I submitted the Chapter 13 bankruptcy a few months ago. I have been documenting experiences shared with people who find themselves in need of this information in the coming years. For most people, this is not a topic of casual conversation, and the web is full of e-books, courses, services and other junk.
I am not a lawyer, I will not provide any advice, and I am not going to use this to convince you to take any specific action or opinion. This is just my experience, of course my own specific views will obscure it.
The story began in 2005 when a commercial failure coincided with family illnesses and other non-financial issues. We work hard to make up our bills by selling personal items - furniture, television, timeshares, tools, sporting goods, and more. Finally, in early 2006, my husband found a job. By that time, our credit card account payments had fallen behind for more than six months, and it was difficult to pay less than a month for mortgages and car payments. Relatives gave us food, and I have become frustrated to think and talk about the extent of suicide.
depression
My frustration complicates and worsens the economic situation. I don't feel worthwhile; I can't make a decision because I can't find a job and feel frustrated, and at the same time I feel contradicted because I have to give up my self-employment and find a job again. My friends, this is the problem. If there are no beliefs that make me feel better, then I am hopeless and self-defeating. I can't get rid of failure until I find a way to believe in myself again.
The good news is that I did find a way out of depression, and the answer lies in myself. If you feel like me, there is an answer in your heart, your task is to find the way to connect with it. This article is not intended to help you find the answer. Everyone's path is different, it may be in religion, renewal of physical activity, meditation, intellectual pursuit, or some of them or other completely combined. You will know it when you find it, and if you listen, it may already be calling you.
Explore credit counseling/credit management solutions
Two weeks before my husband returned to work, I began to believe that we would find a solution. So far, I have been checking the caller ID to allow the answering machine to receive all calls from the payee. I started talking to some bill collectors to see if I had a way to negotiate in this situation, but it was really serious. I started to get notice from the court and we were sued by some credit card companies. Just when we have a reliable salary, we are faced with the possibility of deduction!
So, I wrote down the toll-free numbers of the various credit-help organizations I saw and made some calls. I decided to work with a debt management company that would act as a middleman for all my creditors and try to build payment arrangements that I could afford. I have to work with my consultant to complete my income and budget and provide detailed information on all debts.
This work forced me to organize and no longer evade the details of the facts and circumstances. I created charts and checklists of my debts and their respective collection agencies, and faced the bottom line. I am shocked that, due to all interest and late payment, the unsecured debt of about $35,000 has now climbed to over $55,000! Unfortunately, it didn't complete the compound.
In the month that the credit management company participated, the call was reduced but not stopped. As it turns out, some of my accounts don't apply to them. They are not lawyers and can't solve 2 lawsuits.
Even if it is not comprehensive and does not cover all of our outstanding debt, the monthly payments are much more than what we can offer in a month. We realized that it is time to review the application for bankruptcy.
Bankruptcy, the last resort
I decided to find a local bankruptcy lawyer in the phone book. This is very confusing, I waste a lot of time calling, leaving a message, and knowing that they are doing business bankruptcy, not personal. I finally got online and clicked on Total Totalruptrupt in Google ads. If you fill out the required information, this website can provide you with a bankruptcy lawyer in your area. I decided to try and reveal all my detailed personal financial data.
I received an email reply and a specific lawyer will call me in the time window I chose, the next morning. He actually called me back within an hour of completing the investigation, and kindly asked to wait and call again later, or if I had time, speak now. Since this is fresh in my mind, I like this momentum and ask all the questions he can think of. He was very direct and meticulous, I felt very comfortable, so I decided to work with him on the spot. He came from a city 50 miles away from my home, but he assured me that we could do anything by email and fax, and if I wanted to see him, we could arrange for a halfway. The position of the federal bankruptcy court is between us, so it is very feasible.
Since we want to retain certain property, and because we believe we have the ability to keep our homes and vehicles, we choose to submit Chapter 13, where we must pay monthly payments based on economic surveys and our assets and liabilities. This is all that I can really say, without the kind of information that the lawyer knows, so I will leave it.
In order for my lawyer to draft a bankruptcy application, I must provide details of my property, debt, income, etc. For more information on this process, I have written more information here: http://www.happy-after-bankruptcy .COM / step to archive, bankruptcy.htm
The draft of the petition was 40 pages long. About two weeks after I provided him with all the information, he sent it to me by .pdf.
Old law - new law
Now, when talking about the "Bankruptcy Reform Act" in October 2005, I can't really talk about the old law and the new law except one thing. Credit counseling is now required through services approved by the US Department of Justice. Http://www.usdoj.gov/ust/eo/bapcpa/ccde/index.htm
This link takes you to all approved services.
Credit counseling is the biggest waste I have ever spent $49.95, wasting 2 hours. I basically had to enter all the same information I provided to my lawyer [see above] into the slow-loading online form, and then I had to attend a phone conversation with the "credit counselor" who just repeated our information. . submit. No value has increased my understanding of my finances, credit or anything else. enough.
Blessing quiet
Once we made the decision to submit, I gave the names and contact details of all my creditor lawyers, and they stopped calling! This is great. Mortgage companies and car rental companies need a case number, but this is provided within a few days of filing the petition. All contacts have stopped
This is a cautious question. We need to continue to pay 2 accounts and they stop sending us bills. They also disabled our online bill payment access. So, suddenly, we don't have a regular payment method. Without any contact, it is easy to let a few months pass, and when I mail the check, they are preparing a "responsibility action from accommodation". My lawyer said this is very common, but I hope I know and avoid it.
Planned payment
Part of my Chapter 13 filing includes a plan to resolve the amount I am responsible for after a financial investigation. I have to use the certified funds to pay the bankruptcy court trustee every month. These payments are actually initiated before any hearing or court appearance. They are based on my income and will last for 36 months, or until all the amounts payable under the plan are met.
Go to the court
Part of the filing of the insolvency proceedings involves the location of the Federal Bankruptcy Court - in most cases at least once. Five weeks after we officially submitted the application, I asked for the first time. It is known as Section 341 Creditors' Meeting. There are two purposes for this: the bankruptcy trustee received some statements from us after reviewing our photo ID, which were sworn and notarized, and our conversation was recorded. In addition, this is an opportunity for our creditors to appear in court to file a claim with us. In our case, no one else has appeared. We arrived very early and saw the trustee for the first time. It ended in about 20 minutes.
About a month after the 341th meeting, the hearing confirmed our debtor's Chapter 13 plan - this is basically a return arrangement. Our lawyers said that we don't have to be both there - if one of us has actually participated, then the court will look better, but we don't need it. I decided to participate, this time I have to wait for my case to be summoned to the case file. I have time to observe the discussions related to my previous case.
What an eye-opening experience. Some people have filed numerous criminal charges and/or civil suits against them, complicating their bankruptcy applications. For months, there were no people who were in contact with their lawyers [not present], and lawyers were blind on their behalf. Some people's injuries and health problems have seriously complicated their financial situation. When my name was called, my lawyer told the judge that I was currently involved in my Chapter 13 plan payment, everything was in order, and my plan was approved. It took about a minute.
It's my turn in the 40 minutes in court, it's very helpful to me...
Orignal From: My personal Chapter 13 bankruptcy story
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