Newbie w/questions

Hi,

I have been reading this board and it has been a great help!

I am getting close to filing chapter 7. (November I will have the remainder of my lawyer fees paid in full) I stopped paying on my CC, etc in September. It has been well over 90 days of purchases and even if they went back a few more months I have nothing extreme charged. I am still paying my fixed bills as well as the Car since I want to keep that. I am pretty sure it will be a no asset case since we rent and fall way below the median. My car is the only asset I have and it falls below the exempt level.

Anyhow, I have a few questions..

Day of Filing- I noticed people said not to have any $ in the bank. My lawyer says we would be exempt $800. ($400 each for my spouse and me). My only day off is pay day and will be seeing a lawyer to file that day. I will have about $500 in there. Will it be safe or should I take it out? :unsure:

Automatic Stay- As I mention I rent. I keep paying the rent and fixed bills like electric, phone, insurance etc right? Now what about my car? I am curious if I keep paying that or the A/S means I don‘t pay it. This is where its confusing to me. I mentioned to my lawyer I wanted to reaffirm it but I have less then 4 months to pay on it. To reaffirm is it 60 days from filing or 60 days from the 341 meeting??. (My last car payment will be Feb 1st) So if its from file date, I have 1 month to go (assuming I still pay during A/S) if its from the meeting then it will be done before discharge date (assuming everything goes well). So what should I do in this case? Ride through? :unsure:


Sorry so long, thanks in advance.

On the car you would need to continue making payments throughout the bankruptcy period. You might need to contact the lenders bankruptcy dept to see if you need to send the payment to a new address.

On reaffirming you have to do it before the case closes, so within 60 days of the 341 typically. They will send a reaffirmation agreement to your lawyer, and he should go over it with you. You'll then sign it and then he'll have to sign it.

As for the amount in your checking depends on the wildcard and other exemptions in your state. If your lawyer says up to 800 dollars I'd be inclined to believe him.

Continue paying, don't even worry about a reaff. It will be paid off before the lender would even have a chance to take it.
As for the money in checking, if the attorney says they can exempt it, the can.
FYI: The trustee requests to see your bank statement at the 341, if you took out $500 cash, they will want to know where it went.
It sounds like you are fine on both issues. Your attorney will exempt the money and your car will be paid off. All is well.

Just chiming in to say welcome! You obviously have done your homework; sounds as if you've got it all very well planned.

The stay simply means that your creditors may not contact YOU. This applies to everyone - even the car loan and any other obligations you intend to continue to pay. They will stop sending your bills, and will probably also block your online access to your account. Just get a mailing address, and figure out a system to be absolutely certain you remember to send those payments in on time for a few months. After your discharge, you'll be back to normal.

I agree with the other posters that if your attorney says your $500 exemption is safe, it probably is - especially since you're not also exempting a home. If this makes you nervous, and you don't have any automatic deductions scheduled, you can always stop at the bank on the way to the lawyer's office on payday and withdraw it all - make out money orders for your payments. As Tbornetun says, though, be sure to keep receipts for it, since you could be asked about the withdrawal.

Sounds as if you're fine, though. Good luck!

Thank you all.
I appreciate everyones feedback.

So I am pretty much stressing for nothing then. I will go ahead keep the $ in the bank since it is exempt and continue paying on the car.

My biggest concern was reaffirming. My lawyer really didn't explain that much to me and said we would deal with that when I get ready to file. So all it will be is paperwork saying I promise to continue paying etc. I was under the impression that I would have to go to court to reaffirm seperate from the 341 and pay more legal fees. Thats why I was asking if it was even worth the time and effort when my car payment would be done before the 60 days are up after the 341.

Thanks for the heads up about some creditors not sending bills and blocking online connections. I was not aware of that. Will that apply to my bank as well (blocking online access?)

Thanks again :)

Honey if you werent "stressing" you wouldnt be human...sounds like your alright...

I never lost access to my bank account online when I was in bankruptcy.

So long as none of the debt you are filing on is at the same bank you should be okay :)

So long as none of the debt you are filing on is at the same bank you should be okay

Actually, my car loan is through my current bank. Since I will be reaffirming that, there should be no "real" concerns, right?

That's a good question. It is possible you might lose online access during the bk then. However it should not affect your account otherwise so long as you reaffirm.

So long as none of the debt you are filing on is at the same bank you should be okay

Actually, my car loan is through my current bank. Since I will be reaffirming that, there should be no "real" concerns, right?

I am riding my car through no reaffirming I have not heard a word about it so I will NOT reaffirm it no need to.