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Hello, I am new here but I see that there are lots of very active and knowledgable users here so I thought I'd seek some friendly advice. I am trying to help out my 80+ year old grandparents that have gotten themselves in some seriously unmanageable debt while trying to help another family member's difficult financial situation. Bless their hearts, but shame on them for digging themselves in a financial hole. They have a total of about $31k in credit card debts in 22 accounts.They have no real assets - not homeowners (rent), no business or properties, only have a pretty old car.Their only source of income is their social security retirement income.All payments to creditors have ceased as of this month (so the calls have just started).We have closed all the accounts (for some reason I thought this would stop late fees, but now I know thats not the case).I seeked free legal advice considering bankruptcy from a pro bono lawyer and I was informed that they are "judgement proof" and it is pointless to file a bankruptcy. Their income is protected and even if the creditor wins, they can't collect. While this may be true, I am concerned about the 6yr statue of limitations in NJ. This is not something I want to have to keep an eye out for such lengthy period of time. Perhaps if it was maybe a few accounts, but since its so many it would just be stressful answering to all of them. The biggest bankruptcy filing con is the cost - approx. $1200 with a lawyer. I am wondering if I may be able to do the paperwork myself. A friend of mines recently filed and I have reviewed the paperwork. Though it was alot of legal terminology, I have found help online and software programs that make it pretty straighforward. Is this something any of you would consider doing without a lawyer though? Am I being too confident here? Also while searching through another forum, I saw an old post where a user in a similar situation with her elderly mom said she was able dismiss the accounts directly with the creditors by sending them letters explaining to them her situation and that she was judgment proof along with a copy of her SS award letter. Should I do this as well? Has anyone tried this or had any success writing-off an account directly with a creditor? I guess it can't hurt to try or can it? Maybe if they knew it was going to be pointless to persue these accounts, they would just move their efforts towards onto other more successful accounts to collect on. Please let me know your thoughts and experiences. Thanks

Hello All, I have made some extremely stupid decisions this past 2-3 years and it has left me in a huge hole that looks impossible to get out of and I am looking for advice or any suggestions on what to do. I have been a gambling addict for the past 2-3 years and as of 2 weeks ago have finally confessed to this and I am now seeking help and have been free for 18 days now, this is my current financial situation: Creditor Name Payment Due Date Original Loan Amount Current Balance Monthly Payment Percentage of Debt Interest Rate Loan Term (Months) Disover Card 2nd $0.00 $2,334.20 $69.00 2.11% 23.24% N/A Chase Card 0872 15th $0.00 $2,630.00 $26.00 2.38% 15.24% N/A Chase Card 6214 24th $0.00 $3,002.00 $30.00 2.71% 18.24% N/A Paypal Credit ? $0.00 $3,500.00 $0.00 3.16% ? N/A CitiCard 0534 1st $0.00 $6,923.74 $101.00 6.26% 28.99% N/A CitiCard 1857 17th $0.00 $7,995.00 $119.00 7.22% 28.24% N/A Bremer Bank 1st $0.00 $8,036.83 $164.00 7.26% 24.24% N/A OneMain Financial 1st $10,000.00 $8,825.51 $314.89 7.98% 21.94% 48 Lending Club 1st $20,000.00 $16,779.0 $804.54 15.16% 25.88% 36 Prosper 1st $20,000.00 $17,088.9 $697.33 15.44% 15.41% 36 SoFi 1st $35,000.00 $33,543.5 $589.58 30.31% 10.88% 84 This is a breakdown of my monthly Living Expenses: Item: Monthly Expense Charity $240.00 Housing $1,414.92 Utilities $501.97 Food $306.00 Transportation $1,353.09 Clothing $50.00 Medical $290.00 Personal $280.00 Misc. Items $75.00 TOTAL: $2,915.34 INCOME: $5,766.00 Monthly Take home pay. As you can see I have a total monthly debt/expenses of $7,437.92 with only an income of $5,766.00. I have $11,000.00 in savings, and I am debating between using this 11k to pay off some of this debt, but even if I do I still cannot meet the monthly min. payments. So I am also considering to stop all of the payments on my unsecured loans and save approx. $1,600 ea month and use this and the 11k as a potential settlement 6-9 months down the road once these accounts go to collections. My other option (I think) is to file for Chapter 13 Bankruptcy, but I'm not sure that I would qualify because of my income. Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Hello, I filed Chapter 7 but I filed the Schedules on November 18, 2019, the Monday after an Order Dismissing case was entered on November 14, 2019. The Order states, "The case is dismissed without prejudice and without a discharge effective on the 15th day from entry of this Order." I have to file a motion to vacate or for reconsideration of the Order within 14 days. It is now the 19th and just today, I received the notice in the mail. On Sunday 17th, I accessed PACER and I saw it on the docket as an entry but could not retrieve the notice to read it. Upon seeing this on PACER, I emailed the Trustee that same night, which was Sunday 17th, stating why I was late filing the Schedules and that I would be filing them the very next day. The trustee barely responded today via an email stating that the case was dismissed and nothing else. I had also provided the Trustee all the documents requested of me. I am sure I can still save this by petitioning the Trustee but I need help with the language. I believe I am not supposed to file this with the Bankruptcy Clerk. Also, aren't the 14 days not supposed to include holidays and weekends? Please help?

Following a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy, Select Loan Servicing added $40k unpaid interest to what they said we owe on a 2nd mortgage. We did not sign a reaffirmation agreement for the 2nd mortgage like we did for the first. The gap is that the 2nd mortgagee cannot come after us personally, they can only come after the property, and the first mortgage has first position. What negotiating tool do we have for pressuring 2nd to reduce the balance due to something manageable? We can wrap the 2nd mortgage into a re-fi and at $39k or less, it's worth it to do that. But at $79k in loan and interest, its not worth it. And yes, we want to stay in the home. Again, any ideas on how to negotiate with servicer for 2nd now? Thanks

Hi I am crazed by a bank that financed a motorcycle for me in 2008. In 1/2009 because of the mortgage crisis I lost my job (self employed) and lost 15k of monies due me by title and closing companies. I was a notary signing agent and I was devastated. My wife lost a lot of hours at her job and we were forced to file chapter 7 which was discharged 8/2009. This bank M+B Financial in PA has reported this discharged debt erroneously repeatedly since the discharge. I was never late with the debt before we filed chapter 7. It was paid on time until the filing date. I have disputed with all the credit agencies several dozens of times since the discharge. I am forced to go through hoops each time but each time they correct the info. Then a month or so later they report it again changing dates, saying re-affirmed, And so on. Some of what they do is 1. Show a balance due 2. Show debt as a charge off 3. Show the debt late, many times show it years late. 4. They showed it as re-affirmed (it was not) 5. Show the discharge date as 2011 or 2012 when it was discharged in 2009 6. They keep reporting it with the above erroneous info to all three credit agencies on a round robin basis. I dispute the report it gets corrected and then they report to one of the other agencies. When I dispute that they report to one of the others and this has continued over and over. I was just notified by credit wise that a report dropped my credit score 80 points. It was Trans Union. I got the info and yes, it was M+B reporting it as Collection/chargeoff with a past due of 4,642 with an account closed date of 5/31/2017. Of course I called Trans Union and started a dispute again. This time the agent tried to help. I had just disputed the same M+B with Trans Union in 1/2017 and they corrected the file. I was sent a copy of my report 4/2017 which showed M+B included in chapter 7 with 0.00 past due 0.00 owed. I asked the agent to look at that file to see I just disputed it. She verified and added notes to the dispute that she verified It was corrected in March and now they reported it again in June as I stated above. I have really been hurt this time with a 80 point hit on my credit. I just got new homeowner policy and car insurance is set to renew and they will pull credit. There has to be something that can be done with this Bank from Hell. I am almost 60 years old in poor health and this is something I can't do anymore. Thanks

I filed BK chapter 7 as pro se and had my Meeting with Creditors today. Trustee told me that I might be able to claim a refund of wages garnished 90 days prior to the filing. Anyone know how to go about this? Do I just ask the garnishor for the money or do I have to sue?

I filed chapter 7 pro se and went to the meeting of creditors last week. It went smoothly. Then, I had to go to a hearing about two items: 1) my request to have the filing fee waived (judge ordered me to pay 100 in 4 installments, so that's not too bad at all!) 2) approval of a reaffirmation agreement between myself and a finance company who had made a small loan to me with my 2002 accord as collateral. So, that's where my question comes in. The creditor was fine reaffirming. They took my principal + interest (VERY high interest rate) and rolled it into the new principal and called it a 0% interest reaffirmation agreement. The judge asked me about it and I said that the interest was included in the new principal. So, he ordered a show cause hearing to find out why the finance company did this. The hearing is next week, and I just have two quick questions for anyone who's familiar with this process at all: 1) will I need to go? I planned to go because I want to be on the safe side, but I'm not sure what's expected of me and I want to be prepared. 2) what is likely to happen? Is this happening because the judge plans to order a new agreement with the interest changed? Will I be in danger of losing my car? I didn't ming paying the interest, honestly. The loan wasn't much, so the interest, while very high, didn't amount to a whole lot extra per month, and I just want all of this mess behind me. I only filed because I was getting sued and having trouble keeping up with answering and trying to fight all the lawsuits, and a default judgment had just been ordered and I absolutely cannot afford a garnishment and didn't want to risk trying to file more answers or appeals to stave off what seemed to be an inevitable loss anyway. My score has gone up by over 100 points now, though I know that doesn't necessarily mean anything, and I have 0 desire to get any lines of credit any time soon. I'm gonna just live lean from now on! Any advice or experience you can offer about the show cause situation would be very helpful. Thanks so much!

My chapter 7 discharge was completed 7 years ago. I moved out of country and recently returned to find years of delinquencies from a discharged debt on my credit report, so I my credit is shot! How do I get this off my credit so I can build up my credit again? I can't even get a credit card or a place to live. This is the only negative mark on my credit but it is hurting me severely.

A few suggestions I will offer up to those trying to keep their costs down without compromising quality of your bankruptcy process. 1. Get an attorney that is a member of NACBA, the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys. BK mills usually are not members of this association. NACBA members usually are more up to date on current case decisions than non-members and have access to a mentoring network of long-time practicing BK attorneys for additional opinions. 2. Be organized. Most people face a $2400 lawyer bill not because handling a BK case is that much more difficult than it used to be (it is a little) but that the lawyer has to spend a lot of time gathering what is needed to fill out the forms. a. Write up a income expense list. Show all your net income and what goes out. Use realistic or actual numbers. Do this for all your normal expenses. Put unsecured debt and secured debt you are giving up on a separate page. Make sure you list minimum payments, how much you owe, and how far behind you are. b. Go to the US courts website and print out form 22A (http://www.uscourts.gov/rules/BK_Forms_06_Official/Form_22A_0407.pdf). Fill this out and have it ready. This is the "means test" everyone is so scared of. It's really not that hard to do. And this will knock an hour or two off the attorney's time if you have done all or most of the work on it already. c. Order your last 2 years tax transcripts from the IRS. You will need these to file. d. Pull all your bureau reports and have them ready. e. Pool together all your home loan info including your Deed and have that ready. f. Print out a list of your past six months gross income. You'll need this to go with your form 22A. g. Get your last 30 days bank statement history. Be ready to get an additional 5 months worth if requested. (1 out of every 250 bankruptcy filings are audited requiring you to go back six months on bank accounts and 4 years on taxes). If you have a program like MS-Money or Quicken steps f and g are easy...just print reports. 3. Negotiate with your lawyer. His fees are not set in stone. And if you have done a lot of the work already, there is no reason he can't knock off some of his fee. (disclosure: my lawyer knocked off $1000 from his fees because I did everything in step 2a-g before I showed up for my initial consultation). 4. Make sure your lawyer is there for the full process. That means from the time you retain him he should be fielding creditor calls even if you are still making payments on his fee -- they usually won't file your petition until all fees are paid. It also means he should be willing to take action on your behalf for any violations of the automatic stay or discharge injunction after your case is done. It's reasonable to let the attorney take 50% contingency on any post bk violations...after all, even half a settlement with an creditor that thinks they are above the law would be a nice windfall for you. Your lawyer should also be willing to review a 90 day post bk credit report and go after any post-bk reporting violations. 5. Make sure your lawyer is there for others that are affected by your bankruptcy filing. Sometimes (actually it's pretty common) creditors try to pawn off your discharged debt onto other people that may only be authorized users of your account. The lawyer should be willing to take on those tasks at a 50% contingency fee as well. If your lawyer is a member of NACBA, he/she will have an entire network of attorneys to act on #4 and #5 issues. 6. Once you have retained counsel, get your fees paid as soon as possible. The form 22A you filled out has to be current to the 30-day period preceeding your bankruptcy petition filing. If you are preparing for bankruptcy because you know it's on the horizon, you should stop paying all unsecured debt bills and any secured you wish to turn in. Save that for the lawyer/filing fees. (BK court filing fees are $299 for chapter 7 and $274 for chapter 13) 7. Make sure you get your pre and post credit counseling done as soon as possible. The least expensive places to do that right now are: cricketdebt.com Pre-filing counseling $36 hummingbird.org Post-filing counseling $19

It looks like a property that has been surrendered in a chapter 7 bankruptcy in Florida still will have to go through the foreclosure process for the lender to get the Deed. Does that mean that the mortgage lender, in the foreclosure process, can retain the right to do a Deficiency Judgment and come after the mortgage holder after some years and ask for the unpaid mortgage amount, as they can in a foreclosure? Does that mean that the mortgage lender, in the foreclosure process, leave a foreclosure notice on the credit reports or will only the bankruptcy show up? Will requesting the mortgage lender to do a Short sale of a property that has been surrendered, bring the discharged mortgages out of the discharge and so can hurt the mortgage holder again?

My understanding is that System1 set of exemptions is really good in protecting the home equity (it protects up to $75,000), but it doesn't do that good of a job of protecting my car and personal property (i.e. no wildcard exemption, no $650 dollars per each item allowed, etc.). System 2 seems like it will let me protect pretty much all of my personal property (especially with that new generous $4,800 vehicle exemption), but the homestead exemption for the system 2 is only around 23K if I am not mistaken, which may be a risky deal, considering how much the house prices have been going up in Calif. (my house goes up by $7,500 every month). If I were to file for Chap 7 around the end of August, what month's house price would the Trustee take into consideration? Would he look at the house price when I filed, or when he reviewed the case some x months later? My understanding is that the whole Chap 7 process lasts 4-5 months in Calif. (correct me if I am wrong), so when in this period does the trustee decide whether to sell the house or not? Right now, I have around $2,000 of equity in the house, but am a little worried about this housing bubble pushing my house value beyond what I am able to exempt in a very short time. We here in Calif. have a lot of large financial companies and hedge funds buying houses in bulk and converting them into rentals. This has raised the house prices tremendously. But then, if I go with System 1, can I pretty much kiss my music recording equipment bye-bye? I am a hobbyist musician and have around $840 in musical instruments, mixers, microphones, etc. It's not much, but it'd be hard to lose. System 2 seems like it would let me keep all that, but System 1 has some "average household" standards that are basically at the Bankruptcy Court's discretion. Since the average household doesn't have mixers and mics and keyboards, do I stand to lose all that stuff? Or how about having 2 computers and a laptop? Do I get to keep just 1 computer under System 1 exemptions? Please advise.

I have a (somewhat) curiosity question concerning the homestead exemption in Chapter 7 bankruptcy in Pennsylvania. I have a home with no equity, but I have a lot of credit card debts and am considering filing Chapter 7. If I have an addition constructed on my home (Increasing the home value by say $25,000) and pay for it by credit card - and then wait 6-12 months before filing Chapter 7, can I claim the $25,000 as Homestead Exemption and discharge the debt even though that $25,000 is part of the debt to be discharged? Does anyone know of a statutory reason I couldn't do this? Are bankruptcy judges allowed to make "judgment calls", or do they go strictly by the statute? Thanks for everyone's thoughts.

In completing the Chapter 7 Means Test in Pennsylvania, can anyone shed light on the Mortgage Debt Payment (Subpart C of Means Test) if a home is CO-OWNED with a non-spouse? Specifically, myself and the co-owner are planning to file bankruptcy (one at a time). If I file first, can I state that I pay 100% of the mortgage in Subpart C of the Means Test? This would make passing the means test possible. Also, assuming my bankruptcy is granted, can the co-owner THEN file using the same 100% mortgage payment in his Subpart C?

Hi all, so i will be filing chapter 7 bankruptcy myself soon and had a question as i was looking at the papers i need to fill out. On the schedules where i list my creditors do i list original creditors that have charged off my account ( as shown on my credit report) AND the collections agencies? Or just the collections agency? i will be printing out all of the papers needed tomorrow hopefully so im sure i will have more questions, any hints would be apreciated oh also i have no clue where my last tax return is so...any ideas how to get a copy. this is in so cal

will going BK in chapter 7 affect my self employed health insurance? can they cancel me, or deny me or or raise the rates becuase I went BK? or the Fico got lowered? It already went up 39.4% this calender year, can they kick me out or jack it up more because of BK? All constructive comments, ideas, links most welcome...: )

Vehicle loan and credit card discharged in a Chapter 7. Both held by the same credit union. Client then attempted to make payment in the amount that cleared the lien on the vehicle. Credit union will not turn over title until the credit card balance is paid, claiming the amount of the lien on the vehicle was equal to total of vehicle loan + credit card balance. This came up right after case closure. Client was unaware of cross collateralization clause in these loanliner documents, but they're likely there. Credit union is now calling client trying to collect, which is about the dumbest thing they could have possibly done. Now I have leverage to file a motion for sanction and then settle by havng them turn over title to the vehicle. The problem is this'll cost clients $ they do not really have- looking to resolve by letter with credit union if at all possible. Just curious if other attorneys/members successfully fought cross-col clauses. These things are brutal- NO ONE ever knows about them even though they have to be conspicuous. The cases I have found generally all come down on the side of supporting them under UCC, particularly on the east coast where I'm located.

I'm single, 26, and have nothing in my name. I just graduated and will start making money soon, I live with my parents, and like I said I have nothing in my name. You can say about 5-6 years ago, I started screwing up with credit cards and racked up about 40,000 dollars in credit card debit, with over 9-11 accounts, I lost count. About 3 years ago, I stopped paying on all accounts, and they are all charged-off. Of course, three years later, now I am starting to get judgements and lawsuits, and honestly, I don't know how I can take care of 40,000 dollars in debt, let alone work something out with 10 creditors. They are mean and disgusting and these collection agents will try to get judgement after judgement, and now I'm thinking, why not just file Chapter 7 ? So what I can't get a loan on a house or a car, I learned that I can work, make money and buy my own car with cash money, and these days you can rent an apartment without credit. So why worry about bankruptcy when my credit is already shot with charge-offs and judgements and headaches for years?

I filed for chapter 7 and then sold a tv that belonged to mt girlfriend at a pawn show where they put me in a police database. Will my trustee find out?

So I am a little confused how to handle my car when filing Chapter 7. The car is through a loan with a bank and my parents name is on the loan. I pay my parents the car payment every month. I know cars are typically secured debts for an ongoing service so they are usually exempt but is this the case since the car isn't in my name? Will this be treated as a preferential treatment?

Hi, I was divorced on July 9 2010, before the divorce was final my ex took property from my pole barn, welder,trailers,toolbox I called police and had a report on the missing items, the police called her and she said she took them when going through the divorce I did not push the fact and sorta let her have them. now I am going through bankruptcy chapter 13 and my ex is going through chapter 7, my lawyer who I fired around july 20th 2010 is trying to get my bankruptcy canceled. the question is can he go after my ex for contempt for selling the items while the divorce was ongoing? I do not want to go after my ex, can he file contempt or does that just have to be me? I live in Minnesota, and have been divorced now for 2 years, he is mad that I filed for bankruptcy and he cant get any more money out of me, He put a lawyer lien on me and got a judgment and the bankruptcy stopped that, but he might try something tricky like go after her for that property that was taken before the divorce was final?? thanks

Hello, Due to excessive medical bills (which were ongoing ,partially due to a disabled child), my husbands wages were garnished and we couldn't afford to pay our rent and utilities. We were just barely making it before then because I lost my job due to medical issues. After the garnishment started, we consulted with a bk attorney, only to find that we couldn't afford the fees. The garnishment stopped after a few months and I shopped around for new cell service. On about 6/25 AT&T approved us. The first bill arrived and I planned to pay it with husbands paycheck... then it was garnished again. We filed chapter 7 at the end of July. I also applied for SSI for our disabled child. We were approved almost right away for SSI. Questions: I checked the at&t account online. Instead of the $89 I owed at the time of filing, the charges are now over $1000. Are they allowed to tack on charges like that after the filing date? I didn't think the debt would be discharged because it's so new, but I also didn't think $900+ in charges would be added to the bill. I know that 'didn't think' is a terrible excuse. especially now. With the SSI issue: It's for my disabled child. We got the check and immediately bought diapers and supplies for the special needs program the child is in. Will the trustee demand the money back? If the money is demanded back are all the funds due at once? Without the garnishment we can deal with a payment plan if we're allowed to use the ssi money, but I thought that was just for things that the child needs. I am searching for employment to solve the income issue, and have had interviews, but no job offers. Thanks -Grape ETA: The reason why we filed so quickly was to keep the car from being repo'ed. There is no public transportation in our area, and we have to travel frequently for doctors appointments. We did not have enough to make the payment the car company wanted. We were granted a fee waiver when we filed.

Our first meeting with a local bankruptcy attorney went very much like the SNL skit about the subliminal advertisements. Which was surprising since we walked into and started off with a typed list of income, expenses, assets and liabilities, and showed right off the bat that we were below the means test. But after some reading around here and other places, especially when I started looking for "Why would an attorney push a chapter 13", it came to look like a potential fee windfall over a simple Chapter 7 filing. We did some more research, had another meeting, and found a new attorney we liked and one who asked us some questions about why we thought we couldn't do it alone without filing at all.

I am current in the process of filing chapter 7 in NY. In the petition form, I need to submit the full account number of each creditor accounts that I want to discharge. I got a copy of my credit report but the last 4 digits of each account are omitted, so the only way I can get them is to call each credit card company and JDB and collection agencies. I had luck with credit card companies, but the JDB/CA's refused to provide me with the info (surprise surprise..) Is there any way I can force them to comply? I really need the full account numbers otherwise I won't be able to discharge my debts. Please help!!

I live in Michigan, Discover Bank hired Weltman, Weinberg & Reis to sue me for 2100.00 credit card debt. They were successful and a judgement was entered against me. The law firm has my financials, knows I am essentially uncollectable as I have no assets except my house and a disability income of 874.00 a month. I owe 53,000.00 on mortgage and my last SEV was 23,000.00. They have sent a subpoena/summons to my mortgage company for any records and information on my account. I received a letter from them saying I would have to provide a court order to stop it. I co-own the house with a friend who is not my spouse or family member. Can anyone tell me what exactly is happening. I am about 20,000.00 in debt. I have no way to pay for it but should I also file Chapter 7? ANY advise would be greatly appreciated! Thanks.

I recently filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy (4/2012) and have already had the meeting of the creditors (6/1/2012) The bankruptcy has not yet been discharged. Included in the bankruptcy was a furniture store loan. This past week, the furniture loan company called my job asking to speak to me. When I answered, the man stated they knew about the meeting of creditors meeting and did I receive the reaffirmation letter in the mail. I stated no and that I do not plan on signing any reaffirmation letter. He asked "well do you want us to come get the furniture?" That is when I hung up. After looking at my online profile with that company, I noticed my work number is the only number listed on my account. It is however reflected as a "work" number and the "home" and "cell" number area is blank. I realize they have a right to repo the furniture because there is still a lien attached to the stuff. But, aren't they supposed to wait until after the bankruptcy is discharged? Also, was the company even allowed to call me regarding ANYTHING because of the automatic stay? Thanks in advance for all your answers....