BK and Judgements

[heorn]

From browsing the fine boards here, I have noticed implications that if a judgement is filed, it is a more cumbersome process to relieve that debt from a creditor.

My wife is filing Pro Se since we do not have the money at the moment to obtain legal council. She has a CC from Discover that gained default judgement. The card is a $5,000.00 debt, much of it interest. It hasn't been used since the beginning of 2003 when I was unemployed, wherein we used it to help us get by for a few months.

Can she obtain cousel after filing for the bankruptcy and still set in motion the stays to the creditors?

Are judgements ever dismissed in a bankruptcy case? Is it something that is a possibility?

I would just like to hear any experiences people out there might have had with this type of situation.

[StaciMM]

HAs the judgement attached to property already? If so that is when it gets complicated. The debt will be discharged in the BK, so after BK, the creditor cannot try to collect on the debt.

[heorn]

Judgement

Staci,

We rent and do not own any property other than small personal assets. They have nothing to attach the debt to, unless they could garnish my pay, but the debt is in her name. She has no bank account or large assets.

That would lead me to believe they wouldn't want to waste their time in court, but I don't know.

[iggie97]

Staci,

We rent and do not own any property other than small personal assets. They have nothing to attach the debt to, unless they could garnish my pay, but the debt is in her name. She has no bank account or large assets.

That would lead me to believe they wouldn't want to waste their time in court, but I don't know.

If she works, they can garnish her wages still

[StaciMM]

If they've already filed the judgement then periodically they'll investigate her to see if she is working, has property, or if they can find a bank account. Since a judgement can be renewed, there is practically no statute of limitations on iit.

Since BK will wipe out her obligation toward the debt, she won't have anything to worry about. The judgement will still be noted on her credit report, but it won't accomplish anything. It will fall off 7 years after it was filed.