What if I have no income?

[sworks2]

you will lose your money in the bank unless you can exempt it.
even that will limit how much you can exempt, could be has
little as 1 or 2K.

[jacko]

You don't file for BK for $10,000 debt. That is dumb. You are collection proof. You can take pro active steps by closing local checking account and open up a Wal-Mart money card which has bill pay. They accept direct deposit.

Also, you are protected from wage garnishment. If you are single, your first $180 in net weekly earnings after tax with holdings is exempt. If you are head of household, the first weekly $239 net is exempt.

I have nothing to reaffirm and won't have income for quite some time. I only owe about $10k on credit cards but just got sued for $5k so I want to file before it goes to judgment and they levy my bank account. So I don't have to list my mom's income? I was thinking all household income had to be included. Thanks for the help.

[jacko]

Why would you care about your credit report at this point? Why not live with in your means and pay cash going forward? Your credit report is the debt report.

Thank you very much for all of the advice. I'm not clear about how much worse my credit would be. Just got my score and it is 510. If I don't file BK, how much better do you think I could make it in 2 years being that I have a judgment ad 1 year of lates vs. how much better could I make it in 2 years if I filed BK. Do the late payments and judgment have less of an affect over time than the BK would?

[jacko]

Why are you so focused on your credit score? Can't you live with in your means?

I'm Filing pro se. I'm not really worried about needing to file again so with that out of the equation what do u think about me improving my credit the quickest. Will filing bk take longer to rebuild my credit? Thank u.

[nc73]

You don't file for BK for $10,000 debt. That is dumb. You are collection proof. You can take pro active steps by closing local checking account and open up a Wal-Mart money card which has bill pay. They accept direct deposit.

Also, you are protected from wage garnishment. If you are single, your first $180 in net weekly earnings after tax with holdings is exempt. If you are head of household, the first weekly $239 net is exempt.

I agree for 10k, don't file! Save it for something much larger.

[NewPage]

I agree for 10k, don't file! Save it for something much larger.

Add me to the list. I WISH I had only 10k in debt!!

[dustinc]

Add me to the list. I WISH I had only 10k in debt!!

I think everyone is missing the point. I may only have $10k in debt but my credit is already screwed, so how much worse can a BK make it? I will discharge the $10k and get to start working on improving my credit right away. If I don't file it will be several years before I can afford to pay it off and start rebuilding my credit. I am not worried about needing to file again. I am more responsible now, have health insurance and will have a nice job when I graduate. So how am I going to be worse off by filing? I plan on filing tomorrow. If I am missing something, pleae speak up and let me know.

[ryan]

Sorry, but you are about to play a card in your deck that won't be dealt to you again for a LOOOOOOONG time. What if you get hospitalized or are in an accident? The medical bills could be $50,000, maybe $100,000+. How will you pay those? What will you do then? Its not a pleasant thought to contemplate. ...and you think you have a lot of debt now?

To use BK for 10K is foolish, I'm sorry.

[nc73]

I think everyone is missing the point. I may only have $10k in debt but my credit is already screwed, so how much worse can a BK make it? I will discharge the $10k and get to start working on improving my credit right away. If I don't file it will be several years before I can afford to pay it off and start rebuilding my credit. I am not worried about needing to file again. I am more responsible now, have health insurance and will have a nice job when I graduate. So how am I going to be worse off by filing? I plan on filing tomorrow. If I am missing something, pleae speak up and let me know.

At this point why are you so worried about your credit? Your credit will be worse after BK. You can rebuild all you want but you've still got BK on your report for a long ass time. Your score might improve but the BK is still lingering. If you want to buy a house you'll pay more in interest and it won't be easy obtaining the loan. Same goes for a car and everything else in life. Borrow from relatives, parents, whoever. You don't have to listen to us. Go ahead and file. None of us will lose any sleep over it.

[momofthree]

I think everyone is missing the point. I may only have $10k in debt but my credit is already screwed, so how much worse can a BK make it? I will discharge the $10k and get to start working on improving my credit right away. If I don't file it will be several years before I can afford to pay it off and start rebuilding my credit. I am not worried about needing to file again. I am more responsible now, have health insurance and will have a nice job when I graduate. So how am I going to be worse off by filing? I plan on filing tomorrow. If I am missing something, pleae speak up and let me know.

Why are you so concerned about your credit? Why do you need good credit? To obtain debt. The LAST thing you should be thinking about right now is how you're going to go into more debt in the future.

If you are planning to file bk on a measly $10k in debt (and your credit report WILL show the amount you file on), then no bank in their right mind is going to want to lend you that much again--especially now that banks are getting more and more picky about who they lend to.

But, clearly you are going to file. I'm done trying to convince you to see the bigger picture. I truly hope it all works out for you....

[Exployer1234]

If my only debt was 10K then I would not had filed. I was reaching upwards of 75K. It is not smart to do a BK for such a small amount. That is what everyone is trying to say. You can settle on this debt for a lot less then having to file BK.

Cost of BK with an attorney are 1500-3000 dollars. You will have to come up with that money upfront before you can do BK. Even if you find a lawyer that does payments you still have to come up with the filing fee of 299 plus the 2 credit courses.

I would just try to settle with my creditors for that small of a debt. If you have nothing to pay right now then your creditors will get nothing right now.

I also must say your credit will not rebuild overnight. So even if you settle with your creditors it will take some time (years to rebuild your credit). If you file BK it will take just as long to rebuild your credit.

If you are just doing BK to rebuild your credit it takes at least 2-5 years to get anywhere. You also have to have the means to obtain new credit cards and be able to pay those off just to rebuild your credit. So if you don't have a job right now and can't pay the credit cards BK will not help you, because you can not pay to have new credit cards. Paying student loans are not enough to rebuild your credit.

So what everyone is saying is rebuilding your credit is not going to happen overnight either way. Also why not just wait until you have your new job to settle your debts? It would be a lot easier to get a job when you do not have a BK on your record. Employers now days do look at your credit, and some will not offer a job to you with a BK.

[mamaluv]

I think everyone is missing the point. I may only have $10k in debt but my credit is already screwed, so how much worse can a BK make it? I will discharge the $10k and get to start working on improving my credit right away. If I don't file it will be several years before I can afford to pay it off and start rebuilding my credit. I am not worried about needing to file again. I am more responsible now, have health insurance and will have a nice job when I graduate. So how am I going to be worse off by filing? I plan on filing tomorrow. If I am missing something, pleae speak up and let me know.

I think filing over $10k when you don't have a job is silly. Your credit is shot either way. And there is no guarantee that you won't need to file BK in the future. How many people do you think there are in the unemployment line that had 'nice jobs' Who's to say that nice job won't disappear in 2-3 years? You can't predict the future and god forbid you get yourself into this situation again. You've already filed over 10k and you will be SOL.

[dustinc]

You have changed my mind. I don't think I will file. I was wanting a quick fix but you all have made some good points that caused me to rethink things. Thank you very much.

[JackBondLove]

If you are planning to file bk on a measly $10k in debt (and your credit report WILL show the amount you file on), then no bank in their right mind is going to want to lend you that much again--especially now that banks are getting more and more picky about who they lend to.

Are you trying to say that a bank would be more likely to lend to someone who went belly up on a large amount of debt as opposed to someone with a small amount of debt?

[momofthree]

Are you trying to say that a bank would be more likely to lend to someone who went belly up on a large amount of debt as opposed to someone with a small amount of debt?

Yes. I worked in lending for 5 years, including doing underwriting. Someone who will throw their hands in the air and bk on $10k would not get a loan of $10k for me for darned sure! However, if someone got into a bad set of circumstances and had to file on $80k (random number), then I would be more likely to consider lending them $10k somewhere down the line.