I'm looking for Suggestions, Advice, What to Do's and What NOT to do's.

thanks.

121 Views and NOT one reply?


at least everyone else is doing well

not doing well, i'm in denial!

i can't offer any advice as i've never done it, but my ex has.

i don't think it's the end of the world...

good luck!

I thought about it after my divorce 7 years ago - but struggled through and things got better.

As I understand it, it is now much harder to file. Thankfully, I have not had to look into the new laws concerning it.

Zach

It's a LOT harder now than it was 2 years ago, and the qualifications for doing so have become a lot stiffer. Laws have changed, big time. The Cap'n

To get an idea of you situation, I'dneed to know some facts - what problems are you having, how many creditors, amounts, type of debts, income, assets, status of collection efforts against you, possibility of resolution with creditors, considering Ch. 7, 11 or 13, etc.

914-8

My may need to do this after the New year. May I P.M. you the with the details ?

Dave

914-8 you have PM, with MY details.

Damn, don't think I have ever seen a thread like this on a forum before....
Good luck man!

Thanks Jake.

I should've put this thread in the Off Topic/Sandbox.


Admins IF you want to move it, go ahead.

Your best bet would be to talk with a bankruptcy lawyer in our state.

There are several types of BR, but you must do what the previous post stated; talk to a lawyer or other outlets. Going through a BR will ruin your credit for some time plus it can have an effect on your future employment because a lot of companies will not hire you due to your bad credit. BR will have far reaching consequences on your life that will cost you a great deal more then money. There are companies and organizations that will help you through your situation without BR. Google and see if you can find the help you need; sometimes it will cost you little to no money. Best regards Mike

Here's the thing. Bky make sense for some people and in some situations. But the biggest problem that I see is people jumping into it without really understanding it, or without any real plan. Then people file, pay a lot of money into the bky system, and not end up where they thought they would.

For example (and this is just an example), not all debt is dischargeable in a bky. Under the new bky laws, this can include some credit card debt. That would be a bad situation, where someone with $75K in credit card debt files bankruptcy, only to find in the end that the debt is not discharged in the bky. That means the debt stays with them, even after the bky.

Or someone with some assets files a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, and because of the assets, a Chapter 7 trustee is appointed. The Trustee has all sorts of powers, and can be very invasive into your finances (personal, or corporate, if it is a company filing bky). The trustee can subpoena banks, people, etc. to obtain records going back many years.

Part of the problem with our legal system is that everything costs money, and a lot of money. At least for quality representation. Ironically, even "going broke" in the most effective manner costs money. If you have $1 million in assets and $20 million in liabilities, you can hire a good bky lawyer (at $350-$500 per hour) and likely work out the situation. If you have $5,000 in assets and $75,000 in liabilities, you will not have that advantage.

Generally, it really is best to try to work things out with your creditors. See if they will accept a reduced payoff amount, payoff over time, etc., as part of a plan to avoid bankruptcy. You could try to do this yourself, or through a bky lawyer, or probably some kind of credit counseling firm. I think there are credit counseling programs that help you work through these things, and they are probably worth looking into. (I think some of that is required before you can file an individual bky under the revised laws).

I'd be sure to give that as much effort as possible. If you have to file a bky, make sure you find a very good bky lawyer, not one of the "bky mills" that does nothing but file individual Chapter 7 bkys all day. They make their money by volume, and are not interested in helping you avoid bky. Also, do your own research and try to learn as much about the process as possible. There is a lot of available info out there.

I filed bankruptsy 4 years ago.

And I went through one of those "consumer credit counseling" places before that.

I will start by telling you Don't even bother with one of those "counseling" places. They dont save you much $ or interest rates, and your credit rating is just as bad using one of those as with a bankruptsy. Except that your credit is bad the whole time you use them, plus you pay off your debt and THEN have to wait a while afterwords before your credit clears up.
Might as well just right it all off at once if you can.

I talked with a paralegal and had her do the paperwork. Cost me under $30. All I had to do was sign a million pages and take the paperwork down to the courthouse. There they assigned me a court date. Went to the court date, waited for them to call my name. They swore me in, asked me 4 questions, asked if there was anyone that wanted to contest the bankruptsy (no creditors appeared), and told me that my bankruptsy was finalized and I would be recieving a letter in the mail telling me it was dismissed. About 30 days later, I recieved the letter telling me my bankruptsy was discharged.

**Creditors are not allowed to contact you by law once your paperwork is filed by the court!

I did not have any assest so it was really easy for me. No house, had a 69 VW beetle, no cd's or stock or IRA's ect. I also spoke with a bankruptsy lawyer with a "Free Consultation" before I did anything to find out what process to go with and how it all worked. Look in the phone book for ones that offer the free consultaton.

If you have alot of assets, you may need to go with a lawyer. But they are expensive. Do it yourself if you can. If creditors show up at your court date, then you will be taken back with them and the judge for negotiation. Dont know how that works.


That was my Bankruptsy expierence. Now ya'll know.

Two years after the bankruptsy, my credit score was 649! Not that bad IMO. Getting a credit card with a decent intrest rate is another story. I did build up my credit by investing in a Secured Credit Card through my bank and using that and paying it off in full each month. It was only a $500 limit. But fair enough for me.

Now remember, this was 4 years ago. Alot of things have changed regarding how you can file for bankruptsy. Call a bankruptsy lawyer that offers a free consultation and make your decision from there.


Good Luck!

Sorry to hear your stressful situation. I would not recommend filing bankruptcy. New laws make you pay it back anyways, kinda like a student loan. Find a local radio station the plays Dave Ramsey, and listen to his shows. Best of luck!

Don't.

I looked into a few years ago. I was about 42,000 in the hole. After exploring the options I chose to live with it. I played the credit card companies just like they played me. It was MY fault and I found a way to deal with it...to my advantage. I am still not totally clear BUT my credit rating is unharmed, I can get a loan for most anything once I have payed it off, and best of all I have taken care of my own F-up and haven't passed it on to someones else. You're situation could certainly be much werse than mine but my advice is to struggle your way through it and learn from it. I know I have. In the end I regret some of the stupid things I did but don't regret all of it. Twas a learning experience. Full immersion into the werld of finance

Good advice! Learn from your mistakes & deal with it. And, most importantly, don't let that rat bite you in the ass again!

I have a person very close to me whos father filed bky. Filed it around age 40 and always advised people not to file. Struggled through it and still was affected by it even in his 50s. If you didn't know it, you'd think everything looked great. He had a house on a golf course, was married, golfed twice a week and owned his own company. People who worked for him and with him considerred him an extremely smart individual. He got in a situation around age 60 where he needed to file a second time becasue he took some risks in his business that didn't pan out. The idea of facing bankruptcy was so hard to face that he took a different way out. I know... very rough story but true. This was not a friend of friend of a friend. I was very close to it. So if the idea of living after bankruptcy was that bad, I never want to get close to it. Suposedly the second time around is much harder to file.