The IVA, which stands for "Individual Voluntary Agreement," has been established as an alternative to bankruptcy.
However, before you take advantage of that alternative, you will certainly want to get yourself some reliable advice from a legal professional.
An IVA may not actually be the best option for you, and even if it is, there are some common pitfalls which you will obviously want to avoid.
By getting some proper IVA advice prior to committing yourself to any particular course of action, you will be able to do just that.
Before you even get that far, though, it can be helpful to review the basics, which we'll do right now.
What an IVA Actually Accomplishes At its core, the purpose of an IVA is to establish a healthy relationship between a debtor and his or her creditors.
Those two parties are who the "agreement" is made between.
Obviously, the terms of the agreement must be beneficial to both parties.
That is why it is necessary for you to seek your own IVA advice from an independent legal professional prior to establishing such an agreement.
Standard Terms of an IVA Under the standard terms of an IVA, the primary benefit to your creditors is that they do indeed recoup some of the money you owe them.
In a traditional bankruptcy, they wouldn't be able to.
As you might have guessed, a bankruptcy will do far more damage to your credit than an IVA will, which is the primary benefit from your perspective.
Another way in which an IVA will benefit you is that it will freeze the interest rates on your loans.
The Typical Process Once you've had some IVA advice and decided that this is the route you'd like to take, the first step is to draw up a plan on how to repay your debts.
Part of this plan will disclose your assets to your creditors so they can be sure the terms of your plan are fully equitable.
The next step is to petition the court regarding the agreement so the parties can meet to officially accept its terms.
Special Situations An IVA is particularly beneficial to people who own properties that could be seized in the absence of such an agreement.
As a matter of fact, there are some situations in which an IVA would be beneficial even after you have declared bankruptcy.
If you think an IVA might be beneficial to you for any reason, then we urge you to contact a legal professional for sound IVA advice at your earliest opportunity.
However, before you take advantage of that alternative, you will certainly want to get yourself some reliable advice from a legal professional.
An IVA may not actually be the best option for you, and even if it is, there are some common pitfalls which you will obviously want to avoid.
By getting some proper IVA advice prior to committing yourself to any particular course of action, you will be able to do just that.
Before you even get that far, though, it can be helpful to review the basics, which we'll do right now.
What an IVA Actually Accomplishes At its core, the purpose of an IVA is to establish a healthy relationship between a debtor and his or her creditors.
Those two parties are who the "agreement" is made between.
Obviously, the terms of the agreement must be beneficial to both parties.
That is why it is necessary for you to seek your own IVA advice from an independent legal professional prior to establishing such an agreement.
Standard Terms of an IVA Under the standard terms of an IVA, the primary benefit to your creditors is that they do indeed recoup some of the money you owe them.
In a traditional bankruptcy, they wouldn't be able to.
As you might have guessed, a bankruptcy will do far more damage to your credit than an IVA will, which is the primary benefit from your perspective.
Another way in which an IVA will benefit you is that it will freeze the interest rates on your loans.
The Typical Process Once you've had some IVA advice and decided that this is the route you'd like to take, the first step is to draw up a plan on how to repay your debts.
Part of this plan will disclose your assets to your creditors so they can be sure the terms of your plan are fully equitable.
The next step is to petition the court regarding the agreement so the parties can meet to officially accept its terms.
Special Situations An IVA is particularly beneficial to people who own properties that could be seized in the absence of such an agreement.
As a matter of fact, there are some situations in which an IVA would be beneficial even after you have declared bankruptcy.
If you think an IVA might be beneficial to you for any reason, then we urge you to contact a legal professional for sound IVA advice at your earliest opportunity.