Unfortunatley, my bankruptcy was dimissed and I cannot re-file for 12 months. I am starting to receive collection calls and letters. My total debt filed in bk was $258K. I have no idea how many creditors are going to pursue via collections. My question? Should I refile again in 12 months or attempt to deal with these collectors using the tools on this site? Thanks in advance.
You can always use the tools on this and any other site, but whether you should re-file again or not is a question only you an answer. The first question I would be asking myself, were I in you shoes, is why was the BK dismissed? $258K is a lot of debt. Will your creditors be coming after you for it? I would bet they will.
I couldn't afford to retain my attorney after 6 months. He charged $300 an hour and I now owe him $2400. He suggested we go to trial and felt confident we would win but we were estimating $10,000 in addition to his previous costs which totaled $4600.
Haivng a BK dismissed means the creditors will come after you much harder, because they know: 1) You're inclined to use the BK system; 2) You don't intend to pay them; and 3) Something went wrong in the BK process--somehow you were not a solid citizen, and the creditors thereby reckon that you either have hidden assets or liabilities that won't be able to be discharged or some other problem, so the creditors had better scramble to be first in line if they want to see a dime. BK is not the be-all and end-all. There are actually state-law protections that exempt some assets and some income from being taken by creditors. But you must often argue that out in court. It's often better if assets are held and/or accounted for in ways that either make them entirely invisible to creditors in the first place, or that make them clearly off-limits at the time they're disclosed (you may have to make such disclosure by interrogatories or at a deposition once creditors receive judgments). Those methods are called legal asset protection. Anything you're planning in the way of hiding assets or transferring them into other names would be in the nature of fraud or fraudulent transfer (the former can be criminal, the latter isn't criminal, simply subject to having the court undo it). In either case it would be illegal. Keep in mind that large, unpaid creditors do have the power to singly or in combination put you into involuntary bankruptcy, and they will do so in order to gain access to the stricter federal penalties that could be used against you if you are suspected of hiding assets.
