Buddy's Sis Posted December 8, 2003 Report Share Posted December 8, 2003 My sis gathered up a lot of medical bills, bad checks, and old phone bills and such when she was living on the East and West coasts. She was job hopping and wound up in deep dept. She was younger and not as in tune with personal finance as she is becoming now. Frankly I think she's judgment proof, she's got NO assets, all she has is a car. She is now paying her bills on time and working to get back into the swing and pay everyone off BUT one of her friends who is a paralegal told her to declare bankruptcy and then afterwards she could qualify for student loans to put her through X-ray tech school. The question is should she do this? I mean I hate to say this but many of her bills owed are probably past CA and FL statutes of limitations. How should she approach paying everything off including the ones that have passed the SOL?It doesn't make sense for someone with no assets who appears to be judgment proof to declare bankruptcy. What do you think? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LadynRed Posted December 8, 2003 Report Share Posted December 8, 2003 If she has a job, then she is not completely judgment proof at all. Wage garnishment is a primary tactic for judgment creditors. Even if she has nothing today, judgments are good for many years, up to 20 in many states, and its what she may acquire LATER that they'll end up grabbing for, so its not entirely about what she has NOW. Whether or not she'll be sued depends on how much she owes to whom. If she's past the SOL, then she can swat away lawsuits on that basis and she's ok.You say all or most of the accounts are past SOL. How FAR past ? She may have some luck dispute old entries off her CR now. They will drop off on their own at the 7 year mark. If she's close to that mark, then bankrutpcy wouldn't be the best way to go. If she wants to start to try disputing old entries, make sure she OPTS OUT with all 3 CRA's FIRST. We're in CHOD timeframe.. an excellent time to start disputing stuff like this.BK will certainly wipe out all that old debt faster, but it will sit on her credit report for 10 years. If she can wait out the 7 year period for bad things to fall off, she'd be better off credit-wise than filing for BK. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buddy's Sis Posted December 8, 2003 Author Report Share Posted December 8, 2003 She is working and is doing well and trying to work out of the hole. I can't imagine she'll be sued, they aren't for exorbitant amounts but you never know. I will have to find out the SOL's in CA and FL. She was going through this tulmultuous time even up to about 3 years ago so I am guessing the latest would have been 3 years ago all the way back to maybe 7 years ago. I am going to have a longer discussion with her about it and get more info! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LadynRed Posted December 8, 2003 Report Share Posted December 8, 2003 SOL for credit cards and written contracts in CA is 4 years.SOL in FL for cc is 4, written is 5. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buddy's Sis Posted December 9, 2003 Author Report Share Posted December 9, 2003 She never has had credit cards but she bounced a few checks, didn't pay a few phone bills and rent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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