Worried phase...again! Are there success stories out there?

[fedupw/ccdebt]

Ok...have been looking at other BK websites, mostly because that seems like all I do any more.

On one of them, debtconsolidationcare.com , most of the people on the BK forum are really negative about even being able to file a Chapter 7 and keep any assets at all, say the lawyers will tell you all sorts of things just to file so they get their money too and then know you will be pushed into a 13 by the trustee (regardless that you pass means and exemptions), that most 13's don't even make it to completion, etc...

I am literally ready to yank out what hair I have left! I am running the gamut of highs (after visiting here) and lows (after looking at other sites that are not as positive, at least in my opinion).

Is it really possible to do a 7, going thru all the hoops, fitting in the useable exemptions for your state (Indiana), passing the means test either by income or expenses and actually get to keep assets...like your house, car (s), etc...

I really don't know what to think anymore and am beginning to think that I am "thinking" too much about it...imagine that!

Are there success stories out there, especially in Indiana? If so, what was the trustee like for your situation?

[Granny]

I can only tell you that I have seen several people posting here about successfully receiving a discharge and having their case closed. I don't think it was an easy ride for anybody, but it can be done. Sure there are plenty of cases that have a hiccup or two along the way and those have to be dealt with. But I have a question for you, how informed were those other people going into a bk. From what I have seen here, unless it is an emergency situation, like to save an asset from foreclosure or repo, the filers have educated themselves and are prepared for what they are facing...and it helps to be knowledgeable before talking to the attorneys.

I think some of it depends on the luck of the draw with the trustee, picking a good attorney etc and in the case of a Ch 13, it depends on determination to make it work. A Ch 13 is hard work, and from what I understand, most people don't complete it. I would guess that would be because LIFE HAPPENS and 5 years is a l-o-n-g time.

You are on the right track in educating yourself before you go into it...keep reading and learning and good luck.

[SinkingFast]

What I've read here and heard from other people we know who are on the bubble,..........

If you're in the gray area on Income to Allowed Expenses, and the attny is not sure your case will fly as a Ch 7,........... Attnys are adding a statement to the BK Paperwork.

Something to the effect of, "The Debtor has been informed and understands that their case is borderline. A Ch 7 will be attempted but the case may be converted to a Ch 13." Attnys are having their clients sign and date that statement as a CYA prior to filing the Petition.

As far as loosing things IN BK,......... We, like many people, lost it all before we filed. Spent savings. Cashed out Retirement. Trying to pay bills. There was nothing of value left to loose. We kept our household goods and cars. No problem. We had plenty of Exemptions to cover everything.

[freshstart06]

Sinking fast really good points about already loosing things. We have our household goods, cars, kids and that is it. We have nothing to loose and I feel most people don't by the time they decide to file.

[fedupw/ccdebt]

I agree about educating myself on all this...which is why I love this site. I have gotten so much information here it is unreal! I also think some of the other sites have tended to be negative about BK to try and push people into debt settlement...I may be wrong on that, but that was the impression I have gotten.

Sinking and fast...when you say you kept your household goods are you talking about your actual home also? Sorry to be dumb on that one, but it has been a looong day and my brain is pretty much mush. I feel pretty sure that the exemptions will help us do a 7, but until it actually happens...well, you know how that goes.

[SinkingFast]

Nope. We didn't keep our home. But that wasn't because of BK.

Hubby lost his job. Got a new job out of State. We had to move. Tried to sell the house. Paid Rent and Mortgage for a year before we couldn't keep it up any longer. House went into Foreclosure. We got a last minute offer that would pay our mortgage and the costs to sell. We were able to sell prior to filing.

No Homestead to protect. But we did have to cover our Security Deposit on our Rental with an Exemption.

Being prepared for BK is key. Have all your documents. Watch what you do before you file. Make sure your bank statements are an accurate reflection of your life. No big, unexplained cash flows in or out kind of thing. Document sale of any larger assets (cars, jewelry, boats, etc) to pay living expenses.

Be patient. WAIT. WAIT. WAIT. If you aren't under the gun for a Law Suit, or Foreclosure, or Eviction, wait to file as long as you can. The more time you put between your last CC use and filing, the smoother your case will go.

[fedupw/ccdebt]

I WISH I had assets to sell like boats, jewelry, etc... We live paycheck to paycheck and have for years, but because of back issues on my part, and being one of the 45million Americans that DO NOT have health insurance (I am self employed) it has really put us in a hole.

Can't remember the last time our family took a real vacation or something like that...we always visit family in Mississippi each summer for about a week and that is it. Anyway, I don't mean to ramble on like that. I am going to try and wait it out but am worried that the CC's will really start pushing on this soon. Some of them are calling out the you know what. But I guess I'll just have to wait and see.

[hocus]

I had a really smooth experience, once I found the right lawyer. After one told me I would likely be forced to a 13, I called another one to check. He gave me totally different information.

I was not behind on my cc payments because I was juggling things and charging utilities and living expenses. My atty said that wasn't an issue. He said that there were two or three specific charges that might be challenged, but that I would still be way ahead. We filed right away and I had used the cards within about 10 days of the filings. My decision to file came very quickly. I didn't charge anything after I spoke to the second atty, but there were charges within 10 days of the filings.

None of the cc filed objections. I was over $80000 in cc debt. I know that's obscene but it was my life. So mine was not a small filing. I owed some of these peopleover $15000. But they didn't question anything.

I've had the 341 hearing. They still have a right to file objections, but my atty says that they almost always file objections right away. I've stopped getting bills so they are aware of the filing. But even if they do object, I'll still be way, way ahead.

I had a bunch of time off work without pay so my income was lower in the past six months than it should be in the next six. My atty made sure that the trustee knew that there were health issue involved and all she asked me were the standard 10 or 12 questions. My entire hearing took about 2 minutes.

The relief I feel right now is unbelievable.

I would suggest getting a local atty who specialized in bk. My atty tells his clients that Sears always shows up at the 341 but no one else does. He knew what each trustee asks. He called the trustee right before the hearing to remind her of my medical issues. She was grateful to him for doing that because she said she wouldn't have to bother asking me. He had four clients having 341 hearings the same morning I did. That kind of inside knowledge made it much easier for me.

It's easy to freak out worrying about everything that might happen. It helped a lot to be told what really happens. There were things I was worried about that he said I didn't need to be concerned with. He was right.

It was only about a month from the time I started thinking seriously about filing to my 341 hearing. Right now, on Pacer, my case is sitting ther in a waiting to discharge status.

I feel so so much better than I did a few months ago.

BK is hard, but so is living with debt. I think sometimes we get so wrapped up in all the bad things that could happen that we forget to realize what hell we're living in now.

[BKTango]

Ours went smoothly. We were in a debt settlement plan for over a year, had lawsuits from creditors not working with us in the plan out the wazoo. Literally about to lose it all because we were terrified of the big B. How could we not be really, those people at the debt settlement company put the fear in us over losing everything in bankruptcy, the new laws would make it so. We played right into that.

Then one day I found this place, and boy did I see that we were really naive into believing the stereotype about bankruptcy. I set up some appointments with a few bk lawyers, but we were still prepared to lose our home and everything, since we still didn't fully understand everything regarding bk. We obtained the attorney we felt comfortable with, who happened to be a former bk trustee, so that gave us insurance he at least knew what would be going on. Meanwhile we educated ourselves thoroughly.

We kept everything. Keep in mind, we are under the median by like $15,000. Have no equity in our home. Have 5 vehicles that aren't worth much. And an older travel trailer. Our household possessions are of course worth very little to other people. Basically somehow everything we owned fell under all of the exemptions. That is the key issue. So we went through the whole process, pretty much unscathed.

I will say, in reference to being a success, it has nothing to do with walking away from our bankruptcy still having all of our belongings, and having no problems. It has everything to do with learning what is most important in life, our family, being free so you can actually live, learning how to properly live within your means, and most of all knowing that you are getting a second chance to do things right. Walking away with that knowledge....that's a success story.

[nosrus77]

well said.

For Indiana, you have a$8,000 in wild card exemptions (HH, other items), $1,500 exemption in auto equity, and $7,500 exemption FOR EACH FILER in your home equity. So, if you filed joint and have less than $15,000 equity ($7,500 x 2) you should be okay.

I live in Indiana and just filed on 6/11/07, so we'll go through this together Fedup.

Helps having someone you can relate to going through the same thing . . .

[fedupw/ccdebt]

Thanks Nosrus...from one Hoosier to another I hope things go well for you!

So the info that you were told is that filing jointly you get $15000 and $8000...is that right? I have talked to someone else that is filing from Indiana that indicated the figures for filing jointly are double those. It is all very confusing.

Which part of Indiana are you from, if you don't mind me asking? Do you like your lawyer? Did they give you any idea on how the trustee thing works? Are you trying to keep your house under the 7?

[nosrus77]

Yup - trying to keep house. We only have about $11,000 in equity, so shouldn't be an issue in either case.

We're in the southern district of indiana out of Evansville. Our attorney is okay, but got his name off of several BK's in our district off PACER. Seems to know his stuff. I went in wanting to file a 13, just out of a moral obligation to pay what I can, but he said we'd be better off in the long run filing a 7.

So, we're going to surrender our two upside down cars, me to drive an old truck and trying to find something for the wife and four kids to haul around in.

This sucks tremendously, but I know we have to do this to prepare for our future. My kids are 7, 5, 2, and 6 weeks, and we've got to get control now to prepare for their future, too.

I'm assuming from one of your earlier posts that you're around Indy. Good luck with everything. I hope the exemptions are double that, but I didn't really pin my atty on it. I thought I knew the answer going in, but now i'm not so sure.

Out of curiosity, what did your atty charge you for a 7??

[nosrus77]

Meant to post, we're under the median by about $6,500 or so. I and J worked out to a -$40. Just looking at that, surely there's no way they can force us into a 13? Is there?

[fedupw/ccdebt]

I am still in the process and have not filed yet...still meeting with lawyers and such. I am trying to wait as long as I can to make sure there are no CC charges that they will question...although we have no luxuries to speak of. Most charges were either for medical, gas, etc...over the long haul, especially the last year.

We have around $12,000 equity in our home, although I think that is going to have to be proved because it is showing up on our new assessment at around $10000 more than it is probably worth, at least. There is ALOT that needs to be done as far as repairs, that we have put off because we can't afford it. I am hoping that will bring the actual value down...we also live in Hamilton County, which is a "wealthy" county, but we are part of the few, the proud, the working poor of the county. An older section just south of Carmel. House is probably worth around $97000 and we owe around $86000 on it. Our cars should be able to be saved, since we own them all and they are pretty used...86 Crown Vic that our kids drive, 95 Infiniti that I drive and 99 Chevy Venture that my wife drives...all have over 120,000 miles on them.

The part that really kills me is the CC wonder why I am not paying anymore and won't try to work with them...for example, a Discover CC where the monthly minimum is $296 and the finance charge is $281...unreal. Chase interest on 1 card alone is nearly $700. These are just a few of the CC's that amount to over $100,000. I know that sounds like alot, and it is...can't really handle juggling things anymore. I always prided myself on paying my bills on time, doing whatever it took...and looking back that got me into trouble. This is mostly due to medical issues over the last 8-10 years and the realization that I can no longer rob peter to pay paul.

Sorry to ramble on like that...it seems like this is all I think about from the minute I wake to when I go to bed, although I don't actually sleep much these days.

[nosrus77]

Agree completely. Just know that you're not alone in the situation. Most of us here are in the same type of boat.

Our CC's were around $50k, and there was never any extravegent spending. You know how it goes - $4,000 for a septic system on one card, $1,000 for air conditioning repair on another, and then a lot of robbing Peter to pay Paul so the credit report stays clean.

My wife and I went to a Dave Ramsey seminar in october, and that was the wake up call for us. We have to get in control now to get better. Unfortunately, most of the CC's are unwilling to offer something to help, and kind of push you into this corner. BoA was unwilling to do anything to help us, and then just jacked the rate and closed the accounts, so we were worse off for calling them and trying to do the right thing. Amazing . . .

Anyway, just look at it as a business decision and something you have to do. The biggest stigma down here is that the Evansville Courier and Press actually publishes the bankruptcy filings, so EVERYONE knows about it. Not something you can keep to yourself down here . . . .