Scared

[mamaluv]

The question i have for not having more than around 100.00 in the checking acct is this....we both (husband and i ) havedirect deposit, wont it look kinda weird that one minute we have a 2000.00 paycheck directly deposited, then the same day we withdrawl it to get money orders, or do they usually only look at the balance and not the transactions?

Make copies of the money orders...that way if they question where the other $1900 went you have proof of what you spent it on.

[chad9162]

The question i have for not having more than around 100.00 in the checking acct is this....we both (husband and i ) havedirect deposit, wont it look kinda weird that one minute we have a 2000.00 paycheck directly deposited, then the same day we withdrawl it to get money orders, or do they usually only look at the balance and not the transactions?

Actually I think the $100 things is specific to their state and exemptions..

[mamaof2]

The question i have for not having more than around 100.00 in the checking acct is this....we both (husband and i ) havedirect deposit, wont it look kinda weird that one minute we have a 2000.00 paycheck directly deposited, then the same day we withdrawl it to get money orders, or do they usually only look at the balance and not the transactions?

[ease]

You probably know this already, but make sure that you have no outstanding checks. In our district, the Trustee could take the funds above the exempted amount, in your case $100 exempted, if the check had not cleared yet. So I was told to make all the payments by money order or cashiers check just before filing so the balance in the account matched the amount exempted on the filing date. YMMV.

Yes. he suggested paying with money orders or cash.

[ease]

mamaof2, I was terrified of the calls before we took the plunge. I'd heard horror stories of CA's calling neighbors, hacking facebook pages, all kinds of sh*t. While I am not ashamed of the decision we've made, I believe it is one to be discreet about. Really good folks get ugly over BK. The calls have not been bad at all. Mostly because we've been excellent customers....keepingg balances and always paying on time.
If you are current on your CC payments, they will remain very polite for quite some time. During the time from when we stopped paying on the cards, to when we got all our documentation together and submitted to the lawyer, we just didn't answer the land line.
It's been just the CC companies for the 4-6 weeks. We started answering the phone yesterday and giving them the information.
They have been very polite, professional and the calls have stopped. I've turned my ringer back on. I think it gets unpleasant when you give false #'s or it goes to collections. Nevertheless, once you've hired the lawyer, and tell them your plans, they can't call you.
It's OK. Take care to protect your privacy at work, but don't stress.

[StartingOver08]

Our lawyer has advised us to pay all our bills before right before we file so we have about $100 in our checking account on the day we file. Won't be hard at all!

You probably know this already, but make sure that you have no outstanding checks. In our district, the Trustee could take the funds above the exempted amount, in your case $100 exempted, if the check had not cleared yet. So I was told to make all the payments by money order or cashiers check just before filing so the balance in the account matched the amount exempted on the filing date. YMMV.

[chad9162]

Thanks ease, i did that just the other night (went online to remove some of the work numbers, but some of the ccs wont let you do it online, so i am still worried about those.

Just call them a give them a new number like your c.phone or a false one

[ease]

Yes the $20,000 exemption would be personal property which includes cash, BUT some states (I believe) may limit cash. I don't think CA is one of them

Our lawyer has advised us to pay all our bills before right before we file so we have about $100 in our checking account on the day we file. Won't be hard at all!

[mamaof2]

Thanks ease, i did that just the other night (went online to remove some of the work numbers, but some of the ccs wont let you do it online, so i am still worried about those.

[ease]

the reason i am in a hurry is because we are going to stop paying on the cc's in may, and want to prevent any creditors from calling our jobs, and i think they need to stop once you file...am i correct or no?

we have our consol in 10 days.

When Discover called my husband at his office, we went online and removed work numbers from all our profiles. He hasn't received any more.
We stopped paying about 8 weeks ago. No collection agencies yet. Just dropped all the paperwork w/the lawyer yesterday. We are now answering the phone and giving CC companies the lawyer's name and number. We are keeping a log of who calls, their agent ID number, and the date and time that we inform them we are preparing to file. We file sometime next month. Hopefully by the end of the summer, we will be done.

[chad9162]

I am giving up on my condo. There is no equity since its upside down. I may file after foreclosure and redemption. No rush to file. I am judgement proof even with 70k in cc debt. Would like to get health insurance first, before I consider C7.

If I use the federal exemptions, can I use the unused portions of the $10,125 homestead for cash and my vehicle? My vehicle is worth $7000 and the federal exemption is $3225.00.

Yes, the unused homestead would become a "wildcard" and could be used for cash and/or other property like your car.

[franken55406]

I to live in MN

I am giving up on my condo. There is no equity since its upside down. I may file after foreclosure and redemption. No rush to file. I am judgement proof even with 70k in cc debt. Would like to get health insurance first, before I consider C7.

If I use the federal exemptions, can I use the unused portions of the $10,125 homestead for cash and my vehicle? My vehicle is worth $7000 and the federal exemption is $3225.00.

[chad9162]

Here's a thread on MN exemptions maybe PM Tbornetun with specific questions....

http://www.bkforum.com/showthread.php?t=31286&highlight=minnesota+exemptions

It appears he recommends using the Federal Exemption (which can be double if filing jointly). If you have a lot of equity in the house then he recommends your state exemptions, unfortunately no wild card with state exemptions.

Under the Federal Exemptions... "Unused portion of homestead, up to $10,125, may be used for other property." So this would be a $20,250 wildcard!

http://www.thebankruptcysite.org/exemptions/federal.html

[chad9162]

Yes the $20,000 exemption would be personal property which includes cash, BUT some states (I believe) may limit cash. I don't think CA is one of them

[mamaof2]

So, $20,000.00 exemption..meaning that you can have that much in your checking acct when you filed? I am in Minnesota, so not sure on what the amt would be, but i just wanted to clarify. Thanks- you are awesome