I have recently lost my job after being in the telecommunications industry for ten years. I have had no luck finding a new 9-5 job with a regular salary. I have been forced to take a job full time at a restaurant.

I have over ,000 in credit card debt most with APR’s in the high 20’s. I have done my best over the last 6 months to keep up with my minimum payments but am finding it impossible recently to balance my debt along with my living expenses. By living expense, I do mean the bare minimums. Rent,utilities, gas, food etc.. I have not wasted funds on entertainment or purchases other than does required for work.

I had an hour long conversation today with a debt consolidation company. It is has been in business since 1965 and is non-profit. I actually used their services in the past to consolidate debt that I managed to pay off about 8 years ago. They analyzed all of my assets, income, debt and overall financial situation. They determined that I was running at a 65% deficit between what I am brining in and what I owe. They recommended that, although it may sound harsh, my best option was to file for bankruptcy. They determined that I would not be able to keep up with any type of repayment schedule that they would negotiate with the banks and that a fresh start may be my best option.

I have avoided the thought of filing for bankruptcy in the past for several reasons. But now that my income is at an all time low and my job prospects do not seem to be sorting themselves out in the near future, I do not now what other options I have available to me. Needless to say, the stress of the whole situation has been making life extremely unpleasant.

I am single, have no kids, and will not be purchasing a house in the near future. The only asset I own, is an 8 year old car.

I have five questions:

1) Other than having a bankruptcy ruling on my file for the next ten years and not being able to secure credit, what are the other disadvantages of filing for bankruptcy?

2) I do not have disposable income. I am making enough to pay for essentials. Would my chances of having the entire debt excused be good? Or would I still be responsible for paying a percentage?

3) I know from my corporate experience that my credit file would be reviewed during the job applications process. I am considering a career with the Federal Government. How would a bankruptcy ruling be looked upon by the government during the job application process?

4) How much with a reputable bankruptcy lawyer cost me?

5) I have also read that another option is to do nothing and ignore my creditors. The following excerpt below is from http://bankruptcy.findlaw.com/ . Is this plausible?

Do Nothing
Surprisingly, the best approach for some people deeply in debt is to take no action at all. If you’re living simply, with little income and property, and look forward to a similar life in the future, you may be what’s known as "judgment proof." This means that anyone who sues you and obtains a court judgment won’t be able to collect from you simply because you don’t have anything they can legally take. (As a famous song of the 1970s said, "freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose.")

Except in unusual situations (being a tax protester or willfully failing to pay child support) you can’t be thrown in jail for not paying your debts. Nor can a creditor take away such essentials as basic clothing, ordinary household furnishings, personal effects, food, or Social Security, unemployment, or public assistance benefits.

So, if you don’t anticipate having a steady income or property a creditor could grab, bankruptcy is probably not necessary. Your creditors probably won’t sue you, because it’s unlikely they could collect the judgment. Instead, they’ll simply write off your debt and treat it as a deductible business loss for income tax purposes. In several years, the debt will become legally uncollectible. And in seven years, the debt will come off your credit record.

I am planning on contacting a bankruptcy lawyer for further advice but wanted to get an idea as to what I am dealing with before I further the process.

I appreciate any feedback the Yahoo community is able to provide!

Thank you in advance!!

I was looking for a canned cat food that has lots of antioxidants and high quality meat that won’t run me into bankruptcy!! I have three indoor cats and want to feed about half and half wet and dry food. Also is there any place online that I could buy it in bulk and maybe get a reduced price?
Thanks so much Ken, honestly, I like the convenience of feeding dry food. I work so I would only be able to feed them before and after 9-5. And like I said I have three cats, so I’m kinda worried about the lowest ranking one not getting enough ya know??! But I’ll try it out and thank you for your detailed answer. I’ve always known wet was best.

I am right now in the middle of a pro se Chapter 13 filing. With the debts that I have that are unsecured and some that are secured debts, can I offer a plan to to the court which will offer the creditors less than they are actually owed by me?

I realize that the creditors could and very well may object to the repayment plan but perhaps they may take the lower offer. I’m not sure.

Any help please???

I filed Chapter 7 and before we had the chance to remove the recorded Judgements, the court discharged the case and closed it. I wonder how to remove the judgements without re-opening the case. We know that the judgements were wiped out in the bankruptcy, but not sure how the recording can be voided and removed?
So if I attempt to purchase real estate in a couple of years, the escrow and title companies wouldn’t bother asking me to deal with those judgements???

The new bankruptcy law states not to include social security benefits as income. We receive long term disablity as well. that our attorney showed as income. When filing our papers our attorney did as the new law states, which in turn showed that we owed zero amount to our creditors since the social security was not to be included. When we went before the Trustee for the 341 meeting, the Trustee did not feel that it was right for us to owe nothing and challenged our attorney to prove to him why the social security that we receive should not be included as income. Does a Trustee have the capacity to request this? He wants us to pay something, but why should the law change? Has there been a similar case since the law changed in 2005?

considering filing chapter 13 bankruptcy due to new mortgage company not wanting to honor previous mortgage company agreement. going to foreclosure hearing on oct 05, 2006. all other bills are caught up except mortgage (close to 1 year out) but i don’t have a way of getting 7k in one week. losing my house is not an option. _few more loops: currently drawing unemployment / single parent / house is an fha loan

Have any of you who filed successfully gotten rid of your second mortgage?

I You will need to read all this to see what was done to me. I am female. Christian, fundamentalist. a
ppear very white. Hetero. It is relative. I have it, but it is relative to my problems. I have health problems,
but was able to work. I have always had to work
at being healthy. Have to keep my weight down.
I am talking of me. I do not want to be told how others are, I am me. I need money for diet, health care.
I have no no health care. I am not going to proof read
or edit this.

I am sick to death of someone dragging up lies
on me and slandering me with things which were
grossly distorted, exaggerated, calling me things which are lies, and harassing and degrading me over things which never happened in the first place. I have
been battered four times by strangers due to people
lying on me.
Going to the state for help, ends up in my being
trashed. Always.I have suffered grave injuries at the hands of states discrimination and abuse.
I must take medication at times due to the abuse of authorities and discrimination. I have no mental illness that is inborn. I have symp;toms of ptst, due to abuse not by my parents.

never filed bankruptcy before, never contemplated it ever seriously. Know nothing, knew nothing.
I really did save 10,000 cash when I was younger,
no dependents, and pay down on my auto and house, bought new furniture. Had hardly any bills and perfect credit. I then made some more bills, manageable because I had a good paying job. After spending a lot of my savings on the dps and finding I was ripped off, I obtained more credit No problem. I am making good money in a career highly employable. Always have a job. I did then get some cash a couple of times from a creditor. I am working full time. I asked creditors to STOP sending me blank checks, and offers for more credit , I asked this more than once. I run into serious
job discrimination. Harassment, slander. I left my long term employer after her asking me to sign lies, saying I did things I did not do. Rec. a major attitude adjustment. Then I lose my three wks vac, all raises,
my two weeks sick leave. Cannot get work any where locally. I went to the city to work, told I had the job, told I was doing great, old emp. appears, they even give me a ticket, singled out. My auto crashed into, have to
rent an auto. Harassed greatly because I go get my grandson, and we have some fun together while I am off. I used credit. I am getting a great new job which
pays twice as much as the old.Go work there, in a rented car. Do great. Great. Then I am told because I do not want to work with someone, I can not transfer to another dept. I can go work in their ltc. I refuse. Take another job. Blah. I ended up deciding to move out of state, sell my home. They ran my ad in paper so that nothing sold. Had to give most of my things away, even furn. I bought new. Paid cash for my furniture, not
credit cards. My dps were cash, not credit cards.
I have been living on credit. Barely made anything on my home. I called here, talked to nurses on the floor
and they said come on. No problem. More than one.
I have disposed of my pets, all but what I could mail,
and bring in the car. Happy to relocate be near my only dtr. Happy to get the rest of my degree, workin a hospital. Get here. I am losing wt. Gained some due
to stress. Have quit smoking. Have problem sleeping off and on. I am happy. Going to gym, looking for church, actually started going to one Different denomination. Cannot go to the old one. Had my name removed from their church. Want a change.
On unemployment. Kept my bills pd up for four months.
Cannot get work any where. I took a review online
before moving here, although it was not required. I took CEUs. I went to seminars. I studied. I was up todate any way. The job I had before was not assisted living. We handled about 30 pts one nurse, doing dressings, IVs, pics, etc., I did that for years, emergencies. The whole bit but for gunshot wounds, or fresh car wrecks. I cannot get work in nursing any where. Nothing, not in clinics nothing. Even worse,
I cannot get any other kind of work. I take ACLS
Pals, at great expense. I take testing for college hours
My brain is working. The ACLS , Pals was like a good
BLS except I got to do the airway thingie, put one in.
We covered more meds. Open book. I did not use
my book for all that. This was expensive, credit.
I had to buy some tires. blah blah. Stringing me along, just around the corner, job. Good pay. No work.
Finally, my money is gone. Credit gone. Creditors
know. they know I am not working. Do not terminate
my credit. I cannot get work. I cannot pay my bills.
I went to consumer credit.
Said a lost cause. My health starts slipping. I did not start smoking. I cannot carry weight. It kills me, and I do not get crabby when I eat right. I began going to gym here. Paid a membership. Harassed at the gym, told to get lost more or less. I was not
That cut off the important part. I was denied work of any kind except two jobs which just about killed me phhysically.l My bills have increased. Emergency surgery. Rupturing appendix. I am screwed. Bank ruptcy recommended.
recommended chapter 7. Taken to court to pay abill of ten thou cash. I am ordered to pay. How? I am not able to work. I am sick, in pain now. No health care. Will not take payments. Paying over four hundred out of my very small survivors social sefurity. Attorney says she will fine bank ruptcy gets all info.Says I insulted her, returns my money and this other vicious lawyers et onto me. Sick for a week after going to court. threatening and intimidating me. Stalking, Tell me to suck off. Go whore it out.
Spastic colon worse Now the raynauds is going crazy. I am not leaving. No where to go. burned bridges. have gr kids here. now
addicted to them. They ae killing me for money. No help anywhere. What is the deal bkrptyc.Not gay or bi. No need to tell me I’m screwed
This has a lot of racial overtones. They will not let me know my genetic heritage. I need to know for my healths sake. I look extremly white. I am not as white as I look. Threatened over this. I have never ever mentioned anything about any sor tof thing to get preference in employment. Preference, Ha. I have always duked it out with evryone else, slugged it out on my own.v
Debt settlement is no solution. I have rent. which a hunk. My electricity bill just doubled last month. Rent and electric is a hunk of my check, medical is a big hunk, My rent just went up, and will go up again. Any increase in income increases rent. I am paying over a third, sometimes half of my income for medical. I still do not get to see a doctor every time I need to do so. i just received myh SS check. I have paid my bills and I have 3 left for car gas,
for groceries for a month. I have not bought gro. I bought some extra stuff
for something unexpected that came up.
that 173 is for Christmas dinner, groceries, evrything, soap, etc.
This is merciless, cruel, sick. It really is an attempt to make things so hard on me I will die, kill myself, or leave. I am not suicidal. I have no where to go.
What is left. Bankruptcy is the only solution. They will not let me. There is something more involved here.
I notice that Raul has no return email. What an unusual name, same as the
merciless attorney.
I do not owe 100.000. I may owe now about 50,000 /60. I had about thirty or fourty thou on there for the emergency surgery. They wrote some off. I have paid some off.Much of that is finance
charges. Much of it was medical, much of it was trying to get work, and expense of education trying to get work. As I said my creditors kept extneding credit even when they knew I was off. I had such good work credentials. Had
I not htought i had work security I would never have made any bills.
I am not a sneak or theif. My kids have absolutely no part in my problems. I am the victim here, not the perp. I have absolutely no reason, none, to be defensive or afraid because I am totally absolutely not guilty of any scheming or plotting or collusions to do anything dishonest. Nothing. I came on top of the world thinking this place was not prejudiced. Ha. I came thinking I would be treated as a human being. New life.
Chance to have some happiness which I have not had since 1985. Delusion.
Lied to. Victimized all over again. No.
I do not like being a victim, but there is no word for it. I do not like some one
in authority here trying to make it look like I have had "special" privileges.That is a blatant blatant horrible lie. Special abuse and discrimination is what I have had. This place is vilely prejudiced.
The means test said It was a lost cause. i had so much debt. I cannot get an attorney. I am told the one I allegedly offended is the only one. I was 58 when I came here. They way I have been done means work is now out. I will be fortunate indeed if I do not die from this.
I wouldhave had my BSN by age 60, and then my MSN by 62. Of course all this is out. It was all planned, my educaiton, and I could have done it.
I am a hard worker, and I was dedicated to what I was going to do.
I would have then been able to work less hours making more money and work into my seventies and never have to go through this degrading loss of dignity, resources, loss of education. It is as if I stepped into a hornets nest of hatred poverty and personal grudges against me. It is not fair. It has been devastating. Now there is nothoing ahead but stark years of poverty. I am not close to my relatives, there is no going back or forward. Pure viciousness. Nothing mor eor less.
Looks so unprejudiced to visit
People in health care work longer than others. Lillian Carter was waorking in the peace corp into her seventies.
I was not going into the peace corp.
I also was not going to be a missionary.
Everything wa splanned. feasable, doable. I did not count on someones hating me enough to sabotage everyting. Not my kids doing it. I do not want to hurt them.Thought i was a person in my own right.
My children did not do this to me.
They are innocent of this. They are also
not responsible for me. This was preplanned sadistic maliciousness, and I am not paranoid. Tnhey did not mean for me to survive this. This discrimination, hate crimes against me, has gone on for a long long time.
I can spell, type, use good grammar, punctuation, etc. Why bother. What is the use. It is all pointless. Don’t holler
depression, etc.
I’ve not filed a lawsuit anywhereNever had an attorney to represent me but for divorce. Only divorce. Never consulted an attorney b4 here re bankruptcy. I never received anything for consulting an attorney but divorce. Screwed there. I never sued for a job, license, nothing. Never committed crime that would put me in jail a day.unless they grossly lied. Never used illegal drugs in my life.
Never used drugs for wt control, ever.
Never had a major mental illness.
Never lost my license, ever. This is the
God’s truth. Did not cheat on my husband. He said he had a girlfriend. i did divorce him, I did not have a boyfriend. i wanted to get on with life asap. remarry. Could not. Slandered, defamed.
Their m.o. is if I say I am slandered, life is over. If I go outside, then I was not slandered. Must never set foot outside the house, not embarrassed enough. Same goes for disability,I’m ill, in pain, hurting.I am not to go outside,just buy gro. I am a total outcast, exiled, unwanted
I’ve not filed a lawsuit anywhereNever had an attorney to represent me but for divorce. Only divorce. Never consulted an attorney b4 here re bankruptcy. I never received anything for consulting an attorney but divorce. Screwed there. I never sued for a job, license, nothing. Never committed crime that would put me in jail a day.unless they grossly lied. Never used illegal drugs in my life.
Never used drugs for wt control, ever.
Never had a major mental illness.
Never lost my license, ever. This is the
God’s truth. Did not cheat on my husband. He said he had a girlfriend. i did divorce him, I did not have a boyfriend. i wanted to get on with life asap. remarry. Could not. Slandered, defamed.
Their m.o. is if I say I am slandered, life is over. If I go outside, then I was not slandered. Must never set foot outside the house, not embarrassed enough. Same goes for disability,I’m ill, in pain, hurting.I am not to go outside,just buy gro. I am a total outcast, exiled, unwanted
I have no intentions of working in any live in situations nor working for anything that requires I travel. I cannot do it.
I am not able to work right now, and I cannot get well due to the way I am treated. I hate this stinking apt. But it beats the street, it beats the shacks out on the hjighway. I have no reason, whatsoever, and never did to be guilt riddenl I reject all of that rot.
I have no intentions of working in any live in situations nor working for anything that requires I travel. I cannot do it.
I am not able to work right now, and I cannot get well due to the way I am treated. I hate this stinking apt. But it beats the street, it beats the shacks out on the hjighway. I have no reason, whatsoever, and never did to be guilt riddenl I reject all of that rot.

After a long period of disability and a financially devastating divorce I have no realistic option but to file chapt 7. I’ve put this off for ages as I tried to save for legal fees. One creditor has begun court proceedings which I have thus far ignored. I need to end this asap and begin anew. My credit was perfect for decades before this disaster. I do not take this lightly at all, but now that it has happened to me, I just want to fix it and start over. Any advice on how to begin filing the paperwork, online resources to help guide me, etc. would be most helpful and greatly appreciated.

Just enough life insurance to pay creditors. Attorney wants me to put it in 401K, declare Chapter 13 instead of paying debts. Am 52 yr old widow with no retirement savings, but
good working income as nurse. Not better to pay debts and
start saving income for retirement?

My dad is contemplating filing for Chapter 13 because he built up too much credit card debt and can’t pay it back. My student loan is in deferment right now and will be until I graduate.
haha, man what a waste. I DEFFERED not defaulted my loans and f*ck you grand lake bum I’m not black.

Chase will not allow online application on there website if you have bankruptcy. What companies will consider me? I have one card from WAMU, are there other that accept.
Wolfe, the card will be used only as a back up… I will be traveling for 4-6 months over seas, and I want a back up.

2 years ago my only card got crushe in a Manila ATM… lucky my buddy had cash on him. I don’t need a high limit, just the ability to get emergency items.
also, the bk was in 2005, my current fico is 702.

My mother recently inherited a sum of money from a family member that passed away this past year. She has told me that despite the inheritance she and my father will have to file for bankruptcy. She has no income and my father only get’s Social Security Disability checks in the amount of 00 a month which they currently use to keep up their home and vehicles. Can someone file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in this situation?

Bankrupttcy is expensive but I have to do that. Do anybody know about bankrupcy for low cost? Thanks

I have 2 vehicles that are just in my name—my mom and brother and paying the note, and they are not behind. Can I file chapter 13 on all my other bills, but leave the cars out of it? One lawyer told me I could…another told me I couldn’t.

Obama said that he wants car manufacturers to make much better fuel efficient cars. I read this article online in Yahoo News. Keep this in mind and continue reading.

I understand that GM and Chrysler have filed for bankruptcy. GM is going to come back in 30 days I heard. Is this right?

Back to Obama wanting car manufacturers to make better fuel efficient cars.

Why the hell is Obama letting GM keep the "hummer"?????????? The hummer is not a fuel efficient car.

I’m lost in my understanding of this.

My husband and i own a franchise which just wouldn’t pick up

A friend of mine has switched from a chapter 7 to a chapter 13 bankruptcy. he has come up with a repayment plan, but recently, he tells me that the creditors have rejected it.

can they do that? can the judge make them accept? I don’t know anything about bankruptcy law, but i want to look up a few cases that will help my friend out.

any help pointing me in the right place to start is appreciated. I have access to westlaw and lexisnexis.

thanks!

My lawyer said to break it up between my two pay periods, that means send 525 everytime i get paid. Well, an emergency came up and i am short on this pay check. Can i just send the whole amount at one time at the end of the month when i get paid again ….as long as he gets the money before the due date? Tried calling my lawyer, he is out of town. It will eventually be garnished from my wages anyways.

I have improved credit after filing bankruptcy about 5 years ago . I was able to secure auto loan and capital one card , but I find I am desperate for small loan of about 1,500 and most payday loan places offer a max of 800.00 in our area. I am also very scared of all the online fast loans due to scamming for information .Any ideas?