medical bills

[abscar]

I have a ton of medical bills and a judgement for some medical bills from 5 years ago.I am not working now and have no real assets to take .I would like to start fresh but cant afford a lawyer. Is filling "pro se" easy? safe? wise? where do you start?If anyone has filed chap7 themselves and can point me in the right direction i would be grateful. thanks

[JollyGG]

The question now becomes what are your prospects for getting imcome or assets?
Until you are ready to have either there is really no point to filing bankruptcy. Right now there is nothing your creditors can do to you besides harrass you. If these bills are over 5 years old you should check the statute of limitations for your state. Some may be uncollectable at this point or might soon be.
Don't waste BK and a ten year hit to your credit unless you need to. The medical bill will be off of your credit report in just two more years.

[abscar]

A lawyer took me to court 5 years ago and got a judge to rule for a summary judgement and a garnishment but i was not working at that time also so no garnishment took place.I moved and havent heard any thing since does anyone know if I can claim the old bills that where ruled on with my current med bills.My only debt was due to medical bills.

[JollyGG]

A lawyer took me to court 5 years ago and got a judge to rule for a summary judgement and a garnishment but i was not working at that time also so no garnishment took place.I moved and havent heard any thing since does anyone know if I can claim the old bills that where ruled on with my current med bills.My only debt was due to medical bills.

Yes this debt can be included in any bankruptcy. However, at this point there is no need to do anything. There is nothing creditors can do to you. Unless you are planning to start working again, come into an inheritance, or get some assets. There is really just no need to declare bankruptcy over debt that is almost past the statute of limitations and will soon fall of your credit report. The judgments will follow you around for a while. However at this point there is nothing to garnish or put a lien on with that judgment. So currently any judgements are uncollectable. If you situation looks like it is going to change then you should file and include all debts including the judgement. Once you bankruptcy is discharged you can go to the courthouse and have the judgement vacated.

[HHM]

There is really just no need to declare bankruptcy over debt that is almost past the statute of limitations and will soon fall of your credit report.

Honestly, that is not exactly true. Doing "nothing" rarely solves these problems. First off, Statute of Limitations (SOL) is only a defense to an actual lawsuit, it doesn't mean they stop trying to collect the debt in a non judicial manner and does not guarantee that the debt falls off your credit report. In fact, you can be SUED for debt that is outside the SOL, and if you don't respond, the creditor can get a default judgment against you. Judgements never "die", in nearly every state there is a fairly simple process for renewing judgments. As for credit report...the same issue arises, debt upon which you owe money on, will rarely "just fall off" your credit report on its own. Collection agencies and 3rd party debt buyers routinely violate these provisions. It would actually be MORE work and hassle for you to try to go down the "do nothing" route than to file BK.

Two comments about being judgment proof...(1) first, being JP is typically temporary...by being JP now, what that means is you have "time", i.e. you don't have to file BK right away...but it doesn't mean you will never have to file BK at some point. (2) also, whether you file BK, depends on how much collection hassle you are prepared to deal with. Being JP does not stop collection efforts, you can still be sued, creditors can still call, etc etc.

Finally, being proactive about "solving" the problem is always better than doing nothing. As for the credit "hit", your credit is already trashed, BK is not going to make it worse, and will actually put you in a position to improve start improving it.

[abscar]

I am planing to work soon after I heal up hence the name abscar however being unemployed might give me an advantage in court?Does it matter?My bills are about 20k but if interest is tact on it could take 10 years to pay off and thers the principle of it I had no insurance so every one is charging 3 times what they would charge medicare and they wonder why some cant afford to pay.Thanks for the reply I will keep reading this forum .

[HHM]

I am planing to work soon after I heal up hence the name abscar however being unemployed might give me an advantage in court?Does it matter?My bills are about 20k but if interest is tact on it could take 10 years to pay off and thers the principle of it I had no insurance so every one is charging 3 times what they would charge medicare and they wonder why some cant afford to pay.Thanks for the reply I will keep reading this forum .

At the very least, you wan to wait until you are fully recovered and are not incurring any more medical treatment. Then, once you are ready to go back to work, file BK, clean everything up, then go back to work.