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	<title>Matt Berkus</title>
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	<description>Bankruptcy and Debt Relief</description>
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		<title>Better Life Through Bankruptcy</title>
		<link>http://www.mattberkus.com/blog/2013/05/better-life-through-bankruptcy/</link>
		<comments>http://www.mattberkus.com/blog/2013/05/better-life-through-bankruptcy/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 16 May 2013 12:00:48 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Matt Berkus</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Motivation and Insight - Debt Freedom]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[bankruptcy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[debt freedom]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[get out of debt]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.mattberkus.com/blog/?p=929</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[If you are in debt, using your credit cards to make ends meet, and living pay check to pay check, you don’t need me to remind you of the stress you are under. Financial troubles have a way of slowly getting worse; then one morning, after a restless sleep, you wake up and wonder how [...]]]></description>
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		<title>Bankruptcy Myth: Debts Owed to Government are Non-Dischargeable</title>
		<link>http://www.mattberkus.com/blog/2013/05/bankruptcy-myth-debts-owed-to-government-are-non-dischargeable/</link>
		<comments>http://www.mattberkus.com/blog/2013/05/bankruptcy-myth-debts-owed-to-government-are-non-dischargeable/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 14 May 2013 12:00:40 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Matt Berkus</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Chapter 7 Bankruptcy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[bankruptcy myths]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[government debts]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.mattberkus.com/blog/?p=915</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[A prevailing bankruptcy myth is that debts owed to the government, in general, cannot be discharged in bankruptcy. I have seen both debtors and attorneys fall prey to this myth. I suppose the underlying assumption is that because the government makes the bankruptcy law, that it would except debts owed to it from being eliminated [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>The Death of King FICO, How To Make Credit Scores Meaningless?</title>
		<link>http://www.mattberkus.com/blog/2013/05/the-death-of-king-fico-how-to-make-credit-scores-meaningless/</link>
		<comments>http://www.mattberkus.com/blog/2013/05/the-death-of-king-fico-how-to-make-credit-scores-meaningless/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 09 May 2013 22:43:36 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Matt Berkus</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Credit Reporting]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Motivation and Insight - Debt Freedom]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Thrifty Living]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[credit repair]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[credit score]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.mattberkus.com/blog/?p=923</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[“Let us sit upon the ground and tell sad stories of the death of kings.” (William Shakespeare, King Richard II, Act II, scene II). The tale I wish to tell is that of the death of King FICO. King FICO became a despotic ruler, a deceiver and manipulator of his subjects. He created a Caste [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.mattberkus.com/blog/2013/05/the-death-of-king-fico-how-to-make-credit-scores-meaningless/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
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		<title>IRS Offer In Compromise Myths</title>
		<link>http://www.mattberkus.com/blog/2013/05/irs-offer-in-compromise-myths/</link>
		<comments>http://www.mattberkus.com/blog/2013/05/irs-offer-in-compromise-myths/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 07 May 2013 19:42:26 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Matt Berkus</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Tax Debt]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[back tax]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[offer in compromise]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.mattberkus.com/blog/?p=910</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[An individual can settle back tax debt. But thanks to years of numerous T.V. ads of several tax relief companies (now out of business) the general perception is that an IRS Offer in Compromise is easy. Although the IRS has made some changes to the Offer In Compromise program, the rate at which the IRS [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<title>Can Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Discharge Criminal Restitution?</title>
		<link>http://www.mattberkus.com/blog/2013/04/can-chapter-7-bankruptcy-discharge-criminal-restitution/</link>
		<comments>http://www.mattberkus.com/blog/2013/04/can-chapter-7-bankruptcy-discharge-criminal-restitution/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 24 Apr 2013 18:29:33 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Matt Berkus</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Chapter 7 Bankruptcy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[criminal debt]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[criminal restitution]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[discharge]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.mattberkus.com/blog/?p=904</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Chapter 7 bankruptcy does not eliminate court ordered criminal restitution. The U.S. Supreme Court held, in 1986, that criminal restitution is non-dischargeable in bankruptcy under 11 U.S.C. 523(a)(7). Kelly v. Robinson 479 U.S. 36 (1986). The telling phrase from that decision is that the bankruptcy code “preserves from discharge any condition a state criminal court [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
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		<title>How to Avoid Bankruptcy If Already In Debt, Really!</title>
		<link>http://www.mattberkus.com/blog/2013/04/how-to-avoid-bankruptcy-if-already-in-debt-really/</link>
		<comments>http://www.mattberkus.com/blog/2013/04/how-to-avoid-bankruptcy-if-already-in-debt-really/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 12 Apr 2013 16:16:06 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Matt Berkus</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Motivation and Insight - Debt Freedom]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Thrifty Living]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[avoid bankruptcy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[budget]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[payment plan]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.mattberkus.com/blog/?p=889</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[I am certain that financial distress creates the same psychological and evolutionary response as our ancestors felt sleeping in the open on the Serengeti Plain surrounded by predators.  In modern society, threats to our livelihood do not come from lions or snakes, but from disruption in income. The same fear and doubt exists today if [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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		<item>
		<title>Consumer Credit Counseling’s 6 Dirty Secrets…Shhhhhh!</title>
		<link>http://www.mattberkus.com/blog/2013/03/consumer-credit-counselings-6-dirty-secretsshhhhhh/</link>
		<comments>http://www.mattberkus.com/blog/2013/03/consumer-credit-counselings-6-dirty-secretsshhhhhh/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 30 Mar 2013 23:09:11 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Matt Berkus</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Credit Card - Unsecured Debt]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Debt Settlement]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Hiring an Attorney]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Pre-Bankruptcy Planning]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[CCC]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[consumer credit counseling]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.mattberkus.com/blog/?p=882</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[What is the truth about consumer credit counselling (“CCC”)? In reality, consumer credit counselling agencies are debt collectors for the credit card industry. CCC’s exist to part you from your money and give it to your credit cards.    1.     CCC’s take your money and pay your credit cards. What do CCC’s really do? They sit down with the [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>“Included” in Bankruptcy, the Most Misused Word in the Bankruptcy World</title>
		<link>http://www.mattberkus.com/blog/2013/03/included-in-bankruptcy-the-most-misused-word-in-the-bankruptcy-world/</link>
		<comments>http://www.mattberkus.com/blog/2013/03/included-in-bankruptcy-the-most-misused-word-in-the-bankruptcy-world/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 22 Mar 2013 19:15:23 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Matt Berkus</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Chapter 7 Bankruptcy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Hiring an Attorney]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[bankruptcy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[bankruptcy petition]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[included in bankruptcy]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.mattberkus.com/blog/?p=873</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Okay, it is pet-peeve day. Today’s pet-peeve is the use of the phrase “included in bankruptcy.” In the bankruptcy world, the word ‘included’ is ambiguous. The phrase is often used by a debtor, but I have heard attorneys use the phrase as well. For example, “I included my car in my bankruptcy,” or “I didn’t [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.mattberkus.com/blog/2013/03/included-in-bankruptcy-the-most-misused-word-in-the-bankruptcy-world/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>What is the Colorado Statute of Limitations to Sue for a Debt?</title>
		<link>http://www.mattberkus.com/blog/2013/03/what-is-the-colorado-statute-of-limitations-to-sue-for-a-debt/</link>
		<comments>http://www.mattberkus.com/blog/2013/03/what-is-the-colorado-statute-of-limitations-to-sue-for-a-debt/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 11 Mar 2013 19:04:48 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Matt Berkus</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Creditor Lawsuits]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[debt collection]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[lawsuits]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[statute of limitations]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.mattberkus.com/blog/?p=868</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Debtors who have let their debt situation spiral out of control often face lawsuits by creditors. The original lender frequently sells credit card debts, car loans, and other debts to 3rd parties to collect. So, this third party ends up suing the debtor. These lawsuits sometimes occur many months, and often many years, from when [...]]]></description>
		<wfw:commentRss>http://www.mattberkus.com/blog/2013/03/what-is-the-colorado-statute-of-limitations-to-sue-for-a-debt/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
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		<title>Money Saving Tips for Cell Phone Service</title>
		<link>http://www.mattberkus.com/blog/2013/03/money-saving-tips-for-cell-phone-service/</link>
		<comments>http://www.mattberkus.com/blog/2013/03/money-saving-tips-for-cell-phone-service/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 04 Mar 2013 00:00:19 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Matt Berkus</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Thrifty Living]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Thrifty Spender Experiment]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[allowed expense]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cell phone]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[expense]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.mattberkus.com/blog/?p=861</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[How to downgrade cell phone service with minimal impact on quality of service? If you factor in the phone minutes, texting, and data plans, many phone packages add up to a car payment; a far stretch from the $25 per month land line in the years before cell phones. I have done some experimenting to [...]]]></description>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
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