What's the worse that can happen if you do nothing?

[so-beyond-broke]

Hello Everyone:

Most of us are here at this forum because we are BK filers going through the process and helping others or we are planning to file but are educating ourselves on the subject of BK. I plan to file shortly because I had come to the realization
in December that after trying debt settlement and losing 2 jobs in 2005 (one being a lay-off) that BK is now my only viable option. But what if a person decided to do nothing about their debt. The letters come and the phone is constantly ringing from CA's and CCC's. What can happen? My SO thinks I am crazy for filing bk. He says that I will ruin my credit, but its already heading that way. I have more negative accts than positive ones right now. He has some CC's that he went bad on in the late 80's/early 90's before we were together that's not to mention the cards he has now are in collections and being out of work for so long and frequently didn't help the problem. He always says you can't get blood out of a turnip and when he's dead the creditors can't chase a hearse for their $$. His approach is to do nothing. There has been a few times that he would get a letter in the mail from the City Marshall stating that they are coming to get his things that are not "exempt." Does this mean that a CCC got a judgement against him? He had Radio Shack an old CC from the late 80's
sending this through the marshall's office. I thought that you had to be subpeonaed to come to court before a company can get an actual judgement against you. We've been together 15 yrs and to my knowledge he was never served legal papers for CC debts. Besides papers from the Marshall's office have come on many occassions, but no one has ever set foot in our home to collect his non-exempt things. I am wondering could they take my stuff too, but it has never gotten to that point.

So why file bk, I can just be like my SO and do nothing? What's the worse that can happen? Unlike my SO, I am tired of the letters, phone calls btwn 8-9pm and I realized my ways and I just want a fresh start. I would someday like to own my own home and stop paying rent.

Have you considered doing nothing?Have you been sued?

sbb

[nomore$$]

Well, you need to read all you can on these boards and go to see several attorney's for free consultations.
Also, get all your ducks in a row so you KNOW exactly where you stand.
For me, I bottomed out last year and had to file on 10/12/05.
Phones rang off the hook, creditors began calling my neighbors, life was TERRIBLE.
It was the best thing I could have done.
I have now been discharged and my case closed.
Credit score bottomed out at 485 last year and has already come back up to 570 since I filed.
For me, life is peaceful again.
BK is a serious thing, but allows you to get back on track when things are too far gone.

[Minnymouth]

Your creditors can "force" you into bankruptcy if they so wish............. especially if you do nothing....

Since you seem to have no assets they wouldn't get much but they can force bankruptcy, get judgements, and garnish wages.....

Your credit will always "suck" until you do something about the situation..... Your spouse "sticking their head in the sand - solves nothing"....

Your setting yourself up to where you'll never be able to buy a home, or another auto if you need one...........

You need to take charge of your affairs and if your spouse will not file BK then you need too to clean up your side of the relationship so your credit will rebuild..... (If you do, just make sure his/her name is on nothing after you file - especially if they are not filing with you).... that way his/her credit can no longer pull your down....

[Jenny]

First, I'm going to assume you're not married to this man because you called him an SO and not a DH or spouse.

Second, some states still have common law marriage, and if you've been living with this guy for a long time, those states could consider you married and your finances joint. It's something to check into.

Third, to answer your question about what's the worst thing that can happen? You can be sued and your wages garnished. There's no guarantee it will or won't happen, and no one can tell you when or if it will. It's a risk you take by doing nothing.

Also, as Minny said, your credit will always be bad if collection agencies keep passing the debt around, and you never really resolve anything. Yes, I've heard the "can't get blood from a turnip" phrase, but as my repo-man friend told me, "You're not a turnip." You're a living breathing human being who, unless is permanently disabled and/or living entirely on government assistance, and never owns anything of value, there's money to be had by creditors.

Obviously I don't know the particulars of your SO's financials, but it's hard for me to believe that he could go along his whole life without paying bills or debts and never be sued or have anything repossessed. I'm not saying it can't happen, but it sounds unlikely. Even if it did happen to him, that's not a guarantee that it will work out that way for you. It all depends on who you owe, what you owe, how much you owe, what you own, and how you earn your living.

[so-beyond-broke]

Hi Jenny

You are right he's not my legal husband we've only been living together for 15 years and have 3 teenage children at home. In NY where we are from common law does not exist. My SO was paying on his debts but abandon them. I can't say for the ones he incurred before we were together (those are the ones that are sending him papers from the marshall's office). The debts that he incurred while we were together - he has paid on and off, but when you are frequently between jobs its difficult to worry about paying creditors when you are collecting unemployment or nothing at all. I can attest that he has not been sued or had anything repossessed other than his van many years ago - it was a voluntary repo. He couldn't afford the payments and insurance because we were expecting twins. I however don't want to wait and get sued or a judgement that's why I hope that I get to the BK court before that happens. But like you said there's no way of knowing when you will be getting sued until the actual court papers are sent. I am just tired of the messages on my machine from people leaving their names and numbers to discuss a "personal business" matter. When they say this I know that its a CA. I just want peace of mind and get a great night's sleep for once and I can't do this until I close this chapter of my life so that I can finally "breathe again."

sbb

First, I'm going to assume you're not married to this man because you called him an SO and not a DH or spouse.

Second, some states still have common law marriage, and if you've been living with this guy for a long time, those states could consider you married and your finances joint. It's something to check into.

Third, to answer your question about what's the worst thing that can happen? You can be sued and your wages garnished. There's no guarantee it will or won't happen, and no one can tell you when or if it will. It's a risk you take by doing nothing.

Also, as Minny said, your credit will always be bad if collection agencies keep passing the debt around, and you never really resolve anything. Yes, I've heard the "can't get blood from a turnip" phrase, but as my repo-man friend told me, "You're not a turnip." You're a living breathing human being who, unless is permanently disabled and/or living entirely on government assistance, and never owns anything of value, there's money to be had by creditors.

Obviously I don't know the particulars of your SO's financials, but it's hard for me to believe that he could go along his whole life without paying bills or debts and never be sued or have anything repossessed. I'm not saying it can't happen, but it sounds unlikely. Even if it did happen to him, that's not a guarantee that it will work out that way for you. It all depends on who you owe, what you owe, how much you owe, what you own, and how you earn your living.

[AMISLANDER]

My opinion...

I personally feel it's a lot worse now than five years ago. There are so many people who are just not paying their bills win, lose or draw. Since I haven't had a cc since 2002, when I stopped paying mine, and my credit score was probably around 900...had to be good, my limit on one card alone was $35K...anyhow, I've not experienced what happens with the interest if you are late paying or any of the things coming up now.....but...I didn't deal with the calls, letters etc...for three years...I did not work, I had other income that luckily wasn't snatched from my bank accounts...but I didn't do ANYTHING...finally, last year, a supeana came w/a judgement & I decided, my time was up...so, for me it took a good three years for them to finally find me...but, now, with the law changeover & the skyhigh cc interest rates, I wouldn't mess around. See a couple of attorneys and get right. It's in your best interest.

[SinkingFast]

I actually made a comment along those lines to attnys to see what the answer would be.

"We don't have to file BK. We don't have anything anyway, asset wise. We can just wait it out and let them charge it off."

Attnys all said the same thing.

The CC's will eventually sue us, get a judgement against us, and garnish Hubby's wages up to 25%. Mine too if I were to get a job and go back to work. Then that could cause problems for us with employers. Most employers don't like to deal with garnishments, and only give you a certain amount of time to resolve the issue.

While we may have some time to wait to put time between us and charges, and work to prepare to file, we need to beat the CC's to the law suit punch, so to speak.

We need to file BK before the CC's come after us is what the attnys have said.

[GoingDown]

Hello Everyone:

Most of us are here at this forum because we are BK filers going through the process and helping others or we are planning to file but are educating ourselves on the subject of BK. I plan to file shortly because I had come to the realization
in December that after trying debt settlement and losing a couple of jobs that BK is now my only viable option. But what if a person decided to do nothing about their debt. The letters come and the phone is constantly ringing from CA's and CCC's. What can happen? My SO thinks I am crazy for filing bk. He says that I will ruin my credit, but its already heading that way. I have more negative accts than positive ones right now. He has some CC's that he went bad on in the late 80's/early 90's before we were together that's not to mention the cards he has now are in collections and being out of work for so long and frequently didn't help the problem. He always says you can't get blood out of a turnip and when he's dead the creditors can't chase a hearse for their $$. His approach is to do nothing. There has been a few times that he would get a letter in the mail from the City Marshall stating that they are coming to get his things that are not "exempt." Does this mean that a CCC got a judgement against him? He had Radio Shack an old CC from the late 80's
sending this through the marshall's office. I thought that you had to be subpeonaed to come to court before a company can get an actual judgement against you. We've been together 15 yrs and to my knowledge he was never served legal papers for CC debts. Besides papers from the Marshall's office have come on many occassions, but no one has ever set foot in our home to collect his non-exempt things. I am wondering could they take my stuff too, but it has never gotten to that point.

So why file bk, I can just be like my SO and do nothing? What's the worse that can happen? Unlike my SO, I am tired of the letters, phone calls btwn 8-9pm and I realized my ways and I just want a fresh start. I would someday like to own my own home and stop paying rent.

Have you considered doing nothing?Have you been sued?

sbb

Was it really a letter from your local government officials telling you this, or was it from a collection agency/creditor? I think that most credit card companies would not be interested in taking used appliances, used clothes, used furniture, etc., because it wouldn't be worth much at auction, so it might even end up costing them more than they would profit from it. Also, how exactly would they know which items were not exempt-- which items were worth more than what your state's exemptions would allow? How would they know what you had inside your home or your apartment?

And this one is for my own personal circumstances-- if you are living with someone else, and you aren't married to that person, how would they determine which items belonged to me and which items belonged to her if they came to take non-exempt items?

[djk]

IMO it depends on how much you owe to each creditor. doing nothing (actively ignoring) with debts less than $1,500 to $2,000.00 may work. Larger debts most likely will enter the longer term/agressive collection process. If you have a bunch of relatively low amounts of debt and can live with the drumbeat of collections activity it may be an option to look at. On the other hand if you really want that sleep just go ahead and file.