Filing from abroad as a FT student, presumption of abuse
I've combed these forums and have yet to find a case that is really similar to my own. I thought I'd post and see what you guys think of it. I'm mid-30s, single, no kids, and as of September 2013 a full-time student living in Europe (CO is my home state and where my case was filed).
I already had a substantial but sort of manageable amount of consumer debt just over two years ago, when I became the victim of a violent crime. I used alcohol as a coping mechanism at first, as many survivors do; fortunately, with help from my therapist, I was eventually able to stop doing that. Unfortunately, I turned to spending instead. Yay, my liver still works. (I hear those are expensive to replace.) Boo, my credit cards don't. (Not that I'd use them if they did. I try not to repeat my mistakes.)
It got really bad last year, and in March 2013 I finally started seeing a therapist who specialized in addiction and had been through BK herself. I gave her all my credit cards in our first session and basically didn't use them again except when I had no other options. We tallied up my debts, minimum payments and interest rates (ouch) and talked about ways to deal with the situation. She mentioned BK pretty early on, but I was adamantly against it. I wanted to pay back my debts and thought I could make it work. I looked into debt consolidation. The best I could do with that was 5 years of $1,200-a-month payments -- which I eventually learned would be impossible on student loans and no income (and I'm in a very intensive program that leaves me no extra time for freelance work). I asked my credit union for an unsecured loan that I could use to make the minimum payments while I was in school; no dice, obviously. I took a part-time retail job to help pay down the debt, but it ended up making things worse because I was constantly surrounded by temptation ("look how cheap everything is with the employee discount!"), so I decided I was better off quitting.
Finally, at the end of July 2013, as I finally started to fall behind on payments and the house of cards began to collapse, I realized there was no better option. I made the decision, did some digging and contacted a lawyer. I haven't touched my credit cards since making that decision, but there were a few charges within the 90-day window (my Chapter 7 case was filed Sept. 24, 2013) because, obviously, I had not decided to file at that time. Once I did make the decision to file, things had to move quickly, because I was leaving for Europe on Sept. 5. I know there's a lot on these forums about pre-planning and timing your BK, but for me, it was just not possible. C'est la vie.
Problem is, I came in just over the median income for my state (obviously, I have no income now) and I failed the means test as a result. I have practically no assets except my student loan money, which is all I have to live on. They can't argue that quitting my job and going to school was a snap decision, since I was accepted in June 2012 and my employer knew all along, but I guess I'm worried that the U.S. trustee will claim I planned the whole thing. I didn't.
The U.S. trustee challenged my use of the federal exemption -- my attorney promptly shot him down on that -- and wants all my credit card statements from this year (some of which I am having trouble accessing online, which is the only way I can get them from here). I'll be honest: There are purchases on there that fall into the category of luxury items (though not in the 90-day window, I think, unless you count the trip to Los Angeles that I HAD to make in early July to get my mandatory student visa -- bureaucracy ain't cheap, Denver doesn't have a consulate, and again, at the time, I still thought I could find a way to pay my debts if I just scrambled hard enough).
The thing about spending to make yourself feel better or make yourself stop hurting is that it isn't logical. It's very easy to tell yourself, "$50 a month? Of COURSE I can manage that!" when you're looking at a shiny pair of earrings -- especially if you haven't bothered to add up how much you're already shelling out in minimum payments. I returned or resold everything I could, but there was some stuff the stores would not let me return. I sold some of my jewelry to those shady cash-for-gold places to try to make credit card payments. I cut every unnecessary expense. I borrowed money from my parents to pay for prescription medications and groceries. I was not exactly living it up this summer.
Obviously, I won't be hiding anything. I'm not stupid, although obviously I made some huge mistakes and wish I'd gotten the help I needed much sooner than I did. I'm just worried. How do these things typically turn out -- or, if "typically" doesn't apply, can you point me to some cases that have similar aspects?
I'm also worried about my current student loan disbursements. I have new Stafford and PLUS loans for my current program. Will the BK interfere with those? I am due for two more disbursements this school year and signed the promissory notes for both loans before I considered BK. My concern is that the PLUS loan will be yanked. Any experience with this?
I already had a substantial but sort of manageable amount of consumer debt just over two years ago, when I became the victim of a violent crime. I used alcohol as a coping mechanism at first, as many survivors do; fortunately, with help from my therapist, I was eventually able to stop doing that. Unfortunately, I turned to spending instead. Yay, my liver still works. (I hear those are expensive to replace.) Boo, my credit cards don't. (Not that I'd use them if they did. I try not to repeat my mistakes.)
It got really bad last year, and in March 2013 I finally started seeing a therapist who specialized in addiction and had been through BK herself. I gave her all my credit cards in our first session and basically didn't use them again except when I had no other options. We tallied up my debts, minimum payments and interest rates (ouch) and talked about ways to deal with the situation. She mentioned BK pretty early on, but I was adamantly against it. I wanted to pay back my debts and thought I could make it work. I looked into debt consolidation. The best I could do with that was 5 years of $1,200-a-month payments -- which I eventually learned would be impossible on student loans and no income (and I'm in a very intensive program that leaves me no extra time for freelance work). I asked my credit union for an unsecured loan that I could use to make the minimum payments while I was in school; no dice, obviously. I took a part-time retail job to help pay down the debt, but it ended up making things worse because I was constantly surrounded by temptation ("look how cheap everything is with the employee discount!"), so I decided I was better off quitting.
Finally, at the end of July 2013, as I finally started to fall behind on payments and the house of cards began to collapse, I realized there was no better option. I made the decision, did some digging and contacted a lawyer. I haven't touched my credit cards since making that decision, but there were a few charges within the 90-day window (my Chapter 7 case was filed Sept. 24, 2013) because, obviously, I had not decided to file at that time. Once I did make the decision to file, things had to move quickly, because I was leaving for Europe on Sept. 5. I know there's a lot on these forums about pre-planning and timing your BK, but for me, it was just not possible. C'est la vie.
Problem is, I came in just over the median income for my state (obviously, I have no income now) and I failed the means test as a result. I have practically no assets except my student loan money, which is all I have to live on. They can't argue that quitting my job and going to school was a snap decision, since I was accepted in June 2012 and my employer knew all along, but I guess I'm worried that the U.S. trustee will claim I planned the whole thing. I didn't.
The U.S. trustee challenged my use of the federal exemption -- my attorney promptly shot him down on that -- and wants all my credit card statements from this year (some of which I am having trouble accessing online, which is the only way I can get them from here). I'll be honest: There are purchases on there that fall into the category of luxury items (though not in the 90-day window, I think, unless you count the trip to Los Angeles that I HAD to make in early July to get my mandatory student visa -- bureaucracy ain't cheap, Denver doesn't have a consulate, and again, at the time, I still thought I could find a way to pay my debts if I just scrambled hard enough).
The thing about spending to make yourself feel better or make yourself stop hurting is that it isn't logical. It's very easy to tell yourself, "$50 a month? Of COURSE I can manage that!" when you're looking at a shiny pair of earrings -- especially if you haven't bothered to add up how much you're already shelling out in minimum payments. I returned or resold everything I could, but there was some stuff the stores would not let me return. I sold some of my jewelry to those shady cash-for-gold places to try to make credit card payments. I cut every unnecessary expense. I borrowed money from my parents to pay for prescription medications and groceries. I was not exactly living it up this summer.
Obviously, I won't be hiding anything. I'm not stupid, although obviously I made some huge mistakes and wish I'd gotten the help I needed much sooner than I did. I'm just worried. How do these things typically turn out -- or, if "typically" doesn't apply, can you point me to some cases that have similar aspects?
I'm also worried about my current student loan disbursements. I have new Stafford and PLUS loans for my current program. Will the BK interfere with those? I am due for two more disbursements this school year and signed the promissory notes for both loans before I considered BK. My concern is that the PLUS loan will be yanked. Any experience with this?
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