Stephanie Lane has been a licensed attorney
in Ohio for fourteen years, practicing before federal, state and local
courts. She is co-founder and partner of a boutique Cleveland law firm
that concentrates in such areas as contract disputes, employment and civil
rights, foreclosures and collections, and landlord-tenant issues.
She has assisted financially-challenged individuals and businesses in obtaining
satisfactory debt workouts, mortgage loan modifications, and bankruptcy
relief. Before entering private practice, she interned for two years with the
Ohio Civil Rights Commission. She graduated from the University of Akron
with a B.A. in Public Speaking and Interpersonal Communications, magna cum
laude, in 1995, and earned her law degree (J.D.) in 1998 from Case Western Reserve
University.
Find Stephanie at Schmelzer & Lane LLC. Stephanie can also be found on google+, Nolo, & Alllaw.
Articles By Stephanie Lane
If you default on your car loan, the lender may repossess your vehicle and then it might go after you for the deficiency.
Whether you have to pay the entire balance of your car loan to get your car back after repossession depends on where you live and the terms of your car loan agreement.
I'm late on my truck payments and am pretty certain that the bank will try to repossess it. I keep the truck locked in my garage during the day while I am at work.
If the statute of limitations—the time period in which a creditor must sue you—has run on an old credit card debt, a collection agency can still contact you and ask you to pay up. Read on to learn what the statute of limitations is, and why the creditor or collector can still demand payment from you.
When you owe money on a debt but can't afford to pay it, a creditor has the right to sue you and get a judgment. If this happens to you, you should be aware of a growing trend used by some bill collectors to make you pay -- jail time. Is There Still Such a Thing as “Debtor's Prisons?” Debtor's prisons
When a debt buyer parks an old debt on your credit report or re-ages an account, it might be violating the FCRA.
If you are in the military and have defaulted on a car loan, the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA) provides you with special protections against the repossession of your car.
Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), you have a right to the fair and accurate reporting of your credit information.
Filing for bankruptcy without your spouse might be a good option if you have lots of debts and you'd like to preserve your spouse's credit.
Once a mortgage lender gets a deficiency judgment against you, it can then collect on that judgment.
