our case has been represented by a BK Lawyer but unfortunately I never get any feedback from him or his office, I went to court 2day & my lawyer did not show up therefore the trustee has continued my hearing for the payment plan for next Wed.the trustee told us that he cannot preseed this case 2day with out our attorney & that the declarations pages have not been filed at the clerks office. our attorney had 30 days before this date to file theses declarations and the attorney has not done his part, we have already & always provide the lawfirm all proof of payments with money orders, mortgage/bank/car/Statements all paid on time we are current with our loans. we are scared that the trustee might convert our case to a CH 7. we dont want 2 Loose our home we have Equity on our mortgage this is why our case was converted 2 a CH 13 by this attorney. please give me advise but the truth what will happen 2 us & our home. we are husband/wife filing for BK 13, we have no minor children our kids are adults now.& we are paying for our 2nd & 3rd loan with the bank all current.& we are making the Trustee’s payment on time & current. tell me what can we do?

We have been married 30 years. 10 years ago he had a brain aneurysm at the age of 47. Docs say he should have died as they had never seen anyone live with this type of aneurysm. They had to inquire around the world to figure out how to operate so he didn’t just lay there and bleed out in his head. They received some ideas and they operated and he recovered quite well to everyone’s surprise. No short term memory though. 5 years ago he had meningitis & a staph infection in his brain. This set him back quite a bit. Over the last 5 years he has deteriorated in that I am back to helping him with personal care and everything else in his life. I am completely responsible for everything in our lives. We had to file bankruptcy after the aneurysm and we lost our home and everything else. I have worked hard these 10 years to get our credit back and to buy another home for us. My mortgage is cheaper than our rent was. He walks unsteadily with a hemi walker but often has to use his wheelchair. He was diagnosed a year ago with a melanoma in his eye and the optic nerves in his other eye are deteriorating so he does not see detail anymore. In the last 5 years my health has suffered greatly. I believe it is the stress of taking care of him. He has short term memory loss but he is still "with it". There is little decrease in brain function so its not like he is out of it and wouldn’t know. I have talked to him about it many times but he gets all teary so I stop. 5 minutes later he doesn’t remember talking about it. I get no help from our children or his family or mine. They all say just ask but when I do there is always a reason why they cannot help. I am not interested in finding a new man or anything like that. I just want to get healthy again and not have my life totally consumed with his care. I have looked into help at home but it would cost me 0.00 a month and we cannot afford it. he receives social security disability as do I. I also receive a pension from my past employment but he was self employed all his working career so he has no pension. Anyone have any ideas that can help me? I pray on this all the time but I never seem to come up with an answer that I am positive about. HELP!

My husband and I are going to a bankruptcy lawer on wen. and I don’t know what all debt I have. I was told there was a place online where I could get a free credit report w/o haveing to use a credit card. I do not have one. Or does anyone know of a way I can get out of fileing bankrupt. I am only behine on my house payment (0.00) & a car payment (9.00) My husband had them b/4 we got married and he only has 2 more years to pay on the car and it will be paid off , I hate to see him lose everything he has worked for. I am one of the ones out looking for a job in ohio I got laid off and have went everywhere & had no luck yet. can anyone help please ?????

We are currently working with a reputable credit repair agency to fix our credit reports..we just don’t have time to do it ourselves. They have gotten all but 2 negative items removed from my credit report during this last phase, which was around Sept. 4. When will I see how this change impacted my credit score? I checked my score online & it’s still the same today as it was a few wks ago. Ex: of things removed..bankruptcy & about 10 negative items on all 3 credit bureaus.

I have a Civil Court judgment in Michigan against me from a Credit Card Company. I am on Social Security / Disability, and I know they are not allowed to garnish that form of income. I have taken out what little I had in my bank account. I live in an apartment, I do not have any "assets" to speak of. I have a car that is not worth any more than the loan I am paying on for it. I have been threatened that a Sheriff is going to come into my home and take all my belongings and sell them to satisfy the debt. Just exactly how far are they allowed to go when I don’t own anything of value anyway? Do they literally break down my door and take all my stuff? That’s what I have been threatened with by the attorneys for the creditor. I am probably looking at a few more Credit Card companies suing me in the near future. If there are several judgments against me is the Court more aggressive about collecting?

Also, I just received the official Judgment in the mail. What comes next? I have read online that there is another hearing to determine my ability to pay. Is that true – should I be expecting another Court notice for a hearing such as that, or do they just automatically go to Collection procedures after the Judgment?

Yes I have considered Bankruptcy, but do not even have the money for that right now.

There is no need for commentary such as "pay your bills & you wouldn’t be in this trouble, blah, blah". I am in the position I am in, period, and I do not have the income or means to pay right now. No, not even .00 a month. Thank you.
Thank you for your quick and supportive answers thus far! Now I don’t feel so scared.

Generic Mastercard gift cards purchased in retail stores are great, except that most online merchants (or bill payees) require a billing zip code. Our small business was giving out small quantities of prepaid personalized "incentive" cards each month which worked perfectly… until recently when the company we were using to purchase these cards filed bankruptcy and left us with unfunded cards we’d already paid for. Since then I’ve been searching for an alternative but haven’t found one. I spoke with a rep at a major company today who told me that the kind of card we WERE getting will now be hard to find because they aren’t profitable for the issuers. What we’re looking for doesn’t have to be personalized or reloadable, but we need two features for sure: adjustable denominations & ability to verify cardholder information for online purchases or bill payment. Hope someone can help!

Hey- I have a old debt from Capital One that I owed ,586.95. I have only the Post Office receipt & the Certified Mail receipt that I sent to Capital One. I also still have the e-mail that I sent to myself with the letter that I sent Capital One. The e-mail shows I sent it to myself the 11th of April of 2009. It shows that I sent the letter to Capital One on the 19th of April of 2009. The letter stated how I was unemployed but I could still try to make monthly payments if they could put me on a payment plan. They never responded. I received a letter on the 10th of September 2009 from a law firm saying they represent Capital One in trying to collect the money I owe. The sad thing is that I have a unstamped letter that I wrote this collection company on the 23rd of September saying if they can put me on a payment plan & I was going to mail it but it was during a time where a shooting happened at my apartment complex & I had to move during those following weeks – I never got around to mailing it. On November 2009, I received a summons — I didn’t know what a default judgment was. Someone told me that they received one & they paid monthly (like how I wanted to pay) & since I knew I owed the money, I didn’t answer the summons. Now I receive a letter saying I have a default judgment trial I have to go to.

Now someone told me that they can take my tax money & any other money that want to get their debt paid off. So I decided to get online & ask someone who actually knows about this. I know now that my mistake was not answering the summons but whats done is done. I was hoping I could contact my debt collector & ask them if they can accept monthly payments for the default judgement but I didn’t know if this was possible. I heard these guys aren’t the nicest people who want the payment in full & also, since I already had the trial set, I was wondering if it was already mandatory for me to go & deal with it. I have no source of income at the moment. I do not own my car, I don’t own a house, I’m not renting anything, I don’t see what they can take away from me other than my tax return. I don’t know what to do. Should I try to see if the debt collector accepts my payment plan or do I have to go to the default judgement trial to see what they take away from me? Is there anything I can do? I don’t have money for a lawyer. I was thinking of filing bankruptcy too but do they take away the car that I am financing right now? I don’t know how anything works — I’m clueless & scared right now. Today is the 8th & the default judgement trial is on the 21st. Someone please help.

Only helpful answers please — any other "I’m better than you b/c you can’t pay your debts on time" answers will be skipped — you don’t know peoples situation so don’t comment on that please. I’m just asking for help on what I can do in this situation. Thanks.
Thanks for the answers – you guys were helpful. I will go to the default judgement trial & see what happens.

Sharon – I received a summons but it didn’t say anything about a court date. Just to answer if I acknowledged the debt but I didn’t answer & that’s when I recieved the letter with the court date for the default judgement. I should have answered it, I know but that’s what I get for listening to other people. :\

I have been under tremendous stress for an extended period. I survived a bout of homelessness & malnourishment. I had to file bankruptcy, I got a job but was underemployed. I was not making enough to pay my bills, just fuel and a weekly lodge.

After the homelessness, I stayed with a friend who lived so far from my daily routine that I had to literally spend hours traveling daily to continue to survive. I somehow contracted a viral infection amd had to make an emergency room visit. This infection hit me pretty hard affecting lungs and bronchial passages. My immune system is so weak that I had to stop working my low paying job just to recupperate. I need to work. I have worked my entire life, still but my head spins constantly, I have a bad headache, & my chest and heart literally ache. I just don’t feel quite well yet.

1.Given my conditions & needs what are my options for medical care with no money?
2.Do doctors do pro bono work?
3.Are there free clinics, I can visit?

I’m going thru a divorce & learning of thousands of dollars in collection & more that are delinquent & on there way to a collection. Yesterday I learned of a credit card company that will settle for a % of the debt. I contacted this company & informed them that I have never applied for a credit card in my life. They had all of the personal info on me needed to apply for a credit card. I have a feeling that my soon to be ex applied for & received a card in my name. They informed me to go to the police dept. & fill out a fraud/identity theft form. Is this the correct action to take? I had trusted that my ex was taking care of our finances but apparently she wasn’t. I will probably have to file bankruptcy. Should I do this after our divorce is final and the debts are divided or file together with my ex, before the divorce is final? I obviously want to know ALL of my debt that is out there. How do I go about finding this out? SOMEONE PLEASE HELP ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My fiance and I have been engaged since last July. He lives 2 hours away, and lives with a relative of his. Anyway… Recently, his relative who owns the house, has invited 2, (maybe 3) other people to live with them. 4 grown people sharing a small house with one bathroom and maybe 3 bedrooms could be quite.. uncomfortable. In addition to that, they started out with 3 dogs, and the new people brought 4 more, so there’s also 7 dogs there as well. My family is already hard on him, because we met online and there’s an age difference between us. If they found out about his, it wouldn’t help either of us at all.

Last year, he lost his job as a manager at a bar&grille because it went out of business. The relative he lives with was the owner. He was on unemployment for a little while, and now has the fortune to be working full time at Giant. However, he has to be working at least 45 hours to pay his bills. It seems to me, that he’s the only one there that has a job, and he can’t afford to pay ALL of the bills by himself. If the others are paying rent, she’s not using the money for bills. His credit card bill is going up, and he can’t afford to pay it back, because he has to spend his pay checks on the bills that he shouldn’t have to be paying on his own to begin with. He’s trying to find another, higher paying job, but obviously, that’s not an easy thing to do. He wants to get out of that place, but he can’t afford to move. His relative won’t give him his W2 so he can’t do his taxes, apparently because she owes them money. He’s convinced that eventually, he’s going to be so far into debt, he won’t have a place to live, or a car to drive, or a way for us to keep in contact, much less marry. And, if his relative won’t give him his W2, he can’t do his taxes, and he might have to go to jail.

I work part time as a local grocery store. I just bought my first car, and I’m spending most of my own money on my insurance and phone bill, and gas. I want to help him, but I can’t, and he won’t let me. I suggested declaring bankruptcy, if he had to, and he said that that would destroy his credit, and he won’t be able to get anything anyway.

Is there anything at all that I can do to help him get passed this? It is extremely difficult thinking that eventually I won’t be able to contact him for an indeterminable time. Perhaps, this might even bring the end of our relationship. Any helpful suggestions, financial or otherwise, would be greatly appreciated.

Steve & Barry’s (US) was a very good, popular retail apparel (athletic) store which had high quality stuff for a very low price.

In a declining economy, I’d imagine that they would do quite well given the quality of their products and low price, but paradoxically they filed for Chapter 11 (at least all the stores I know have closed).

Why do you think they genuinely folded as this seems to be a counter-intuitive measure when they would seem to be looking at a huge opportunity in terms of revenue (they’ve always maintained a very strict policy of using minimal overhead to keep the cost of their products low) and this paradigm worked well.

Personally, I loved their stuff, but what do you feel are the "behind the scenes" issues that impelled them to file for bankruptcy when all looked like they were doing extremely well by all accounts?

Thank you.

My boyfriend tried to apply for a credit card at capital one, and he got rejected. He tried taking out a loan for a home, and got rejected. He recently went online to annualcreditreport.com and pulled all of his reports off of there, only to find that his fathers debts were on his credit report because he and his father have the same name. We know his dad did not use his SSN or birthdate to create these debts under his name though, because he himself is going through bankruptcy trying to get these debts cleared off his name. So what were wondering is who do we hold responsible for it? The credit card company? the credit bureau? and what do we do about it?

We know that we can get this removed off his credit report, but were not sure of how to go about things.

& should we be compensated for the troubles he had to go through because of the times hes been denied.

If we decide to take this to court, should we get an attorney?
BTW Bruce, his FATHER is filing bankruptcy, not the son. I know he isn’t lying because I was present for all of it.
THE FATHER FATHER FATHER FATHER IS filing bankruptcy.

We got that clear now lol

We filed bankruptcy chapter 7 but kept our truck and the loan with it. The payment is almost 0 a month and is financed at 12.75% and with the gas milage being only 10mpg we can not afford it.
We need a lower payment & a more fuel efficient & reliable vehicle. Our truck is worth about 000 & we owe 000 & have a 0-00 to put down on top of that.
Sorry for the long question but I want to get approved or pre-approved before wasting time sitting around a dealership all day.
Does anyone know of a Reputable online auto lender I could use?
I have already applied twice and have heard nothing back & these were online auto loans bad credit, & bankruptcy.
Also would a Co-Signer help?? Thanks to all of you that read this long question & any infor or help you can give would be SOOOO Appreciated..
Thanks for all your help.. I tried Drivetime.com but I am in Illinois and they had nothing in Illinois..
We are having trouble selling our vehicle since it is the size of a suburban and a gas hog..

I have a graduate degree, a masters in Public Administration w/ a concentration in HR & Finance. Unfortunately, I have been chronically unemployed since 2003 as companies are closed, downsize or outsource HR. After 7 years of struggle, I have lost my home to foreclosure, I am facing bankruptcy, and I am living off of my retirement savings, which is dwindling fast.
I am brainstorming on how to change my career path, frugally and expediently. From the research I’ve done, healthcare seems to be a good bet.
I think it would be wise for me to build on the education and experience I already have and compliment it in hopes of opening a door in the healthcare sector.
I found an online program via Seton Hall University, for a Graduate Certificate in Healthcare Administration (5 courses, 15 credits, roughly k). Probably 6 months.
Has anyone taken an online graduate certificate course? Did it reap any rewards and was it a good investment of time and finances? Mostely, was it useful in segwaying into another career path?

We filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy through a lawyer . Our case goes to court Sept.18th. I have sent the Trustee his money & have sent the Mortgage Co. their monthly payment ( Payments are behind ) . The mortgage co. sent the payment back 2X . I sent it to my lawyer to take care of it at his advise. Why did the mortgage co. send it back ? Surely they were notified of the Chapter 13. Don’t they have to abide by that ?

I have never done this before. I have been self sufficient my entire life up until this past year. I just can’t do it anymore. Nobody will hire me for anything. I am over-qualified & underskilled.
Starting fresh seems to be the best route. I will still be responsible for my student loan debt, but at least my credit card debt will be gone. My question is, how do I know who is trustworthy to deal with this. Everyone and their mother does debt consolidation and bankruptcies. Also, I know declaring bankruptcy isn’t free. What do they do if you can’t pay the fees associated with that? I don’t know what other option I have other than not doing anything and going to collections and being harassed over the phone, and that isn’t an option for me. I also have crappy luck, and would love to hear peoples experiences on how they got through difficult financial times after a bankruptcy when a credit card would normally handle that.
Thanks for the response: Just to clarify. My creditors won’t work with me unless I have sustainable income coming in. I could be working for .00 an hour and they would help me. Having nothing means they won’t help. Makes no sense because you can’t get blood from a stone. All I ever wanted from them was a lower payment.

My ex-husband is the most unresponsible person i have ever known in my life. He lied to me on a daily basis, borrowed money from people & never payed it back. Took our kids savings bonds..ok he stole them & cashed them in. Forged my name on tax return checks. Filed bankruptcy twice, hid bills from me, we had a foreclosure on our home. i begged this man for marriage counseling only to hear him say i dont need anyone to tell me what im doing wrong, he even told me he had brain cancer to see how i would react. he was totally addicted to online games & met another woman & decided to end our marriage before he even met her. in the past 3 years she has come to visit him 3 times now..the 1st time after one week they decided they want to get married. He owes the irs ,000 & because my name is listed as the beneficiary i am liable for it too. he did not pay taxes on his retirement saving he withdrew when he was let go of a job. will he ever change??? BTW i was married to the nut for 23yrs.

the loan company added as a lien holder. They also didn’t require us to add them to our auto insurance policy. We then filed bankruptcy (which was discharged over 2 yrs ago now.) In the bankruptcy we chose to surrender the vehicle. (The loan was for 00). The title loan company (an online cash advance kind of place) never would pick up the vehicle. They never even responded to the formal notices. I believe they are located 1000 miles away. Anyway, the vehicle has been sitting ever since. We aren’t carrying insurance on it. It’s no longer current with registration or inspection. We’ve been afraid to drive it, fearing if we ever got pulled over it might show up as not belonging to us & then what would we do? Can someone please tell us what we should do with the vehicle? We assume we can’t legally get rid of it but should we pay to update insurance, reg, inspection, repairs, etc? We don’t even know who shows up on the title or how to find out.

How much more money would people have if the top corporations shared their profits with the workers that created it?

How much money would be injected into the economy, into the average middle class American’s pocket books, if the top 100 corporations only shared 50% of their profits, ONLY with the workers at the corporations who helped to create that profit?

How many bank foreclosures would have been avoided if corporations shared their profits with the workers at those same corporations?

Would consumer confidence improve if these corporations shared their profits?
Would bankruptcies decrease?
Would spending increase, stimulating growth and development?
Would the average person’s quality of life increase?
Would people have more faith in their CEO’s and corporations if they shared profits?
Would tax revenues increase from the increase in growth and spending, reducing our national debt?
Would our government social programs become more sustainable with less people off of welfare if corporations shared their profits with the lowest paid workers?
Would workers be able to afford the increase in the cost of living?
Would they be able to stay in their homes?

Would Americans be happier, healthier, and more productive if corporations shared their profits?
Why do people think that wages are profits?

Wages are wages and are completely separate from profits. That is basic accounting?
Profits = Revenues – expenses.
Wages are a part of expenses.
Wages are not part of profits.
Why can’t people understand this?
Profits = Revenues – expenses.
Wages are a part of expenses.
Wages are not part of profits.
Why can’t people understand this?
AT&T made 12.9 billion in 2008
They employ 300,000 people.
Dividend yield for that year was 6.3%

If half of the profits went to employees, each employee would get a 20,000 dollar check at the end of EACH year?

Investors would still get a 3.1% dividend yield, which is still better than any bank savings or CD account and 401K’s would still rise!
Besides, 80% of trading on the market are in BONDS not stocks.

I was just wondering what is the difference between Chapter 7, 10 & 13 bankruptcies. How did the new law that Bush passed now affect bankruptcies (or does it at all)? I’ve heard everything that you can’t file for Chapter 13 bankruptcy anymore to you have to take financial planning classes thereafter. Also, is it advisable at all? I know normally people say make it your last resort, but I am beyond in debt and do not have any other resolutions. Any horror stories after filing? Any positive stories? Please enlighten me.

thanks!