When I turned 18 I made the huge mistake of applying for every credit card anyone would ever give me. Now I am 22 and have a boat load of debt including judgements, collections, student loans, car loans, pay day loans, etc. Totalling 40,000.00 plus!!!! I want to know if bankruptcy would be good route for me as my credit is already poor. Can it make it any worse?
Please help. I need advice. I’m looking to buy a vehicle from someone for 00 this week because I have no way to get to work and he needs the money ASAP or else I’ll lose the opportunity. I have horrible credit (or else I would finance through a car company) and I’m planning on filing for bankruptcy (first time) in the next few months (due to many, many things going to collections).
I just realized today that if I buy this car and then file bankruptcy (Ch. 7), they may be able to take my car, even though it’s worth maybe 00 (it’s a ‘96 Jeep Cherokee). I then thought, well, what if I try to get a loan through a bank to pay it off? I only make about 00/month (when it’s loads of overtime) so I can’t afford to pay this person unless I get a loan of some sort.
My question is, if I get a loan, buy the car and THEN file for bankruptcy, can they take my car?
OR if I somehow come up with the cash and buy the car and THEN file for bankruptcy, can they take my car? Like I said, not worth much.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
My old apartment managers state that I owe them 00 and in a letter they left on my door, it was only 00. It’s in collections now, and the bill came in for 00, and they’re threatening a law suit. The interest they tacked on was only 0, and the old managers will not return my calls. I dispute the 00 difference, but at this point I have no money to pay them (I’m on disability). What should I do? File bankruptcy? 
I had a house that 100% financed, 90/10. When it foreclosed the fair market value exceeded the balance of principle outstanding to the first loan by 28k…pocketed by the lender. The second loan is in collections for about 80k…I don’t even make enough to pay basic bills, so am unable to pay this back or even make ‘reasonable payments’. 1) How is this handled tax wise? 2) Why didn’t the 28k excess go to the second lender? Or is there a way I could get the 28k from the 1st lender to pay directly to the 2nd to at least show good faith efforts? I’m overwhelmed and considering bankruptcy, but can’t afford the attorney fees yet so I’m seeking alternative situations.
We haven’t made any payments on it yet. My husband is the registered owner and his dad is the legal owner (since he cosigned), although we are going to ask his dad to register it in his name. We have only one other vehicle worth 00 and no other assets. We got the cycle to manage the fuel crisis since my husband has to commute, and we are barely managing right at the federal poverty level. I can’t imagine that any court would want to take and try to liquidate something that is still owned fully by the bank, right? We are filing bankruptcy because of huge medical bills that are way out of our range of ability to pay, due to a severe injury I suffered two years ago, which is in collections. We were served with summons a couple of days ago and are seriously considering filing for bankruptcy. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
I owe a LOT on my credit card bill (my minimum payment is 5/month) and my interest rate is 12%. Please understand that this has taken almost 2 decades to get to this point and it was unintentional. Anyways, I have good credit with a score of 771. I don’t want to ruin that by filing bankruptcy. I am wondering if there is an alternative where I can cancel the card, pay say /mo and not have interest accrue. I will pay til I die if I have to but I cannot afford this anymore. I know you can do something similar with medical bills, so I thought maybe there is something out there for credit card bills. If it helps, I am disabled and receive SSDI, so maybe there is a government program, I don’t know. Thank you for any/all suggestions.
Just some additional thoughts, what would trash my credit worse? Filing bankruptcy or debt settlement of some type as one person mentioned? Also wondering, if I just ceased paying or only paid the very minimum I could, and lets say they end up putting me in collections, etc., and let’s say they sue me for it, could they put a garnish on my monthly SSDI check? I don’t have any assets they could take (savings, house, etc).
I’m in the process of filing a chapter 7 and my attorney’s office is still working out the details. It’s a real fresh start; my son and I moved in with my family, we’re letting the house go as part of the CH7, etc.
Unfortunately, the attorney has yet to actually file the CH7 on my behalf. I work 8-5, Monday-Friday, and I just started this (well-paying) job so I have no business asking for time off.
The mess comes from Citifinancial, who has involved their attorneys in collection of an old debt. You know, the kind where when you tell them you’re having trouble paying, they "help" you by telling you that you have to refinance the debt, borrowing more, and won’t work with you otherwise. The debt is 6 months from clearing statute of limitations on collections, so they filed suit.
On the 8th, I have a court date right in the middle of my work schedule. The attorney’s office said they couldn’t file my CH7 until a week after, but said "we always advise our clients that it’s better to stay at work and make money, than to lose more by going to court when you’re going to have a judgment against you either way. " They then said it would take 45-60 days for me to see any ill effects from the garnishment, and by then, I’d be within the automatic stay period anyway. I was advised to simply wait for them to contact me next Monday to obtain anything missing from what I gave them as far as information is concerned.
This makes sense to me, but I feel a disturbance in the force. Can they instigate a garnishment at the very same time they obtain the judgment? I’m in TN and can’t find anything to satisfactorily answer this, though it seems "implied" that they must first attempt to collect from me under the judgment before they can attempt to garnish, whether I show up or not. I know I should empty any bank accounts (indeed, perhaps close them) before the judgment goes into place, but do I need to go to the civil court date anyway, if the next week my automatic stay would begin?
I’m very confused as to what I should be doing.
To clarify: I contacted the attorney and reached the paralegals, but have been unable to reach the attorney. The paralegals are the ones who guided me on these most recent steps.
I just noticed on my summons, there was no notation as to the proper window in which I must "Answer". This is supposed to be there, and I was served exactly 30 days before the court date. Can I submit an "Answer" citing that due to the lack of definition by the Plaintiff on the summons (which was authored by the plaintiff and signed off on by the court), that in addition to being unable to attend on that date and needing to reschedule, that the Plaintiff intentionally evaded my rights to respond in order to attempt forcing a default judgment?
i dont really understand how bankruptcy works im 20 yrs old and i am stuck in a bind where i have to. i was in the army for 3 years when i got out of the army i had no where to go so i moved in with a friend i let my car go to the bank but i still owe them so i am going to file for bankruptcy i owe like 22 000 left on the car and i have collections to like 4 places i was one of those teenagers that blew all their money and let it get out of hand, i am currently unemployed but i want to file for a chapter 7 bankruptcy but every where i call its like 1000 dollars and i dont have that kind of money so i kinda need to know what i should do???
thanks
when me and my wife were 15 we got married had a baby i didnt have a job nor did she so hospitol bills piled up we nerver payed on them either since we were so young again at 18 we had another child with no insurance and didnt pay any payments just couldnt afford it at the time now that were 28 yrs old we have good jobs but 470 credit score 30 judgements and 13 unpaid collections my wife does have 3 good standings on hers and also 30 judgements should we try to clear our ,000.00 in hospitol bills or file for bankruptcy..were not sure which will help us more……please help
I have a little over ,000 in credit card debt between my husband and myself on six different cards. Of those cards all of them are above 20% interest rates. The highest balance is 00. 8 ½ years ago I had to file for bankruptcy before I married my husband because of a car I was duped (very long story and this was the only thing I filed) into signing for, thus I cannot file bankruptcy. We also have 00 in hospital bills we have accumulated in the last year we are paying on sporadically when I can make payments. They were 00. I am about to have a baby in July, which means I will be on maternity leave for two months with a reduced income. We are having problems making payments on our bills now because we are overwhelmed. Prior to, financially we were doing ok, but we had some unexpected expenses come up and we previously had gotten lots of overtime at both our jobs which has been cut due to the economy. I just obtained 00 from a family member I do not have to pay back and I am having a hard time deciding where to put this money towards. A few of the doctor bills have threatened to send us to collections even though I am making payments when I can. I figure credit cards are best to put the money towards because of fees, credit report problems and interest. I have only been about 10 days late on one of the 6 cards and maybe 16 days late on another one, thus none of them show up late on my credit report. I manage to make payments, but barely. Late fees have been racking up though because I may pay a week late here and there on those two. Here are my primary questions after hearing my story…
1) Should I try to negotiate lowering my debt on the credit cards and doctor bills so I can get them paid off although I am not really showing up late on my credit report? Will they work with me if I am going to pay off the balance? I figure it is pointless to negotiate interest rates if my point is to pay it off…
2) Should I pay off the highest balance of 00, which also happens to have the highest interest rate and then put the rest towards doctor bills or the next higher interest rate card, which the balance is more than what will be left over? Or, should I put the left over money towards paying off the lower credit card amounts and the 00?
3) I have read that if I negotiate lowering my pay off amount with credit card companies then it will affect my credit and this is what I am worried about primarily. Has anyone had any experience with this?
Thank you ahead of time!!
I am 25, married, and own a small home. Due to very slow payment (I pay mortgage with student loan monies when they arrive), my house is going into foreclosure. I also have a lot of debt from medical expenses, and hubby has major debt (car, credit cards) from his teen years.
I have enough money to reinstate my mortgage without filing some type of bankruptcy. However, that would leave me with no lump sum of safety money. I do work, so I could feed myself – but I never seem to have enough income to pay for regular expenses AND my mortgage. So, if I don’t file bankruptcy and I catch up/reinstate my mortgage…I know I’m going to fall right back into the "non-payment" category again.
Is catching up my mortgage better than filing bankruptcy? What about the other debts that I have? How is credit affected?
(I’m going to grad school, so I have many years of being a poor college student left. I just need to know what I should do about my house and other bills in collections)
Husband is college student too. Together our income is still VERY tight on making all payments on time.
Yes we have cell phone – but no cable/internet/home phones. I don’t know what else to cut.
I have a credit card that I am behind on and owed ,000 and it just went into Collections a few months ago. I’ve been making the minimum payment ever since it went to Collections, but I can’t afford to make the minimum payment when it is not in Collections. Right now the minimum (with Collections) is -100 a month whereas before my minimum payment due was competing with RENT! Like, seriously, 0 or so.
I also have 2 recent E.R. bills that I am trying to slowly pay off… they are a combined total of ,000.
I am doing what I can to get all of my debt squared away. But, I just wanted to know at what point does one file bankruptcy??? Thanks.
After Filing for bankruptcy our attorney assured us that our money situation would be taken care of. A little while after, our landlord told us that the utility company is sending her to collections for our debt, of course she is a little angry about the situation and told us that she is going to get a lawyer for herself. We have already tried to call our attorney but he is out of the office. Of course we will try again later, but I was just curious if anyone has had this problem, and can they really go after someone else for our debt?
I think most creditors are notified when a bankruptcy is filed & are given a certain amount of time to respond and refuse to accept the bankruptcy.
Can they still force you to pay them or turn the account into collections, when the bankruptcy is final and, they didn’t respond to the initial court notice?
I lost my job in early September and have run into some serious financial problems. I have a part time job and I should be receiving unemployment but they denied me at first and I have to wait for a hearing to appeal that decision, and they are super backed up and I will not even find out when my hearing is for another four weeks. I took out a distribution from my 401k, went through that, and they are taking their sweet time getting another distribution sent out to me. None of my accounts have been sent to collections yet, but they are almost there. I am considering bankruptcy or using one of those companies that negotiates better interest rates with my creditors and gets them to reduce my debt by up to 40%. I want to know which route I will recover from quicker. I eventually want to buy a house, take out student loans, etc. I keep hearing that bankruptcy is not as bad as it has been made out to be, and I have heard nothing about how debt settlement programs effect your credit. Does anyone have any advice?
When my ex and I split up and child support was set up, I made a budget that fit the income. After a few years, my ex quit his job to get out of child support. After finding where he was working and turning it in, he would quit again to move to another job. I used my credit cards to fill in the missing money thinking i would pay it off when he started to pay again. Well that didn’t happen. Now I am filing bankruptcy after cutting everything we used to do out. I will be able to pay the bills with my own income when this is through. My daughter sees that I am stressed and hears the collections calls. Do I tell her the whole truth? I don’t want to seem like a complete failure in her eyes like i can’t handle money and she lost everything she used to do because of my incompetence. We wouldn’t be this bad off if he didn’t run from his responsibilities. But I don’t want to make her hate her dad.
She is 13 years old. Her Dad rarely sees her because it is now his turn to enjoy life since he started to have kids at 20(he is 42 now- and that is a quote from him) He has a 21 year old son from a first marriage living with him who he makes pay all the bills in their house. That son is going to move in with me next month because he has been wanting to go to college but hasnt been able to since all his money goes toward the household expenses(he works 60 hours a week at a little more than minimum wage and he is not my biological child)
This is for the people who asked how much he was in her life and how old she was.
First off, I am a full-time college student. Ok, here’s my situation–I’m a little over ,000 in credit card debt. My monthly payments from all my cards combined add up to about 0, and every one of my cards (with the exception of one at 8%) have rather high interest rates (19%, 20%). Most of them are pretty close to being maxed out. Having to make these payments is really hurting me every month. I would like to consolidate all of my cards through a loan from my credit union. HOWEVER, due to having a bill that has been out in collections (0 electric bill) for the past 3 months, my credit score has gone down. I know you’re prob gonna say just pay it because it’s only a 0, but wouldn’t even be able to pay that right now without ultimately cutting myself short at the end of the month. Would this mark on my credit inevitably prevent me from being able to secure a loan through my credit union?
Also, if that wouldn’t be able to fall through, do I have any other options at all? I am pretty stressed right now about finances and would really appreciate some educated/experienced advice with this type of situation. First hand experience with this would probably offer me the best advice to this predicament–what did you do to get out of debt? Is bankruptcy even a good option, or is my debt small enough to where there’s still hope for another alternative? Please respond to this i am desperate to get out of debt! Thanks a lot in advance.
First off, I am a full-time college student. Ok, here’s my situation–I’m a little over ,000 in credit card debt. My monthly payments from all my cards combined add up to about 0, and every one of my cards (with the exception of one at 8%) have rather high interest rates (19%, 20%). Most of them are pretty close to being maxed out. Having to make these payments is really hurting me every month. I would like to consolidate all of my cards through a loan from my credit union. HOWEVER, due to having a bill that has been out in collections (0 electric bill) for the past 3 months, my credit score has gone down. I know you’re prob gonna say just pay it because it’s only a 0, but I wouldn’t even be able to pay that right now without ultimately cutting myself short at the end of the month. Would this mark on my credit inevitably prevent me from being able to secure a loan through my credit union?
Also, if that wouldn’t be able to fall through, do I have any other options at all? I am pretty stressed right now about finances and would really appreciate some educated/experienced advice with this type of situation. First hand experience with this would probably offer me the best advice to this predicament–what did you do to get out of debt? Is bankruptcy (which I know absolutely nothing about) even a good option, or is my debt small enough to where there’s still hope for another alternative? Please respond to this i am desperate to get out of debt! Thanks a lot in advance.
Is it just as legally accepted as paperwork filed directly from a lawyer? I don’t have anything I need to reaffirm, no investments/retirement, or other income other than my job, so it’s not going to be difficult.
Given the changes to the bankruptcy laws from back in 2005, do I have to get a lawyer now for this, or can I fill out the forms guided by the software and then file?
I’ve got nothing to dispute. Someone stole my card numbers and rather than working with me and the cops, they sent it to collections. I heard nothing for 2 years. I didn’t get a bill, not calls, nothing. Now they’re trying to sue me and a lawyer told me bankruptcy would be my best option.
I just don’t have the 00 to hire an attorney to fill out paperwork. Other than that they don’t do much.
I don’t have a problem doing the paperwork, I just want to know if using the software will give me the proper paperwork for filing….
First off, I am a full-time college student. Ok, here’s my situation–I’m a little over ,000 in credit card debt. My monthly payments from all my cards combined add up to about 0, and every one of my cards (with the exception of one at 8%) have rather high interest rates (19%, 20%). Most of them are pretty close to being maxed out. Having to make these payments is really hurting me every month. I would like to consolidate all of my cards through a loan from my credit union. HOWEVER, due to having a bill that has been out in collections (0 electric bill) for the past 3 months, my credit score has gone down. I know you’re prob gonna say just pay it because it’s only a 0, but I wouldn’t even be able to pay that right now without ultimately cutting myself short at the end of the month. Would this mark on my credit inevitably prevent me from being able to secure a loan through my credit union?
Also, if that wouldn’t be able to fall through, do I have any other options at all? I am pretty stressed right now about finances and would really appreciate some educated/experienced advice with this type of situation. First hand experience with this would probably offer me the best advice to this predicament–what did you do to get out of debt? Is bankruptcy (which I know absolutely nothing about) even a good option, or is my debt small enough to where there’s still hope for another alternative? Please respond to this i am desperate to get out of debt! Thanks a lot in advance!