topic Re: Think im going to just file. :( in Bankruptcy

Think im going to just file. :(

Anonymous — Wed, 18 Mar 2015 20:10:54 GMT

I am absolutely stressed, and lost, and feel like im never going to be able to Win no matter what i do.

40+ collections mostly medical, sure they are all past the SOL and will eventually drop off, but some are posting with new dates, and some from ages ago just randomly decided to show up.

My lawyer insists i file, credit counselors insist i file, saying that even if i DO work with my secured card that i do have, and "Build my credit" its not going to matter, because even with a perfect score (fi that was possible) They would still deny me for anything due to the fact there are so many collections on my report.

I feel like just giving up. i can pull the trigger on my bankruptcy right now or completely blow it off and power through this the hard way.
people telling me that if i file i wont be able to get a single card or loan for 10 years?! so ill get to be 34 before i can ever get a house, car, anything....

I also dont want to lose the WF Secured card i just acquired recently...that was progress for me and i was excited, only to find out its not really gonna help anyway.......

my reports a mess, my lifes a mess. my finances are not. but at this point im even afraid to contact anyone, disputing hasn't done me MUCH good (only to have a few things fall off of one or two of the reports, not all 3.) i just cant afford at this point to pay a bunch of medical bills that Im pretty sure i wasnt even liable for in the first place. NM Indigent funds were supposed to take care of EVERY visit to the hospital/ER/DOCTOR i made there, credit counselor told me they probbably file indigent funds months after the bill is sent out, therefore they THINK i owe them money even though i do not.

What to do
Gonna go roll over and die of frustration now. so many opinions and answers and "Plans" to fix this......UGH

Re: Think im going to just file. :(

Anonymous — Wed, 18 Mar 2015 20:20:34 GMT

I'm sorry you are going through so much stress. I guess the first step would be to speak with your lawyer to determine if you qualify for filing. If you do, and pass the Means test, then it sounds like it might be the right decision. If you qualify, a chapter 7 (wipes clear nearly all debts - excludes student loans, and some IRS debts, as well as other possibilities), then you can begin on a new journey.

It isn't true about credit cards or loans for 10 years. Read up here on the forums and look at the thread on how to build your credit back up over 700 after a BK.

Make sure, however, that you have a good attorney who is well-versed in BK.

Good luck!

Re: Think im going to just file. :(

Anonymous — Wed, 18 Mar 2015 20:24:16 GMT

I definitely qualify, ive gone through every step including paying him off and giving him the filing fee, the only thing i have not done yet (For 6 months now) is tell him to go ahead and do it. :/ stressful!!!!!!

Re: Think im going to just file. :(

Fox342 — Wed, 18 Mar 2015 20:57:17 GMT

So why do you think you haven't pulled the trigger on the BK?

When I was in the Army my Battallion Commander told us once...."Nothing I ever had that was worth a damn was easy". I think that's a pretty true statement. I'm not telling you to file or not to file...you do what you think is best for you. But sometimes the harder thing to do is the better thing to do. You have to be able to live with your decision...your lawyer will sleep fine either way.

Good luck!

Fox

Re: Think im going to just file. :(

Anonymous — Wed, 18 Mar 2015 21:07:07 GMT

no matter what i do, someday i plan to pay that back. My case is not a case of bad money management, poor use of credit, or even the inability to control my spending. its simply...i cannot afford to shell out 30+ grand to pay off everything that will not even benefit my abbility to get a home/car/credit card. especially on debts im pretty sure are not really my responsibility (I remember VERY Clearly arguing and filing for the assistance to cover said bills at the time).

At this point nobody on here or even counselors have "really" told me if it is TRULY possible to obtain these things with all those marks on my report. I do understand that after some years they will start falling off. but what looks worse? Tons of little things or one big BK. i dont know. i also have not found any sucess stories on these forums from people who have as many black marks as I, most are oh i have 2-3 accounts in collections. but 40? Right...its not so much which i should do at this point, it almost seems like EITHER route is pointless and will haunt me forever. i just dont know what to think anymore.

Re: Think im going to just file. :(

bstone — Wed, 18 Mar 2015 21:36:35 GMT

The only place who can tell you if you will qualify for an auto loan or a mortgage is a lender. And it's probably going to go down like this:

Car: 25% down, 15-20% interest.

Mortgage: Pay off all the collections, 20% down, 5-7% interest. They will want the collections paid because if a creditor wins a judgement against you they can place a lien on the home.

Credit card: Secured.

Personal loan: Yeah, not going to happen.

I'm not going to tell you if filing is right, that's a VERY personal decision, however, I can tell you there is life after BK. Look at my signature line, post filing we have two auto loans, I have three credit cards and the wife has one. And we've only been discharged six weeks.

You can buy a home two years after discharge (maybe even only a year if you qualify for a certain program) and get decent rates. If you reference the BK to 700 thread you will see it's possible to have a 700+ FICO after only 24 months, sometimes less.

Good luck in your decision.

Re: Think im going to just file. :(

Anonymous — Wed, 18 Mar 2015 22:54:38 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I definitely qualify, ive gone through every step including paying him off and giving him the filing fee, the only thing i have not done yet (For 6 months now) is tell him to go ahead and do it. :/ stressful!!!!!!

@Anonymous,

You know what I like about you, your resistance to just find the right option to fix it instead of just going right ahead to file unlike some people who don't weight their options and just do it over the silliest amount ( I hope no one is offended). I am sorry about your situation and there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Stay strong..

If you do file and are worried about your secured card, know that CAP 1 is a champion advocate for rebuilders so all hope isn't lost.

Re: Think im going to just file. :(

Anonymous — Wed, 18 Mar 2015 22:59:41 GMT

I appreciate that, thank you Yes-its-me. I Only wish i could get some DEFINITE answers to some of my questions so im not indefinitely stuck in this loop im in i did have a good laugh today at a Debt-management company offering me $831.00 a month payments to get this fixed in...5 years? luckily i persuaded the guy to give me some nonbiased information and he himself 'recommends" my bankruptcy. however, even that wasnt enough to persuade me. but at the same time im not seeing a way out.

Re: Think im going to just file. :(

Anonymous — Thu, 19 Mar 2015 00:59:20 GMT

It's difficult, but not impossible, to get out of a $30K hole. The problem is, even if you do, those collections are going to haunt you. You might be able to some to agree to PFD, but you won't get all of them. And even if they show as paid off, they are still negatives. A BK will stay on your record for longer, but over time you can start to recover well before it falls off.

My wife and I both got unsecured credit cards from Cap1 less than a month after our BK was discharged. And we were in the hole for about $180K. If you're willing to pay the interest rate you'll have no problem getting a car loan. After 2 years you can get a very low interest car loan (1.5%) if you are careful in rebuilding your credit score. You can get mortgage after 2 years.

You see, the one thing that people tend to forget about BK is that, to an extent, it makes you a better credit risk because you can't file again for 7 years. So even though the BK itself is a negative the risk for the lender is lower. Even if you start to rebuild your credit somehow and start paying off those collections, you're still a very very high risk in the eyes of the lenders.

Re: Think im going to just file. :(

TRC_WA — Thu, 19 Mar 2015 01:19:26 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:

You see, the one thing that people tend to forget about BK is that, to an extent, it makes you a better credit risk because you can't file again for 7 years. So even though the BK itself is a negative the risk for the lender is lower. Even if you start to rebuild your credit somehow and start paying off those collections, you're still a very very high risk in the eyes of the lenders.

So THAT'S why you see people with BK7 discharges and $100k in new credit inside of 2 years.

Here I was thinking the banks were stupid...

Re: Think im going to just file. :(

Anonymous — Thu, 19 Mar 2015 01:34:31 GMT

@TRC_WA wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:

You see, the one thing that people tend to forget about BK is that, to an extent, it makes you a better credit risk because you can't file again for 7 years. So even though the BK itself is a negative the risk for the lender is lower. Even if you start to rebuild your credit somehow and start paying off those collections, you're still a very very high risk in the eyes of the lenders.
So THAT'S why you see people with BK7 discharges and $100k in new credit inside of 2 years.

Here I was thinking the banks were stupid...

The two things aren't mutually exclusive.

About 10 year ago I lost my job. I was banking with Chase at the time. I knew finding a new job at the age of 50 was going to be tough so I decided to start my own consulting company. To make it look professional I wanted a business checking account, so of course I went to my local Chase branch. I explained the situation, explained I was out of work etc. By the time I walked out of the bank they had talked me into a business credit card with a $12.5K limit and a $50K home equity line of credit.

So yea, banks can be stupid.

Re: Think im going to just file. :(

Anonymous — Thu, 19 Mar 2015 01:39:46 GMT

Sometimes I wish banks would be stupid and just hook me up so I can show them I can handle this responsibly. Before anyone makes the well why didn't you pay your bills card. I raised myself to a large extent and really only truly learned about most of this and its impact about 2 years ago

Re: Think im going to just file. :(

krielly — Thu, 19 Mar 2015 13:59:38 GMT

You state that these Medical Collections are past the SOL. If this is the case, I am unclear why you would elect to file BK, rather than work to have them removed? Am I missing something here?

Re: Think im going to just file. :(

bstone — Thu, 19 Mar 2015 14:46:49 GMT

I don't know what state the OP is in, but in some states the SOL for collections is only two or three years (depending on the debt type), yet it remains on your credit for seven. So while they may not be able to collect legally, they can report to credit for many years beyond the SOL.

Re: Think im going to just file. :(

Anonymous — Thu, 19 Mar 2015 14:49:14 GMT

@Krielly

Right, but now i just have a ton of Unpaid debt (no matter whether or not i can be sued for it). Ive been working on removal too. hence why i have not filed BK yet, but BK still seems beneficial is all im saying.

and yeah, even the ones that are past SOL are still set to be reporting for a while.

Re: Think im going to just file. :(

krielly — Thu, 19 Mar 2015 17:19:17 GMT

I guess from my perspective, if you're already a few aged on these collections/debts, it may be quicker to hit the falloff date than to file BK.

As someone who has been there (Chapt 13 in 2005), I know that even the 7 years (thankfully not 10) is a long long time...........I would weigh your options carefully and not jump into BK too hastly.

Remember, as you may know, if you file to quickly without ensuring its the most viable option, and later decide to let it dismiss, you still take the 10 year hit on your credit.

Just my humble opinion!

Re: Think im going to just file. :(

Anonymous — Fri, 20 Mar 2015 01:53:26 GMT

Well...answer me this. What exactly do lenders look at? I mean is it possible to use my secured card perfectly. Grab a few more. Use them well, get some positive things going and still be okay? I mean the problem im running into is sure I can get these cards and eventually they will become unsecured. But won't any lender aside from that whether it be card or car or loan just take one look and go...well yeah you've been responsible but...REJECTED.? Score isn't everything. I think?.. I dunno if someone could prove to me that my ability to obtain credit for the things I need to secure my future ability to buy homes and such IS in fact possible without A. Bankruptcy. b. Disputing everything and C. Just paying it all off then I see no reason to. But nobody has really told me if its possible. I do think I could/should pay some of them off. I do need to focus on moving forward and when I'm more comfortable with my situation then I can go back and right the wrongs.

Re: Think im going to just file. :(

bstone — Fri, 20 Mar 2015 04:00:25 GMT

You're asking people to tell you something they just can't tell you. There are way too many variables taken into consideration for any loan, especially a mortgage.

Here's my advice: If you've had numerous people look at your situation and advise to file BK, then do it. No one here has seen your credit, bills, etc. so we can only speak from our experiences. I can tell you once you file you will feel relieved of the burden of worry. You will be able to immediately start rebuilding and in about two years you will have a very good chance of qualifying for a mortgage.

Re: Think im going to just file. :(

Anonymous — Fri, 20 Mar 2015 06:56:49 GMT

Its a simple question though. I figured a full forum of credit savvy people would know. Can you pad a credit report with enough green to outweigh the bad? Someone has to know. Someone somewhere at some point was worse off than me and was either able to. Or not able to

Re: Think im going to just file. :(

jkjklkjkl — Fri, 20 Mar 2015 12:11:20 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
Its a simple question though. I figured a full forum of credit savvy people would know. Can you pad a credit report with enough green to outweigh the bad? Someone has to know. Someone somewhere at some point was worse off than me and was either able to. Or not able to

Brachra, it sounds, to me, like you don't want to take a step in either direction--fighting to have the negative entries deleted or file bankruptcy.

You're almost demanding an answer to a question that cannot be thoroughtly answered. If you've spent any time on the credit card parts and even the auto part of the forum, you'll see that credit is rarely given on a one-size fits all basis. You have people with a score of 700, but can't get an auto loan, because they don't have history with large loans, while people who have 10 collections, and a score of 580 get a loan with a 7% interest rate.

If I told you, "Yes, you can negate your negatives." and you didn't file, but found that what I told you, did not hold true for you, would I have been a liar, or was it simply a case of what worked for one, didn't for another?

When I cleaned my credit up, with no negatives, and many positive accounts, I was denied auto loans and credit cards, that others with negatives were receiving--how can that be explained? It can't, except that credit does not happen the same for everyone.

As others have stated, you have to decide what is best for you. And, as you know if you'd filed BK, whenever you were first able to, you'd possibly already been dismissed, and moving on to better credit. And, the secured credit card that you're so worried about, could have been reattained, if not with WF, with another institution.

I'm not telling you to file or not, but just keep in mind that action should be taken either way, instead of wasting time. Either sit down and come up with a game plan to negotiate settles for deletes, submit disputes, and be diligent with it, or file BK, ...or do nothing.