I know they buy old debt at pennies on the dollar, and I have old cc debt, that WAS only about 6k, but with interest, and then being charged off and continuing to roll for years, is over 20k on paper, according to them. But I didn’t spend 20k, and I know the agencies will settle for much less than that.

I’m looking at ch. 7, but before I commit to it, I want to know what realistically I could pay the various collection agencies to settle it. I feel that a BK attorney will only encourage me to file, and if I call the agencies, they can legally start hounding me and my parents to get ahold of me (I’ve managed to keep my number etc private for years). Where can I turn? And what % do they usually settle for? Thanks so much.
Awesome thank you both, I’m in CA, that site shows SOL is 4years, and I believe it was all charged off in 2006, so it might be past already, I’ll get my credit report and check.

-So, if paying them off won’t improve my credit score, what’s the fastest way that I can bring my score back up? (I assume getting those debts taken off is how your score goes back up), obviously the goal is to get them off and/or qualify for a prepaid cc or some way to bring my score back up, so I can strive for the perfect score I USED to have etc. If you get a chance, email me at christianatheist80@yahoo.com

Thanks again, invaluable information.

Technorati Tags: 20k, 6k, ahold, bk, ch 7, collection agencies, credit report, credit score, debts, parents, pennies on the dollar, perfect score, sol, yahoo

My GF has about 30k in debt…mostly credit cards Just found this out a few days ago and asked her to sit with me and tabulate everything. She has not defaulted on any part of it, but, I guess that could be a possibility down the road. Anyway, the only thing that I have my name on with her is the lease to our apartment (though the bill comes in my name and in the lease it specifically says that any money from the security deposit goes back to me and only me) Also, we have our names together on our internet/tv/phone bill.

I can cover these bills on my own if it becomes absolutely necessary. Obviously I don’t want to and don’t plan to…but I can if the only alternative is being evicted or having services cut off.

My concern stems from this. If a person declares ch 7, I understand that the creditors can basically take anything and everything you own. Would this have any impact on MY personal assets?

Thanks for your help.
Thanks to all who took the time to respond. I appreciate the help!

Technorati Tags: apartment, ch 7, credit cards, creditors, few days, gf, internet tv, money, personal assets, security deposit, thanks for your help, tv phone

I’m going to file ch. 7 soon. All I have of value is my 00 car. The letters from the credit card agencies have just begun to switch in tone from very polite to "more aggressive actions" etc. What exactly can they do? Can they take my car?

Technorati Tags: aggressive actions, ch 7, credit card

In Virginia, what is good advice filing Ch. 7 bankruptcy? We will need to do a quick file to try to beat a foreclosure coming up soon. What are the steps? We consulted with a lawyer but read his disclosures and found that we don’t have to be represented but wondering if that is a good idea or not. We have counted up all assets and written down every liability we can think of, and gathered 3 months worth of bank statements for both myself and my husband (both of us need to file). We have titles to vehicles and gotten Kelly (NADA) blue book values on them. I guess we need to get credit reports?? not sure. Also have gathered 2008 and 2009 IRS tax returns. We have already taken the first debt counseling session and received certification for each of us. We have the deed to our home. Are there any more docs to be gathered and what would be the papers to file with which court? Please be as detailed in your answer that you can. This is greatly appreciated.
I have gone onto the official federal website to get forms, fee info, and general instructions about the steps to take to file a petition with the court. so far, this has been the most helpful. But I did consult with an attorney one time to decide which chapter would be recommended and to answer some specific questions for our particular situation.
http://www.uscourts.gov/FederalCourts/Bankruptcy.aspx

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I recently recieved a notice of Ch. 7 bankruptcy case and meeting of creditors from a bankruptcy court. The property manangement company and owner of the house I rent is filing and I may be a creditor of the debtor. Do I continue to pay rent if they have filed bankruptcy? Will I get my sustantial deposit back? What do I need to do?

Technorati Tags: bankruptcy case, bankruptcy court, ch 7, creditor, debtor, meeting of creditors, property manangement

I had 14 different credit cards charged off 2 years ago for a combined ,000. The statute of limitations in CA. is 4 yrs so after 2 yrs i finally got a letter from an attorney threatening Litigation for one of the accounts of ,000. Should I just file ch. 7 BK because if I pay this account I still got 13 other accounts to worry about ?
BTW I only work part-time & berly support myself & dont have any assets so i dont want to get garnished..

Technorati Tags: amp, assets, bk, ch 7, credit cards, litigation, part time, statute of limitations

I’m selling my house and hope to net 25K. Do you think the 6 credit card companies will settle for the 125K down to 25K?

I have another job, but we are living paycheck to paycheck and can’t make these credit card payments. Any advice??
I forgot to mention that I make just over the amount to qualify for a Ch 7 BK and would have to do Ch 13 which I will probably end up having to pay back all the debts anyway..right?

Technorati Tags: 25k, bk, ch 7, credit card companies, credit card payments, debts, job, living paycheck to paycheck, paycheck to paycheck

I am almost exactly 0,000.00 dollars in debt and I am single with one income and earn around ,200.00 per month.

The highest paying job I had after 5 years on college has been at .00 an hour where I worked for two years before getting laid off. Ever since, I have not been able to get a really good paying job with my degree.

Here are my debts:

,000.000 (and rising) to the IRS. After I bought my home, the IRS stopped working with me and everything became all threats with them answering every question with "I see you have a home, we don’t have to work with you-we can simply put the tax lien against your home) which they did.

I’m desperate to get from under this debt and I have heard stories about people making ridiculous settlement offers to the IRS and paying pennies on the dollar but the only settlement they will offer me is around ,900.00 (a 0 dollar reduction) IF I pay right away.

And this amount is originally ,000.00 with the rest being penalties and fees.

I owe ,000.00 on my home
I owe ,000.00 in medical bills
I owe ,000.00 in credit card bills
i owe ,000.00 in miscellaneous bills
I owe the utility company ,500.00
I owe Sallie mae (I had my student loans consolidated) ,000.00.

I can’t pay on any of them right now besides my home and my payment on that is 2.00 per month. I also live away from my home out of state and I pay 0.00 dollars for an efficiency.

Should I file bankruptcy? Which chapter should I file and how do you think it will help me?
PS-

I forgot to mention I just had a judgement filed against me by the lawyers for my HOA for 1,700.00 dollars and NOooooooooo I DO NOT want to sell my home. It will be lightyears before I’m able to buy another one.
The first answer given is why I want only "knowlegeable" folks to answer because they take the home if you file Ch. 7 NOT Ch. 13.

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I am about to file ch 7 but a company I owe already sent me court papers in a law suit. I retained a lawyer six months ago but have not filed it yet. Thanks for any advice..

Technorati Tags: ch 7, court papers, law suit, lawyer, six months

I’ve recently been contemplating filing for Bankruptcy (Ch. 7) because I am in so much debt it hurts my brain to even think about it!! I am currently over k in debt. Most of the accumulated debt I owe is from past bills I ran behind on due to some unnecessary circumstances. Right now I am attending school full time and working part time making a measly 20/month as my take home pay. With my salary I pay for all the usual bills: rent, utilities, wsg, car insurance, car note, and use whatever I have left over to pay down my debt. For the past year and a half I haven’t opened any new credit accounts and I’ve been on a tight budget. I take full responsibility for all of the finanical debt I put myself into but am stressed and afraid that some of the creditors I owe will soon take legal action (as some have stated in their threatning letters). I’ve attempted to set up payment plans and have tried to negotiate a reasonable payment plan with my creditors but even with some agreeing to this others are not as willing. I am just seeking some advice because my credit is already horrible and even if I decide to paydown my debt it will take well over 5 years relinquish. I figured if I file for Chapter 7 it will stay on my credit just as long as if I tried to paydown all my debt on my own.
Big T: THank you very much for the advice and the many suggestions. I have been trying to stay optimistic about the whole ordeal and I have to give it up to you because I understand first hand how hard juggling work and going to school full time can be. I understand my debt is nothing compared to others but it is still a debt I have to take care of. I appreciate the encouragement and will look into other wage earning opportunities and try other ways to cut back!

Barnaby J: Thank you, I didn’t really factor in my wage earnings after college because they are still unbeknowest to me. (maybe if I looked into a crystal ball I’d know for sure..lol) But, since you have mentioned it I am predicting my salary wages will increase quite significantly after college which will help me drastically in cutting my debt!! However, I am not trying to rely entirely on those predictions! Thank you!!

Technorati Tags: big t, brain, car insurance, ch 7, chapter 7, circumstances, credit accounts, creditors, crystal ball, encouragement, filing for bankruptcy, full time, insurance car, lol, ordeal, part time, salar, salary, tight budget, wage earnings

Before I was married I filed both ch 13 and 7 bankruptcies. The 13 was dismissed in 2004 and I later filed ch 7, which was discharged in 2005. I am now married and don’t know if my husband and I can file ch 13. He has never filed bankruptcy. Or can he file individually, even though we are married? We’ve suffered a traumatic loss of income and are at risk of losing our home. Thanks for your help.

Technorati Tags: bankruptcies, bankruptcy, ch 7, home thanks, risk, thanks for your help, traumatic loss

OK I live in Georgia and I filed Ch.7 about 2 years ago……..no I got myself into a mess again and was wondering if I could file Ch.13……..is there a time frame on which you have to wait to file again?

Technorati Tags: ch 7, time frame

we have 14,000 cc debt, our checking acct. is frozen, wife gets unemployment(280 a week) due to plant closure, she is going to start school in a week.we have a 2nd mortgage and the equity right now is about 00,car loan for 16,000 my truck is paid for. do we qualify for either ch.7 or 13 bankruptcy?

Technorati Tags: bankruptcy, car loan, ch 7, checking acct, mortgage, plant closure, unemployment

This may be a dirtball question, but here goes; we are filing for ch. 7 because of excessive debt and cannot afford the expenses of our present home. We are current on our mortgage and our bills as of today, but in no way can keep it up (borrowing from Peter to pay Paul basically), we will need to find alternative housing(renting) and incur moving expenses and have no savings or cash on hand to do so, my question is, is it so horrible to stop paying crediters and our mortgage and just let it all go if we are going into ch. 7 anyway? And use the monies saved to pay for moving and renting expenses ?Our home has no equity and we are well aware that our credit will be devastated for a 10 year period. Sadly, we really do need to start from scratch or a clear plate due to poor judgement and unforseen circumstances. We are hiring a lawyer for the filing process, but have many unanswered questions that we are a bit embarressed to ask him, such as the one above. Thank you for your insight.

Technorati Tags: alternative housing, ch 7, excessive debt, insight, lawyer, monies, mortgage, moving expenses, poor judgement, scratch, unanswered questions, unforseen circumstances

In Jan. 2008 I filed Ch. 13 in a frantic attempt to keep my home. In the end, I ended up losing the property due to raising ARMs. I am still in the Ch. 13 and am wondering if I couldn’t switch to a Ch.7 instead? If I do switch to a chapter 7 can my mortgage debt be included in the Chapter 7 or can they go after the co-signor at that point?

Technorati Tags: ch 7, chapter 7, frantic attempt, mortgage debt

I have been in my home for a year and a half. I purchased it through owner financing. I lost my job two months ago and they are telling me they are going to forclose on my starting next week. My option at this time might be bankruptcy, but only a ch.13 would help me. I then, am leary, because I don’t want to put myself in more debt just to save my house when I am not that far behind. They will not work with me. The ch.7 alternative I have been told, will not help me save my home, so I am beyond upset and really don’t know the best thing for me to do, but I really don’t want to end up homeless. I rented at one time in my life and the only time, and was evicted from the rental because the landlord wanted me to sleep with him. No lawyer would help me because they all represented him at one point, so now… I can’t even get into an apartment. If someone could please offer some advice, it would be greatly appreciated. I am a young widow with two boys at home.

Technorati Tags: apartment, bankruptcy, ch 7, job, landlord, lawyer, owner financing, sleep, time in my life, two boys, young widow

Everything that i’ve read says that you can get a home after 1 year in a ch 13 bankruptcy, 2 years after ch 7 bankruptcy, and 3 years after a foreclosure. I am about to file a chapter 13, and wonder how long would I have to wait before I could purchase a home. Does anyone know the actual rule and could you point me to the website or where you got your information?

Thank you!

Technorati Tags: 3 years, bankruptcy, ch 7, chapter 13, foreclosure

Hi,
The 2-year ARM on my home mortgage (two mortgages) expires August 2008 (home purchased August 2006). However, I filed a Chapter 7 bankruptcy in 2007 (discharged in July 2007). Will I be able to refinance this year? I've heard that Ch. 7's are different from Ch. 13's in terms of the refinancing waiting time.

Technorati Tags: ch 7, chapter 7 bankruptcy, home mortgage, mortgages, refinancing, waiting time