Iâ??ve been considering filing for bankruptcy for about 4-5 months and will be doing so in a few weeks. I was unemployed for about a year and a half and for about 12 months of that time, paid all my bills on time (except for one month in May when I fell behind due to some personal issues in my family), but then, after draining all of my savings and seeing my interest rates climb up to 26% on each of my four credit cards (because I had been late that one time), I decided I couldnâ??t do it anymore and stopped paying in December 2004. Bankruptcy is my only option at this point, but I am concerned about one thing: my car. Iâ??m currently 2 and a half years through a 4-year lease on a VW Golf with my financing down through VW credit. I have never missed a payment and continued to pay on my car (along with my auto insurance) even when I gave up on doing so with my four credit cards. I can afford the car and the insurance, so itâ??s not a problem. Now I know that during bankruptcy, a leased car is not considered part of my personal property, since I donâ??t actually own it and I can easily reassume the debt by just continuing to make payments on it on time and so on. But is this really true? I ask because the lawyers Iâ??ve talked to and books Iâ??ve read have said this is so, but that doesnâ??t necessarily mean that itâ??s true. Let me break this down into a few questions I need and would like answered if possible. 1.Do I need to even list the car among my debts since it is a lease? 2.Do I just continue to make payments on the car after I file so that VW credit knows Iâ??m reassuming this debt or must I tell them? 3.Can VW credit have my car repossessed even if I continue to make payments on it if or because itâ??s included among a list of debts on a bankruptcy? 4.Should I write and/or call VW credit and ask them how they would view the situation as a creditor or is this too risky? Might they just repo the car if they even think Iâ??m considering bankruptcy? I guess I canâ??t stress enough that I really need my car and donâ??t want to lose it. Any advice or thoughts on real-life experiences would really be helpful and put my mind at ease. Thanks so much!
