Hi, all. As you know, I have just lost a lawsuit by Gurstel Chargo/Discover Bank, and I have decided that now is the time to file. I am an unemployed full-time student, and I simply don't want the stress and hassle of dealing with these debts to impact my academic performance, and since I am expecting to graduate in December, I don't want my very bad credit to affect my job prospects.
I have no money to pay an attorney, so unfortunately, I am doing this myself. I purchased the NOLO book "How to File for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy" and downloaded the PDF forms from the bankruptcy court's website.
Now, the questions I have are:
1) On the actual petition, Form B1 (Voluntary Petition), there is a section "Certification by a Debtor Who Resides as a Tenant of Residential Property". None of the options there apply to us. We have always paid our rent on time, and don't want the apartment complex notified of the bankruptcy. Can I leave this part blank?
2) For my Schedule B4 (List of Creditors Holding 20 Largest Claims) and Schedule E (Creditors Holding Unsecured Priority Claims) , how do I deal with debts which are sold to JDB's or assigned to collection agencies? With regard to my judgment from Gurstel Chargo/Discover Bank, do I list the entire debt as owing to Discover, or do I list the principal part as a debt to Discover Bank, and the attorney's fees and court costs which were added to the judgment as a debt to Gurstel Chargo? Do I list the original creditor for sold or assigned debts here and the collection agency or debt buyer?
3) For my Schedule B (Personal Property), how much effort must I really put into valuing my personal possessions, most of which were fished out of dumpsters, and surely cannot be sold for much of anything? Can I just pull a number out of the air, such as $900, or do I really have to waste time trying to figure out what my old, beat-up furniture would sell for, my old, worn-out clothes would sell for, etc? If I put a low number, are they going to assume I'm lying, even given that I live in a small 1-bedroom apartment, and I am not working?
4) For my Schedule C (Property Claimed as Exempt), how can I exempt my desktop, laptop, and printer which are needed for my education? Can I exempt these as "tools of a trade" since I am a full-time student, studying computer science? Can I make a letter of the law vs. spirit of the law argument, and exempt these under the law which exempts a typewriter, since the obvious intent of that law is to allow people to exempt the machine needed to prepare legal documents and correspondence? Both of these computers are old, and the laptop was bought used on Craigslist for less than $100. The desktop was found next to a dumpster, so it's not worth very much. However these have important information saved on them, and I am not interested in being asked by the trustee to pay a lot of money, or surrender them.
5) How do I list the unsecured judgment from Gurstel Chargo/Discover Bank? I do not own any real estate, nor do I own any vehicles, so there should not be a lien on anything.
6) How do I list unpaid state income taxes from 2009, for which no return was filed? Can I file for bankruptcy even if I don't have time to file this prior to filing? I no longer have the W2's from that year, and some of the employers I worked for don't exist anymore. The total amount of the taxes (before any interest or penalties) would be about $100. Can I somehow split the claim into a priority claim and nonpriority claim, and discharge the interest and penalties?
7) I did not have any taxable income during 2011, and therefore did not file any taxes (state or federal) for that year. I did have taxable income during 2012, and I just filed my 2012 state and federal taxes. Is that sufficient for including with my Exhibit A?
I have no money to pay an attorney, so unfortunately, I am doing this myself. I purchased the NOLO book "How to File for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy" and downloaded the PDF forms from the bankruptcy court's website.
Now, the questions I have are:
1) On the actual petition, Form B1 (Voluntary Petition), there is a section "Certification by a Debtor Who Resides as a Tenant of Residential Property". None of the options there apply to us. We have always paid our rent on time, and don't want the apartment complex notified of the bankruptcy. Can I leave this part blank?
2) For my Schedule B4 (List of Creditors Holding 20 Largest Claims) and Schedule E (Creditors Holding Unsecured Priority Claims) , how do I deal with debts which are sold to JDB's or assigned to collection agencies? With regard to my judgment from Gurstel Chargo/Discover Bank, do I list the entire debt as owing to Discover, or do I list the principal part as a debt to Discover Bank, and the attorney's fees and court costs which were added to the judgment as a debt to Gurstel Chargo? Do I list the original creditor for sold or assigned debts here and the collection agency or debt buyer?
3) For my Schedule B (Personal Property), how much effort must I really put into valuing my personal possessions, most of which were fished out of dumpsters, and surely cannot be sold for much of anything? Can I just pull a number out of the air, such as $900, or do I really have to waste time trying to figure out what my old, beat-up furniture would sell for, my old, worn-out clothes would sell for, etc? If I put a low number, are they going to assume I'm lying, even given that I live in a small 1-bedroom apartment, and I am not working?
4) For my Schedule C (Property Claimed as Exempt), how can I exempt my desktop, laptop, and printer which are needed for my education? Can I exempt these as "tools of a trade" since I am a full-time student, studying computer science? Can I make a letter of the law vs. spirit of the law argument, and exempt these under the law which exempts a typewriter, since the obvious intent of that law is to allow people to exempt the machine needed to prepare legal documents and correspondence? Both of these computers are old, and the laptop was bought used on Craigslist for less than $100. The desktop was found next to a dumpster, so it's not worth very much. However these have important information saved on them, and I am not interested in being asked by the trustee to pay a lot of money, or surrender them.
5) How do I list the unsecured judgment from Gurstel Chargo/Discover Bank? I do not own any real estate, nor do I own any vehicles, so there should not be a lien on anything.
6) How do I list unpaid state income taxes from 2009, for which no return was filed? Can I file for bankruptcy even if I don't have time to file this prior to filing? I no longer have the W2's from that year, and some of the employers I worked for don't exist anymore. The total amount of the taxes (before any interest or penalties) would be about $100. Can I somehow split the claim into a priority claim and nonpriority claim, and discharge the interest and penalties?
7) I did not have any taxable income during 2011, and therefore did not file any taxes (state or federal) for that year. I did have taxable income during 2012, and I just filed my 2012 state and federal taxes. Is that sufficient for including with my Exhibit A?
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