Filing BK7

This too shall pass. Don't spend too much time dreading about the past. What happened has happened and even a year from now, which will go very fast, will be here and you will be allright.

Sorry about the mess but some of us have been there. You'll get through it.

Try to be as positive as you can.

 

hang out at www.chat-cards.com for a while. After the discharge, start hanging out here.

 

This is a great site to maintain your sanity after a bankruptcy. Mine was discharged in 2/03. Get a laywer if you haven't already. Then you can call your creditors and give them your lawyer's name and number and they'll start leaving you alone. Read about reaffirmations here, if you want to pay any of your debts (especially if you own a home) and how all that works (your lawyer can make mistakes if you aren't careful, mine did). Make sure you get your credit reports a month or two after your discharge, don't wait 9 months (like I did) to start disputing mistakes. Then read here about how to start rebuilding your credit. Also, you may want to purchase Steven Synder's "Credit After Bankruptcy." You can get a used copy at Amazon. Good luck!!

 

You can do it on your own for next to nothing but it can be overwelming. You really should go thru an attorney. Do some calling in your area and I'll bet there is at least a couple that will take your case on a pmt plan. It should cost about $1500 or so. You may have to leave them with 4 or 5 post dated cks but it's better than doing it yourself. It works out for them too becuz your discharge, if you file, say by Dec 29 won't be until the end Mar. There is time that by the time the attorney's job is over, you are almos done paying him.

Think about it and stick here for support. This place seems to a family, and though a releif, a BK will get you down. Don't let it get the best of you. You did all you could and this is a final alternative. Some here speak from experience.

And do be sure to get your CR's about 2 mos after your discharge becuz I GAURANTEE you will find inaccuracies. I actually had two car loans I reaffirmed and one bank had me list as a repo, no wonder my score was so low! The other had my car discharged thru the BK. Once I got that str8nd, my score shot up about 100 points. No kidding, becuz at that point one bank added the car loan back to all 3 CRA's and did not include ANYTHING regarding the BK, so it was an instant, positive, paid no lates TL! I had since traded that car in and the note was paid off, so!!!!!!

Good luck to you and stick around here!

 

It depends upon how complicated your debt/asset situation is.

The decisions you make prior to BK will affect you for many years post PK

Most BK Lawyers will schedule a free consultation re: BK. It can't hurt to have someone look over your situation and advise best course of action

good luck, you are taking the first step necessary to improve your credit life

 

Yikes $1,500 for your lawyer fee? Mine was $500 (plus $250 to file) (and no, I did not qualify based on low income but I am in the northwest so maybe it's cheaper here).

You might call the US bankruptcy court in your area and find out if there are any free legal clinics. Some will work for you based on your income. Also, try a paralegal if you want to do the paperwork yourself, they will charge you a fee to look it over for you and it won't be nearly as much as a lawyer. If you aren't going to get a lawyer, you might want to change your phone number and make it unlisted. In the meantime, the creditors are trained to make your life completely miserable until you have either a case number or a lawyer's #. I highly recommend a lawyer... since you aren't paying your bills, you can probably get the money to pay one. Just pay your utilities and any bills you might want to reaffirm.

 

Ours was $400 (Arizona). We filed June 2001 and discharged October 2001. Wow. That seems like sooooo long ago.

The whole process for us seemed simple and quick. The 341 meeting was over before it started.

We've since bought a new house (March 2003) and we both have credit cards and peace of mind.

Good luck to you.

Since you will stop paying on your debts to file, you will use that money for your lawyer. Our attorney advised us to stop making payments because it was like throwing money into the street. What we would have used to pay credit card minimums, we used to pay the lawyer in two payments.