The Hidden Costs of Owning a Home

The Hidden Costs of Owning of Home -- Lee Legal -- DC foreclosure lawyer

According to the Urban Institute, 63 percent of millennials who bought homes have regrets resulting from underestimating the hidden costs. Zillow found that American homeowners spend nearly $9,400 in hidden costs to own and care for a median-priced home. Let’s first differentiate hidden costs from not-so-hidden costs. Not-so-hidden costs: Mortgage, taxes, and insurance Your mortgage […]

States Should Impose Foreclosure Deadlines on Mortgage Lenders

States Should Impose Foreclosure Deadlines on Mortgage Lenders -- LEE LEGAL -- DC VA MD Foreclosure Prevention Attorney

Individual states should impose foreclosure deadlines on mortgage lenders. Forcing lenders to foreclose within specific timelines would solve several problems facing individual homeowners as well as entire neighborhoods. States must individually legislate changes to foreclosure procedures because foreclosures are governed by state law. Federal law can impose reforms, but states must implement them. The most […]

What Happens to My Debts When I Die?

What Happens to My Debts When I Die? - Lee Legal - DC VA MD

When planning a future for your loved ones, you do not want your legacy to include a mountain of debt. Many people are unaware that their debts can continue to haunt those they leave behind. Whoever you select to manage your estate will serve as the “executor,” and that person is responsible for probate, the […]

Lee Legal Can Diagnose Your Financial Condition

Lee Legal Can Diagnose Your Financial Condition

If you have a medical problem, seek advice from a doctor. If you have an architectural problem, seek advice from an engineer. But if you have a financial problem, you should seek the advice of an attorney. Lee Legal can diagnose your financial condition. Every client receives a free consultation. Debt Collection. If you have […]

How Do Student Loans Affect Taxes?

How do Student Loans Affect Taxes

Student loans affect taxes in ways very different from other long-term debt obligations. Taxes are an inevitability, as noticed by one of our founders. Our new Constitution . . . promises permanency; but in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes. Benjamin Franklin, 1789 For many Americans, another inevitability […]

Top 4 Tax Problems in Bankruptcy

Top 4 Tax Problems in Bankruptcy

The top 4 tax problems in bankruptcy are not particularly easy to avoid. For those facing money problems, taxes are often an afterthought. After all, paying taxes means less money in your paycheck. But the tax problems that most frequently occur in bankruptcy are actually violations of intuitive rules. Tax Problems in Bankruptcy: Chapter 7 […]

Are We All Just Jealous of the 1 Percent?

Jealous of the 1 Percent

Wealth Inequality The Walton family owns Walmart. They also own more wealth than 40 percent of all Americans. The 400 wealthiest people in the nation own more wealth than 61 percent of the country combined, or about 194 million people. Do we envy their wealth? Income Inequality The top 1 percent of Americans makes on average 25 times […]

Debts Discharged in Bankruptcy are Not Taxable

Settled debts must be included in your income taxes If you settle a debt for less than you owe, the balance canceled or forgiven is taxable income. You must report any cancelled or forgiven debts as part of your gross income on your income tax return. The creditor will send you an IRS Form 1099-C […]

How Do I Stop a Garnishment?

How Do I Stop Garnishment?

Garnishment (or “attachment”) is a last-ditch effort at debt collection, a tool of last resort for creditors. When you default on a debt, and the creditor is unsuccessful in recovering on the debt, a judgment may be issued against you to garnish property, bank accounts, or wages. Garnishment can often severely impact your monthly finances, and […]