freely admits (she wasn't able to purchase a new home for six years, which is much longer than if you do it right). The good news is that if you read her book, you'll avoid a lot of the common credit repair scams (she carefully describes a couple of the more cynical) and, for that matter, you'll also avoid a series of other scams for the unwary who have filed and received their discharge. She addresses bread and butter issues, and doesn't assume that her readers, most of whom have filed a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, know anything at all about cleaning up their credit (which she describes in great detail, starting with how to get credit reports), her personal philosophy of reaffirmations (which is similar to my own), debts that didn't get discharged, secured credit cards, renting a place to live after filing a bankruptcy, traveling without a credit card, and more. Is it a perfect book? No, but it's very good. In particular, it takes topics that could easily frighten and overwhelm a recent Chapter 7 bankruptcy debtor, and slices and dices them until they're not overwhelming, or even difficult. And she devotes a few pages to pop psychology designed to make people feel better about their situation and themselves, which can't do any harm, and might well do some good. After you read this book, reading more detailed discussions of the subtopics would probably be a good idea. But just reading this provides a nice overview for a consumer debtor, and even though this book won't turn a debtor into an av rated, avvo 10 board certified bankruptcy lawyer, it will probably make them much more comfortable that they can negotiate the shoals of the credit ocean much more easily than if they didn't read it. One tiny, picky item that drove me crazy was that she frequently used the phrase, "after your bankruptcy is discharged", and similar phrases. She's a really smart woman, but the phrase is "after you receive your discharge". A discharge is an order of the court, a permanent injunction that tells most creditors to freeze in place and take no further action, ever, to collect their debts. That, however, is a tiny quibble. It's a very nice book, and debtors would be well advised to read it as a starting point to getting their credit back on track. I practice Bankruptcy Law in Phoenix, Arizona, and I'm going to suggest to my clients that they read it to lower their blood pressure. Nothing in the above should be considered legal advice; it's just a book review! But you would also be well-advised to read it if you're contemplating bankruptcy, whether a Chapter 7 or Chapter 13, because you'll get a head start on your credit cleanup and protection project.
Bounce Back from Bankruptcy is Boffo, March 21, 2009
By
Joseph C. McDaniel (Phoenix, Arizona) - See all my reviews I love this little book. It's easy to read, well laid out, and absolutely without pretension. It's written by a nice lady who went through bankruptcy and got scammed after she filed by a company which offered her a credit card if she jumped through the right (expensive) hoops with their company. The result, after a year of effort and expense, wasn't pretty. But like everybody who becomes successful, she took the money she was scammed out of as just another tuition payment, and worked harder to find ways to rehabilitate her credit. And she did. It took her longer than it should have, which she freely admits (she wasn't able to purchase a new home for six years, which is much longer than if you do it right). The good news is that if you read her book, you'll avoid a lot of the common credit repair scams (she carefully describes a couple of the more cynical) and, for that matter, you'll also avoid a series of other scams for the unwary who have filed and received their discharge. She addresses bread and butter issues, and doesn't assume that her readers, most of whom have filed a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, know anything at all about cleaning up their credit (which she describes in great detail, starting with how to get credit reports), her personal philosophy of reaffirmations (which is similar to my own), debts that didn't get discharged, secured credit cards, renting a place to live after filing a bankruptcy, traveling without a credit card, and more. Is it a perfect book? No, but it's very good. In particular, it takes topics that could easily frighten and overwhelm a recent Chapter 7 bankruptcy debtor, and slices and dices them until they're not overwhelming, or even difficult. And she devotes a few pages to pop psychology designed to make people feel better about their situation and themselves, which can't do any harm, and might well do some good. After you read this book, reading more detailed discussions of the subtopics would probably be a good idea. But just reading this provides a nice overview for a consumer debtor, and even though this book won't turn a debtor into an av rated, avvo 10 board certified bankruptcy lawyer, it will probably make them much more comfortable that they can negotiate the shoals of the credit ocean much more easily than if they didn't read it. One tiny, picky item that drove me crazy was that she frequently used the phrase, "after your bankruptcy is discharged", and similar phrases. She's a really smart woman, but the phrase is "after you receive your discharge". A discharge is an order of the court, a permanent injunction that tells most creditors to freeze in place and take no further action, ever, to collect their debts. That, however, is a tiny quibble. It's a very nice book, and debtors would be well advised to read it as a starting point to getting their credit back on track. I practice Bankruptcy Law in Phoenix, Arizona, and I'm going to suggest to my clients that they read it to lower their blood pressure. Nothing in the above should be considered legal advice; it's just a book review! But you would also be well-advised to read it if you're contemplating bankruptcy, whether a Chapter 7 or Chapter 13, because you'll get a head start on your credit cleanup and protection project.
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