well made my final decisions

[adkid22]

After going back and forth, I realized with no help, I will not be able to save for the attorney so I am going to handle myself

The good news:
I have the NOLO book and seems very helpful so far
I fall well beyond the 1 person threshold. (3,741 for PA. My average last 6 months income is calculated so far at 2396.10/mo)
My consultation with the previous lawyer indicated that this would be a no asset case.
I have no weird things that would be attached to my case(liens, insurance,bonds,etc)
I DO NOT own a home.
using google/ebay/amazon and using the price it would cost for me to replace every item I own (including my 96 accord) is 4950, so I am fairly certain everything would either be exempt or wouldn't be worth it for the trustee to sell.

Now, I have a few questions.
1) I live with roommates (a married couple) and they rent me out a room to get on my feet. They would not be included in the "household", correct?

2)When calculating the last 6 months of income, would I include my tax refund I received this year (550) and also would I calculate the last weeks pay of 2010 since I was paid on Jan 3, 2011 or would that not be considered part of the last 6 months. (takes me down to ~2184 in average income if i don't, but not sure it doesn't matter)

2)I am starting a list of my creditors. I am using my credit report and my knowledge of some open issues that hasn't shown. I have moved and never "forwarded" my address since I am not on a lease and didn't want the harassment. What is the best way to obtain a current list of their service address in order to serve them correctly.

3)I have private student loans from Chase that my father co-signed for. On my credit report, it says "submitted to Fed" and 0 as my balance. I know that student loans can not be discharged, but how do I find out what that means?

4)As far as loans go, I plan on paying of my Pell Loan (~3700) that went into default in order to get back into school and finish so I can increase my earning potential. I am also looking towards the future and want to pay back the private loans, how would I obtain that information in order to start that process?

Thanks for your input and help. I really appreciate it. Moving to a new city to get away from issues that put me here and the prospect of getting a somewhat of a fresh start, I've been so relieved and less stressed.

[btbeme]

1. They are not part of the household, since you do not support them as dependents.

2. Since it doesn't put you over the cliff, include everything. Since you are so far below the threshold, they will likely not even do more than glance at the number anyway.

2. (your 2nd #2). The last few pages of a credit report generally have the service address. On any statements you get you should see a "customer service " address. You can also do a search on the Internet. Serve every address you can (actually, regular mail is OK; no need to send certified unless you feel more comfortable. Return receipt is an inexpensive way to go as well). Best to include a few extra addresses than miss them. Carpet-bomb every address you can find for $0.44 each. In the end, as long as you list the creditor it will make no difference, but it will save you the hassle of later mailing copies of your discharge to those you missed.

3. Don't know. The word "Fed" makes me pause. Forum - Anyone else know?

4. Post discharge, you can pay back anyone you like. Before then, it will be a mess if you pay them (preference payment), so wait until after discharge.

Overall - if you have no real speed bumps, filing per se can be an OK way to go. You can lean on the folks here for help on your paperwork. Just be honest when filing and everything will go smoothly. Keep us up to date before the milestones (filing, 341) so we can help.

Just to make sure - you are in OH but filing under PA rules, correct?

[momofthree]

Just want to jump in and tell you that if you file at any time in June, your look-back will be Dec. 1 - May 31. It doesn't go by number of weeks and you would not include any of your June paychecks, even if you filed June 30th, the lookback would still be Dec. 1 - May 31.

[adkid22]

1. They are not part of the household, since you do not support them as dependents.

2. Since it doesn't put you over the cliff, include everything. Since you are so far below the threshold, they will likely not even do more than glance at the number anyway.

2. (your 2nd #2). The last few pages of a credit report generally have the service address. On any statements you get you should see a "customer service " address. You can also do a search on the Internet. Serve every address you can (actually, regular mail is OK; no need to send certified unless you feel more comfortable. Return receipt is an inexpensive way to go as well). Best to include a few extra addresses than miss them. Carpet-bomb every address you can find for $0.44 each. In the end, as long as you list the creditor it will make no difference, but it will save you the hassle of later mailing copies of your discharge to those you missed.

3. Don't know. The word "Fed" makes me pause. Forum - Anyone else know?

4. Post discharge, you can pay back anyone you like. Before then, it will be a mess if you pay them (preference payment), so wait until after discharge.

Overall - if you have no real speed bumps, filing per se can be an OK way to go. You can lean on the folks here for help on your paperwork. Just be honest when filing and everything will go smoothly. Keep us up to date before the milestones (filing, 341) so we can help.

Just to make sure - you are in OH but filing under PA rules, correct?

oops, didn't see the second number 2 there. It was late haha.

I would be paying back the student loan until after, since it will free up nearly 200 a month that is being garnished out of my checks now.
Thanks for the tip on serving them, it was just kind of confusing since there seems to be a lot of buy/selling of debts and I want to make sure I got the correct one.

As for number 3, here is what is says exactly. "Account Delinquent past 180 days. Claim filed with government for insured portion of balance" and on another credit report, it says "recovery claim filed with government"

Also, I am filing in PA, but using Ohio rules. I haven't updated my account recently (didn't even notice) but I moved to PA ~5 months ago, so I will be using Ohio exemptions.

Just want to jump in and tell you that if you file at any time in June, your look-back will be Dec. 1 - May 31. It doesn't go by number of weeks and you would not include any of your June paychecks, even if you filed June 30th, the lookback would still be Dec. 1 - May 31.

Thanks for the heads up. My plan is to file in July and I wanted to take this next month reading/getting all my information together before I filed. Also, I earn significantly less than I did last year, so I don't want to include any old paychecks.

[momofthree]

If you file at any time in July, your look-back will be Jan 1 - June 30, so you would include your Jan 3rd paycheck. Also, you do not list your tax refund as income. Since you use your gross income on your schedules, it will already be counted.

[adkid22]

If you file at any time in July, your look-back will be Jan 1 - June 30, so you would include your Jan 3rd paycheck. Also, you do not list your tax refund as income. Since you use your gross income on your schedules, it will already be counted.

thank you for the assistance. I just wasnt sure if they could count it since it was technically work done in december or not. As was said before, it doesn't make a huge difference as I am still ~1500 below what the threshold is.

I will keep you all updated on my progress. Thanks for being so helpful

[daylate]

Ohio exemptions are limited to people who live in Ohio so once you moved to PA you can't use Ohio. Since you have lived in PA for only 5 months you can't use them either. Its federal exemptions for you. In reality they are better than Ohio's but in your case it doesn't appear to matter-both should be more than adequate for your situation. Check out this site http://exemptionsexpress.com/Montana_to_Wyoming.html

[HHM]

For the "submitted to fed"

That means that the loans have been referred back to the guarantor agency, in this case, probably the Dept of Education. Chase has been paid by the Guarantor agency, and someone else will be contacting you to collect. So, those loans were not "truly" private. Have you received any notices recently about your student loans.

[adkid22]

For the "submitted to fed"

That means that the loans have been referred back to the guarantor agency, in this case, probably the Dept of Education. Chase has been paid by the Guarantor agency, and someone else will be contacting you to collect. So, those loans were not "truly" private. Have you received any notices recently about your student loans.

I have not received anything, except a phone call 2 years ago regarding this. I never received anything in the mail at my old address in Ohio either. I haven't updated to my current PA address since I moved here, so it is very possible they sent a notice to the address on file, although it would be returned to sender. I have no garnishments for the student loans either.

I want to contact them and work things out because I really want to finish school since I was an idiot and dropped out with 1 year left to go. I feel that would definitely help me make more than I am now.

Am I in a worse position due to the government having their hands in this? I feel like they would collect more aggressively than a private company. I don't want to go through bankruptcy for them to just turn around and garnish my wages again. I won't be able to may the 500/month like they probably want, but I definitely can put some money into it after I am discharged (if I am ) and my current garnishment goes away.