filed chapter 7 today!

[Anonymous]

Hi all,

I just filed my chapter 7 today in New York's southern district, pro se. My meeting with the creditors was scheduled for 8/25. The whole process seems a lot less daunting than I initially thought it would be! 20 minutes from filing and waiting, I got my court case number, paperwork and date and time with the trustee.

My only regret is not filing earlier instead of paying late payment fees and interest fees!

My total credit card debt is about $40k, $60k total debt outstanding, the rest of which is educational loans. Not seeking to remove the educational ones, although I understand that if they are old enough, you can have them removed. 

If anyone is interested in filing pro se (self, no lawyers or third party helpers), please ask any questions that I can help answer! However, I am not a lawyer so please do your own research as well, but if I can help anyone from my experience, I will!

Thanks!

Mike

[mizzmonick19]

Wow! You filed your bankruptcy yourself!

I know you are able to do it this way, but the whole process seems very intimidating to me.

I'm just getting a grasp on the different types of bankruptcies...

So how much did you save filng yourself?

I spoke to 2 laywers (in the state of MD) and they both gave me a price range in $1300's with the $299 court filing fee not included (Chapter 7).

I know I can save some money...but Iike I said I'm intimidated...I don't want to mess things up!

[Anonymous]

I found NY's southern district website a great first reference: http://www.nysb.uscourts.gov/

They actually got an award about having one of the top 10 sites for bk! I went to the court today and it was one of the plaques they had on the wall there..

I got all the official forms and the checklist of forms that you need to file and went through each one, read everything that I could find on their site and got some examples of filled out forms to look through as well.

My case is pretty simple, almost no assets to speak of and $40k cc debt, so that also helped me out. If your case is more complex, you may want to get a lawyer to help clarify things and make sure you're getting the best possible deal, but the cost that I was quoted ($2k) is not worth it to me, I'd rather file myself and save that towards the first secured card post bk and start rebuilding faster!

Let me know if you have any questions about any forms, I probably had it myself

[mizzmonick19]

Thank you for that website. Very informative!

I wish I filed bankruptcy before losing 2 vehicles Nov 09 and April 10.

The first one of was a joint-account and the second vehicle is the one I paid on... and I was upside down in it.

I thought I look at all of my options.

Anyways, other than those 2 open loans, I have medical debt, 3 charged off cc's , and student loans. I'm still in school so i don't plan on filing those (even thou you can't). I may owe a total of $20K not including the student loans. I think I will go the lawyer route, but I have been doing alot of research myself, so that I'am familiar with the process.

I wish you well with your rebuilding process.