Considering filing. have a few questions answered please

[2kidsrenough4us]

My husband and I just moved back fom SC to Pa and have no jobs and are barely paying current bills. We have about 22k in collections, a repo from 2003 for 14k, 6k in credit cards and the rest in collections.

I want to file chapter 7 but I'm concerned about the residency, like I said we lived in pa all our life we moved to SC, hated it and moved back to PA. Do you have to live in the state one year prior to filing?

We have credit cards that are piling on interest, late fees and overlimit fees everymonth since we can't payt the min balance. Should we cancel them and stilla crue the interest or hope we get jobs soion to get them caught up?

We have a car that we are still making payments on, can we reafirm that or do we loose it? It's paid off in 11 months.

We have no money for a laywer, so can we file this ourselves at the courthouse??

I also heard you have to go to credit counseling 6 months prior to filing, is their any truth to this?

We really need a fresh start, we sold our house last year and have no assets and no money. I think we will qualify for chapter 7 but I just want know any problems I might run into.

Thank you in advance for your responses.

[pa308]

Welcome back to PA!

How long did you live in SC?

How much equity do you have in the car (i.e. whats the kelly book value minus outstanding loans)

This may help you determine what state to use
"The state you use for your exemptions is:

* The state you lived in for the 730 days (2 years) before filing; or
* If you did not live in a single state in the previous 2 years you use the state where you lived the majority of the 180 period preceding the 2 year period; or
* If the preceding renders you ineligible for any exemptions then the debtor is allowed to choose the federal exemptions.

[2kidsrenough4us]

We lived in SC for only 11 months so we'll be filing in PA. My car is worth about 4k and I woe about the same, give or take. If they want to sell it they wont make any money from it. So hopefully we can keep it.

[lrprn]

I want to file chapter 7 but I'm concerned about the residency, like I said we lived in pa all our life we moved to SC, hated it and moved back to PA. Do you have to live in the state one year prior to filing?

You can file in PA but will have to use the South Carolina state bankruptcy exemptions when you do. Here's a link to those exemptions - http://www.bankruptcyaction.com/scexemptions.htm

We have credit cards that are piling on interest, late fees and overlimit fees everymonth since we can't payt the min balance. Should we cancel them and stilla crue the interest or hope we get jobs soion to get them caught up?

The key here is if you qualify to file Ch 7. Your income from all sources from the last six calendar months before you file has to be below the median income for your family in PA or show less than $100/month disposable income on the required Means Test and Schedules.

We have a car that we are still making payments on, can we reafirm that or do we loose it? It's paid off in 11 months.

Depends on how much equity you have in the car and if the car can be protected by your $1200 SC exemption for autos. How much do you still owe on the car compared to its private sale worth?

We have no money for a laywer, so can we file this ourselves at the courthouse??

If you have a very straightforward case without business or unusual assets involved and you don't have other complications, yes. But you have to be willing to do a LOT of homework to educate yourself about how the bankruptcy law works and about everything that must be done correctly before you file the case.

To attempt this, you need to invest in several excellent "file without a lawyer" (that's called filing pro se) books - it will be money well spent. Here's the link to the NOLO Ch 7 bankrupcy book - http://www.nolo.com/product.cfm/Obje...51A79/213/161/ And here's the link to another good Ch 7 bk how-to book - http://www.amazon.com/Personal-Bankr...5980990&sr=1-2

I also heard you have to go to credit counseling 6 months prior to filing, is their any truth to this?

Yes. The credit counseling course you take must be approved by PA and also must be done during the 180 days prior to filing. Here's a link to the approved pre-filing PA bankruptcy courses - just look up PA on the drop-down list - http://www.usdoj.gov/ust/eo/bapcpa/ccde/cc_approved.htm . Expect to pay between $35-50 for the course.

You really should start this journey by making appointments for free or low-cost initial appointments with 3-4 bankruptcy lawyers in your area. Even if you don't intend to use a lawyer to file, you will learn a great deal about any potential problems when you do file.

Do everything you can to learn about how Ch 7 works, then keep posting questions here. We'll help you sort things out as best we can.

[2kidsrenough4us]

Wow, thank you so much for all the information. I was going to go to the Library and get that Nolo's Book. We have nodisosable income right now, so I hope we qualify. Our car is worth almost exactly what we owe. So I thinkwere safe their as well.


thanks again for the time you took to reply to my post.

have a blessed day.
:-)