Crushing Debt

Julie Shopa is a Profit First certified professional and, through her business, Clarity Finances helps her clients with bookkeeping and interpreting the financial health of her clients using the system created by Mike Michalowicz in his book Profit First.   The Profit First system focuses on the formula "Sales - Profit = Expenses" rather than "Sales - Expenses = Profit."  The system focuses on the...

This is the third Thanksgiving that The Crushing Debt Podcast has been in existence, but this is the first Thanksgiving where I have released an episode. I thought it would be a good idea to talk about what I'm thankful for in 2017. What are you thankful for in 2017? What great things have happened for you in 2017? Who do you want to mention in 2017? Please let us know all the great things that ha...

Polly Bauer is the go-to expert for all things credit. After 35 years as a global credit expert, including consulting with major credit card organizations and multi-billion dollar corporations, she believes that credit is the new money. It's energy. Past President & CEO of Home Shopping Network Credit Corporation, two-time award winning Author of books about credit, International corporate speaker...

In this week's episode, I interview Tonya Lonsbury, a realtor with Berkshire Hathaway Home Services. I first met Tonya a few years ago when she worked for a marketing company, but then she left Florida to pursue some other opportunities in Tennessee and Atlanta, GA. Now, Tonya is back!  Tonya has a very strong background and understanding of the home buying and selling process as well as mortgage...

My community has a garage sale twice a year and in this Fall's community garage sale, a lesson occurred to me - presentation is everything. In episode 68 of the podcast, I analogized creditor negotiations with negotiating at a Garage Sale. In this week's episode, I share negotiation lessons that I learned from participating in our community garage sale, specifically regarding how an item's present...

Just a few days prior to Halloween, I get to discuss a scary topic - ZOMBIE DEBT !! You'll likely have a few Zombies show up to your house on Halloween, but we're talking about a different type of undead... Zombie Debt is debt that was eliminated because it is beyond the statute of limitations, it was charged off, it was eliminated in bankruptcy, it was paid off, or something else happened to make...

This week's episode is one of my favorites, because I get to share a success story around a client who was being chased (harassed) for over $21,000 related to the repossession of a jet ski.  The best part about this story is that I was able to convince the creditor to leave my client alone and drop the debt entirely - from $21,000 owed to $0 owed !! How did I do it?  You have to listed to the epis...

In this week's episode of the podcast, I look at the last 9 requests to Freddie Mac to take people off of their Exclusionary List.  If you want to hear more about the Exclusionary List, please listen to Episode 32.  This episode is about different things I've learned in trying to get people off of the List - my successes and failures. I would appreciate if you would share this episode with a mortg...

In this week's episode of the Podcast, we talk about debts that are non-dischargeable, meaning these debts are not eliminated by a bankruptcy filing.  The episode comes from from a listener question about a debt arising from domestic violence. Some examples of non-dischargeable debt include: - Certain Income Tax Liabilities - Debts that arise from fraud - Debts that relate to injury or damage rela...

In this week's episode, we interview Samantha Dammer, owner of Tampa Law Advocates to discuss Chapter 7 Bankruptcy for businesses. Samantha has been practicing just as long as I have - 18 years as of the recording of the podcast episode, and has been practicing bankruptcy in Florida for 10 years. Some of the issues we discuss: - When would a Chapter 7 be appropriate for a business - Why would a bu...

In this week's episode, I welcome my friend Matt Lapointe, an attorney with the firm Blalock Walters in Brandenton, FL. Matt and I were talking recently about the number of clients I have who all fear being taken to prison for failure to pay a debt - called debtor's prison.  In fact, debtor's prison no longer exists and so Matt, a self-described history buff researched the issue of debtor's prison...

I found an interesting article about success rates in Chapter 13, reorganization cases that I summarize in this week's episode. For purposes of the article and podcast, "Success" means that the debtor completed all payments in his Chapter 13 bankruptcy.  The results are interesting in determining: - Should you file individually or jointly with a spouse? - Should you file on your own or with an att...

In this week's episode, I interview Paul Moore with Wellings Capital, and author of The Perfect Investment. Paul and I discuss strategies to minimize tax liability.  As a disclaimer, neither me or Paul are CPA's, Tax Attorneys, or otherwise, but we both have some knowledge and experience with the material. We discuss strategies like: - Investing in Real Estate - Hiring a Tax Strategist - Use Cost...

In this week's episode of the podcast, I interview Jocelyn Paonita from The Scholarship System. This was one of my favorite interviews. Jocelyn was able to have her entire college education paid for by scholarships. The Scholarship System helps people find scholarships for students at all levels of education, wherever scholarships may be available. Student loan debt is a serious issue in our econo...

This week's episode was recorded during a Referrals for Life social at my house. I had 5 guests: Tom Fleming- TomF@BNI.com  (BNI Executive Director and Asentiv Trainer) Rob Kellog - R ob@FastBreakMarketingTeam.com  (Fast Break Entertainment and Brewing Up Business) Tiffanie Kellog - TiffanieK@asentiv.com  (Asentiv Trainer, Fast Break Entertainment and Brewing Up Business) Jason Avery - Jason@Avery...

In this week's episode of the podcast, we talk about whether a quit claim deed or a quiet title lawsuit can stop a foreclosure, from a listener of the podcast! Many people believe that transferring a home to a third party and then filing a quiet title lawsuit will defeat a foreclosure lawsuit.  Unfortunately, under FL law, the answer is "no." How I get to that answer is in this week's episode. If...

This week's episode is Part II of my interview with Bryan Levine of Knox Levine, PA. IN this week's episode, we talk about the different enforcement mechanisms available to Homeowner and Condominium Associations. When can they claim a lien? What are they entitled to collect? If you are on the Board of your association, and you live in Florida, please call our friend Bryan Levine to represent your...

In this week's episode, we discuss what happens to surplus funds when someone buys a house at a foreclosure auction.  Surplus funds exist when the winning bidder paid more than the amount owed to the bank. This week's episode is a product of another listener question, and is an interesting take on a long-standing Florida Law regarding the association's ability to collect assessments against someon...

In this week's episode, we interview Bryan Levine.  Bryan is a partner at Knox Levine, a firm that focuses on representing condominium and homeowner associations. Recently, Florida passed a law known as the "Estoppel Law," Senate Bill 398.  This new law governs certain aspects of what an association can or cannot do when issuing an estoppel letters - those letters that associations issue to let th...

In this week's episode of the Crushing Debt Podcast, I answer more listener questions, like: 1. Can you finance a car while in a Chapter 13 bankruptcy? 2. Can a landlord garnish wages? 3. Does it pay to fight a lawsuit against me seeking $1,200? 4. Is a homeowner entitled to surplus funds following a foreclosure sale? 5. Can sellers change their mind about selling their property? Thank you for sup...

In this week's episode, we talk about the intersection of bankruptcy and condominium / homeowner association law. Many times, people don't understand that they still owe their homeowner association or condominium association even though they filed bankruptcy. This is because the bankruptcy code says that assessments due post-filing (post-petition) are not dischargeable, or are debts that are unaff...

In this week's episode, we interview Richard Ficca, owner of Florida Coastal Insurance. Rich is a friend, referral partner, and mentor.  Rich has built a multi-million dollar insurance company.  He's been in the insurance industry for over 21 years, 15 of that as an instructor for other insurance agencies.  Rich is also an insurance agency valuation expert. Rich talks all about hurricane preparedn...

We recently had our neighborhood garage sale, and it occurred to me that I could use that opportunity to practice my negotiation skills with very little risk. When negotiating, you need to have two things in mind: 1. What is your price (either as a buyer or as a seller)?  Know your value and be confident about it.  When dealing with a creditor, know your financial information, so you can be confid...

In this week's episode, we interview Tom Wolf, a business coach, author and speaker here in the Tampa Bay area. Tom's business excels at helping business owners to leverage themselves, so they can work on their business instead of in their business.  Tom has an interesting and diverse background.  He has owned an IT Staffing Company, 10 Great Clips Franchises.  Tom has a lot of experience in build...

Another week, another listener question. In this episode we answer a realtor question: "How does someone rent out a house in Foreclosure?  Is this a scam?  It is in the MLS" Interestingly, this is not, necessarily, a legal question.  It may be a moral question. What do you think?  Let me know if you think it should be proper to rent out your house while the house is in foreclosure. Shawn@Yesnerlaw...