Where to file----please help

[Questor]

I recently moved from a metropolitan area where I accrued the majority of my debt (moved due to a job loss). Is it possible to file in the metropolitan area where I previously lived? I am now in a small community and would like to try to keep my name out of the newspapers.

[music12]

your name won't make it to the newspapers. the only people who would actually find out are your creditors. newspapers don't go to courthouses to publish names of people who filed bk. while your filing is technically public record, it's unlikely to ever reach the public. you aren't GM, after all.

[Questor]

actually, I know for certain that a local newspaper here has a list of Chapter 7 bankruptcies each week.

[LuciluS]

Our state newspaper, The Arkansas Democrat Gazette, list Bankruptcies by City every Monday. I have noticed the listings, now, are double what they were in the 1990ish years,

We live in a very small town and not two many filings listed for our town. I'm sure when we file, those who know us, will find out if they subscribe to the State Newspaper. I subscribe to it, because our small town doesn't even have a newspaper and I have family spread throughout the State. BTW, I don't care who knows.

[music12]

OMG!!! are you serious?? that's absolutely awful. they take the "public record" thing way out of proportion. what purpose does it serve to list bankruptcies?? it does nobody any good.

[Questor]

yeah, it sucks. What sucks even more is that I should have filed where I was at previously----I don't think they put it in the newspaper there----plus, it was a large, metropolitan area, so no one really knew me. Now, I'm living back where I grew up---it's a small place where everyone knows everyone, etc., so I really don't want every Tom, Dick, and Harry knowing my business. It's humiliating enough that I have to file, let alone having it published in a newspaper! People around here are nosies, too, so I really hope I can file in my previous location to avoid all of that.

[music12]

[Questor]

thank you for the info.


that's not good news for me, however. Perhaps I should contact a bankruptcy attorney in my previous jurisdiction for some advice.

[MrSmithster]

i believe that you have to file in the county/state that you currently reside in as of the day you file.
many local/small town newspapers publish BK filings, also petty crimes like drunk in public or open container. i guess its considered breaking news in these small towns.

[Questor]

yeah, it really serves no purpose to publish it in the newspaper these days----I think some places do it just to shame the debtor. Like this isn't already shameful enough!!