A few newb questions

[Cynical]

I'm thinking its time for me to get this monkey off my back and start rebuilding my life. I have been contemplating filing for Chapter 7 for some time now, at this point I'm in the gathering information stage. Once I have done my research I will more than likely hire a lawyer.............I would love to file on my own without an attorney, but I'm not sure about that yet.

Well enough babbling, time for the questions lol

As stated above i have been thinking about filing without an attorney. While I know this may not be a good idea for some people with alot of assets, I on the other hand dont have any assets to speak of lol. I have about $18k in debt and most of that ($10k) is a repossession from 2006-2007, the rest is credit card debit. I no longer have a car, I dont own a house or any other property so assets are not my concern. Would you consider my case to be a complicated one and do you think it would be possible for me to file without representation?

Now onto my other question which, pertains to Bank Accounts. Will they look into my accounts at the bank? Basically will they see my account activity? Now the reason why I'm concerned about this is because last year when my cousin was having issues with his identity being stolen he deposited a few grand in my account so he could use my debit card until his issues where cleared up. It took about 5 months for the authorities to clear up his issues, but in the meantime it looked like I was rich lol. Should I close that account, if so how long before I file?

Just a bit more background in case it helps any. I was out of work from 2005-2007 due to a back injury and when I got back to work in 2007 the company closed in 2009 and I have been jobless for a few months now................so needless to say it has not been easy by any stretch of the imagination.

[Cynical]

Well I can not find the "Edit button" so I can not add these questions to my original post.

I just printed out my Experien Credit Report and the exact amount of debt is $16,742 and the repo was back in August of 2006, the amount for the car is $7400. All the other collections are around 4 or 5 years old and most of them say charge off and/or closed/transferred and have a future date that these will come off of my report. Most of the dates are 2014-2015, but the debt is back from 2004 and before.....I thought re-aging an account was illegal?

Oh and a bit more information that may help. As I stated above I have been out of work for the last 9 months and I only collect $300 a week on unemployment and I pay $500 a month to parents for rent..........yeah thats right a 28 year had to move BACK in with his parents.....its sad I know .

So is chapter 7 worth it?

[aljohnson007]

Get several free consults with bk attorneys. You can do a pro se bk but I can tell you from my experience, it is not a cake walk. Best wishes.

[frogger]

You're going to be required to produce bank statements, probably at least 6 months. If "last year" means in the last few months, you would probably be better off letting it age to get out of the way. The longer, the better.

[Cynical]

You're going to be required to produce bank statements, probably at least 6 months. If "last year" means in the last few months, you would probably be better off letting it age to get out of the way. The longer, the better.

He finally cleared everything up November 3 2009..............I remember because my account went from $15k to a big whopping $3k which I have managed to set aside to pay for the attorney when the time comes lol.

I wanted to file in Feb, but if they request my bank statements for the past 6-12 months it is going to show a good amount of money coming and going.........which was never mine.

[frogger]

I wanted to file in Feb, but if they request my bank statements for the past 6-12 months it is going to show a good amount of money coming and going.........which was never mine.

I would probably let that age at least 6 months, and be able to explain/prove it after that if necessary.

[Cynical]

I would probably let that age at least 6 months, and be able to explain/prove it after that if necessary.

Yeah thats my thoughts as well.................I'm just hoping and praying that I dont get taken to court in the mean time for the car.....crossing my fingers

[Cynical]

Ok I have another question lol. Since I was evicted from my apartment and moved back in with my parents do I have to include their income in the means test or an I considered my own family?