Newbie here, advice needed

[Flamingo]

Flamingo,

When he told me that, I said to him, what do you think is the best thing to do, he really didn't know what to tell me, but all he did say was filing for bankruptcy will give me a fresh start.

You yourself have to look at the big picture...where do you plan/hope to be in a few years? Right now you have poverty level income, apparently no health insurance or other benefits, and should be eligible for government aid and food stamps. Will Chapter 7 help you now or will not paying anything help you now and you risk the chance of judgments appearing in the future as to what you might be doing? You will either have Chapter 7 on your credit reports for 10 years or have wrecked credit anyway with nonpayment of bills and judgments entered. As hard as it might be for you to do, you will have to figure out what is best for you to do right now in regards to what you want to do in the future.

Have you, by any chance, confided in your family as to your situation in case they can help you in any way?

[dr618]

Pigpen, I need my checking account because that's how I deposit my checks, I don't get paid through payroll, it's from personal checks, and all this time I have been trying to pay some of my creditors back, but I'm afraid they will not be satisfied with this for long.

Flamingo, I thank you for your advice. I wish I can talk to someone, but my family wouldn't understand, they would just blame me, These are mistakes I made when I was younger, and I am well aware of it and I have been trying to make it right, but unfortuanatly I got sued by one of them. My credit report is bad right now, and that's why I thought filing might be my only chance.

[GreenInkOnPaper]

Don't be afraid of your checking account being frozen, unless you have it at a bank you owe money to. Creditors can't freeze your account. They have to sue you, win, get a judgement and a lien.

[Doghouse]

If you are judgement proof right now, just curious as to why you'd want BK on your credit for 10 years for a debt of only $8,000? Besides, an attorney and filing would cost another $1500 to $2500 depending on where you live and who you select. Is it possible for you to look at a job beyond the freelance to supplement your $400/mth and then maybe try to renegotiate some kind of payment schedule with the creditor if the Statue of Limitation has not passed in your state? I know 8K debt to someone making 400/mth may feel like 100K to someone making 4-5K/mth. Obviously, I don't know what your capacity is but just wondered if you could avoid BK altogether especially when you can't file ch 7 again for 8 yrs.

[dr618]

Doghouse,

I know that this will be on my report for 10 years. I am very depressed over this whole thing. I would be getting legal aid, so it won't cost me anything to file. I have been looking for another job and unfortunately I have had no luck. I was able to negotiate with some of my creditors, and I have been paying them something every month, it's just the one that has the judgment that I'm not getting anywhere with. They expect payment in full,I have also paid them something, they of course accepted what I gave them, This is the one that is pushing me to file.

[GreenInkOnPaper]

Hey, like my dad used to say "You can't get blood out of a turnip". Don't live in fear of your creditors. If you want to send them $10 a month, and they accept your money ~ Do it. If you can't pay them, and feed yourself, then don't pay them. Ok, they may ALL get judgements. But A) Right now, they aint gonna get anything due to your income level, and B) Later on when you DO start making good money, there is a 25% limit on garnishments. Meaning, no more than 25% of your wages can be attached by creditors. If it were me...I wouldn't file right now.

[dr618]

That's why I'm so confused. I have all my paperwork ready to go, I wan't to do this so I can avoid the harassment of this law firm who wants to collect on the judgment and I want to get my life back to normal.

[d80indebt]

It sounds like your bankruptcy would be open and shut. I'd go for it. But I'd also start looking to supplement that income because you're going to need more than that to not end up in the same situation again.

[dr618]

d80indebt,

I have been looking. I didn't realize how hard it is to find something, but thanks for you advice, thanks to everyone's advice.