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Things seem to be humming along smoothly. But the most recent request from the lender is the Bankruptcy letter of explanation. I knew this was coming, but I'm so worried about exactly what to write. Here is what I have at the moment, but I haven't sent it yet. Please give me some feedback, I welcome any and all critiques and suggestions! Thanks!
To Whom It May Concern:
I write this letter to explain the events behind my bankruptcy that was discharged in February of 2009.
In 2002 I finalized a divorce in which my ex-husband kept all the property (two vehicles and a home). The intent was that he would refinance all into his name alone, holding me harmless. He neglected to refinance anything, and shortly after the divorce he began defaulting on both cars and the home. I realized now I was very naïve in my divorce proceedings, and should have asked the judge to order all that property sold instead of giving it to the ex. But at the time I did not fully understand what could happen.
I was on my own after the divorce, making very little money and struggling to take care of myself and my son, who was 8 years old at the time. I had rent, my own car payment and some credit card debt. There was nothing left over to pay the enormous amounts of debt my ex defaulted on. In 2005 my ex declared bankruptcy, leaving me solely responsible for these joint debts from our marriage. In 2007 I had gallbladder surgery, adding a medical bill to the mix of debt. Basically, I just was in over my head with the combination of divorce debts, poor use of credit cards and the surgery bill. It was not an easy decision to file bankruptcy, and not one I am proud of.
I can say however, it was a good lesson learned. I no longer use credit cards of any kind; and fortunately, I now have excellent health insurance, and an employer who works out extremely reasonable payment plans deducted straight from my paycheck for any medical care I receive. Thus I have no fear of any future trouble with medical bills.
I thank you for the opportunity to explain this. It has been almost 4 years since the discharge, and I hope my resolve to do better shows in the fact that I have not returned to using credit cards, I have no outstanding medical bills, and have and I paid off two car loans.
Sincerely,
Just my 3 cents......
A LOX (or LOE) should be short and to the point.
I actually think this is a good one but it's just my two cents...
Thank you both. JM-AM, I would prefer it shorter too, but what could I cut out to make it shorter, without taking away from the explanation?
@Anonymous wrote:Things seem to be humming along smoothly. But the most recent request from the lender is the Bankruptcy letter of explanation. I knew this was coming, but I'm so worried about exactly what to write. Here is what I have at the moment, but I haven't sent it yet. Please give me some feedback, I welcome any and all critiques and suggestions! Thanks!
To Whom It May Concern:
I write this letter to explain the events behind my bankruptcy that was discharged in February of 2009.
In 2002 I finalized a divorce in which my ex-husband kept all the property (two vehicles and a home). The intent was that he would refinance all into his name alone, holding me harmless. He neglected to refinance anything, and shortly after the divorce he began defaulting on both cars and the home.
In 2005 my ex declared bankruptcy, leaving me solely responsible for these joint debts from our marriage. In 2007 I had gallbladder surgery, adding a medical bill to the mix of debt. So I had to file bankruptcy as a result of medical debt and the divorce in order to get out from under my ex husbands debt. Fortunately, I now have excellent health insurance Now, I have no outstanding medical bills, and have and I paid off two car loans.
Sincerely,
I took your letter and just removed portions see the new letter in the box above with one added sentence (shown in blue) ....this is just my indiviual opinion, but shorter is better. Naturally take the sentence I added and change it to what you like.
Excellant editing StartingOver10, thank you! I do believe I'll revise it very similar to what you did there. That was awesome of you to take the time to help, thanks again!
@Anonymous wrote:Excellant editing StartingOver10, thank you! I do believe I'll revise it very similar to what you did there. That was awesome of you to take the time to help, thanks again!
I like StartingOver's letter... I was going to say that you could likely remove the portions of your letter referring to the use of credit cards... the use of or lack of use of Credit cards is not necessarily a strong indicator of responsibiliy, rather, responsible use, as in not accumulating large amounts of debt is!
You've done great and I really think that StartingOver10's letter will fit your needs!
Good Luck!
Yes webhopper, I debated about the credit card reference in the letter. I had done some research about what the letters should be composed of, and I remember one of the articles I read saying to be honest about past mistakes with credit and express that you now know better. In the end I used a very slightly modified version of StartingOvers example.