I have two large charge-offs for 8300 and 14000. Both are a little over one year old. I have been thinking about a Chapter 13 bankruptcy. Which will hurt my scores more for longer periods of time? The SOL in my state is 4 years.
I have filed both a chp 7 and a chp 13. My advice to you is if you don't have any funds available to negotiate for a lower lump sum payment in exchange for a positive or neutral rating, you should file a chp 7. A chp 13 keeps everything going for the next 3 to 5 years depending on whatever the court decides. As far as the charge-off, let me tell you what happened to me. I had a charge-off for $13k, I didn't do anything about it. I ignored every letter that they sent to me. Very close to the end of the SOL, they came after me and got a judgement against me for the full amount. This was long before I found out about this board. If I had it to do all over again, I would have just filed a chp 7 because I had over $50k debt. I would have been done with it and I would have had a better chance at re-building my credit than what I have now. Based on the information that I have seen on this board, I am very optimistic in my journey to clear my credit history. I know that I can accomplish the task, however my battles will be long and hard. This is just my advice. I'm sure other creditnetters may have something other to say. Just take everything in stride, really read this board and make the best descision for yourself.
I agree with Lizardking,however,his strategy has some risks. If a judgement IS obtained against you,and you do not live in a "friendly" State. You could have your home liened,assets seized,wages garnished,and extra costs piled on. In addition,if you are looking to change jobs you need to think about what is best for YOUR situation.In general,unless you have a BIG legal settlement coming in that would be grabbed in a BK, I would suggest chapter 7.
In response to lizardking, I do agree that if you're NOT at litigation that there are other methods. I should have clarified more in my earlier post. My particular situation warranted me to file bk because I didn't know or understand my rights. This board has taught me many a things I wished I'd known back then. I would have made much better decisions. However, if I absolutely had to file a bk, I would file a chp 7 and not a chp 13. But once again, you really need to study more on this board and study your particular state laws to make a fully informed decision.
Thanks for all the advice. I'm still not sure. I live in Missouri and our house is held in what's called "joint tenancy of the entirety". we do have equity in our house. The debts that could cause the bankruptcy are all mine. I don't want hubby to be impacted anymore than necessary. No legal actions filed. A couple of different ca's have contacted me but I sent them a cease and desist and validation requests. One actually validated! Except, they sent me a copy of the signed agreement with copies of the statements up to the point where I actually was paid up!! The account statements stop with the one's where I started getting behind. What kind of validation was that? I think I'll wait a little longer and see if any further actions occur. I could still file then, right? Thanks, again
If your home and other assets are in joint names,and your cc 's are in your name alone,you might be better off filing BK chapter 7 SINGLY. It takes some effort to keep the BK notations(dicharged in BK) off your husband's account if he was an authorized user on any of your cc's,but all you would need is a "purge" letter from any one who reported it. It is easier to do that,because the TILA has stiffer penalties for violations of the BK acts.
One other thing that couls come into play is any progress in the proposed bk bill. Currently, it's stuck in committee but, according to www.clla.org there are some efforts under way get it passed. If bk is inevitable, you'll be better of under the old laws than the new proposals.
