I've used this site as a crutch to get me thru the hard times while deciding to file. I posted a while back that I had decided to file and started talking to lawyers. Thanks to "sinkingsofast"'s advice, I found a lawyer in our area that was also a Trustee. I can only speak for my own experience, but so far this has seemed like an EXCELLENT decision. He knows exactly what they are looking for and anything that might raise a red flag. He has experience from both sides and he knows the other Trustee here very well. There are a lot of things that delayed me and caused me so much grief before I filed that I wish I knew then what I knew now. If I could give a couple of pieces of advice it would be this.
1. Analyze your situation, ask questions here, and then make the decision to either file or take another course of action. I could never "pull the trigger" and really start the decision making process and all it did was add to my stress and pile up more late fees. That leads me to my second item...
2. Pick the right attorney! I tried talking to quite a few and tried to stay away from the ones with the big tacky ads in the Yellow Pages. I wanted to know that it was someone that I would have easy access to and not get stuck with their assistant after the first meeting. Because of someone's advice here, I looked up the Trustee in my area and called them. It makes an enermous difference knowing that he actually performs the trustee job for others and knows exactly what will and won't fly. Here are some of the things I learned from him.
A. Don't worry about paying off smaller cards or debts if you want to. The prefferential treatment issue applies to amounts of $600 or more. He also said transactions have to be substantial (at least $3000 bucks or more usually) for them to go after since they have to hire attorneys to retrieve the money from who you paid.
B. In Texas, it's very friendly for BK filers so I will be able to keep my $4500 tax refund due to the "wild card" exemption. He did say at first to file as fast as possible and spend it when I got it on things that needed to be taken care of (his fee, auto and home repairs, etc.) but later after analyzing my situation we will be fine.
C. I also had charges and cash advances that were as recent as Jan 4 and some substantial amounts ($2000 each of the last three months from BofA credit card that was used as overdraft protection). On top of that we used another VISA during Christmas for more charges. Everything was small amounts and was obvious that we weren't trying to run them up just to do it. The cash advances were for overdraft protection and went directly into checking account to cover bills so I never took any of that out either. He pretty much stated that that's what happens in the end. People are already and the end of their rope so they use the cards for things they neeed (food, groceries, gas, etc). I really thought I was going to have to wait for at least 4 - 6 months. I went in and talked to him and he was going to file the first week of February but decided to wait on my tax return.
Thanks again for the help. It feels like a huge weight has been removed from my back. More than that, paying my bills and buying what I need with MY OWN MONEY feels great. Even though we don't have much extra, it beats the wild, out of control ride that we were living before.
1. Analyze your situation, ask questions here, and then make the decision to either file or take another course of action. I could never "pull the trigger" and really start the decision making process and all it did was add to my stress and pile up more late fees. That leads me to my second item...
2. Pick the right attorney! I tried talking to quite a few and tried to stay away from the ones with the big tacky ads in the Yellow Pages. I wanted to know that it was someone that I would have easy access to and not get stuck with their assistant after the first meeting. Because of someone's advice here, I looked up the Trustee in my area and called them. It makes an enermous difference knowing that he actually performs the trustee job for others and knows exactly what will and won't fly. Here are some of the things I learned from him.
A. Don't worry about paying off smaller cards or debts if you want to. The prefferential treatment issue applies to amounts of $600 or more. He also said transactions have to be substantial (at least $3000 bucks or more usually) for them to go after since they have to hire attorneys to retrieve the money from who you paid.
B. In Texas, it's very friendly for BK filers so I will be able to keep my $4500 tax refund due to the "wild card" exemption. He did say at first to file as fast as possible and spend it when I got it on things that needed to be taken care of (his fee, auto and home repairs, etc.) but later after analyzing my situation we will be fine.
C. I also had charges and cash advances that were as recent as Jan 4 and some substantial amounts ($2000 each of the last three months from BofA credit card that was used as overdraft protection). On top of that we used another VISA during Christmas for more charges. Everything was small amounts and was obvious that we weren't trying to run them up just to do it. The cash advances were for overdraft protection and went directly into checking account to cover bills so I never took any of that out either. He pretty much stated that that's what happens in the end. People are already and the end of their rope so they use the cards for things they neeed (food, groceries, gas, etc). I really thought I was going to have to wait for at least 4 - 6 months. I went in and talked to him and he was going to file the first week of February but decided to wait on my tax return.
Thanks again for the help. It feels like a huge weight has been removed from my back. More than that, paying my bills and buying what I need with MY OWN MONEY feels great. Even though we don't have much extra, it beats the wild, out of control ride that we were living before.
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