Pro Se chapter 7?

[moorman]

In general, how do people feel about a pro se chapter 7. Money is tight for me ( thus wanting to file pro se). I have no assets im trying to keep other than a veeeery old car worth about $300. Most of the debt is the balance from two auto repossessions over the last 10 years.

The only BIG issue is the fact that one of the repossesions was turned into a judgment that got avoided in a previous chapter 13 that i was unable to complete, so its dangling out there as a unsecured debt that i wanna go ahead and discharge before its turned back into a judgment. The forms seem simple enough, but obviously, not having done this before, i know there can be pitfalls to doing it pro se. Comments?

[bcohen]

Why did you file the previous Chapter 13? Was it simply because you were trying to keep property secured by a loan, or had you already received a Chapter 7 discharge within the past 8 years? If you have not received a Chapter 7 discharge within the past 8 years, and you are otherwise eligible to file (means test), and it sounds like you are, then the judgment will not pose a problem.

I filed for Chapter 7 pro-se with an outstanding judgment from Discover Card--for which they had already attempted to levy my bank accounts--and I had no problem. In addition to adding Discover Bank to my schedules and mailing matrix, I also sent them and the law firm which sued me a letter Certified Mail informing them that I filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy on (date) and the case number is (case number) and that any further attempts to collect on this debt would violate the automatic stay. I never heard anything else from Discover Bank or the law firm, and the judgment shows on my credit reports as "discharged in Chapter 7 bankruptcy" and $0 remaining to pay.

[LadyInTheRed]

If you file pro-se, you are acting as your own attorney and must be certain that you understand the entire process and are able to read and understand the Bankrutpcy Code, Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure and local court rules. Some people are cut out for it, others are not. I suggest you get Nolo's guide to Chap 7 and use it to work through the petition. After you do that, you can decide how confident you feel and whether you are more comfortable hiring an attorney.

Keep in mind that the judgement is still a judgement and never stopped being one unless it was vacated or set aside. The creditor was just barred from collecting on the judgement during your BK.

If you can't afford an attorney while not paying on your debt, you should consider whether filing BK is a good idea. Being unable to save enough for attorney fees may be a sign that you are not on stable enough footing for BK to do you a lot of good. Make sure you aren't going to end up back in debt. Do you really have anything the creditors can get? Are they even trying to collect?

[moorman]

Thanx for both comments. I think im gonna scrap up and get the money to hire a attorney. The reason is the past judgment and a recent repo that the dealer threaten to sue me for. If i file pro se, they may try and contest the issue. Thanx for the input.