What would you have done prior to filing if you had to do it again?

[dspii]

For me, I would have seen the writing on the walls much sooner. Also might I add, I would have found this site before I filed. In addition, I would have had more faith in what the members on this forum were saying when they said "don't worry or sweat the process". I lost so much sleep and hair, the stress sucked, I bet I lost several years of my life worrying over what turns out to be nothing.

BK, for most, is an easy process, it is serious and should not be taken lightly, but damn...there is really nothing to worry about if your one of the million people that are over their head, no matter how they got there! We are given a fresh start, use it wisely and remember the BK process is typically uneventful, so don't get freaked out by no new news!

[Epic]

Thank you for the input, I am just trying to pre-plan as much as I can before I file. I know I should have done it sooner, a lot sooner. If anyone else has any thoughts, please chime in ;-)

[SunkShip]

What I would do then with what I know now, is first, Internet myself as to what this is all about. Our lawyer was terrible in educational ability and we were dumb as anvils.

Then I would have found this place, downloaded the C7 book from Nolo Press and learned Pro Se'. I would have been a d*mn better lawyer than the one I had.

+1

[stillstandin]

Agree with dspii....Wish I'd have seen the writing on the wall earlier as well. I waited about 8 months too long and did not discover this forum until after my 341. I regret not seeking help here in advance. I had no help or advice and was embarrassed to ask anyone, so I basically shut down socially for almost a year, b/c there was no $ to go out and socialize over dinner. You can grow a lot of gray hair in 8-12 months, and I did that as a result of the stress of continuing to try to pay $1000 in CC bills, office rent, home rent, tax obligations etc., when there was 60% less money coming in. (Self employed) During this time, I cut out EVERY personal and work expense possible to pay the bills, and as a result, ended up with a huge tax bill because of slashed deductions, even though I made much less money than the previous year. Still dealing with that and student loans. I paid CC bills up to filing date, b/c I did not want to give them an opportunity to add negative info on my CR. My atty sent out letters within 2 days of me paying my last bill, and I only got one collection call, which I referred to her--I didn't even have to talk to them. Left the collections person a message with my case # at 10:00 PM and that was the end of it.

I had one negative on my CR before filing, which should not be there, and should be able to easily have it removed, so I'm glad that I timed the filing the way I did. Compared to others experiences here, it seems that I was lucky with my atty choice. She never missed a beat. Knew her stuff, and was very supportive, but I also worked really hard to get her everything she asked for ASAP. Key.
Best of luck!

[mickeyme]

I did a ton of research prior which really helped. I also kept paying my cc's until the day I say the attorney which I think helped my credit score rebound. The one thing I would have changed is what I did right after. We did not reaffirm our condo and we continue to pay the 1st & 2nd as we thought we would be staying in our place. Knowing what I know now, I would have stopped paying right after the BK instead of waiting 14 months to do so. What a waste of money for that 14 month time-frame. I get really upset when I think about all the money I could have saved...leason learned, we are saving now and going through the short sale / foreclosure process.

[keptdigging]

My one mistake was a last series of balance transfers before I stopped paying the cards. I was my old clever self, transfering line of credit balances onto a new credit card so I could free up the LOCs and get fresh advances. The stupidity of this was that you create Adversarial Proceeding/non-dischargeability risk that is DOUBLE the amount of cash you raise. Example: If you transfer $3,000* of a LOC onto a CC with a bal xfer and then take a fresh advance from the LOC of $3,000, you net $3,000 in funds. But you now have non-discharegability risk with both the CC and the LOC totaling $6,000. (Just the $3,000 would have been bad enough.)

I did all this when I hadn't found this site yet. Then I read the Nolo book and figured I would be fine as long as these xfers were a mere 90 days behind me!

In the end I found a way to keep from filing for about a year. But it took a lot of hard work and some luck to do that. My little bal xfer maneuver really reduced my flexibility.

And I'm still in the 60 day club so the jury is still out on whether the creditors involved will threaten/file APs.

* the numbers have been changed to protect the poor innocent dollars involved.