Ready to file.....I think

[Anonymous]

Hello there,

I was directed to this forum by some people across the internet, and I have found so many of the posts here tremendously helpful.

I'm a 32 year old woman living in Colorado ready to file for Chapter 7, at least I think so. I have a lot of anxiety at the idea of doing this, understandably. I keep thinking of worst case scenarios even though my case should be fairly straight forward.

A mixture of life stuff beyond my control and Covid has landed me back at my mom's house 25k in credit card debt. I have basically no assets, not even a car, and my hours have been cut at work due to aforementioned pandemic. I was already struggling with my CC debt before this, most of it acquired in college, but I figured my job situation was going to improve and if I just kept meeting the minimums everything would be okay. Well, we all know how well that works out lol

My long time boyfriend filed for BK in the past and he said the process was pretty painless for him, and gave him a new lease on life. When I look at it all on paper, it seems like the best way to go, but I'm still apprehensive. Anything you guys could tell me to ease my mind would be great!

One question I do have is how soon did you stop making your minimum payments? Boyfriend recomended I stop right away, even though I don't plan to file immediatly (still need to get up a little dough for a lawyer)  which makes sense, why pay on something I'm going to burn anyway? But its been hammered into me all my life that I need to make my payments on time or hell itself will rain down on me. What was your approach in this situation?

Also any recommendations on BK attorneys in and around Denver would be awesome. Thanks for listening!

[LakeLife]

You can consult with a BK attorney for free, and that's what you should do.  Getting advice from your boyfriend is probably not ideal.  My opinion is that if you stop payments on your CCs well before you file BK, it's going to give you a lower starting point with your credit scores post BK as well as unwanted attention from your creditors.  

[Mizqtpye]

Welcome....I'm glad you found the forums...they've been a great help to me even though I didn't find them until after I filed. 

I'm a few years older than you and not too long ago I filed and am very happy I did. But one thing I regret is not continuing to pay my cards before filing. Not necessarily for credit score purposes...which I now know is affected so that too...but because I had to go through security check for fed employment and I got grilled on my failing to pay lol. It worked out in the end but I woulda just continued to pay until I filed if I had to do over again. 

Also, I consulted several Attys, did lots of research and ultimately ended up filing pro se (represented myself) as I had a fairly straightforward case. But I did hire a document preparer that cost me a few hundred to do all my docs. I was indeed nervous through the process being on my own, but it was pretty smooth sailing. Not advocating you file pro se at all but just telling you my experience. I find that some feel much better with an atty...if only to have someone to talk to about the process and what your feeling. I just talked to my therapist 

Best of luck my dear!

[Anonymous]

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@Mizqtpye wrote:

Welcome....I'm glad you found the forums...they've been a great help to me even though I didn't find them until after I filed. 

I'm a few years older than you and not too long ago I filed and am very happy I did. But one thing I regret is not continuing to pay my cards before filing. Not necessarily for credit score purposes...which I now know is affected so that too...but because I had to go through security check for fed employment and I got grilled on my failing to pay lol. It worked out in the end but I woulda just continued to pay until I filed if I had to do over again. 

Also, I consulted several Attys, did lots of research and ultimately ended up filing pro se (represented myself) as I had a fairly straightforward case. But I did hire a document preparer that cost me a few hundred to do all my docs. I was indeed nervous through the process being on my own, but it was pretty smooth sailing. Not advocating you file pro se at all but just telling you my experience. I find that some feel much better with an atty...if only to have someone to talk to about the process and what your feeling. I just talked to my therapist 

Best of luck my dear!

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Thanks for the input! I'm actually thinking of filing pro se as well, my case is simple and with things like Upsolve it seems very do-able. I'm a bit of a nervous nancy though and the prospect of going it alone feels pretty daunting. Its nice to hear it working out for someone else!