Going to try and file CH7 but am scared and don't have much funds...

[casey1330]

Hi all,

To make my post short, I was younger, dumb and didn't care about my credit. I'm trying to get back on a new path in life and one step I'm trying to take is filing chapter 7 to wipe out all of my past mistakes. I am very nervous, I have not even been to court over a traffic ticket so this is making me very uneasy. Here are the details:

We are on a fixed low income (less than $1,300.00 per month).

We owe about 9-11k in credit card bills.

ALL have went to collection.

Can anyone tell me who I contact to get the information about each bill, do I contact the collection agency or do I contact the origional creditor?

Do I inform them that I am about to file when they call, or wait until the process has started, or not tell them anything?

Will they (creditors or collection agencies) try to get out of the process so it will remain on my credit report?

Thanks for any help about this!

Casey

[backtoschool]

Hi Casey, and welcome.

Is your fixed income coming from the government? If it is, it is probably exempt from collectors garnishing it, which means that collectors will not be able to get much from you even if you do not file for bankruptcy.

9-11k in credit debt is not that much to file bankruptcy with. Bankruptcy will be on your records for 10 years, and you will not be able to file again for 8 years. If something comes up like huge medical bills or something then you will not be able to file again for 8 years. An alternative might be just to ride out the statute of limitations for your state. This is of course up to you, only you can know what is best.

Do not contact your creditors and tell them that you are going to file, they will be automatically informed once you file.

If you file and are discharged, the accounts will be required by law to report zero balances and show as discharged in bankruptcy on your credit reports, but they will be on your credit reports as discharged in bankruptcy.

The best way to get information about each bill is to get your credit report from all three credit bureaus. You can get this free once each year. The website to get the free credit report is www.annualcreditreport.com. All of your accounts will be listed on the report. Make sure you get one from each bureau (equifax, experian, and transunion) since some accounts only report to one bureau.