My wife and I are about to file bankruptcy for the 1st time. We are below the average income for a family our size. We have way too many credit card bills and have missed or paid partial payments on them so now we have almost 30 percent on every card. I am going to talk to an attorney Monday and hopefully get things started. My question is when you file is that when you stop paying the credit card companies and inform them about the bankruptcy? Our minimums are too high so we only pay what we can afford on the cards. We are also going to file on our mobile home as there is a big difference in what we owe on it and what it is worth. Thanks in advance and I look forward to talking to others going through similar circumstances.
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How long since your last CC use?? Any cash advances, balance transfers, convenience checks use lately??
There's a 70/90 day rule in the New Law. 70 days on Cash Advances/Convenience Checks and 90 days on CC use. Within that period of time, the burden of proof that you did not know you'd file BK falls on you. Beyond that period of time, the burden of proof shifts to the Creditors.
Make Consult appts with several attnys. Consults are generally free and you'll learn a lot.
Don't pay any attny a retainer or even get your pre-BK Cert until you are close to being ready to file. If you do either, you'll give the Creditors a moment in time to point to with the Court as the time you knew you were going to file BK.
Put as much time as you can between you and CC use and/or cash advances. If you need to stop making payments, it will take a while for the Creditors to do anything. You'll have several months to get ready to file. Old Law filers got as much as a year or more without payments. A lot depends on how much your balance is with a Creditor how quickly they'll move.Filed Ch 7 - 09/06
Discharged - 12/2006
Officially Declared No Asset - 03/2007
Closed - 04/2007
I am not an attorney. My comments are based on personal experience and research. Always consult an attorney in your area to address concerns related to your particular situation.
Another good thing about being poor is that when you are seventy your children will not have declared you legally insane in order to gain control of your estate. - Woody Allen... -
Thanks for the info....so before I file I should make sure that I haven't used my credit cards for 90 days...correct? I will have to research that....I know I used one a month ago for some gas but I haven't been out running them up. None of my accounts have an extremely high balance...5k is the highest...there's just too many of them and it's gotten out of hand.Comment
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