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Is it as hard as it used to be to file Ch 7 bankruptcy?

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    Is it as hard as it used to be to file Ch 7 bankruptcy?

    I'm going on 60 years old and am in poor health. I'm no longer working and live on disability income. I have no children, am single and have no assets either. I don't own a car or a house. I rent an apartment.

    I filed Ch 7 bankruptcy in the 90's and it was fairly simple back then. The reason I got into debt back then was I was careless w/credit cards. I remember having unpaid medical bills too. I never thought it would happen to me again but here I am, many years later with my finances being as precarious as my health problems.

    A default judgment was filed against me nearly 20 years ago while I was still working. I made the mistake of ignoring collection letters and before I knew it, my bank account got frozen and I was unable to pay rent. The only source of funds for that account was my paycheck and they knew it. I had to scramble to find someone to help with rent money and after that was done I switched to paper checks so that they wouldn't be able to stop me from surviving.

    I have not heard from that judgment creditor since this happened to me. I've been out of work for many years because of numerous health issues and when they did this to me, I was in the process of going out on disability. Several years later, I was a plaintiff in a civil suit and rec'd 10k from it, but that creditor never went after it, which surprised me. This was good in a way because I used much of that money to pay for medical expenses including a power wheelchair.

    Fast-forward to 2022. I had another judgment filed against me four years ago but this older one will be expiring soon unless they renew it. Like the first time around, I was careless with credit cards and racked up some bills, most of which were for credit cards but there were others inc. medical. I don't want either one hanging over my head any longer. So I want to file Ch 7 but want to know how the laws have changed over the past 30 years.

    Altogether I probably owe between 10-20k but am not certain. Some of my bills are so old I can't even remember the creditors names. If I can find an affordable attorney, can I have them do a debt search?

    If I can't find an affordable attorney, do legal aid attorneys handle bankruptcy cases?

    I know that my income is execution-proof but that might not always be the case. If I can recover my health, I'd like to work part time if possible. I don't want these two judgments and other bills to hang over my head forever.

    I would appreciate your advice. Thank you!


    #2
    No. So long as you qualify, it's no more difficult than before. The difference is that before 2005 (the BAPCPA changes), the court looked at the individual subjectively. The new Means Testing has become the bright line as to whether you qualify for a Chapter 7 discharge.

    Since your only income is SSA-related, which doesn't count as "income" for bankruptcy Means Testing, you should qualify for a Chapter 7 without a single issue related to the income test (means test).
    Chapter 7 (No Asset/Non-Consumer) Filed (Pro Se) 7/08 (converted from Chapter 13 - 2/10)
    Status: (Auto) Discharged and Closed! 5/10
    Visit My BKForum Blog: justbroke's Blog

    Any advice provided is not legal advice, but simply the musings of a fellow bankrupt.

    Comment


      #3
      Welcome BrokeIn2022 . Your location shows New York, and it reminded me of some cases I was reading the other day. There is one that is against UpSolve which is based in New York. The opponent to them filed a brief that may interest you.

      https://storage.courtlistener.com/re...73762.57.0.pdf

      See starting on page 9 under section A Wide Array of Free Legal Services is Available to Low-Income New Yorkers from Organizations Staffed by Experienced Attorneys and Closely Supervised Non-Attorneys. They go on to list a large list of organization and options that help low-income new yorkers. Be sure to go through the foot notes. There are quite a lot of listed organizations

      Here is a fact sheet on frozen accounts



      Perhaps that can be starting point for you to reach out for some help?
      Last edited by bornfree2; 04-30-2022, 03:04 PM.

      Comment


        #4
        Originally posted by bornfree2 View Post
        Welcome BrokeIn2022 . Your location shows New York, and it reminded me of some cases I was reading the other day. There is one that is against UpSolve which is based in New York. The opponent to them filed a brief that may interest you.

        https://storage.courtlistener.com/re...73762.57.0.pdf

        See starting on page 9 under section A Wide Array of Free Legal Services is Available to Low-Income New Yorkers from Organizations Staffed by Experienced Attorneys and Closely Supervised Non-Attorneys. They go on to list a large list of organization and options that help low-income new yorkers. Be sure to go through the foot notes. There are quite a lot of listed organizations

        Here is a fact sheet on frozen accounts



        Perhaps that can be starting point for you to reach out for some help?
        I will check out these resources. I heard about Upsolve and thought about trying it out but decided against it.

        Thank you!

        Comment


          #5
          Originally posted by BrokeIn2022 View Post

          I will check out these resources. I heard about Upsolve and thought about trying it out but decided against it.

          Thank you!
          Yeah I looked into UpSolve as well but decided against them as well. I valued my privacy and being under employed had time on my hand to look into the law and do the BK myself.

          I have posted a lot of useful links and insights in the Pro Se section of this forum. I suggest you look at this thread

          https://www.bkforum.com/forum/before...-pro-se-filers

          In particular look at thread #14 and #15

          I highly recommend getting a local law library card and digging in.

          https://virtualchase.justia.com/law-libraries/new-york/



          This is a great community and we are all here for you along your journey.
          Last edited by bornfree2; 05-01-2022, 06:40 AM.

          Comment


            #6
            Originally posted by bornfree2 View Post

            Yeah I looked into UpSolve as well but decided against them as well. I valued my privacy and being under employed had time on my hand to look into the law and do the BK myself.

            I have posted a lot of useful links and insights in the Pro Se section of this forum. I suggest you look at this thread

            https://www.bkforum.com/forum/before...-pro-se-filers

            In particular look at thread #14 and #15

            I highly recommend getting a local law library card and digging in.

            https://virtualchase.justia.com/law-libraries/new-york/



            This is a great community and we are all here for you along your journey.
            I would appreciate hearing what you think about this:

            As I said in my post, I had a legal settlement that my first judgment creditor (the one whose debt was partially satisfied) never went after. That surprised me. The second judgment creditor didn't get the judgment granted until after the money was gone.

            At no time did either one demand I go to a debtor's hearing, nor did I get an order from the court to make payments.

            So I have to ask - was I supposed to tell them about my legal settlement? Was I supposed to tell them about my tax refunds? Part of my disability income is considered earned income by the IRS, and will be for another couple of years.

            At no time was I told to tell them if my circumstances were to change. I'd love to pay off all of my bills, but to do this right now I'd have to win the lottery. That's not likely.

            What do you think? Thank you!

            Comment


              #7
              Originally posted by BrokeIn2022 View Post

              I would appreciate hearing what you think about this:

              As I said in my post, I had a legal settlement that my first judgment creditor (the one whose debt was partially satisfied) never went after. That surprised me. The second judgment creditor didn't get the judgment granted until after the money was gone.

              At no time did either one demand I go to a debtor's hearing, nor did I get an order from the court to make payments.

              So I have to ask - was I supposed to tell them about my legal settlement? Was I supposed to tell them about my tax refunds? Part of my disability income is considered earned income by the IRS, and will be for another couple of years.

              At no time was I told to tell them if my circumstances were to change. I'd love to pay off all of my bills, but to do this right now I'd have to win the lottery. That's not likely.

              What do you think? Thank you!
              I dont have much experience with judgement creditors. I used BK at the eve of a collector trial to stop losing the case and becoming a judgement debtor. The bankruptcy automatic stay proved to be very powerful to help with that.

              Since it didnt apply to me I skipped over researching it...but the general idea is a judgment creditor's claims become secured vs that of a unsecured creditor. So they receive higher priority in the distribution. But if you aint got jack in assets (after proper exemption claiming) they aint gettng jack.

              I really really recommend you get a law library card and check out the Consumer Bankruptcy Law and Practice books. https://library.nclc.org/Bankr/ There are two sets. The first explains BK the law and various situations like yours with judgement creditors. It is well written and approachable. And it contains a lot of practical legal advice. The second book contains examples and legal appendix.

              These two books are the secret weapon for the average consumer to level up with legal knowledge. Everytime id go to my law library they were just sitting there undiscovered. If I were you id run and check them out before the secret get out ;)

              They also provided a free pdf resource that is sort of a cliff notes version to those books. The links are in those threads i mentioned above.

              Also be sure to review my threads in Pro Se section here i talk about th RECAP site. Its another amazing resource where you can search through bankruptcy cases in the country. Using that i was able to study the right words to claim exemptions, find creditor addresses, draft declarations to file at the court, and research the 'what if it all goes wrong' scenario by seeing other people's nightmare cases.

              Of course get a good lawyer if you can. But at the end of the day you truly only do represent and bare the consequences yourself in bankruptcy court ... so you may as well go into it with all the legal knowledge you can. even if you go with a lawyer (which you should if its a good one)
              Last edited by bornfree2; 05-02-2022, 05:51 PM.

              Comment

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