Unemployed, considering bankruptcy, wondering should keep paying bills?

[carolina98]

I've long been unemployed and feel I may have no choice but to file bankruptcy. Each month is a struggle but I have continued to pay my bills on time,  including my mortgage. All my accounts are current. I have a total of 2 late payments of 30 days on my credit file, but otherwise everything is good. I have high debt/to credit ratio, and that hurts my credit. Credit Karma has my credit score at 675. Quizzle put it over 700. If I keep my bills current and file for bankruptcy how much impact might that have on my credit score?

I had thought about not paying my bills if I was going to file for bankruptcy, but having read some of this thread I'm wondering if I should keep my payment history good and just let bankruptcy be the negative. Once the bankruptcy is discharged and most of  the is debt gone (excluding mortgage and student loans), will my score be helped by removing the debt, though I recognize the bankruptcy will have the biggest impact and will bring my score down regardless. Any analysis on how I might be impacted by keeping payment history good vs stopping most bill payments. Thank you.

[ScoreBooster]

If your credit-cards are maxed out right now and you keep current on your accounts until you file, your score might actually suffer less than you think. You will certainly have the best "pre-conditions" to re-build your credit if you stay current until you actually file.

My equifax FICO is already back up to 608, 6 weeks after filing CH7, with 13 negative accounts on file, an average age of accounts of 5 years and a credit-history only 8 years old. My 2 small credit-cards I was able to keep during BK (well, at least for now) are currently maxed out at 97%. So go figure where you might be after the BK.

[Anonymous]

If you can pay your bills, you should, regardless of the FICO impact.

That being said, my experience is that having an otherwise clean record is a great help when you have a BK on your reports.

Not to mention, you sleep better at night.

By all means, go get this taken care of before you lose the option to pay your bills on time.  Most reputable BK attorneys do a free consultation.  Check in with 2 or 3 to find one that you feel comfortable with.

And check other reputable options, as well.

Best luck to you as you work through the unemployment mess - I wish you the very very best.  It sounds like you've been working very hard to keep everything afloat.