Need Help with Ch 7!!!

[2009]

Hello everyone! I am in a real bad situation right now. I am going through a divorce, I moved out of our house and now renting a house for me and my daughter. I have so many credit cards (22) to be exact. I was able to maintain all my bills until now. I can't afford them anymore. Some of my bills are now 2mos behind going on 3mos. I went to see an attorney and he said that I needed to file CH 7. The problem is I don't have the 2000 to pay up front so that I can file. I probably want have the money until the end of August middle of september in the mean time my bills are going to fall farther behind. I also had a loan for 3400 for a loan company that uses collateral to secure the loan. They have now served me with papers and I have to go to court. The lawyer told me not to go to court, and they would probably file a judgement against me and when I file bankruptcy it will cancel that. When I file can I keep 2 of the cards that are behind so that I will some positive credit?

My question is: Will August/September be too late for me to file since my bills are getting farther and farther behind? Please any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[scrubs]

i file for bk in april 2009, it took about a year too pay off my lawyer and as long i paid my lawyer payments he told me he will hold back the wolves. i never had any problems after that.  as the the cc you can not use your cc to buy or get cash advance, my lawyer told me after i made my first payment too close all my account and live off on cash. i have see in my 341 meeting in may 2009 at least three people that their case was rejected because they were using cc  get cash and one person brought a 2000 dollars hdtv. also you can not spend your tax return without your lawyer or the court ok, i use mind to pay off my lawyer. all cc will be close or the cc company will close your account once the public record hit your credit report.  after your discharge you will be allowed too applied for credit.

my advice to you is after discharge wait at least six months before you applied for credit. during the six months clean up your cr and learn too live within your means without credit. after six months applied for cap one or orchard card these are bankruptcy friendly cards. one more note never be late on any bill after bk.

15 months after bk my fico is almost 700 on both tu and eq ex who knows. join navy cu got the navy reward cc for 8500.

[Tazman81]

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@2009 wrote:

Hello everyone! I am in a real bad situation right now. I am going through a divorce, I moved out of our house and now renting a house for me and my daughter. I have so many credit cards (22) to be exact. I was able to maintain all my bills until now. I can't afford them anymore. Some of my bills are now 2mos behind going on 3mos. I went to see an attorney and he said that I needed to file CH 7. The problem is I don't have the 2000 to pay up front so that I can file. I probably want have the money until the end of August middle of september in the mean time my bills are going to fall farther behind. I also had a loan for 3400 for a loan company that uses collateral to secure the loan. They have now served me with papers and I have to go to court. The lawyer told me not to go to court, and they would probably file a judgement against me and when I file bankruptcy it will cancel that. When I file can I keep 2 of the cards that are behind so that I will some positive credit?

My question is: Will August/September be too late for me to file since my bills are getting farther and farther behind? Please any advice would be greatly appreciated.

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You are very limited as to what debts you can pick and choose to include in a Chapter 7.  Also, if your lawyer has not already told you, if you have a bank account with a company that you have a loan with that will be included in the bankruptcy, you need to change banks immediately.  Once you file then the bank is permitted to put a hold on any of the funds you have in your checking/savings account.  so, you need to switch to a bank that you do not have any accounts loans/credit cards with that will be included in the bankruptcy.  Just as a side note I have heard that even if you do not owe Wells Fargo any money and you plan to file bankruptcy, I've heard that they still freeze your account.  I am not sure how true that is though.

When I filed bankruptcy, the only credit line I was able to keep was my Dell account because it had a 0 balance.  I also reaffirmed on my vehicle so that I could keep that.  Otherwise, everything had to be included.  Hope this helps.  Repost if you have any more questions, and let us know how things go.

Also, you may want to try to file sooner rather than later.  Because if your discharge comes after you receive your tax return, then likely the courts will seize your return in order to pay off some of your debt.  Unless the attorney can include it into the Homestead of $5000 that will be exempt.  Oh, as far as your credit cards, you should stop making purchases on them because any purchases made within the past 6 months can be deemed as "non-dischargeable" in the bankruptcy if they are consider to be excessive.  i.e. the example of the person that bought the $2000 HDTV right before filing.

[Anonymous]

First , I've been reading a lot about BK experiences in the forum. Some very good advice and some not so informed advice. I' m not a lawyer, but have gone through BK just recently (Nov. 09)

First, Chapter 7 as you may know or not is NOT the only BK path you can go. Chapter 13 is also as to be consider. If you decide to file, you will have to take a test that will let you know if you qualify for a chapter 7 or 13. Next, as you mentioned, you are or have gone through a divorce. This can have a big impact on you and your future former wife.

Let's start with the advice you have received recently. "You are very limited as to what debts you can pick and choose to include in a chapter 7" In a chapter 7 BK, my wife and I leaned very quickly that "ALL DEBTS MUST BE LISTED AND INCLUDED IN YOUR CHAPTER 7 SCHEDULES!! There is no exceptions. If you leave anything out, in your 341 meeting, they can and have, tossed the case out the window. There will come a time when you can reaffirm a debt, but think very carefully before you commit to a debit that you might be better off letting it go through discharge. (A car loan is a good example of reaffirming a debit), but never keep any credit cards debits. New chances will come after your BK is discharged (3 mos after discharged I received 3 cr. Card offers). The other advice, is that Banks will freeze your account is not true. If you have a cr. card account or car loan with any bank, why would they lock up your money??? Then you can't pay any bills, including the car loan, just not true.

The best advice that we ever got was from our Lawyer. Please, consider going through his blog. The information in his blog will save you hundred of hours of research and frustration....

Good luck!

Edited to remove a commercial link- llecs, myFICO moderator

[Tazman81]

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@Anonymous wrote:

First , I've been reading a lot about BK experiences in the forum. Some very good advice and some not so informed advice. I' m not a lawyer, but have gone through BK just recently (Nov. 09)

First, Chapter 7 as you may know or not is NOT the only BK path you can go. Chapter 13 is also as to be consider. If you decide to file, you will have to take a test that will let you know if you qualify for a chapter 7 or 13. Next, as you mentioned, you are or have gone through a divorce. This can have a big impact on you and your future former wife.

Let's start with the advice you have received recently. "You are very limited as to what debts you can pick and choose to include in a chapter 7" In a chapter 7 BK, my wife and I leaned very quickly that "ALL DEBTS MUST BE LISTED AND INCLUDED IN YOUR CHAPTER 7 SCHEDULES!! There is no exceptions. If you leave anything out, in your 341 meeting, they can and have, tossed the case out the window. There will come a time when you can reaffirm a debt, but think very carefully before you commit to a debit that you might be better off letting it go through discharge. (A car loan is a good example of reaffirming a debit), but never keep any credit cards debits. New chances will come after your BK is discharged (3 mos after discharged I received 3 cr. Card offers). The other advice, is that Banks will freeze your account is not true. If you have a cr. card account or car loan with any bank, why would they lock up your money??? Then you can't pay any bills, including the car loan, just not true.

The best advice that we ever got was from our Lawyer. Please, consider going through his blog. The information in his blog will save you hundred of hours of research and frustration....

Good luck!

Edited to remove a commercial link- llecs, myFICO moderator

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Your statement above is incorrect.  When you file for bankruptcy, if you have a deposit account with a bank/credit union that you owe money to, they are permitted to freeze the funds that are in that account.  Reason being is that when you apply for a deposit account, you sign paperwork that states your deposit accounts will be used to secure any debts that you have with that financial institution.  This DID happen to my NFCU account, but I had taken all of the funds out of my account prior to them doing it.  You have to realize that once you file for a Chapter 7, you are saying that you are bankrupt, that you have NO money, thus the reason for filing.

I have also read other posts from posters that have experience Wells Fargo freezing their account even though they did not have any outstanding debts/loans with Wells Fargo.

[Anonymous]

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@Tazman81 wrote:

You are very limited as to what debts you can pick and choose to include in a Chapter 7.  Also, if your lawyer has not already told you, if you have a bank account with a company that you have a loan with that will be included in the bankruptcy, you need to change banks immediately.  Once you file then the bank is permitted to put a hold on any of the funds you have in your checking/savings account.  so, you need to switch to a bank that you do not have any accounts loans/credit cards with that will be included in the bankruptcy.  Just as a side note I have heard that even if you do not owe Wells Fargo any money and you plan to file bankruptcy, I've heard that they still freeze your account.  I am not sure how true that is though.

When I filed bankruptcy, the only credit line I was able to keep was my Dell account because it had a 0 balance.  I also reaffirmed on my vehicle so that I could keep that.  Otherwise, everything had to be included.  Hope this helps.  Repost if you have any more questions, and let us know how things go.

Also, you may want to try to file sooner rather than later.  Because if your discharge comes after you receive your tax return, then likely the courts will seize your return in order to pay off some of your debt.  Unless the attorney can include it into the Homestead of $5000 that will be exempt.  Oh, as far as your credit cards, you should stop making purchases on them because any purchases made within the past 6 months can be deemed as "non-dischargeable" in the bankruptcy if they are consider to be excessive.  i.e. the example of the person that bought the $2000 HDTV right before filing.

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Actually, you are not "limited" at all - you are legally obligated to include ALL of your debts in your bankruptcy filing.  Failing to do so and attempting to continue paying other creditors outside of your bankruptcy is illegal and also can cause your case to be dismissed or worse.

Also, if a bank tries to seize funds from a bank account because you have a loan with them, this is also very likely to be illegal.  Just because someone got away with it, doesn't mean it is okay or allowed under bankruptcy.

[Tazman81]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Tazman81 wrote:

You are very limited as to what debts you can pick and choose to include in a Chapter 7.  Also, if your lawyer has not already told you, if you have a bank account with a company that you have a loan with that will be included in the bankruptcy, you need to change banks immediately.  Once you file then the bank is permitted to put a hold on any of the funds you have in your checking/savings account.  so, you need to switch to a bank that you do not have any accounts loans/credit cards with that will be included in the bankruptcy.  Just as a side note I have heard that even if you do not owe Wells Fargo any money and you plan to file bankruptcy, I've heard that they still freeze your account.  I am not sure how true that is though.

When I filed bankruptcy, the only credit line I was able to keep was my Dell account because it had a 0 balance.  I also reaffirmed on my vehicle so that I could keep that.  Otherwise, everything had to be included.  Hope this helps.  Repost if you have any more questions, and let us know how things go.

Also, you may want to try to file sooner rather than later.  Because if your discharge comes after you receive your tax return, then likely the courts will seize your return in order to pay off some of your debt.  Unless the attorney can include it into the Homestead of $5000 that will be exempt.  Oh, as far as your credit cards, you should stop making purchases on them because any purchases made within the past 6 months can be deemed as "non-dischargeable" in the bankruptcy if they are consider to be excessive.  i.e. the example of the person that bought the $2000 HDTV right before filing.

---

Actually, you are not "limited" at all - you are legally obligated to include ALL of your debts in your bankruptcy filing.  Failing to do so and attempting to continue paying other creditors outside of your bankruptcy is illegal and also can cause your case to be dismissed or worse.

Also, if a bank tries to seize funds from a bank account because you have a loan with them, this is also very likely to be illegal.  Just because someone got away with it, doesn't mean it is okay or allowed under bankruptcy.

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As per the bankruptcy attorney this IS permitted because when you open a deposit account with most banks, you also sign a collateral clause that permits them to seize the funds in your deposit accounts to off set any loans you have with them.  Maybe it is different per state?  I don't know what the final outcome may be at the end of the bankruptcy proceeding because I didn't leave my money in that bank long enough to find out because I needed to pay living expenses.  Possibly the funds are returned if they are claimed under the Homestead law, but if you max out your homestead for something else such as the equity in your home, then its doubtful the funds will be returned.

[Anonymous]

Your mistakes have already been made. Cut your losses and look to the future for you and your daughter. I became disabled, had no income/reduced income for nearly two years until I began receving SSDI and early retirement. I told all of my creditors that I was pursuing Chapter 7 BK (none of them would negotiate with me prior to that). Only one bank card issuer attempted to sue me. I showed up for court, advised the judge that I was filing BK and requested a continuance. He continued the case twice until I had the BK filed. Once I retained the attorney with a payment I advised  the creditors to contact him. He had a list of my creditors. They shouldn't bother you after that.. If they do, your attorney should eat them alive. There is financial life after BK. The major lesson is not to fall back into bad financial habits. I'm definitely not a legal expert about this matter. But, if you want to discuss it further, I can tell you what I've learned to do and not to do. Ciao!

[Anonymous]

Whatever you do, listen to your attorney. Don't use your cc at all and file your taxes. If you have car payments, discuss that with your attorney. I had one Target cc  with a small balance that I didn't include in the BK. It was never canceled and it helped me reestablish my credit. Since the BK, I stayed away from credit cards and used my debit card. Bank cards are what gets one into trouble. You can use them anywhere and you can get cash advances. You can reestablish credit by putting some savings in a credit union, borrow against the savings and your credit score will improve. But, remember, mishandling of credit got you into this situation. I had to take ownership of my weaknesses. And its a daily battle.

[Anonymous]

You are allowed to have money in your checking and savings accounts. The court realizes that you must pay your living expenses. But, ask your attorney how much you are allowed to have. They will request several months of bank statements. So, you can't take large sums of cash out of these accounts without accounting for it to the courts. The court can say that the monies could go to pay a portion of your debts to your creditors. If you have five, ten or more thousands of dollars, I wouldn't be telling your attorney. If it was in a mattress, you might be okay. But, if you took it out of an account or from a cash advance, beware! I saw one couple in court whose case was rejected because they had been taking large sums of cash advances from their credit cards. Another was denied because they had purchased a lot of carpentry tool/equipment with credit cards in the recent past. Also talk to your attorney about keeping your car payments and house payments current if you are going to reaffirm them. Good luck.