I have a lot of old debt from my younger years which I never took care of. I never could afford to either pay it off or to hire an attorney to file BK. Now I have 1 of the companies that just put in a wage garnishment for me and is taking about a week, money which I need to be paying my daycare provider for my girls.

My wife and I have talked about getting an attorney, but we know we cannot afford to pay the full amount up front and that it may take a few months or so before we have the entire amount available to pay the attorney. I also know that you can just pay a retainer fee in most cases and they will start working on collecting information and such. I guess, my question is, if I pay the retainer fee for a bankruptcy attorney in Wisconsin where I live, will this put a hold on the wage garnishment or does the wage garnishment continue until we actually file?

Technorati Tags: bankruptcy attorney, bk, daycare provider, girls, money, retainer fee, wage garnishment

I had a 3 year lease, my landlord lived out-of-state, he stopped paying the mortgage on the house I rented, used my rent money to pay on his home in TX and filed for bankruptcy when the IL house I was renting went into foreclosure.

I sent him notice that I was moving out in 45 days when I found out he was losing the house. I was current with rent, left the house immaculate (took pics, videos, and a statement from this real estate agent that I left the home in beautiful condition).

He agreed in writing to my move-out date, and also put in writing that HE broke our lease. I did not pay him the last month’s rent (00) because he owed me the 00 security deposit and another 5 in lawncare expenses and some smaller maintenance expenses (I have that in writing from him, too). As he had filed BK I did not feel he would pay me those monies which I why I did not pay the last month’s rent.

LOOOONG story short, he sued me for the last month’s rent, added on another 00 for the 5 days extra I took to finish moving out (he was not offering the home to rent to anyone else, no one was viewing the home – he lost no money as a result of those 5 days).

The day of court, I showed up with my attorney, all my paperwork, receipts, etc and my landlord did not show up but his attorney did. 11 months later I missed a follow-up court date as I was NEVER served or sent notice of the appearance and of course, a default judgment was made, plus fees for his attorney and court costs.

Sorry, long-winded – but here is my question: Can I sue the landlord for return of my security deposit, the lawncare service fees, etc – all the things I have in writing that he owes me? The attorney I had initially hired cost me 0 to show up in court the day my landlord did not. As he already filed for bankruptcy, if I won, he would have to pay me, correct? He is working – I know what company he is now at.

I am in IL and he is in TX which I understand has some kind of homestead rule where creditors cannot put liens on property or garnishee paychecks.

Thank you for advice!
Thank you both very much for replying.

The ex landlord filed his BK over a year ago, so I would think it would be completed by now. I figured anything he gets sued for after it is discharged, he would need to pay? I am certain the money he owed me was not included in his filing – I was never contacted by the court as a creditor.

I do not have funds right now to pay my attorney additional money (got laid off a few months back). So…no money for him – no help from him.

Regarding my getting served about the second court date – no I did not move. When I called the landlord’s attorney, he stated he sent me a notice via regular mail to my correct address. Did not get it. I am working on getting the judgment set aside, but as I found out about the default judgment more than 30 days after the fact, this is a bit difficult.

You are good folks for helping me out – thanks!

Technorati Tags: appearance, bankruptcy, bk, creditors, default judgment, foreclosure, homestead, landlord, lawncare service, maintenance expenses, money, monies, mortgage, paperwork, real estate agent, receipts, security deposit

Here it is, I was considering filing for bankruptcy and found a firm online that offered a free initial consultation. Half way through my initial consultation I was asked to pay a 0 down payment for a retainer fee for this firm to file bankruptcy papers for me. The phone call lasted about 1 hour. After hanging up I read some info that the bk attorney emailed me and decided that I was not ready to file for bankruptcy. I called the firm back asking for a refund as I had changed my mind, it was less than an hour since I hung up from my initial consultation, so I didn’t really expect it to be a problem. The attorney told me they would not give me a refund & if I tried to stop payment they would sue. Well, I hung up, called my bank and stopped payment and now 2 weeks later they are calling me and threatening "legal action". My question is should I really have to pay them? They didn’t do anything other than the initial consult which was supposed to be free.
I live in California and I did not sign anything. I was not even sent anything to sign. The reason I say he did not do anything is because I did not sign anything that would allow him to start paperwork on my behalf. And as he did not set up any future appointments with me I fail to see how he could have turned down any other clients due to my "retainer"
Rob5279,
I’m curious why you think I’m in the wrong. Doesn’t a customer have the right to change their mind? Especially within a 24 hour period?

Technorati Tags: amp, appointments, bankruptcy papers, bk, filing for bankruptcy, free initial consultation, paperwork, phone call, retainer fee

I bought my home in 2006 and put down $ 100k, yes its 20% down for a $ 500k house. I have put in another $ 50k in upgrades and remodel. Fast forward to 2009, laid off, no income I resort to using my credit card to pay my mortgage while my house was being listed by my realtor. 6 months went by, then a year, the house remained unsold. I’m up to my limit in credit card debt, thinking to sell the house for $ 350k, which will give me approx. $ 50k to pay my credit cards. Year and a half later, house is in foreclosure; credit card at max limit. No job, no car (sold it to pay credit card debt), ..and now living like a deadbeat.

Credit card companies still call and say "hello". Same story told to them over and over, no income, no job, no money etc. They "understand". Then they sell the debt to collection agency, same thing again. I told them my story..and they don’t care. "When are you gona pay?" I say with what? I can sell my t-shirt and underwear, but that might be worth 25 cents. What good will it do? So now, they are suing me in court. Went there and told the same story…judgment for the plaintiff. Okay, now they want to garnish my wage…but I don’t got no job. They want to freeze my bank acct…I have none. They want to..probably kick my ass..that they can definitely do..but that would hurt them, because if I get hurt and sue, they probably owe me money.

So here is my dilema, should I file Bankruptcy ..as there are other creditor waiting in line to sue me. Or should I go to court and and plea guilty but have no way to pay?

Yeah, I know..I’m a deadbeat, but I don’t blame my misfortune on no one except myself. Lost my life savings and people are laughing at me. What a cruel world this is. To file BK or not to file BK? If I do, I will have a fresh start says a friend. If I don’t, my friend says that the creditors will put my balance on my credit report, and renew it every 7 years…meaning that I can call the credit reporting agency to remove it, but they have a right and probably will repost my balance…as nothing had been collected. Is this true? I thought a negative item must be removed after 7 years, but it could be put back in and stay for another 7 years?? Please help. Thanks in advance.

Technorati Tags: bk, credit card debt, credit cards, creditor, creditors, cruel world, dilema, foreclosure, fresh start, judgment, max limit, misfortune, plaintiff, plea, realtor, remodel, should I file bankruptcy, t shirt, underwear, waiting in line

I’m filing chapter 7 bankruptcy and the BK attorney tells me that my questionnaire looks good, and I pass the means test so things should go fairly smooth. A collection firm is presently suing me for credit card debt and I expect they will have a judgment soon. I’ve been told that my bankruptcy will "take care" of the judgment. But what exactly does "take care of" mean in this case? Does the bankruptcy simply relieve a need to pay on the judgment? Or does it also erase the existence of the judgment from my credit record? If not then can I take some follow up action to erase it myself?

Technorati Tags: bk, chapter 7 bankruptcy, credit card debt, existence, filing chapter 7, filing chapter 7 bankruptcy, judgment, means test, questionnaire

I am engaged, AND on the brink of bankruptcy – I will be filing BK within a month… I need to know IF – and/or – HOW to keep MY bad credit (the BK), away from his credit – I do NOT want to affect his credit with my BK – is there a way to do this?
I was told that, if I keep my maiden name, my credit will not affect his – is this true?

Technorati Tags: bad credit, bankruptcy, bk, brink, maiden name

I don’t know if it’s going to be chapter 7 or 13. I’m really depressed over this situation, had perfect credit my whole life until a few months ago when my mortgage lender kicked me out of the modification for no justifiable reason and put me straight into foreclosure I have to take my income info etc. I’m confused because I wanted to initially sue my lender for not doing my loan and a BK disqualifies getting a modification, but on the other hand it stops them from auctioning the house. Anyway, if you have any advice or questions to ask please let me know.

Also, my mom added me on the title of her home a few years ago when she asked me to refinance her loan under my name since I had excellent credit. It’s in reality her home, just technically I’m on it until one day her credit is good enough to refinance back to her name and then she’ll drop me off of the title. Will this look like I have assets and affect the BK?

Technorati Tags: assets, bk, chapter 7, foreclosure, income info, justifiable reason, mom, mortgage lender, whole life

I am going through a hard time and after having good credit need to file BK unfortunately. The attorney quoted ,000 to file for 13 and ,000 to file for 7 so I wanted to know why one is 1/3 cheaper. I read online that the 13 says you have to repay the debt, so what would the point of filing BK be if i don’t have the money after I lost my job to pay it? This is in CA if that makes a difference.

Technorati Tags: bk, credit need, hard time, job, money

We owned a house, two cars and 1 credit card together. We leased to own our house and relocated to another part of the county. I had yet to find a job when our tenants bailed on their contract and ex-hubby cheated on me.

I moved in with a male friend and it took awhile find a job. I could not afford to pay for our mortgage, cars and credit card in time. He refused to sell or rent out the house, but would not pay on it either. I did not have the money to bring him to court before the house got forclosed on. So we lost the house, the cars have been repossed and the credit card charged off.

I am now looking to try to repair my life and possiblly buy a home in the future, but I don’t know where to begin? Should I file BK? I can’t afford to pay back the money.

Technorati Tags: bk, credit card, hubby, job, male friend, money, mortgage, two cars

I had a small business in Ca. for 10 years. Accumulated debt along with personal debt, I have decided to file for BK. I now live in AZ., do I need to attain a CA. attorney or can I still do it all here through mail with an AZ attorney?

Technorati Tags: 10 years, bk, ca attorney, mail, personal debt, small business

this is from a consumer loan company I filed bankruptcy on..now they are trying to put a lien on real estate I do not own…my ex wife does..i never received a summons or notification…just saw it online when looking something else up
the court action is against me in this case…she had already been notified that the loan co was going to garnish her wages for the loan (joint)..the divorce decree states I have to pay the loan..I couldn’t and filed BK …how can the loan co come after me? I have been told by attorneys to pay her the wages back she is having garnished…because of the ruling in the divorce
Isn’t it if I don’t answer this action although I have no summons…that they win by default? obviously they are not telling the courts I filed bk…

Technorati Tags: attorneys, bankruptcy, bk, consumer loan company, decree states, divorce decree, loan co, real estate, summons, wages

We filed for BK in Feb. 2009, discharged in August from Chapter 7. We are in the process of cleaning up our credit bureaus and are trying to get accurate info as to when reporting of late payments should stop. We were under the impression that a Bankruptcy stay went into effect upon filing, and creditors were unable to try to collect or report any more late payments beyond the filing date. Equifax corrected everything, but Experian is telling us that they can report late pays until the date of discharge. I haven’t yet talked to Trans Union.

Does anybody know what the law says about this? Can they legally report late payments between the filing date, and the date of discharge?

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Technorati Tags: accurate info, bankruptcy, bk, chapter 7, credit bureaus, creditors, equifax, experian, late payments, trans union

I originally went thru them for BK filings and everything went great. One year later my friend did the same thing, they took his money and never did he recieve a response after that. We have called left message on a voicemail but nothing and that was 3 months ago. When you have to file bankruptcy 9.00 is almost your world. What can we do go to the banks or the local authorities?

Technorati Tags: bankruptcy, banks, bk, left message, local authorities, money, voicemail

We filed BK March 30th 2009. Capital One referred/sold our debt to NCO to collect. NCO & Capital One were notified of filing April 2nd-this verified by attorney back in April. NCO kept calling way into May and then stopped. Attorney told us to ignore the calls which I did. Then later he said we just should have told them to call him. Last Friday I got a call could not make out the name but she said we had better make it a priory to call them and gave number. Googled the number and someone on the complaint board said it was the legal dept of Capital One. Today I get another call and answered it. The person calling said she was from Collect Corp and Capital One had just sent the file to them. Being I was already irritated I started asking her questions like did they refer this to you to collect and then you get a percentage or did you buy the debt. She did not know what to say and said that it had nothing to do with the debt we owed. Told her it did just to piss her off. So I asked her again and she still would not answer. Then I asked her if she knew what the Fair Debt Collection Practicing Act was. Her question to me was "Why did I do something wrong? What is that?" I then asked her why she did not know what the FDCPA was if she is a collector. And then asked her again if she was working with a collection agency. Yes she was a collector and worked for the collection agency. Then I asked if she was taping the conversation-Yes she was. Asked her why she did not advise me that she was taping the conversation (I live in WA state) and where was my mini miranda? Said she was just trying to leave a message for my husband and I just kept asking here questions. And asked for attorney’s name again. I did give her our attorney’s name and number. She did not know about the bankruptcy But she was getting so upset with me that she hung up. Poor thing was so flustered. Even though I was irritated with her I kept my cool and talked in a soft voice. I have several questions if someone can help me. Should I call Capital One and find out if they did actually did turn the account over to Collect Corp and get the chain of ownership? Also NCO had the debt before them so wouldn’t NCO have sold the debt to Collect Corp if they bought it from Capital One. And Why would Capital One refer debt when they had notification of the BK. I do have an appt with BK attorney Wed and I would like to have some answers before I speak to him to see what we can do about the calls. I really want to nail these people. NCO left so many abusive calls on the answering machine. So whatever help anyone can give would be greatly appreciated. No survey spam please.
Sorry Cat Dad my bad. Does anyone have any clues or insight as to why Capital One would send out a BK account? Or did NCO sell the debt and idiot collector from Collect Corp has no clue? Should I call Capital One and hit them for info?

Technorati Tags: amp, bankruptcy, bk, capital one, complaint board, fair debt collection, fdcpa, last friday, miranda, priory, soft voice, wa state

I filed bankruptcy when I was 23 years old back in 1999. Google my name now and one of the top three listings is an archived list of people that filed BK the week I did. Any way I can force the newspaper to remove the archive from their site?

Technorati Tags: 23 years, bankruptcy, bk, google

When filing BK you have to list the original credit card holder. If they are sent to debt collectors, do the debt collectors have to send them back to the original credit card company? Then who notifies the debt collector that the person has filed BK? How does this work?

Technorati Tags: bk, credit card company, credit card holder, debt collector, debt collectors

I am considering filing without an attorney. Situation is a wage garnishment for an 11k judgment that looks to be for credit card. (I’ve been disputing this for years trying to prove it’s fraud but clearly haven’t been successful – another story) Background: single mother, head of household, 2 kids, one student loan about 7k, one car loan, about 7500 left to pay, don’t own property, no assets; all my earnings go to rent, household and child care. I’m not behind on car or student loan payments. I just can’t afford wage garnishments and I think a bankruptcy is my only option to cease the garnishments. Since this 11k judgment is the only debt I need discharged in the bk, I think I may be able to manage this on my own instead of hiring an attorney that I can’t afford. Anyone have personal experience with this or with paying for a sevice that helps only with paperwork?

Technorati Tags: assets, bankruptcy, bk, car loan, child care, credit card, earnings, fraud, head of household, judgment, mother head, paperwork, personal experience, single mother, story background, student loan payments, wage garnishment, wage garnishments

I have a delima and this seems like the right place to ask this question.

I have a home in Las Vegas which I am trying to short sale, which I believe will ultimately end up as a Foreclosurer. I lost my job 10 months ago when my industry took a crash due to the economy and have been burning through my savings to support my family.

Now that I am working again my payments are the same but my pay check is 1/2 of what I use to make, so its a struggle. I have almost depleted my savings and come to a fork in the road. I have about 25K in credit debt and my credit card company just raise my interest rate so high I can’t possibly afford the new monthly payment. I have tried to get them to help and they said thats the way it is and when I check the internet, this is happening to millions of people.

So here is my question.

Since I will have a foreclosurer on my record, is it worth trying to work to pay off the credit card company or just file for BK and start over.

I have always have perfect credit (790) and this is really bothersome to me. I buy cars every 2 years and always got the best rates, so I want to try and save my credit, but with a foreclosurer on there, will it really matter if I pay off the credit card or not?

My credit is already shot and need to get on the road to rebuild it and I can probably get ,000 to pay off the card, but that will be my entire savings and would leave me in a more volerable state.

Sorry to ramble on and advice would be appreciated!

Technorati Tags: 10 months, bk, cars, crash, credit card company, credit debt, delima, economy, fork in the road, interest rate, job, las vegas, short sale, struggle

I have about 8000 dollars in medical bills because therre was a lapse in my coverage a few years back. Plus a few misc bills. I dont have the means to pay off the debt but I wabt to know how BK will affect me?

Technorati Tags: bk, medical bills

We recently lost our home (foreclosed) recently moved out, we havent been able to pay any debt including CC’s, Personal Loans, Retail Accounts etc. Since My husband and I are currently unemployed but we havent filed bankruptcy either..what can be the consequences or do We still have time to file BK? (Since 2009 is almost over)Does anybody have an idea of the costs to file it?? Thanks for the help..and understanding..Please no unnecessary comments it’s hard to go thru this situation when u have kids to feed.

Technorati Tags: bankruptcy, bk, consequences, personal loans, retail accounts