Should I file Bankruptcy?

Question

I am 26 years old and over $18,000 in debt. About $9,500 of it is in credit card debt, $4000 in car loans, and $4000 is in a lien for an accident I caused. There is another $700 in miscellaneous debt. I am married with two small children. My husband and I have a monthly gross income of about $3200. In about a year, I will be needing a student loan for my last bit of college. We do not own a house, but we do own one car (the other we are paying off). We would, in about three or four years, ideally, like to try and get a house. Should i file bankruptcy now? What would I lose, if anything? The two cars we have are 6 and seven years old. I appreciate any advice.

I have not used any cards in a great while. I really do not see putting off college any longer, plus with my degree I will be able to earn a considerable amount more that i do at this time. As for asking creditors to lower the rate I would definately consider that. Is it really that easy--just call the company and explain that i want to pay the debt off? What about the lien--can I do anything there? Thank you again.

Answer 1

Chapter 7 bankruptcy is the commonest denotation of bankruptcy. It stands for waiving or canceling of debts that you have incurred. As an individual, you can select between Chapter 13 or Chapter 7 bankruptcy. Selecting between the two is not easy. The bankruptcy court will study your circumstances before deciding which type of bankruptcy is applicable to you.

The Chapter 7 bankruptcy is applicable if you have no regular sources of income. It works by reducing or clearing off all your debts. You can then make a fresh start without having to worry about having to pay your debts.

Once you file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, the bankruptcy court assigns a trustee who works as an intermediary between you and the debtors. He oversees everything and checks out if the bankruptcy plan is going as planned.

But you also have to hand over your possessions and properties to the trustee. They are sold off and the money is used in clearing your debts. But what you can do is to keep a part of your home, cars or some of your property. But most of your debts are cleared off.

Answer 2

The new bankruptcy laws have made it much more difficult to simply walk away from your debt. If you file bankruptcy you will lose control of your finances and your financial status will be affected for at least 7 - 10 years.

The amount of your debt ($18,000) is not huge and you should make every possible attempt to repay it.

There is a website here which has some information and advice about alternatives to bankruptcy. I hope this helps.

Good luck!

Answer 3

No, don't file bankruptcy. You haven't learned anything about why you're in debt. Also, generally, your debt would need to be more than six months income in order to file, and they've made it much more difficult now.

You desperately, desperately need to learn how to deal with credit and debt before you buy a house.

Instead, create a budget so that you know now where your money goes. Track every penny of what you spend. Put your credit cards in an ice tray in the freezer and stop spending on them. Call the companies and ask them to reduce the rate. Make your payments early or on time and pay more than the minimum. Look around for things you can sell on ebay to raise some cash to pay down the debt. Find a credit card with a lower interest rate, even zero, and put your current balances on it. Put off college for an extra year if you have to.

If you file for bankruptcy, you will pay and pay for credit and for house loans, and for future car loans.

Read The Millionaire Next Door for help.

Answer 4

Bankruptcy won't even address the lien for the accident you caused. (And you got off lucky there, really. I work in insurance and $4,000 barely fixes a fender these days. I hope you've addressed the issue of not having insurance!)

And without that being included, there's really not an insurmountable amount of debt involved. I know it seems like there is, but I can assure you that you can overcome it if you're willing to work on it. (I've paid off almost $18k of my $28k in debt over the last three years on a salary of not much more than that per year. And yes, I bought a house in the middle of all that. In fact, if not for buying a fixer upper and doing the upgrades myself, I couldn't have done what I've done financially, since I was then able to get a second mortgage based on the equity the upgrades created and pay off the high-interest debt.)

You need to get back to the basics. And start thinking about NEEDS vs. wants. I'm not saying it's easy, but it CAN be done.

And honestly, if you were to take bankruptcy now, I'm afraid that you'd end up in even worse trouble in a few years because there will be companies throwing credit cards and loans at you afterward. Yes, I know that sounds crazy, but it's true. They do it because they know you can't claim bankruptcy for another seven years, so they aren't really at risk of losing anything (as they'll get it from you eventually, one way or another) and they'll charge you interest rates that make loansharks seem generous.

I seriously suggest that you take a good look at your financial situation.

I started with the Dollar Stretcher (http://www.stretcher.com) and now also read a lot on the Motley Fool (http://www.fool.com).

Good luck. You can do it!

Answer 5

yes, everyone has the rights to file bankruptcy but it depends to the bankruptcy lawyer.

Answer 6

properly, to respond to your preliminary question of no count in case you ought to document financial ruin or no longer is rather as much as you eventually. i does no longer suggestion it in the adventure that your debt is below 10K as oftentimes a consolidation ought to get you out of the hollow on that difficulty and you will possibly be able to rebuild your credit. the subsequent difficulty because of the fact the guidelines have replaced, do you qualify based on the earnings regulations to your companion and young infants? probability is, it seems which you do, yet then i do no longer understand what you're making or what share are on your companion and young infants. Secondly, that's gonna fee you a grip to document now as what was once $3 hundred-$500 to do a number of years in the past will certainly fee you $1500 or extra. Plus you will additionally might desire to seek for credit counseling before you progression forward interior the approach. As on your reference relating to the 7 yrs., that's no longer inevitably automatic as they pass on the final date of pastime on the account. that's how the lenders get you and have the skill to boost that 7 yrs. to an eternity. Now, you are able to constantly dispute any themes you have on your credit checklist, so don't be afraid to accomplish that. they might desire to deliver you an handle and touch kind of the creditor interior a real looking volume of time or the credit bureau has to get rid of it out of your credit checklist. many human beings do no longer understand this, regardless of the undeniable fact that that's how this manner of lot of persons are waiting to have some issues bumped off, because of the fact they fail to analyze the information immediately. that's right for you if that's the case or you're caught with some issues on the checklist. i desire this helped. good success!

Answer 7

Yes ,I agree face your debt and fix it ,then ask your attorney for advices.

Answer 8

You can get loans easily.Bad credit? No problem.I think the below website helps you.