topic Re: Filing Chapter 7 in Bankruptcy

Filing Chapter 7

Anonymous — Tue, 30 Oct 2018 18:11:46 GMT

Me and my wife recently made the difficult but necessary decision to file Chapter 7 bankruptcy. I have retained an attorney and have gathered all the documents his paralegal asked for.
I’m just very nervous. I trust my attorney, he said I won’t lose my paid off car but for some reason I’m just so nervous the court or trustee is going to look at my bank account or my credit card statements and determine that I’m filing because of financial irresponsibility (which is partially true) and that I won’t be granted the discharge.
Is this a normal feeling or am I being too nervous?

Re: Filing Chapter 7

FireMedic1 — Wed, 31 Oct 2018 23:22:12 GMT

Highly doubt they would take your car. Never seen that here before. Although what you may have on paper wealth your attorney will advise if you can get a 7 or 13. " financial irresponsibility" and other factors is why some file in the first place. Medical debts leads the BK's.

Re: Filing Chapter 7

Begin_anew1 — Thu, 01 Nov 2018 02:01:05 GMT

It’s Normal to have those feelings. Filing brings out the anxiety all the way up til discharge. At least for me . Also, I agree with pp. I don’t think they will Take your car either.

Re: Filing Chapter 7

Anonymous — Thu, 01 Nov 2018 16:32:04 GMT

My attorney said I’m a prime candidate for 7 and strongly advised against a 13. They said there’s enough Wildcard Exemption to save my car especially since it’s paid off.
It’s a four year old Honda Civic that only has a trade in value of about $7,500 because of all the mileage I’ve put on it.
Washington is one of the few states that lets you choose federal or state exemptions apparently.
My actual home is actually a fifth wheel that I’m living in parked at an RV park.
The paralegal said it’s possible that I may have to repay it since it was bought with cash advances but I shouldn’t lose it either. But she also said if they wait until exactly six months from when the cash advances were taken out (coming up pretty soon here), I may not have to pay it.

Re: Filing Chapter 7

Anonymous — Thu, 01 Nov 2018 17:57:22 GMT

My case (and as I’m sure all BK cases are) is unique.
I incurred roughly $40,000 in credit card debt trying to start a business with a friend.
Well it unfortunately fell through and he hasn’t kept up with his end of the deal to help me with payments so I’m stuck with the bill on my own now.
I spent about another $20,000 on credit cards for personal expenses (some of that was the $6,500 fifth wheel I bought on a credit card that I live in) to keep the ship afloat because I couldn’t afford bills so I was charging everything to cards because I didn’t have the cash to pay for anything.
I didn’t do this with intent to never pay anyone back, I figured my finiancial situation would eventually change. I was not able to get another job like I thought and my wife is not employed for health reasons.
I’ve tried credit consolidation and while nothing is in collections, about half the accounts are delinquent and its very stressful and all crashing down at once. It’s a crushing debt I can’t deal with on my $24,000 income.
And I have to deal with student loans. While they are not bankruptable, they total roughly $15k and would be way more manageable if I had no other payments.
I just hope the trustee won’t think this was a deliberate attempt to just rack a bunch of debt and not pay anyone. I really don’t even have anything to show for this mess.

Re: Filing Chapter 7

FireMedic1 — Thu, 01 Nov 2018 19:37:06 GMT

Your lawyer will help you get thru this. Yeah it sucks now. But after DC you'll feel like a load was lifted off your back. Yes some milk the system but its rare. Thats why the trustee is there. To make sure there is no fraud. Make your appt. with the lawyer. Go thru the motions and it will end months later. One step at a time man. Please dont go app crazy afterwards. One card at a time at least a few months after. Dont rush it. It will pass.

Re: Filing Chapter 7

Anonymous — Thu, 01 Nov 2018 19:39:42 GMT

I don’t plan on going crazy. I’ll probably get a secured credit card with a TINY limit just to rebuild my credit but I don’t plan on getting an actual credit card for a while. I think I learned my lesson.
I’m meeting with the lawyer again today to give the paralegal all the paperwork they asked for so she can get my bankruptcy petition filed.

Re: Filing Chapter 7

FireMedic1 — Thu, 01 Nov 2018 20:21:11 GMT

EXCELLENT. I can say it now to you and others. Its a breeze if everything is in order. No worries.

Re: Filing Chapter 7

Anonymous — Thu, 01 Nov 2018 22:33:09 GMT

The paralegal said they’re gonna get the petition started and have me come back and sign it when it’s all ready to go.
She said it looks simple and will probably be an open and shut case.

Re: Filing Chapter 7

titancylinder — Fri, 02 Nov 2018 06:34:50 GMT

Just wanted to chime in, fear, axienty, depression, guilt are all common human emotions when one reaches this point in their life. But sounds like your case is open and shut as your lawyer stated. Believe me, I had ALOT less stress when my 600k medical debt was wiped away. Sometimes, we are delt really crappy cards in life and its what it is. I do think experiences like this help shape us for the rest of our lives.

Good luck and be sure to update!

Re: Filing Chapter 7

Anonymous — Fri, 02 Nov 2018 07:47:01 GMT

$600k is rough. I have about $60,000 in credit card debts.
I’m still worried about small things on the petition that will go against me but my attorney assured me that I shouldn’t worry and the paralegal said she sees absolutely no reason this won’t be a simple case and that I absolutely should get a discharge.
And yeah, I’ve felt all those emotions.
One thing keeping me from filing for the longest time was that I felt a sense of guilt that if I filed I wouldn’t be paying the debts I agreed to incur and at one point I had to come to terms with it. I had to realize that it’s a part of our financial system for a reason and that it’s just a part of doing business for banks.
I learned that bankruptcy is an important financial tool but it’s supposed to be a last ditch nuclear option.
I think I will start a separate thread in the next few days with the status of my Chapter 7 and will just edit the post when there’s an update.

Re: Filing Chapter 7

titancylinder — Fri, 02 Nov 2018 07:56:16 GMT

It is a nuclear option but it's also one of the oldest legal rights in our government .

As far as creditors petitioning, with an income at yours, they won't show up nor do they want to be bothered by 60k . Their attorney fees cost thousands an hour. It would be different if you were some ceo of a biotech company declaring on a chapter 7 on a million+ in personal debts . What you will go through is what many people go though every year . I'll be honest with you, at my 341 hearing, no one showed up . The trustee asked me a couple of questions , the ones I wasn't sure on how to answer I deferred to my lawyer and he spoke on my behalf . After seeing i spent 2+ years fighting IV-B lymphoma, I was in and out in less than 10 minutes . The longest part was waiting to be called on. The room was packed with filers. From 20 year olds to 85 year olds . (Sorry if this message has poor formatting, I'm on my phone ) Also the way I look at it, those banks would file bankruptcy in a heart beat if it saved their bacon. A lot of them have . Few things in life have greener pastures but this is certainly one of them. Keep fighting the good fight and just don't look back .

Re: Filing Chapter 7

Anonymous — Fri, 02 Nov 2018 08:02:06 GMT

We filed BK7 in Dec 2017, it was a hard decision to make a lot of inner battles. We originally saw an attorney in Jan 2017. But we faced facts that due to medical bills and being tricked by our mortgage lender it was our only option that made sense. I only wish that I would have did it back in Jan. I don't know Washington Laws but your attorney should do right by you. I do not see them taking your car or your "home." You have the option of converting to a 13 should the trustee try and do that. The process is pretty automated once it starts. I had a broke down 2005 Maxima that they did not touch. Now as far as the 6 months, they are right. The trustee can view it as fraud if you spent a slew of money or ran up cards within 6 months of filing the BK. If your attorney advises you to wait out the 6 months then I would definitely do that. Having retained the attorney should keep collection agencies and legal proceedings at bay until you actually file.

Re: Filing Chapter 7

Anonymous — Fri, 02 Nov 2018 08:17:14 GMT

The only big one is the trailer but that’s like right at six months almost to the day. By the time we file it will be past 180 days.

Re: Filing Chapter 7

nursepower — Fri, 02 Nov 2018 13:56:50 GMT

I had 80K in CC's alone, so I feel you. And I had a paid of 2011 Ford Escape that was given to my son as his first car. They didn't take the car, and I had no assets so it was rather simple. The hardest part was printing out all the CC statements. Yes, I felt guilt and very frustrated that I'd always made a payment on time and never missed any, but my STRESS was through the roof. As soon as I spoke to hubby and he was on board with my filing, my stress decreased TREMENDOUSLY!! I got my discharge 2 weeks ago and I already have a Credit One card-$500, a secured Credit union card $250, and a Kohls card $300.

I can pay my cards in full each month and can pay extra on hubbys. So my point is that while it sucks during the process, it's TOTALLY worth it. Good luck to you!