I owe roughly 2600 in credit card debt, and the bill collectors have decided that their recommendation is to continue with legal proceedings against me. At this point, my question is whether wage garnishment is the only available recourse they will have against me, and if so, how much will I be garnished?

I own my car, and it’s worth is roughly ,085 according to Kelly Blue Book. I do not own a house, nor do I pay a mortgage . I do own a laptop computer (that is entirely paid for) as well as a 7 year old desktop computer ( obviously paid for as well).

I have spoken with some people regarding chapter 13 bankruptcy, and they have suggested that the fees associated with that are not worth my trouble, and I agree.

Roughly, I earn between 300 and 400 dollars every two weeks. What could I expect to loose?

Thank you in advance for you time and help with this.
Also, I would like to point out that I have spoken with the creditors and they have been rigid about not accepting any payment plans.

I need to file Bankruptcy because I’m being attacked by creditors but I don’t have the money for an attorney. Does anybody know of any online full service companies that are reasonable.

I asked this question last week, and I would like more answers if you could answer them. I am a few months into a 60 month plan chapter 13 BK. I owe the creditors about 7,700+,700 lawyer fee. I pay .00 every two weeks. And it is set at 70%. I dont have my home included in this, because I make sure I pay this every month and on time. My question is – what are my chances of calling these credit card companies (or the collection agencies that took over these accounts) and asking them to set up payment plan that I can afford with no interest? I want to hear all advise. Let me just add, that I do not have my home included in this. Can the credit card companies sue me and have my wages garnished or put a lien on my house If I dont send them what they want every month?

Can someone answer this for me. We would be eligible to file for a chapter 7 bankruptcy in a couple months. My question is If we filed for a Chapter 13, BUT it has not been approved by the trustee and payments have not yet been sent to creditors, then would I be able to stop the Chapter 13 and just get a Chapter 7 instead???

I have around 18,000 worth of bad debt. This does not include my student loans. Should I try to file a chapter 7 or 13? If I do what is the cost involved? I was going to try and settle with the creditors themselves. I have heard that with the economy the way it is creditors are accepting payments of .20 on the dollar. Is this true? If so would I have to pay that in one lump sum or can I pay it over 3 – 5 payments?

I do not have the means to pay 0 per month. My income has dropped dramatically in the past few years and I can barely even pay the bare necessities. I want to get my credit back to where it was 4 years ago, before the layoffs. My score was a 780 4 years ago, now I think its as low as a 490. If I do file bankruptcy what are the chances of having decent credit within 2 – 4 years? I have heard it takes 7 before your credit score begins to rise after a bankruptcy. PLEASE HELP!!
NO ADS PLEASE!!! I am not buying turn debt into wealth program or anything like it!!!! PLEASE!! ADVICE ONLY!!!

Isn’t the answer?

A little story about myself.
In 1997 I was married to someone that didn’t have the greatest work ethic, yet had a champagne appetite while on a beer income. That was my mistake in marrying her in the first place. Go figure she was a Clinton supporter. I had to throw that in. LOL!
Naturally it ended in divorce, but also a subsequent Chapter 13 bankruptcy. I refused to do a Chapter 7 as my ex wanted to do as I at least wanted to pay off my secured loans as well as some of the unsecured stuff.
After 7 years of payments I finally finished it and now have a credit score that I’m very proud of. It took a lot of hard work and belt tightening but I got through it.
Today my financial standing is pretty solid. I’m not rich, but things are very stable.

Now if I had tried to go out and get high interest loans to pay of old creditors I’d still be in debt, probably much worse debt since at the time I was not credit worthy, and would have procured much higher interest rates, so the only places I could have gotten loans would have been Joe Blow’s loans on the corner. Effectively starting a very vicious cycle of continuous never ending debt.

Is the latter part of my story exactly what the Dems are doing right at this moment? I believe it is.
Borrowing from China.
Printing worthless money.
Ending up with high interest debt.
Phil?
Uh no.
They are not the same. But the principle is behind the management is.
Sara?
Yes I do, But the government isn’t doing that. They’re throwing it a failing companies and empty earmarks.
It figures at least one moron would show up. "Imitated".
Donovan
I understand that, however the money they’re going to use is going to be much more worthless than it is now. If a dollar today is actually worth .75 cents when you borrow it now. And in 5 years that same dollar is only worth .50 cents due to over printing. It will not only take more of that dollar to repay the principle, but even more to repay the interest.
And there is your massive inflation.
Flywheel.
I hear what you’re saying. And the premise does make sense on the surface.
But after the recession ends, the bill comes due does it not? Who pays that bill? It’s obvious who that is. Only problem, this bill will be the largest and longest running "mortgage" this country has ever seen.

I have a account in charge off status with HSBC auto finance. I payed this loan for two years before filling chapter 13 bankruptcy. I made payments into the chapter 13 trustee for 3 years before falling ill, loosing my job, and becoming unable to make the payments. Since then I have tried to make good on my debts and pay some of the creditors. The one that I am having problems with is HSBC! I have called and offered to pay a portion of the debt in return for them to leave me alone and stop with the harassing phone calls. The phone numbers they are calling aren’t even mine but worse the people I listed as references 6 years ago. The first offer I made was denied and after pulling together my resources I was able to offer more money. The offer now sits at 50% of the balance. They still will not settle and the vehicle blue books for less than what I am offering, and still all I hear from them is the word RE-PO. I don’t want to have to file bankruptcy again and have had no problem with other creditors, but I have to do something ASAP before these people drive me crazy. Oh and I ran my credit report and it shows the account has been charged. Also the vehicle they want so bad has no value since it needs a transmission and has not run in almost 3 years. Any insight or advise is greatly appreciated.

I have been enrolled in the chapter 13 bankruptcy program since 2006 which prevents putting my loans in good standing on order to take loans out of default status and into deferred status. I would like to attend school January 2010. I was looking to transfer to TSU. I called the creditors of my loans and they said I would have to file a file 4 form (I don’t know what that is). And that it would be up to that school if they wanted to approve me for loans. My issue is since I am laid off I can no longer afford to pay into the Chapter 13 as it requires monthly payments. I wanted to change over my Chapter 13 to Chapter 7 but when talking to my school loans creditors they said that schools prefer to see Chapter 13 status then Chapter 7. I need to get back in school does anyone know how to go about getting back in school with this situation? What would be the best plan of action? I am a single mother with one child if that helps.

I have been enrolled in the Chapter 13 bankruptcy program since 2006 which prevents me putting my loans in good standing in order to take my loans out of default status and into deferred status. I would like to attend school in January 2010. I was looking to transfer to TSU. I called the creditors of my loans and they said I would have to file a file 4 form (I don’t know what that is). And that it would be up to the school if they wanted to approve me for loans. My issue is since I am being laid off I can no longer afford to pay into the Chapter 13 program as it requires monthly payments. I wanted to change over my Chapter 13 to Chapter 7 but when talking to my school loan creditors they said that schools prefer to see Chapter 13 status then Chapter 7. I need to get back in school! Does anyone know how to go about getting back in school with this situation? What would be the best plan of action? I am a single mother with one child if that helps.

was reading that any potion of the plan payments that you sent to the trustee that was not distributed to the creditors by the trustee would be returned to you after the discharge under Chapter 7. Is this correct? Remember, this is a conversion from chapter 13 to ch 7.

When I go to my account overview…..out of 00, only 1000 has been distributed to one of my creditors…the other monies have not been distributed in the past 6months, anyone know why? If I am converting to chapter 7 if the money still has not been distributed to the last creditor, does this money get returned to me?

i have been on disability now for about 3 years. i have had credit cards for 2 years. i was doing good with paying my credit cards at first, but with all the fees and interst, its impossible to pay. i dont make much money every month and heard that creditors CANNOT take money from my disability check. with this being known, should i file for bankruptcy chapter 13 and pay every month for 4 years (which i dont understand at all) or should i just go to court and tell the judge that i am on disability and made the mistake of getting the credit cards. i have a repocessed car that i need to go to court for in december. what happens if i dont go to court? can i call someone and let them know my situation so that these creditors and companies will leave me alone? how long will these unpaid bills be on my credit report? im so clueless and have no clue what to do. i dont want bad credit, but cant afford bankruptcy. whats the worst the judge can do to me if i dont pay these credit cards or the repo’d car? i dont own a house or a vehicle. should i just let my bills go and ignore the calls and notices in the mail (accept the court dates)?

I have had an extraordinarily bad year: sporadic employment, lost my car in an accident, etc. I am seriously considering filing for Chapter 7. All my credit card accts are closed now and under a debt mgmt company (I did this to lower my rates), but since I have no money coming in, I can’t pay them anymore.

I have zero assets to take…my most valuable possession is probably a queen-sized bed. I have no plans to get a mortgage in the next five years, won’t need a car if I continue to live in this same city, and have no desire for credit cards. I just want to bring my monthly overhead to something manageable and restart my life. I live pretty modestly…studio apartment, don’t go out to eat, don’t take fancy vacations, etc.

Is it worth my while to file for bankruptcy? I don’t have creditors or collectors after me yet, but unless I find a job in the next month, that will soon be the case.
If I could find a moderately-paying job (say even 10K less than I have been making in the past), I could pay minimums…however, when you are unemployed, it doesn’t matter how much you owe.

I also want my life back. I’m tired of being so poor I can’t even go see a movie on the weekends. I admit, the idea of having my monthly nut cut in half (with cessation of CC debt) sounds pretty great.

I know that it might be tougher to get an apt in the future…I can’t predict 5 yrs from now, but I’d be OK even staying where I am for the time being. As for jobs…well, I can’t say how often employers check that sort of thing…it’s kind of comical that a bankruptcy would mean you’re more likely to stay unemployed when you think about it.

I was reading that any potion of the plan payments that you sent to the trustee that was not distributed to the creditors by the trustee would be returned to you after the discharge under Chapter 7. Is this correct? Remember, this is a conversion from chapter 13 to ch 7.

When I go to my account overview…..out of 00, only 1000 has been distributed to one of my creditors…the other monies have not been distributed in the past 6months, anyone know why? If I am converting to chapter 7 if the money still has not been distributed to the last creditor, does this money get returned to me?

I have been looking into filing chapter 7 or 13 bankruptcy. I see that chapter 7 is known as liquid asset bankruptcy where I am told that the court trustee sells your possessions to pay your creditors. Can anyone tell me about their experiences with this? How much do they take exactly? I would also like to hear about anyone who has experienced Ch 13 bankruptcy. What was your final settlement like? I ams scared to death of either of these. But, I need to do something to get my debt under control. These interest rates keep going up on me and I have been paying everything on time. But, now the rates are so high, I am in over my head. I appreciate all of you guys and gals sharing your experiences with me.

Richard Penn lives in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Richard is the president of an architectural firm. Richard has become known throughout the community for excellent work and honesty in his business dealings. Richard believes his reputation is an integral part of the success of the firm.

Oil was found recently in the area around Harrisburg and some geologists believed the reserves were large. A few well-respected businesspeople organized Oil Company to develop a few wells. Although some oil was being extracted, the oil corporation lacked capital to develop the oil fields to their expected potential. After reading the geologists’ report, Richard felt that Oil Company was a good investment; therefore, he acquired 25% of the company. A short time after Richard’s acquisition, the price of foreign oil decreased sharply. The drop in foreign oil prices caused Oil Company to be unprofitable decreased sharply. The drop in foreign oil prices caused Oil Company to be unprofitable due to its high production costs. Three months later Oil Company field bankruptcy.

The bankruptcy proceedings were reported in the local newspaper. Many of Oil Company’s creditors were real estate developers that engaged Richard’s architectural firm to provide designs. After Oil Company declared bankruptcy the architectural firm’s business noticeably decreased.

Richard felt the decline in business was related to the bankruptcy of Oil
Company. Richard convinced his partner to use the accumulated earnings of the firm to repay all the creditors of Oil Company.

Richard has asked you whether his firm can deduct the expenses of repaying Oil Company’s creditors. After completing your research explain to Richard why the expenses are or are not deductible.

It was not specified if Richard was cash or accrual account methods.

Hi, My Husband and I make too much money to file a chapter 7 bankruptcy and are now considering chapter 13. A lawyer told us that our creditors can check up on us and make us pay more if we get a raise (or if I start working.) Is this true? it doesn’t seem fair that a deal is made of a certain monthly payment and then they can go back on it and check up on you. Does anyone know the laws or know anything about this? Also the lawyer was trying to tell us that because of what we make we’d have to pay 1$ for 1$ of what we owe what kind of deal is that? I thought that chapter 13 only makes you pay a fraction of what you actually owe. Why would we bother filing if we had to pay back everything in it’s entirety? What was this lawyer thinking?

I am contemplating a Chapter 7. I thought if your income was less than the median income for your region, you qualify without having to divulge monthly expenses to see if you have any money leftover for creditors. So, is this true?

I get letters from creditors offering to settle my debts for a lower amount. I owe about ,000. Some debts have been charged off and I don’t know who to contact now. Doesn’t it still hurt your credit to pay off the debts anyways? Isn’t Chapter 7 just easier? Please help from anyone who has gone through Chapter 7. Thanks!

I am considering filing chapter 7 bankruptcy. I have 3 major credit cards, all of which have been charged off and added up have a balance of roughly 20k with interest and attorney fees. I also have some other random bills which have gone to collection: cell phone, utility bills, medical bills, etc, that add up to about 3k. I also owe about 10k in back taxes to the IRS, which I’m not sure if this could be included in the bankruptcy? I have made some mistakes in the past, living beyond my means and am much more educated and mature now and would like to get my life and credit built back up.

1. Is bankruptcy a good idea for me?
2. Can taxes be included in a bankruptcy?
3. How long does it take to get my credit built up to say a 650-700 credit score after a BK and are banks willing to give you a loan if they see you have a bankruptcy, even if your credit score is good now?

I worked for a mortgage company in 2003 and we would give someone a loan the next day after a BK discharge. I know things have changed but any insight in today’s credit market and how a BK is viewed by creditors in 2009 would be very helpful. Thanks

My husband filed chapter 13 bankruptcy last year and I did not. I am attempting to settle with my creditors as my debt was only a fraction of his. In the event I can not settle or make adequate payment arrangements with my creditors and they sue me and get a judgement can they garnish my husbands wages or seize our joint bank accounts. In other words…what can they do to try and get the money? Btw I am currently unemployed and in the state of California.