Bad record keeping, how do I file?

[Confuzed]

What if I have bad record keeping, I dont want to show up and have the court say I omitted something when I really didnt know (a bank account, a statement)...plus how do you list your debtors when you dont even know who you owe, or what variety of collection agencies have the same overlapping debt passed on and on, especially when I plan to leave out of the USA for a year or two and come back. I plan on filing sometime in the future over 25k of 9 credit cards but want to put it off because I may be able to repay it in 2 years when things get better and Chapter 7 is a last resort, my record keeping/paper work is horrible.

[Trixie007]

Um, might I suggest you fix that? Start tracking everything down, set up a filing system, call and talk to people and get validation of debts... You should at least know who you OC's are... and be able to piece it together from there.

[Dst1]

I agree with above. You are going to have to possess detailed records for at least the last six months before you file. And the Trustee can go back four years if necessary (although they rarely do). Worse, if you overlook a creditor and forget to include it on a BK then it will not get discharged and you can't file again for seven years. And "forgetting" an asset is even worse.

Going out of the country, I am sorry to say, is not going to help your situation. While I don't know your full set of facts, it is the type of thing that is going to cause the Trustee to do a double take if he see that you have recently filed after spending significant time out of the country. It looks like guilty behavior and could cause your cases to be given a closer look than it normally might. And then it's going to be even more suspicious if you can't document much do to "poor organization" or a "bad memory". Even if everything is quite innocent, it starts to look fishy. And really, BK is stressful enough as it is with out an overly curiously Trustee asking questions you can't promptly answer.

Unless there is some compelling reason not to, I'd advise you to file before you leave.

Edit: I also wonder why you feel compelled to file over 25k debt. If you can afford to go overseas, it strikes me that 25k debt is really not that much to work to pay off. If you just earned minimum wage all your life, maybe 25k is a lot. But most people earning minimum wage are not going abroad. Just because you can file doesn't mean its wise to file.

[keepmine]

I agree with above. You are going to have to possess detailed records for at least the last six months before you file. And the Trustee can go back four years if necessary (although they rarely do). Worse, if you overlook a creditor and forget to include it on a BK then it will not get discharged and you can't file again for seven years. And "forgetting" an asset is even worse.

Going out of the country, I am sorry to say, is not going to help your situation. While I don't know your full set of facts, it is the type of thing that is going to cause the Trustee to do a double take if he see that you have recently filed after spending significant time out of the country. It looks like guilty behavior and could cause your cases to be given a closer look than it normally might. And then it's going to be even more suspicious if you can't document much do to "poor organization" or a "bad memory". Even if everything is quite innocent, it starts to look fishy. And really, BK is stressful enough as it is with out an overly curiously Trustee asking questions you can't promptly answer.

Unless there is some compelling reason not to, I'd advise you to file before you leave.

Edit: I also wonder why you feel compelled to file over 25k debt. If you can afford to go overseas, it strikes me that 25k debt is really not that much to work to pay off. If you just earned minimum wage all your life, maybe 25k is a lot. But most people earning minimum wage are not going abroad. Just because you can file doesn't mean its wise to file.

There is little about this post that is correct.
In a no asset case, an ommited creditor is considered discharged. After all, no harm is done since, the creditor would have received nothing anyway.
Leaving the country will have no bearing on his case what so ever. There is nothing illegal about leaving the country and then filing bk later on.

[Confuzed]

If I miss out on mail for a year or two, how can I keep records, I do know my original creditors though but bank names change and they sell debts off to a variety of CA's so I wonder if I file on the OC's will it be enough,

As far as leaving the country, it is not to hide from the debt. For that, I can get a PO box and change my #. I just may have an opportunity to live with a family member abroad and earn money and escape the rat race and stress and work a gig abroad in computers or something and get a change of scenery.

** If I stay or go, either way I cannot pay it, the amounts have gone up like 30% from the penalties and collection agencies, etc. I have no assets, no car in my name, no house, no stocks just a weekly paycheck from a local government employer deposited in my bank account. I live paycheck to paycheck making 44k which is really no big deal. I withdraw cash from my bank account for money. I defaulted on 8 out of 9 cards 6 months ago due to the fact that it just overwhelmed me since I was paying minimum payments for a long time juggling 9 cards, and I had a gap in employment last summer. I am still paying 1 card though.

So being out of the country worries me from the summons and contempt of court point of view basically....and the record keeping if I ever decide to file.

[hopejones]

Get you a pen & paper and start a list of all the debts that you can remember that you owe. Then get a copy of your credit report from the credit bureaus (TransUnion, Equifax, etc). Most likely than not, the people that you owe money to (including the collection agencies) are going to be reporting to at least one of the credit bureaus.

[Trixie007]

Also, arrange with someone you trust to forward your mail, or make some other arrangement so you can at least keep track of things. And if you go, have fun for all of us.

[freshstartfl]

Getting copies of your credit reports -- all 3 of them -- is a very wise thing to do, as a previous poster suggested. I did so, and listed everything I saw, and then my attorney also asked me for copies and went thru them herself to make sure nothing was missed.