23 year old looking for advice...

[NewDawn]

Have you called your student loan lender and asked if they have an income dependent plan to pay off your loan? I believe the Dept. of Education has a similar plan. Maybe you can lower your payment this way.

[ja181]

Would it be possible for me to file Chapter 7 BK even though the car i pay for isn't in my name?

Yes - one thing has nothing to do with the other. I assume you mean, however, that you want to include the expense for the car payments on the means test; if that's the real question, the answer is you cannot list the ownership or loan expenses on your means test.

You can't claim it as a debt payment, but you CAN claim it as your ALLOWED MONTHLY TRAVEL EXPENSE (298/month permitted for transportation, separate from any monthly car loan expense)

I did this with my chapter 7..no issues.

[Jailhouse]

Dear Rameyx87,
My advise is, talk with an attorney about representing you in the form of letters or phone calls to your creditors.
I think that if you are negative -$150 a month, you need to seriously consider to STOP paying on your Credit Cards ("CC") and save up some money.
The reason i recommend talking to an attorney about representing you for letters or phone calls is because once you stop paying on credit cards and the harrasing calls start.... you need to be prepared on what to tell them. If you tell them "Call my attorney i am planning on filing bankruptcy", it will do 2 things.
1. It will stop the creditor from calling you (usually!... it doesn't always, but usually).
2. It will force the creditor to offer you a lower settlement, because if you file Bk, they get nothing. Some creditors have a basement, that they can't or won't negotiate any lower than... unless you mention bankruptcy. Then they have the ability to offer lower settlements (at least that's my experience with creditors).

Also, you really need to stop the CCCS. In my opinion all those companies are not very helpful. I have heard of some that take your money each month and put it into an account and once you reach a certain amount then they start negotiating with your creditors. STUPID! I think that you can do that on your own. Plus, usually the CCCS company is not an attorney, so the creditor still proceeds legally and the CCCS can do nothing. Accept take your money each month.

Let's look at it like a timeline,
Once you stop paying on your CC, they will most likely start with the "please make your payment" calls.
Then once you hit 2 months, they will start the harrasing calls.
It may take them 4-6 months until they charge it off and sell it to another collection agenecy or send it to an attorneys office to try and colllect on it that way. (if you let me know what CC companies you have i can tell you my experience with them. What their proceedure is, what they can offer, what they usually do with the debt when you dont pay...etc.)
Once they send it to the attorney to try and collect or another collection agency.... you should have an attorney write a letter to settle. At that point you should be able to get a good deal out of them.

If it does escalate to a lawsuit you ignore the lawsuit and they get a judgment and pursue a earnings withholding order ("EWO" or "Garnishment") then you can submit what is a called "Claim of Exemption" which is basically telling the creditor that you cannot afford to live on the amount being garnished and you need to change the amount.
You let them know what you can afford and they will review it for approval. They usually grant the modification and start deducting less.


[We had a client that was garnished on a second mortgage and he had the garnishment modified from $400 every 2 weeks to $100 every 2 weeks.]


Bottom line is, i do not think you need to file bankruptcy for $11k that you have in debt. I think that you just need to get ahold of a good attorney who can fend off the Creditors until the time is right.


My opinion, Dont declare bankruptcy. STOP paying your Creditors. Save money. Find a good attorney, and wait for them to offer you something in the area of 50% or 40%.
And do not pay an attorney any more than $1,000 to represent you. $1,000 should be enough for you to direct the calls to their office, and when the time is right, have them write a letter or two on your behalf.
Good luck and please let me know if you need any help. My help is limited since we practice in California, but creditors are creditors alike.

- Jailhouse