Filing Chapter 7 : (

[noppenbd]

I would think twice about filing for bankruptcy. All these personal items that you charged to the existing credit cards were purchased with CREDIT. You seem to think that bankruptcy will solve all of your problems and that you will never need to have credit again. But what you are not understanding is that if you do not change your behavior you are going to be right back here again in a few years, except then you will not be able to file BK again, and you will only be able to get very expensive credit, which you will doubtless need, since you obviously cannot leave within your means (see $15K in credit card debt!). You need to cut up the cards and get on a payment plan with the credit card companies. Once you start to make your money behave you will be able to change your whole outlook, and maybe start to right the ship.

[Markwallace]

Originally Posted by rizzmo

I wouldn't charge the up the cards remaining balance simply because it can bite you if they can prove reasonable intent then it becomes a form of fraud. Filing bankruptcy is not a crime, fraud is. If they prove fraud then you will be liable for all debts discharged, their attorney's fees, and some amount of interest. This will come in the form of a judgment that will garnish your paycheck directly, and you will have a felony on your record.

Aside from that feel free to file ... it is your legal right as an American. The bankruptcy will be on your record for 7 years (believe this is correct timeframe, but don't quote me). The only impact a bankruptcy has is that you will not be able to get a store backed credit card (Sears, Bestbuy, Home Depot). I have found this to be the only effects of my filing.

I personally filed chapter 7 a few years ago, and my parents also filed 4 years ago. I have seen what happens first hand in two separate instances. If you are looking for more information on the process/aftermath I can post real examples and some not widely known tips on how to make the process less damaging … let me know.

Finally someone with some INFORMATION. thank god. All I was getting is that I am a loser and I need to pay to this point.

Please, I would be very very much interested in what goes on and the aftermath of declaring. Did you get a lawyer? how much did it all cost? so many questions.

[Slicer]

Originally Posted by Markwallace

I will be making some purchases that I feel are necessary to my current well being. If, in the future, I feel I am no longer able to pay for said necessities, I may need to claim bankruptcy.

I am not insinuating for a MOMENT that I would purchase something knowing full well I was going to claim bankruptcy days later.

If the perfect storm of events were to collide... and a situation such as that did arise, I simply would like to be prepared and knowledgeable.

Yes, you are insinuating that you would purchase something knowing full well you were going to claim BK.

From your first post:

My question is this though, I have some money left on several cards. Meaning I haven’t reached my limit on at least 3. A couple thousand I believe. If I am filing for chapter 7, and aside from the ethical assertions, would it not be prudent to use that money while I can? I mean, I am going to be free and clear irregardless by the end… why not take advantage of it.

It clearly states you "have money left on several cards" and "If I am filing for chapter 7" ... "would it not be prudent to use that money while I can".

[NDArmyGrrl]

Originally Posted by Markwallace

I'm a disabled veteran. I pay my share of the mortgage where I live. Who are you to judge me?

MY HOT BUTTON!!!!!!!

OP What are you thinking, you do not want to charge up the rest of the cards. You need to pay the smallest balance off so afterwards when all the cards cancel you, you can still have one incase YOU HAVE to use one.....Rent a car etc.

My guess is IF you are a disabled Vet you are getting a unreported (untaxed) income from the VA and you could pay the bills off IF you wanted to. Are you claiming your diablity pay in the nine dollars an hour you make when you figure you have enough debt to file for Bankruptcy?.

Please stop posting you are a vet in a thread that you start that shows you are trying to do something that is (gray area) illegal it hurts public opinion of other soldiers who serve their country. I am sure you did not mean to do it but that is how it is being viewed.

[NDArmyGrrl]

Originally Posted by Markwallace

how do i get myself out of this debt. i dont know what to do. please. i cant handle this anymore.

tell me what i need to do and i will do it. please.

You cant get out of the debt, it will have a effect-BK or stop paying, you just have to pay off the debt and move forward.

Buy the Dave Ramsey Book.

Create a BUDGET

Add up all your debt, pay the minimum due, and with left over money at the end of paying the bills, pay off the credit cards lowest balance first or highest interest rate first which ever one will allow you to keep going.

Increase income / reduce expenses.

Originally Posted by Markwallace

what do you mean stop paying?

I never considered that. What does that mean. So I stop paying, and they start boosting fees and interest... and I still dont pay. It goes to... collections then? I'm not sure. Then what.

Figured bankruptcy was the only option at that point... that they(collections companies) might sue me or try to garner my wages or something I guess.

Try searching AccountAnalyzer -He stopped paying and it dropped off. He has a whole thread about it!! But to make it work you would have to stop charging on the cards (NO TRYING TO MAX THEM OUT)

[Saving in So Cal]

I do not have a negative view of the bankruptcy system or of people who choose to declare bankrupcy. It can be the right choice for some people.

IMHO, the only way for you to figure out if it is the right choice for you is for you to consult with a bankruptcy lawyer who can look at your specific situation and tell you what your bankruptcy and non-bankruptcy options are. Look for someone who practices only in this field. (No family friends or acquaintances.) Some states, like California, allow lawyers to obtain special certifications in this field if they meet certain knowledge and experience requirements. If your state does the same, look for a lawyer that has such a certification. The initial consultation should be free or low-cost.

In the meantime, Seeker's bankruptcy fraud comment is absolutely correct. My recollection is that such fraud carries both civil and criminal consequences. Moreonever, intent to defraud, can be proven by one's actions. No one has to accept your word as to what your intent was. So, if you are seriously contemplating bankruptcy, I would not recommend maxing out your credit cards. (BTW, credit cards are debt, so the amount between what you have charged and what you can charge should not be viewed as "money.)

[Seeker]

Bankruptcy is not something to be entered into lightly, nor something you "take advantage of." You make any mistakes and all of what you seek (relief from debts) will be denied. They will be looking at everything that this money is owed on... they may even insist that you sell that claw-grabbing-stuffed-animal machine that is in your home (isn't that like $1000 right there?).

Bankruptcy laws have changed and if you do go that route, the bankruptcy will remain on your record for 10 years (it's not 7 years anymore).

If you are a disabled veteran, then you probably have a pension or a compensation of some kind to help you financially. The $9/hour may sound small, but we do not have the entire picture of your numbers here.

If you truely want help, then we can best help you if you list your complete monthly income and your monthly expenses and any of the interest rates that are owed. If you truely want help then ask for that instead of posting in the angry way your original post reads.

If you are to get anywhere in this life, you have to stop picking on people or businesses to criticize... you have to stop trying to take-advantage of the situations you find yourself in.

Pick up the pieces, stop being angry, and continue forward with your life. Treat people the same way that you would want them to treat you.

If you work for $9/hour... what do you do? Are you completely exhausted at the end of your day? Is there a possibility of taking on more part-time work to supplement that income and pay back some of these debts?

Why pay back these debts? Because you promised to do so when you used the CC; you are a person of your word right? Corporate America did not create the debts; you did. The military did not create the debts; you did. We all pay the price for each and every other person that struggles. You pay taxes as well.

Post the numbers, the reality of your income and the reality of your expenses, and the reality of your debts (with interest rates) and maybe we can help you find a way to avoid bankruptcy altogether.

[KellyJef]

Originally Posted by sweeps

A judge is going to see right through what you're doing and hopefully would punish you for fraud.

You're a thief if you continue running up your cards with the intent on filing bankruptcy.

I agree.

I think the OP is a really wrong if he actually goes through with something this dishonest.

[Seeker]

Originally Posted by Markwallace

does it make you feel better to be mean to people?

You post in two entirely different manners:

1) With capitalization and proper puncuation.
2) Without proper capitalization and extremely reactive and judgemental here.

Your words are very confusing... 1st it's 15k, then "almost 20k" then 4-5k split over 5 CC's.

Apparently your still here. But you will not list the realities of your situation.

The child in you is real (the non-capitalization poster) and asking for help and also bouncing back any critisms.

The adult in you is very, very angry. I feel for you; but apparently cannot help you.

Good luck

[jeffrey]

I've been seeing some things in the forums lately that I don't particularly like. You are free to disagree with others as strongly as you want as long as it doesn't get personal. That will not be tolerated here. You can list all the reasons why you think that a person's reasoning is stupid, but can't call the person stupid. Think it all you want, but when you write, stick to the topic and not what you think of the person. If you can't, then don't write anything.

Turning things personal doesn't help anyone and doesn't further the discussion in any way.

[Hypersion]

"25 percent of your weekly wages that are over 30 times the minimum hourly wage."

According to my calculations the credit card companies will only be able to Garnishment $50 a week from your paycheck.

Garnishment

Is your home under your name or someone else. If it's under you name I would look at bk protection other wise just stop payment on the CC. Get an under the table labor job so they can't garnish your wages.

[Seeker]

Jeffrey -- Sorry about the other post. I didn't intend to personally critize him though it did come out that way.

Hypersion -- he's pays a share of the house that he lives in. It's not in his name according to statements made earlier. Though he also pays part of the taxes on it.

Mark is probably "judgment proof" in the sense that $9 per hour is truely not sufficient for anyone to really live on. He's got to be barely scraping by.... especially with food costs and everything else on the rise too.

Garnishment of even $50 per week represents almost 5.5 hours of his weekly salary.

But without his cost/expenses/debts information, nobody can really help either.

[Merch]

Fair enough. Point taken.

I did get personal. For that, I apologize.

(Seeker I believe the comment was meant for me.)

The path that he's going down will not change, unless he is changes it.

[rizzmo]

Here is how the process went for me. I paid between $750 - $1000 in lawyer/filing fees. I called and made an appointment with a bankruptcy attorney. I met with him five days later. At the consultation I filed out forms listing the debts I wanted discharged, debts I wanted to re-affirm, and a work sheet with my estimated monthly income and expenditures. A few weeks later I got my court date in the mail, it was 2-3 months later. On my court date I went to the courthouse and was instructed to wait out side one of the courtrooms. Thirty minutes later my attorney came out and spoke with me for a few minutes. Then the bailiff called my name, and lead me in to a small room. There was room for one table and the four people (bailiff, my attorney, court appointed bankruptcy person, and me). The court appointed person started a tape recorder and swore me in, asked me to confirm the information, asked me if I had omitted any assets, and asked if I expected a windfall of money in the next year (settlement, inheritance, lottery winnings). Then I was lead out of the room and my attorney told me I was all set and would be receiving a letter of discharge from the court in about a month. All together the process took eight hours including travel time. I hope this information was useful.

[Ima saver]

I certainly agree with Sweeps!

[maat55]

The poster posted this same question on another forum and when answered respectfully by a responder, he rudely chastized him.

[myrdale]

[quote=Markwallace;157061] I attempted a business and items such as a fax machine, computer, printers, etc were purchased to facilitate it during that time.

I am in possession of several hundred thousand poker chips if anyone is interested.

Video games, plasma tv's, computers for gaming... I went to disneyworld. What else, I bought one of those vending claw machines... with the stuffed animals that the claw grabs. That was for personal use and is in my bedroom.
[quote]

Have you considered selling anything? Ebay, newspaper adds, craig's list, yard sells, all of these could work.

As for the thousands of chips, call the company you purchased the plastic from. Maybe they can work something out.

Hopefully you can get half the money back if you work at it, maybe more. Definatilly try negotiating with BoA to see if they will come down some aswell.

As far as maxxing the credit cards and then declairing, I would say absolutely not. That is stealing in my book, plain and simple. If BoA was so bad, why did you do business with them in the first place?

What will bankruptcy mean for you? I assume your young, 20 to 25. You will get tired of the $9 / hour job soon enough. Your next employer may pull your credit before he hires you. Seeing you can not handle your personal finances will indicate to him you are not reliable.

You may get evicted or move from your current appartment. When you do, your next landlord may pull your credit and charge higher deposits. So will the power, and water companies. Here in GA I had to go with a regulated gas company because I had no credit. They supply gas to the poor and those with bad credit, so the charge more!

Other things that blister on your credit report may mess up for you? Home loan 5 years from now. I don't know how it would affect student loans.

At any rate, 15k is not alot of money. Do the right thing, hustle, sell as much as you can, work hard and pay off your debts.

[myrdale]

Originally Posted by Markwallace

Third, would you be interested in some mint condition poker chips?

That is what I mean in my post above, look for any opportunity to sell them. Heck set up a table on the street or go driving from gas station to gas station pawning them. There are people out there who are dying to give you their money for your stuff, you just got to find them.

Also am sorry I miss read your age above. I saw post about being a vet and all. At any rate, best of luck!

[Scanner]

Well. . .he asked us to disregard ethical considerations. . .I think the best answer is for you to consult with your attorney.

I agree with the poster who said that this not only hurts "big, greedy" BoA but also hurts Joe Average Investor.

That being said, banks are going to have to start to learn the hard way that there are people out there like this and it's bad to do business with them.

If BoA is misguided enough to extend this guy credit, and not freeze his credit limit when he's late on payments by months, etc., then they deserve the billion dollar losses they post and the investors who put faith in them deserve the loss in their portfolios.

Again, I don't disagree with all the ethical judgements. I think it sets a bad precedent but credit card companies (and mortgage companies) are part of this dysfunction America has.

[Squeezing Pennies]

Don't feed the Trolls.