Hi all. Please help me out with advice. I met a girl over a year ago and we wanted to get married. We went shopping on my credit cards and made about 20K in charges. Then I got two personal loans: one for a wedding in the amount of 15K and the other for a honeymoon trip in the amount of 10K. Then she left me! I started drinking, got in a hospital with a depression, and while there told my boss to go f*** himself, he fired me. That was last September. Now I am sobered up and want to file for bankruptcy to start anew. Do you think I have a chance for chapter 7 or should I just continue hiding from the creditors? They are terrorizing my mother right now. She is worried they'll go to court, a judge will issue a subpoena, I won't show up and I'll go to jail for contempt. Can I go to jail for fraud?
Sorry for your personal problems, life is that way sometimes, hopefully it's a lesson well learned - sometimes life costs more than an IVY league college, but you do get the best education.... Anyway, from what you've described you didn't commit fraud, unless there's something I'm missing....you did plan on paying it back didn't you? I see VERY careless use of credit, credit is a tool, not free cash.....but I won't go on, I'm sure you've seen the snowball effect and what can happen.... They can't put you in jail unless you don't show up for court, then they could issue a bench warrant for your arrest, if you get a summons and don't go.....as far as filing chapter 7, I would do a search on the board, it's an option, not your only one but one of many, chapter 7 will stay with you a long time and if your young and want to start a family, may not be your best bet....stick around and read read read, you'll learn quite a bit....good luck to you
Where did u meet such a girl, I think you should probably find better pick up joints.. I met my wife at Dairy Queen , Maybe you should try there.
stick around and read read read, you'll learn quite a bit... soup | ================================ *************** A good place to start http://consumers.creditnet.com/straighttalk/board/showthread.php?s=&postid=410243#post410243 ***************** >
Hi, thanks for your replies. How can I show up for court? They'll tear me apart! Can the judge force me to pay the creditors? Can't I just file for bankruptcy before the court date and then send a letter stating so to the court? Is that going to cancel the bench warrant? I really don't want to face the judge and my creditors. I am too ashamed and rather hide.
You need to face up to things. I know it's hard, but that's the first step. I was in a similar situation due to divorce. I couldn't file for bankruptcy for various reasons. It would be better to pay it off if you can. Get whatever work you can, McDonald's, 7-11, whatever. Put every penny that you can toward your debts. You don't have to just roll over. Has anyone actually filed a suit against you yet? If not, go to any collection agency (CA) that is contacting you. Do everything in writing. DO NOT TALK to them, no matter what. Send them a validation letter. You want to make sure that the amounts are correct and that they can actually prove it's your debt. This is your right. They may well have already committed many violations, and if they have you can actually file suit against them, and perhaps even get some money. If they are calling your mother and harassing her, and she was not listed on your accounts, they are violating the law. They can't discuss your debts with anyone but you. Do a LOT of reading here. Assert your rights, don't just buckle down. When you send your validation letter, tell them that you want future communications to be only in writing, no phone calls. If you've already been served, post the details here and we'll help you figure out a plan of attack. While filing bankruptcy seems easy, it has long lasting effects. You're young, you'll probably want to buy a house and start a family. A bankruptcy stays on your record for 10 years, and for large mortgages can be considered forever. It's not something to take lightly. If you search my posts you'll find my story of paying off $77K of unsecured debt without filing bankruptcy. Use it only as a last resort.
You got married. Does your wife/ex-wife have ability to help pay some of this debt. Trust me. I completely understanding the feeling of wanting to hide. Just tell yourself that you'll be a stronger person once you stand up for yourself in this situation. Read EVERYTHING on CNET, and you'll start formulating a plan. Naturally, the most important thing is to get an income rolling in soon... so you can get the ball rolling. Don't worry that much about the creditors right now. It sounds to me like there really isn't anything they can get from you for right now. Good luck, and keep hanging around here. You'll get lots of ideas and sense of direction. We'll all "been there".
if you have no property (assetts). just hide out and pay your taxes (!!) and in about 8-9 years you'll be straight. Lesson learned, guess who pays for it all of us. But no judgement here. Doubt chap 7 is gonna work without $1000 cash and a job man and a Damn good excuse.
Forgive me, I have another question that im sure were all wondering and you should practice in order to tell the judge, you took out 2 personal loans for the wedding that never occured. What happened to the money ? If it didnt go for a wedding or honeymoon , theres no way you could have drank and drugged that much of it ..
I spent it. I was on the road for a year drinking with the guys. Can't even remember where and with whom I spent what amount.
Oops. I just wanted to apologize for not reading more carefully. I see now that you weren't actually married. I have to agree with others who have said to just hide out. No bankruptcy. The SOL will end one day soon, and you can start cleaning up your credit report then. Until that time you'll have to do what lots of us have done and live with no credit for awhile. I sincerely hope that everything goes better for you from here out. If you need help to get through, there are some very good counselors available that you can lean on for awhile until you're strong again.
Click on this link that Fun found, I think you will feel better for having read it. It is long, but a good read. http://consumers.creditnet.com/straighttalk/board/showthread.php?s=&postid=433633#post433633
Thank you! That was a very interesting article to read, I feel more confident already! Is it true though that you always have to pay your taxes? I am in trouble for last year. Can IRS do something to you CAs can't?
Re: Re: In trouble I would say to not mess around with the IRS. You should find an accountant that does IRS representation and let them negotiate for you. Some will do a free consultation. Sometimes depending on what went wrong, you might have to pay penalties and such, but to me that is a small price to pay to have THAT gorilla off your back. So I really suggest that you go and and get whatever job you can, re-read what Hedwig wrote and start your journey by handling the IRS first.
Re: Re: In trouble They can do a lot more , a lot easier than the CA's... get into a payment plan with them, and keep cuurent with the tax people, then do as the others have suggested and one day you will be on the road back!
Re: Re: In trouble Do you owe a lot, or did you just not file? You have three years to file. If you owe, you're going to pay interest and penalties. If you're due a refund but just didn't file, not much will happen. The IRS is the exception to the "they have to take you to court first" rule. They can garnish wages, seize property, take you bank account, without warning. But if you're only a year in arrears and the amount isn't great, you can probably make arrangements. As I said earlier, it's tough, but you have to face it. I stuck my head in the sand for a while and I paid for it for a long time. There were even times that I had several thousand dollars in the bank but just didn't sit down and write the checks because I thought it wouldn't be enough. All I did was make it worse. So the sooner you face up to it, the better. And once you start to make progress, you'll feel better about yourself, you'll start to do more and find more ways to get bills paid and you'll feel even better. It becomes a cycle, but a good cycle instead of a bad one. Then one day it will be behind you. My "one day" took about four years, but now it's mostly behind me. Just make yourself take the first step. One day at a time.
Re: Re: In trouble try www.chat-cards.com - it's a forum like this that is specifically dedicated to bankruptcy issues. The question of whether to file or not largely depends on the economics of your situation - how much debt you have, how much you currently earn, how much you are capable of earning (with a more skilled job or a second job) , what your expenses are, when the last time was you used the tradelines you have etc. If there is no way you can make enough, and reduce your expenses enough, to get ahead of the interest/penalty curve then it is better to go ahead and file BK. Before you fo that, make sure you really examine the possibilities,a dn it never hurts to contact your creditors and explain your situation - in some cases they are willing to work with a creditor whose only other choice is BK 7. If you would only be able to file a BK 13 then it is better to just work out a payment plan on your own. BK13 takes forever, costs a lot in fees, and stayso on your report for a long time - better just to do whatever you can to avoid that scenario. I filed BK 7 this year - it was a sucky decision that I spent about 2 years and all mine and my husband's savings trying to avoid, but now that I am on this side of it I see that I was in so much trouble that I should have filed sooner. Anyway, good luck.
Re: Re: In trouble Thank you all for all of your help. You've been great! I've gotten a job. It pays me 24000 before taxes. Do you think I can go with chapter 7? Or will the trustee push me into ch. 13? Can someone repost the wonderful article that was here: http://www.bcdonline.com/stop-debt/knowledge.html? The link is broke. :-( Thank you again for support! I feel much better,
Re: Re: Re: In trouble It depends upon how much disposable income you show after paying all your current bills, and how much equity you have in Real Estate, or Autos. **Note: As of today the Senate has passed the new BK Reform Bill and the President has indicated he will sign it. It could become law in a few months. If you are considering BK, NOW is the time to file!
