I've hit the bottom gambling !

[gak555]

Hi Folkes,
I used to be a regular on this forum about 5-6 months ago. I ended up getting a decent job, paying the bills and thinking I would not have to deal with declaring bankruptcy.
Well all that changed recently. A death in the family of my very close sister, finding out that the gal I was in love with was cheating on me and the job ending up not all that I thought led me to a drinking and gambling frenzy (mainly online gambling). I was doubling my bets, chasing and doing all the classic desperate things to hide my anxiety, etc.
I could no longer afford the rent and moved in with my brother in law
( he does not even know what is going on). It's like I've been living two lives.
Well now I know I have to declare bankruptcy. I have about $43,500 in credit card and revolving debt and cannot afford the payments. I am only making about $40,000 annually, so I know I would pass the means test in Maryland, but I've taken out a lot of cash advances in the last 30 days for the gambling.
I've taken the first step and have joined gambler's anonymous but I am scared about the recent cash advances as I know the courts frown on that. I need help. I just want to get all this behind me and lead a good Christian life. Can anyone help me with suggestions on what I should do ?
Desperate in Maryland!
George

[SinkingFast]

Are you current to date on your payments with the CC's?? Not behind at this point??

My best advice would be to find a good attny. Visit with 3 or 4. Be honest too.

And wait.

Your CC's aren't gonna come after you immediately. It will be months before anything happens.

So wait.

Patience is the friend of the BK Filer.

Work on other areas of your life. Get your house in order.

And wait.

[gak555]

Thanks for ther quick response. My credit cards and revolving credit cards are all up to date, but bursting at the seems. When do you recommend I do ?

[CindyLou]

see an attorny, but he/she will probably tell you to stop paying them and just play the waiting game. Be honest about our gamling addiction and keep going to meetings!!!

[SinkingFast]

Larger Creditors,............ Chase, BoA, Citi,............. They all have a rather predictable process they follow.

Generally speaking,............ You'll simply get reminder notices on your regular monthly statements for a few months that you haven't paid your payments. Then Regular Customer Service will move your acct to Internal Collections. That's when the phone calls start.

Internal collections will try for several months to arrange payments with you. If the Creditor is unsuccessful with Internal Collections, then they turn you over to a 3rd party collector. You can easily go 6 months to a year before anything serious begins to happen. Or your could be sued in as few as 4-6 months.

How the Creditors persue you depends on the Creditor, how large or small they are, and how much you owe them. Bigger Creditors tend to move slower. Your debt is like a gnat's eyelash to them. Smaller creditors, like a local furniture store, your debt is a big piece of their pie. Small Creditors tend to be much more pesky.

Meantime, schedule Consult appts with attnys. Meet with 3 or 4. You get different perspectives and you get to see if each one is person you can work with. Get your docs gathered and turned in. Get your attny's fee and filing fee paid so your all set to file if need be, on a moment's notice.

Then you wait. Dodge the phone with Caller ID or an answering machine. Save all correspondence from all your Creditors. And wait.

Wait, Wait, Wait, until you can't wait any longer.

[CATCHMEIFYOUCAN]

gak555

I've hit the bottom gambling !

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hi Folkes,
I used to be a regular on this forum about 5-6 months ago. I ended up getting a decent job, paying the bills and thinking I would not have to deal with declaring bankruptcy.
Well all that changed recently. A death in the family of my very close sister,
I'm sorry to hear that
finding out that the gal I was in love with was cheating on me
That sucks
and the job ending up not all that I thought led me to a drinking and gambling frenzy (mainly online gambling). I was doubling my bets, chasing and doing all the classic desperate things to hide my anxiety, etc.
I could no longer afford the rent and moved in with my brother in law
( he does not even know what is going on). It's like I've been living two lives.
Well now I know I have to declare bankruptcy. I have about $43,500 in credit card and revolving debt and cannot afford the payments.
I have about 65-70g's in gambling debt (2 are consolidation loans-but still due to gambling)
I am only making about $40,000 annually,
I WAS making 65g's annually
so I know I would pass the means test in Maryland,
The Means Test is not a matter of passing or failing its a matter of how much disposable income you have left to pay the creditors, but don't be fooled, for example, my Means Test came out as NEGATIVE disposable income (- $60 odd dollars) HOWEVER, schedule I and J showed I had $800 available, I got thrown into Ch13! The Means Test is just tripping the Trustee, Judges, Lawyers up! So whether you pass or fail the means test, if you have disposable income, they'll want you to pay!
but I've taken out a lot of cash advances in the last 30 days for the gambling.
Most of my debt is due to gambling SLOTS (but I never did it on line thing THANK GOODNESS) my last "big advance," ohhh $500 bucks was in MAY 06, and the biggest biggest ones were in APRIL 06 ($4-6 grand!)
I've taken the first step and have joined gambler's anonymous but I am scared about the recent cash advances as I know the courts frown on that. I am in your shoes on the cash advances, but I do have a bit more time from the advances to the time I filed. I need help. I just want to get all this behind me and lead a good Christian life. Can anyone help me with suggestions on what I should do ?
Desperate in Maryland!
George

I congradulate you on going to GA, I will be honest - I'm not ready for one, even though I should go, but until I feel ready, than I will, so be very proud of yourself you've gone one step further than me. Don't be too scared about the recent cash advances, let some time go between the advances and filing, THATS A SAFE BET.
PM (private message) ME as I am a gambler myself, I was able to convert from Chapter 13 to Chapter 7, and am now counting down the days to DISCHARGE. I have an awesome lawyer in VA, but I dont think he practices in MD, however, I can recommend another lawyer for the state of MD that I used in the early 90's.

GOOD LUCK, Catchmeifyoucan

I am only on the internet on the "Graveyard Shift," at work, as I do not have the internet at home.

[gak555]

Thank everyone that has given me feedback. Is there a certain period of time that cash advances cannot be discharged ?

[FoolAndHisMoney]

Do you have any proof of your gambling losses? A few have posted here that they are under a lot of scrutiny because they have no proof of where the cash advance money actually went. If that's the case with you then get caller ID and wait at least a year if not more before filing.

[gak555]

I do have proof. There is a company called neteller that accepts money as a go between. You send money to neteller and they in turn send it to the online gambling site of your choice. I have records of everything I sent them. Would you give me different advice in this case, as I do have proof?

[CindyLou]

Waiting will still be your friend. but I would definitely keep all your records from netteller. They could probably provide you with a print out of everything. Once you see an attorney for your free initial consulation I'm sure you'll feel better. It does make a difference. AND MOST IMPORTANTLY...keep going to those meetings!!!!

[CATCHMEIFYOUCAN]

See if they offer a WIN LOSS STATEMENT. I can get those from all the casinos I've been too, but I also save my cash advance receipts, obviously from the casino themselves, and any withdrawals I've made whether it be from my checking account or credit card, I save the withdrawal receipts. I also have an excel spreadsheet that I've kept up. And you might want to see if you can get a track on how many times, like what days/nights you logged into their website?

Good Luck, Catchmeifyoucan

35 days to DISCHARGE !

[CATCHMEIFYOUCAN]

Dont Feel Bad

Just wanted to add a note to the gambling thing. DONT FEEL BAD, people do different things with their credit, "we," (gamblers) are no different than the ones who use credit to buy cars, homes, jewlry, tvs, game consoles, clothes, shoes etc. The only difference is they have something I bet the creditor wants back! How can we give back money we lost? (unless of course they get you under an objection/adversary proceeding).

Sure, we bring this debt upon ourselves, but look how they push that credit card! AND they still make billions of dollars in profit (so they claim) off high interest rates, annual fees late payment charges. I'm sorry I don't feel bad about my BK. I feel HAPPY that I have a chance to start over!

BE HAPPY everything works out in the end

CATCHMEIFYOUCAN

[CATCHMEIFYOUCAN]

HELPFUL (gakk555)

i just posted a new thread from a link i remembered while running through the forum:

http://www.thebklawyer.com/thebkblog/

May 15, 2006
Credit Card Company Loses a Discharge Action
My friend, attorney Howard Rothbloom, recently emailed me about his victory over MBNA in a discharge complaint filed against his client. In the MBNA vs. Horrocks case, the debtor had charged over $2,400 on his MBNA credit card less than one month prior to filing Chapter 7 bankruptcy. MBNA's lawyers filed an Adversary Complaint against Mr. Horrocks alleging (1) that he committed "actual fraud" pursuant to Bankruptcy Code Section 523(a)(2) and (2) that these charges were made within the 60 day "presumption of non-dischargeability period" set out at Section 523(a)(2)(C). Howard smartly noted, however, that the Complaint filed by MBNA was lacking in detail. It contained a number of allegations, but offered no proof. Howard challenged MBNA by filing discovery materials including requests for admissions, which MBNA failed to answer. When a party fails to answer requests for admissions, those admissions are deemed "admitted." Further, Howard cited a Northern District of Georiga case which held that "actual fraud" means more than using the credit card. The creditor must present evidence showing that the debtor had actual, subjective fraudulent intent. It appears that MBNA and its counsel felt that they could win simply on the fact that the debtor used his credit card shortly before filing. And, more likely than not, if they had made the effort, they very well might have won. But Judge Bonapfel sent a message to MBNA and other creditors - creditors need to produce evidence to prove their cases. Congratulations to Howard for holding the line, especially in light of the many anti-debtor provisions of the new law.

UPDATE: Attorney Susan Gant recently emailed to update me that Judge Bonapfel has issued his order awarding debtor's counsel Howard Rothbloom over $3,000 in attorney's fees pursuant to Bankruptcy Rule 9011. Because creditor's counsel failed to respond to the debtor's discovery motions or his motion for summary judgment, the Bankruptcy Code requires that the Court impose sanctions against the creditor (MBNA) and its local counsel.

CATCHMEIFYOUCAN

[riverlady]

Even if the new BK law is anti debtor it can work in favor of the debtor!