Need Answers to so many BK 7 questions

[Troonkitty]

size 2Times New RomanDarkSlateBlueBold Italic :o Hello. I am a newbie to this forum. I was (am) planning on filing BK 7 soon, just heard about the new law and how it will be signed the beginning of next week. I have so many questions. Please, if anyone can give some advice:
1) If I file the day or week after the bill is signed, will I still be eligible under the old law - is it the day you file or the day it is discharged that is accountable
2) I have a fairly easy BK, meaning I have no assets, no tax problems, Im not married, 95% is credit card debt, I live in Az., I do not want to hire an attorney, I hear that there are paralegals who do the paperwork for a living, can you recommend one or I hear that Az. has attys who will help you fill out the paperwork for free, do you think that I have enough time to do this myself, or should I hire a paralegal and if so, how much do they usually cost,(basically)
3) I am financing a vehicle (got financing a year ago), still owe about $22,000 and have 6 more years to go, can I continue to make the payments and, can I still keep the car and get the payments lowered.
4) My job is only part-time and I work for myself, how do I show a trustee this, I havent been doing it that long, also, I sell on e-Bay for my additional income, how do I show this to the trustee
5) Can I keep some of my credit cards or do I have to give them all up, Id like to keep my gas cards
6) Lastly, I have a state and federal tax lien for unpaid taxes in 1989, I read that if you owe taxes for periods longer than 3 years, by filing for Chapter 7, they can be eliminated

[peterk201]

Hi. I'm in nearby New Mexico and am helping my partner with her bankruptcy. I can give you some advice on some things you're asking:

First of all, I would recommend getting the book Personal Bankruptcy Simplified by Daniel Sitarz (he's an attorney). It has a lot of information regarding some of the questions you are asking.

You wrote:
"1) If I file the day or week after the bill is signed, will I still be eligible under the old law - is it the day you file or the day it is discharged that is accountable"

The new bill that Republicans pushed and that Bush signed regarding bankruptcy law affects people whose salary is at least at the median for your state. If your salary is not at least the median the new bill does not really have any effect on your eligibility. If your salary IS at the median or above, you will be forced to consider a Chapter 13 bankruptcy instead, but you may still be able to show that you can't set up a payment schedule making you still eligible for Chapter 7. The new bill doesn't take effect until six months after it was signed.


"2) I have a fairly easy BK, meaning I have no assets, no tax problems, Im not married, 95% is credit card debt, I live in Az., I do not want to hire an attorney, I hear that there are paralegals who do the paperwork for a living, can you recommend one or I hear that Az. has attys who will help you fill out the paperwork for free, do you think that I have enough time to do this myself, or should I hire a paralegal and if so, how much do they usually cost,(basically)"

a "paralegal" is not necessary if you can be organized. Certainly, if you get the book I recommend you can fill out the paperwork yourself without having to pay someone who won't be responsible for representing you in court (if necessary). When you represent yourself you are called a "Pro se" litigant, which means you represent yourself without an attorney. You are still Pro se if you have a paralegal fill out your forms. Also, filling out the forms yourself will make you more knowledgable about what's actually involved, including the state and federal laws that provide for the EXEMPTIONS that apply to your personal and real property. The book I recommend also includes exemptions for each state.

"3) I am financing a vehicle (got financing a year ago), still owe about $22,000 and have 6 more years to go, can I continue to make the payments and, can I still keep the car and get the payments lowered."

If you don't want to lose your car, you simply don't try to get that specific debt discharged, but I'm not sure on the details how you do this.


"4) My job is only part-time and I work for myself, how do I show a trustee this, I havent been doing it that long, also, I sell on e-Bay for my additional income, how do I show this to the trustee "

If you are self employed in any manner, on the bankruptcy forms you must state your monthly salary, which can be estimated based on the yearly money you make. In any event, it would be a good idea to take records of the money you've made with you to the meeting with the trustee, but even if you were unemployed you could still get a discharge for your debt.

"5) Can I keep some of my credit cards or do I have to give them all up, Id like to keep my gas cards"

Can't help you on this one, but once you file for bankruptcy and your creditors know you have too, they may consider you a risk and they can cancel your account.

"6) Lastly, I have a state and federal tax lien for unpaid taxes in 1989, I read that if you owe taxes for periods longer than 3 years, by filing for Chapter 7, they can be eliminated"

Again, I have no real knowledge of this, but I do know as in the case with student loans it is almost impossible to discharge a debt owed to the government.


Remember, I am not an attorney and am only filing Pro Se myself. What I say above is only info that I have come across for the past two months. I have a few questions still myself before anything gets filed, but I do know it is quite possible to handle the work involved yourself, despite this advice getting circulated that says without an attorney you don't stand a chance. I think when you own a home the situation gets sticky, but if you don't then there's no home to lose.

Hope this helps.

[Cmonlottery]

6) Lastly, I have a state and federal tax lien for unpaid taxes in 1989, I read that if you owe taxes for periods longer than 3 years, by filing for Chapter 7, they can be eliminated

If the Taxes are significant (and if they are from that long ago I suspect the penalties and interest are by now) you will probaly want to consult an Attorney. Our attorney said there is a very specific set of rules used to determine if they can be dischrged. Two of which are they had to be filed on time and there couldn't have been any attempt to intentionally file a fraudulent return. Basically if you filed an honest return on time but just couldn't pay, there might be a way to get it discharged.

[vic6string]

You can't omit any specific credit cards to keep if you owe them money. You can, however, not include cards to which you owe nothing. So if you have a credit card with a zero balance, you don't have to include them in the BK. If you don't have a card with $0 balance now, however, I would not try to pay it off just before filing with the intent of keeping it, as this may be considered fraudulent activity. This does not guarantee that they won't cancel you anyway. I had a Macy's card with 0 balance, and I received a letter from them closing my account right after I filed even though they were not on the petition.