Pragmatically, indentured servitude would be a great way to repay debts without declaring bankruptcy, and maybe while still being able to keep your possessions. It could also serve as an alternative currency in some situations. Of course, this would be fixed term – the period of that servitude would correspond with the debt and such.

But of course there is the morality of personal freedom, and the question of whether that always transcends debt and whether it would be right to use such a thing as a currency or tool.

This was a subject in my Ethics class today, so I just want to see what other people (maybe not college liberal arts majors) think.

Technorati Tags: currency, debts, declaring bankruptcy, ethics, indentured servitude, liberal arts majors, morality, personal freedom, possessions

Ok. So my significant other is over her head and doesn’t make enough to pay her debts. Her income is less than half the median income here. A sample means test shows she easily and completely qualifies.

My question is this. She is going to have a hard time coming up with the attorney fees associated with filing (around here it seems to be 800-1500 bucks). I am curious how hard is it to file by yourself or if there is an alternative like a Pro Bono attorney option or discounts for low income persons.
EDIT: Her debt amount is roughly 30k. That is with medical bills WITHOUT college loans. Her monthly income is about 1200 bucks. Her monthly bills are more than that. That does not include food or gas. I am not looking for a moral lecture. She is doing this. I am trying to help her through it. She has exhausted all other options.

Technorati Tags: 30k, attorney fees, college loans, debts, hard time, income persons, means test, median income, medical bills, pro bono attorney

My debts have been discharged in Chapter 7. However, a major electronics store has contacted me indicating they have a lien against a laptop computer purchased from their store (on a store credit card) and they want the property returned. Can this property be seized?

Technorati Tags: chapter 7, debts, electronics store, laptop computer, store credit card

So recently I have posted a car on eBay. It went up for the seven days that you have to bet on it but none of the bids went up to my price standards. The last bid was 12,500 and I was specifically asking for 20,000 because the car is not even worth in the 12,000 category, The title is in my hand I paid off the car so its not taking over payments situation. So the bidding ended and I refused to sell it to the last bidder and I filed a refusal case on eBay to not sell it to him, but the guy was threatening me if I didn’t sell it to him he would sue me. Cops were involved and i don’t know what to do if I have to sell it to him or not. In addition I’m only selling this car because I need to pay of debts and I’m also filing for bankruptcy and I can’t deal with this guy threatening me to sell him the car or he will sue me. What could I do? Please tell me as soon as possible.

Technorati Tags: cops, debts, ebay, filing for bankruptcy, seven days

A non professional gave me the advice of filing bankruptcy for debt i have totaling 00. His argument was that with these debts that i have are obliterating my credit score anyway and that bankruptcy wouldnt be any worse. Is this true? What does filing bankruptcy do to your credit report and would it damage it more or less than leaving these debts sit as i do not have the money to pay them off at the moment. Thank you for reading and any help.

Technorati Tags: credit report, credit score, debts, filing bankruptcy, money

they laughed at me and did not raise the limit. This is ridiculous how am I supposed to pay back my debts if I cant borrow more money?

Technorati Tags: debts, money

I had a consultation with a lawyer and he told me that I would qualify for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. He also told me that he wants 00 in order to proceed. If I had 00 I would be paying off some of my debts. How can I go about filing Chapter 7 without a lawyer or by using the least amount of money possible? Thank you in advance for any advice.

Technorati Tags: amount of money, chapter 7 bankruptcy, consultation, debts, filing chapter 7, lawyer

My wife is filing for bankruptcy and one of our creditor’s is Kay Jewelers. We bought our wedding rings through them back in 2008. We received a letter in the mail today saying that they may have a non-dischargeability cause of action against us if we don’t turn our rings over, which we really don’t want to have to do. I know that it seems like the sensible thing to do and we can’t really afford to pay off the debt. Is there any alternative to giving the rings back or paying the debt?
Thank you all for answering so quickly. First, I am not on any of her loans/ debts so it wasn’t really advisable that I file as well. The only thing I have in my name is my student loans and our car (which the person who helped us file our paperwork said we wouldn’t need to worry about since the title is in my name). With that said, while we were filling out our paperwork, there is a section that you get to put items that you would like to have exempt from the bankruptcy i.e. jewelry, clothes, electonics… and you’re allowed up to a certain value for each item. Our rings fell way below the limit so we were told that we could keep them. Lastly, and unfortunately, it was a secured loan so they are saying that the rings are collateral and they have the right to either take them back or have us pay it back.

Technorati Tags: clothes, collateral, creditor, debts, electonics, filing for bankruptcy, jewelry, kay jewelers, letter in the mail, paperwork, secured loan, student loans, wedding rings

StarcraftII comes out in a week and a half! Been waiting 10 years! I pre-ordered it as soon as I found out back in 2008…with Circuity City. Well, they’ve gone out of business. Filed bankruptcy. Now they’ve been taken over by some other group…yadi yadi yah. Will my pre-order be honored or am I SOL? It would seem to me that their old debts and obligations would be washed away…but it’s worth asking.

Am I going to have to buy this game twice?

Technorati Tags: 10 years, bankruptcy, debts, game, sol, yah

I have paid some of my debts, however, I have reached a point where I have no other options that’s why I’m filing bankruptcy. If you have advice, or if you have filed share your knowledge, thoughts, etc.

Technorati Tags: debts, filing bankruptcy, share your knowledge

I have been very loyal to my creditors and could have filed bankruptcy years ago before they changed the standards. I choose not to. Now they have raised all my interested rates for no reason and I have never been late in my life until this month. I am very mad at them because of the rate hikes that I have been paying high interested. I know I made these debts but had no problems until all the rate hikes and would probable be almost debt free now.

Technorati Tags: bankruptcy, creditors, debts, rate hikes

I have done everything I can to reduce my spending, and my interest rates (on unsecured debt), yet there are still so many demands on my income that I am still unable to meet my monthly obligations. (My VA Compensation was just "reduced" making my problems even worse). Due to the nature of my current "graveyard employment", I have been experiencing a great deal of trouble finding a second job.

Must Bankruptcy be my only solution? I entered into a Debt Management Program (to have interest reduced), 4 months ago. Until then, I had not even had a "late payment" in over 8 years (no longer the case thanks to the DMP).

I was forced to file Bankruptcy in 1999 (so it is about to be removed from my credit file), due to my divorce and excessive student loan payments.

Now I am about to "start all over again" due to my inability to obtain reasonable interest rates on my debts.

Can anyone suggest alternatives to Bankruptcy?

Technorati Tags: 4 months, 8 years, alternatives to bankruptcy, case thanks, debt management program, debts, divorce, dmp, excessive student, graveyard, interest rates, second job, student loan payments, unsecured debt

I want to get this Harley Davidson on a payment plan, but also to rebuild my credit rating. Can I go out now right after my recent Chapter 7 discharge of Debts and purchase this motorcycle. Will I get into any trouble with the Court, trustee or the creditors. Am I allowed to do this or I have to wait a while before I make any major purchases.

Technorati Tags: chapter 7, court trustee, credit rating, creditors, debts, harley davidson, motorcycle

Back in June I was terminated from my job due to my epilepsy, I hold nothing against the company as they did all that they could with an ADA accomodation, however my seizures caused me to miss to much work. I ended up getting approved for disability, being considered permanently disabled and now make 950 dollars a month, which is my only income. The loss of income forced me to drop out of college and now I have 70,000 in student loan debt coming due. I have been getting constantly contacted by different collectors and attorneys regarding many of my debts, 3 credit cards, totaling about 1,000 dollars, my pickup was repossessed in June and they are trying to collect the final 1500 dollars that they could not get from selling it, which is now being handled by an attorney threatening litigation. I also owe on a large number of medical bills, 6,000 owed for a balance with snap on tools, which the toolbox was stolen so I cannot return it, and many old debts that are beyond the states statute.

The only asset I have is my motorcycle worth 5,000 dollars as I have lost everything else and rent my home. Basically when comparing all of my liabilities to my income and my assets, I am insolvent and from what I have been able to find out basically "judgement proof"

I cannot decide if I should file for bankruptcy to try to get a fresh start since there is no way I will ever be able to get these debts paid down. I do know that there is the possibility of my student loans being discharged due to disability. I don’t really want to file but I am starting to think that either I will have to, or just keep putting up with many of the phone calls and send cease and decist letters to the ones beyond statutes. Does anyone have any suggestions on this?
I have already spoken with Sallie Mae in regards to my student loan debts, and they did advise me that I am in the rare circumstance where the loans can be forgiven.

As far as the motorcycle goes, it is my life, although I do not drive currently, as i know better, I don’t need to put other people at risk or myself, but the motorcycle is the one thing I refuse to get rid of, as it took me a long time to be able to purchase it, and it is more important to me than anything, including my own life. This may sound crazy, but my motorcycle got me through alot of times when I was depressed. Even my therapist and my doctors all say not to get rid of it since it is all that I have. As far as my debts do go, not including the student loans I am sure that I have over a total of 0,000 in debt as I had to have brain surgery 2 years ago and still owe for that along with a large number of epilepsy specialist visits. I have spoken with an attorney in the past and they have said I do have enough
As far as student loans being bankruptcy proof, I am well aware that they are in most circumstances, but there are circumstances such as being totally and permanently disabled, which by their definition means for a period of 60 consecutive months. I am certain that I will not be working for that long as we have had no luck in controlling my epilepsy so far. Many of the legalities on that I am aware of as I was majoring in accounting, and was only a couple of classes shy of graduating when I was forced to quit
Yes, that is correct, I am sorry my wording was off on that, while bankruptcy itself does not get rid of them, certain circumstances do permit the discharge of them, such as total and permanent disability. i have spoken with them and they are currently on deferment for hardship while everything goes through. It isn’t actually the bankruptcy itself that gets rid of them, but filing for discharge. I would definitely prefer to pay them off however, but with the cost of my medication each month actually being double what I receive in income and with medicaid refusing to cover them due to stating that they are not a preferred medication and refuse it even with requests from an epileptologist, I have no choice but to pay for them out of pocket until I can get approved for patient assistance. I am also in the process of working with vocational rehab to try to get me through school so that I can get a desk job as I am so limited on work that the only ones that I am able to do physically ar

Technorati Tags: accomodation, ada, bankruptcy, credit cards, debts, disability, epilepsy, fresh start, judgement proof, liabilities, litigation, medical bills, motorcycle, phone calls, rare circumstance, sallie mae, seizures, snap on tools, student loan debt, student loans

Being unemployed and out of savings- should I file chapter 7 Bankruptcy to rid me of all my debts?
If I do this will I lose my home? Its worth less than my mortgage at this point in time!

Technorati Tags: chapter 7 bankruptcy, debts, mortgage, point in time

I am wondering what are counted as "assets". I dont know what would be "sold" to pay off the debts. I have a computer and other general electronics like a stereo and TV, all of which are paid off. And a car that was a gift from my mom, and my name is on the title. What exactly do they count as assets?
As far as the car, it is an 89 honda accord, does that make a difference?

Technorati Tags: assets, debts, general electronics, honda, honda accord, mom

I mean it undoes the entire point of shopping around and selecting a particular lender. The first time this happened to me was when I had to chose a bank for my student loans and then I was notified 3 months later that the debt was sold. Since then I’ve come to realize that this is standard practice.

Before you leap to the defense of financial institutions think about this: companies that originated home loans (with very poor standards of verification) then sold those loans to other companies so they didn’t have to be the ones waiting to collect the debt were what sent the economy into its latest collapse.

Really, think how odd it would be if consumers could sell their obligations to someone else (for .50 on the ) and then after buying hundreds of obligations and living high on the hog that person could go bankrupt taking out hundreds of debts with him.

My most important concern though is there is no point in shopping around for and making a contract with a particular lender, since they can sell it at anytime. I’m interested in hearing your thoughts, if I had the power I would limit this ability.
Dear Sir Jam, you are factually incorrect. First, this question has nothing to do with delinquent accounts, this says a lot more about you and your issues. Second, debts are sold frequently, in fact almost all home loans are originated by one lender and then resold instantly to another (note paragraph two). Some people are unaware how often their debts are sold because sometimes their payments are handled by a debt servicing company, the one that sends you those little payment books, but they can work for a series of lenders with your one debt. I find it worth while to talk philosophically about our financial system because we have law makers who can change it if enough people ask.

Technorati Tags: collapse, consumers, debts, delinquent accounts, economy, financial institutions, high on the hog, home loans, lenders, living high on the hog, paragraph, payment books, student loans

My pops lost his job earlier this year due his boss’s stupidity managing the business not because of the recession. He has always been the one supporting the family with his job for so many years. I’m struggling to make ends meet with my piece of crap job myself then I am drowning in student loan debts and many others. My brother has a really good paying job working at a steel plant. Mom doesn’t work because she is on disability and never ever seriously worked when she was able to work except two jobs she had in my whole lifetime. That was nearly two decades ago. That is more hurt to the wound also. My brother gave my dad an option that maybe he should file for bankruptcy to bail himself out of the hardships the family is dealing with. I know nothing about bankruptcy nor how that would help him out. Only my brother knows about that since it was his idea.

My brother came to me tonight saying things will get tough here at home because he can’t continue pulling all the weight paying all the bills my dad used to pay. Even if I do step in and take my brother’s place keeping the family surviving, that is still not going to be any better. The reason is because I too will have to forever be stuck in this rut we are in as long as my dad is messed up. Dad is doing his best working a part time job and doing some his side business he has at home. The money he makes total is not enough. I have my own debts that needs to be paid off. I also want to be able to live my life the way I should being on my own. I am all grown up now and it is way past my time to move out and live my life like I wished and hoped for. I never wanted to be stuck at home growing older ever year. All I’m saying is that if my brother get to the point where he can no longer help out then that would put me in the position to keep this family afloat. I don’t mind doing it, but it is not something I can continue doing for the rest of my life just for the sake of keeping all the debts paid on time.
David most of my debt came from student loans and car payments on an older used model, car insurance, etc. My job is crap because it does not pay enough to live on. Yes my hardwork getting a degree has gone to waste. I’m not getting any luck finding work related to me degree or any other work.

Technorati Tags: bankruptcy, crap job, dad, debts, decades, disability, hardships, lifetime, part time job, piece of crap, pops, recession, rest of my life, sake, saying things, side business, steel plant, student loan, stupidity, time david

I want to file on debts accumulated before I got married. Can I file and not him?

Technorati Tags: debts

I just had my bankruptcy chapter 7 . None of the creditors showed up at the meeting and when it was about to get discharged , 60 days latter, one creditor filed Adversarial Proceeding .
My lawyer told me that he does not represent me in this and i have to look for a new one, even all the other debts had been discharged by bankruptcy.
What should I do, about this ? Apparently, I don’t have any money to pay for the new lawyer. What does it mean to me, can I settle with the creditor, or make a payment plan on my own?? Anyone help?????
Also, I had my 341 meeting on April 30th, and Adversarial Proceeding was filed on June 30th.
From the net , I got that creditor has 60 days after the meeting to file Adversarial Proceeding.It looks like they filed a day latter (May==31 days, June == 30).Would I be correct on this one? or…..my calculations and information are wrong???

Technorati Tags: 341 meeting, bankruptcy chapter 7, creditor, creditors, debts, lawyer, money