@northface28 wrote:I have a friend that is contemplating BK7. She doesnt work, has $20k in credit card debt, all cards are maxed and she said she hasnt paid since last summer. She also owes the state of Illinois a large sum of money from overpayment of unemployment benefits. She is only getting by from SSI that her son gets (he has autism) she has also has a daughter with a speech impediment. She has a car that payments are current on and has about 12-15 payments left.
She is very stressed and doesnt open her bills. She said she is aware that Discover will take legal action against her due to an outstanding balance. On top of all this, her mom is selling her house at which point my friend will be forced to find a place of her own, there are a lot of moving parts here and Im not sure if she should file BK.
Any opinions?
IMO there is no reason to file BK at this point, she has no income and is basically judgment proof, SSI cannot be garnished to repay creditors. I would not even consider it until an income stream is imminent, in some states wages cannot even be garnished.
@northface28 wrote:Even with an imminent Judgement?
What are they going to take??? She has no assets, they are foolish to even bother spending more money to get a judgment that most likely cant even be enforced. If she does file BK at later date that wipes away any judgments that might be on her.
@northface28 wrote:I have a friend that is contemplating BK7. She doesnt work, has $20k in credit card debt, all cards are maxed and she said she hasnt paid since last summer. She also owes the state of Illinois a large sum of money from overpayment of unemployment benefits. She is only getting by from SSI that her son gets (he has autism) she has also has a daughter with a speech impediment. She has a car that payments are current on and has about 12-15 payments left.
She is very stressed and doesnt open her bills. She said she is aware that Discover will take legal action against her due to an outstanding balance. On top of all this, her mom is selling her house at which point my friend will be forced to find a place of her own, there are a lot of moving parts here and Im not sure if she should file BK.
Any opinions?
I feel 100% for your friend. I was in the same situation. I receive SSDI for myself, and due to medical bills and unsteady income prior to getting that, I acquired massive debt I couldn't repay. For me, it was a situation I *had* to tackle. Just because they couldn't garnish my non-existant wages didn't mean I wasn't going to take care of a problem and relieve some of the stress I lived with. Phone calls, massive collection notices, posts on my door about my car not being paid for, etc. I had to do something.
I lived in Du Page county in IL at the time. (about 10 months ago when I filed for Ch. 7) Because of the low income I have, I received help through Du Page Legal Aid Service. The cost was just the filing fees. I remember paying it the day I was in the attorney's office, so it was a quick process from my talk with my attorney and the time it was filed with the court. (matter of a week or two.)
I urge your friend to consider contacting Du Page County Legal Aid Service or Prairie State Legal Service (their site has a list of offices outside of Du Page county too.). You can find more information here: http://www.dcba.org/?page=ProBonoOptions
They will refer your friend to an attoney, but they referred me to Illini Legal Services. If your friend decides to look into this and files and goes with them, the attorney there is very friendly and professional.
I wish your friend the best.
