I have lots of questions so I am going to try and lay it out and ask the questions while I explain my situation.

First of all I had a bad divorce and had a hard time financially afterwards. I had to survive on some credit cards and was still paying minimum payments etc. I have decided it is just easier to file the bankruptcy and just get a fresh start in life. I have worked for 20 years for the state of calif, never ever had a bk, bad credit or even late for a payment on anything but, divorce changed my whole life.

I used a company called credit debt solutions to help me negotiate or work up some compromise with the creditors. I did that on january 2006. I paid them $250. a month up until 3 months ago. I received a judgment in the mail regarding a chase account, that was mailed from a law firm that was now suing me or basically won the suit. It said that it was filed 7-31-08. The amount went from $12.000 to $20,000 with all the fees of this law firm. I had no prior acknowledgment of this and that credit solutions had not notifyed me or was even aware of anything. They had also stopped sending their monthly update letters. I thought somewhere in the back of my mind that they were working on it somewhere. I find out that all that they did was take my money for 2 1/2 years and ruined my credit rating from 825 to 575. I had no late payments when I joined the credit solutions. I was brought up that you pay your bills and if you can make the payments then pay your bills. Anyway, I panicked when I saw that judgment so I went to a lawyer and he suggested two options, one was to file a motion to set aside default judgment but, advised the other creditors would all eventually come after me and his 2nd advice was to file bankruptcy. I went to a 2nd lawyer and basically got the same advice. I went back to the first attorney and he said let's evaluate you for a chapter 7 and chapter 13. Well, I worked massive overtime with my state job and this was only for 6 months. We had a historic thing happen with the law that required massive hours to comply with the court obligation that had occured. I have not worked overtime in years, this was the first time that I worked crazy hours. I have worked for the state over20 years and I am a public servant. I do not have a professional type of job, more of a clerical administrative position. Anyway, when he did the calif means test I failed it because of the overtime it showed that by 8-1-08 I had already surpassed the requirement for california means test for one person of $46,000 for the whole year. He said they are going to evaluate your last 6 pay stubs and with this overtime you will be close to $58,000 by the end of the year. He said you qualify for chap 13. When we worked up the chapter 13 it showed that I had too much disposable income left over. I do not own a house, no children and no real assets just a truck that is 1997 and worth fair market value of $4400 and needs a ton of maintenance on it which I can not afford. The lawyer said that I had no real deductions and that perhaps getting a secured loan like a new vehicle with an irs exemption of $470 would help my disposable income problem. He also said to stop panicking and why not just delay the bk and file in 6 months, and perhaps I could qualify for the chapter 7 bk and could discharge right away after the time slotted. So I put things in order, started calculating from 8/2008 and projected that my bk filing will be 2/2009. I also went out and bought a used vehicle with a car payment of $430 a month. I borrowed $1000.from my best friend and put that down for a payment. My interest rate was very, very high. I also stopped using my two credit cards even for small things so I fit the 90 days filing to a bk. I have been getting ready for this to happen 2/2009. I might be$75 shy of meeting the qualification but, I believe I will be close. In the meantime, 12-2-08, I received a notice from the county court indicating that I was being informed because an involuntary lien had been put into record at the request of that law firm. It said this is to notify you that this went into the books on 12-2-08. Okay..I am really scared and frightened now. Because, I need to wait until 2-1-2009. I also should mention that I signed up with legal services called www.aarg.com and that takes 90 days to be effective. But, on 12-16-08 I will be then eligible for the benefits to happen on that date. They have a whole circle of attornys for all states who have agreed to take %25 percent discount. So I am waiting for this also. In the meantime, my money is very, very tight because of that new car payment. This law firm has the potential to take a net of $700 a month from me. It is my understanding that they can also freeze my bank account right with that lien? I paid all my basic bills like rent ect. and made sure my bank account only has $100. left in it. Perhaps next month I will take the paycheck to a money store and cash it there and pay my rent and bills with money orders. What do you think their next step is going to be in getting their money and how soon will this happen? Does it take 30 days? what is next? I understand that once I file, an automatic stay will happen, then when it should discharge I have to send the notice to the county of the discharge so they can get that public notice off of me of that involuntary lien. Is that also correct?

Now here are my final questions. I desperately want to keep my old truck. It was paid off 8 years ago and I said the fair market value last week says it is worth $4400. I need that truck in case I need to move and haul things. I would be lost with out my truck. The #2 vehicle has zero equity in it. I understand that california has 2 systems on their exemptions. Someone suggested that perhaps I could do system 2 which would allow me to keep my truck and use it as a wild card. My question is this, I have reviewed both systems. I noticed that system one speaks to the pensions but, I noticed that system 2 does not mention pensions etc. does that mean by selecting system 2 I could lose my retirement that I have worked for 20 years? It is not much but, it is my retirement. I really need to button all this up and keep on the right track on all this, so I desperately need your professional advice as this is keeping up all night long with worry. I am just so worried about everything and just ashamed of what has happened in my life.

Is there anything I can do at my end to delay legally that involuntary lien that went in, so they do not take money right now from me that I do not have? Is there anything at all I can do at my end with the courthouse, is there anything you can think of to just give me a couple months delay? I also need to mention this too, when I divorced 3 years ago I moved back to my home town which is 400 miles from where the ex is and I threw some basic stuff in my truck and threw the rest of my photo albums, clothes, books and miscellaneous stuff into a storage unit and that was 3 years ago. I have been paying $140 a month for that unit and just not have had the time to go up there and get my personal stuff. I do intend to this summer. It is in a very moldy area of calif and I am sure it is all junk now but, I do have personal photo albums that I put in a filing cabinet in that unit and it is probably salvageable. Are they going to bother me because I have been paying for a storage unit for $140 for the past 3 years from my checking account? Will that cause problems or raise flags?



1)So again, is here anything I can do to delay legally them taking 25% at this time until 2/2009 when I can file that bk?

2)By using system2 for the wild card does that mess up retirement etc. ?

3)Will the storage unit be a problem?

4) Do I have to sell my truck?

5) Is there anything that I can get as far as secured deduction to further reduce my disposable income like another $75.What other things if anyone out there can helpme try and figure out what I can use for further deducting that disposable income and qualifying for chap 7, I just need up to $75 more. Help!!

I have the recent nolopress chapter 7 book but, it has not answered all my questions.

I have no real estate that I own.
no children
no 401k
no savings
no bonds, iras etc
no medical bills etc.
no jewelry
no expensive anything

I just have that new car loan with zero equity, a truck paid off and worth $4400 and simple furniture and clothing

I know my blog was long but,please help me out as this is keeping me up all night long. God Bless and Merry Christmas.

First thing, don't panic. That's what creditors want. 2/1/09 is not far away at all.
ERISA qualified retirement accounts are exempt assets-nobody can touch them.
I think I'd speak with your lawyer about seeing if that default judgment can be appealed just to buy some time to prevent wage garnishment. Second, you're doing the right thing by cashing your check and leaving a nominal amount in the bank.
What is the $75? Is that the amount of disposable income you have after living expenses,etc? If that's the case, that won't be enough to fund a 13. You'll need something like $187. You should be fine.
Have you done the mandatory CCCS?

Hi thank you so much for answering and reminding me not to worry so much. You are definitely a rock! God Bless YOU always! okay...so I do not have to worry about system 2 and the retirement right? I can not see a lawyer until 12-16-08 as that is when benefits start. The other two lawyers that I had mentioned were free consultations. Do you think that I should go ahead and pick one of those lawyers out now, set it up and get that going on motion to set aside default judgment? What do you think that action from a typical lawyer will cost? Just a ball park! I re-did the california means test at www.legalconsumer.com by the way I highly highly recommend this site for anyone who wants to do their own personal means test for their home state. It asks you for your zip code, number of individuals in household and the rest it automatically puts all the IRS deductions in for you. It calculates as it goes along. It is absolutely incredible, if there is someone out there that does not already know about this great site, give it a try. It will tell you at the end if you qualify for chapter 13 or 7, it does all the battery of means tests. By the way I went and re-did it today and it shows that October 2008 the exemptions of IRS have been updated, not sure if everyone knows this. When I did it three months ago these exemptions were a lesser amount. Okay today I did this, I allowed for $188. for telecommunications such as my cell phone, cable TV and internet. Also, for charitable contributions I allowed for $100. according to the charitable contributions that I found at most bk sites they say 15% is allowable. I just went with 2 %. My salary is $4668. a month. My final disposable income left after all this was $96. a month. I did want to ask a question though. It asks you if you have 2 vehicles even for one person. The IRS gives you $211 in calif for the vehicle use etc. It goes up if you use two vehicles. Technically I do use two vehicles and I pay car insurance full coverage for both vehicles and I only drive the truck on the weekends. Do you think I should adjust that for two vehicles? Or just keep it the way that I have it for one vehicle. If I adjust for two vehicles it will give me a bigger exemption. Remember I am going to keep that paid off truck and use as my wild card and the other is a new car loan with zero equity, by the way what about that storage unit, is that going to be a red flag or questions about it? I have never done a bk or anything similiar to this so this is all very new for me. All the lingo and all.

The final thing is you mentioned mandatory CCS, where do I start that and when? Can I go look this up in the phone book and get it started now or do I wait for the attorney. I do appreciate all your comments and help.

Honestly, ya gotta shorten these posts up. 12/16 is less than 2 weeks away.
May as well wait and get some discounted legal help.
I've no experience with the Ca. bk exemptions but from reading posts from Ca. members, they seem very geneous.
CCCS is mandaory but, it must be a service that the bk court in your district approves for the counseling. Your lawyer will provide you with a list.
Nobody will worry about spending money on storage units.Also, nobody wants old photos or other personal property.