we don't know what to expect

[maverick]

We have an appt. on Nov. 4th to go over the paperwork with our attorney. We think we are filing chapter 13. Do we file that day? How long before creditors stop calling?! We are so nervous about this whole situation. In chapter 13, do they take your possessions? We only have 3 secured debts - house, truck, and boat and about $18,000 unsecured debt. Does it get any better anytime soon??

[Andyman]

I'm doing a 13 also. My attorney said I would be able keep my truck, my gun and my old sailboat. My plan payment will include my truck payment and his fee. I don't have squat other than my clothes, a dresser, a recliner, a TV, my gun and my old boat. I have about $18K in CC debt, a $2200 equipment lease and that's pretty much it. Once I was late on the CC's then my payments doubled to over $600/month and there's no way I can pay those. BTW...once I had my consultation with my attorney and stopped paying on the CC I felt much better. I feel bad about my truck payment going into the plan because the Credit Union has been really nice although I've never been late on that payment. I don't know when the filing will be but as I said...I already feel better

[AngelinaCat]

Hi Maverick, welcome to the forum. Most likely you will meet with the attorney to review your paperwork. You may or may not file that day. The attorneys can do it online. In a 13, they won't take your possessions, and even if you have to go into a 7 like my husband and I did when I lost my FT job, you will likely have the option to purchase the items back from the BK estate, should you be ruled an asset case.

Do ask all of these questions of your attorney and get a very clear understanding of what is going on. Our attorney gave us almost no BK education and all, which resulted in us making some horrendous mistakes. We did not start getting educated until we found this forum--four months after we had filed.

Ask you attorney about the creditor calls. At least ours told us to give the caller her name and contact information and her office would handle it.

On the CU, you may have to sign a reaffirmation agreement for the vehicle. Our CU locked our account and bounced several of our checks until our reaffirmation papers went through the system. But in the end, the CU was very nice and honored our dis-honored checks and canceled the NSF fees.

[maverick]

Thank you for your advice. We are seeing the attorney today. We are so anxious. The last couple of months have been terrible! I am sure that we will have a million more questions in the next couple of months!