Why Are/Have You Filed BK?

[HRx]

Please take a moment to participate in this non-scientific controlled study.

[tinroofrusted]

Mine was because of divorce. The jerk wracked up credit cards, and I never found out about it until a year AFTER it happened!

[BrokeCh7]

I need to pick more then 1

To Todd
I need to pick more then one on your poll. Should i just vote twice?

[robivi3]

Bad risk in business, out of control living expenses.

[outofcontrol]

Several reasons but the main one is that my husbands job cut his pay and increased our portion of the medical premiums.

[The Big B???]

Neverending, bank account draining, emergency fund absorbing, 3 year long divorce and custody battle.

Her quote to me on the last night we were in the same home at the beginning of it all..."I'm going to destroy you emotionally and financially"

She got the financial part right, but I've got more custody of our son than she ever anticipated or wanted me to have

[Minnymouth]

Medical bills, furneral bills of caring for elderly parent at home for 4 years.
And also some extra spending 7 years ago when I purchased my home.
Sometimes we all make errors in judgement....and the price can be very high in the future.

[Stevenmi]

For me...living outside of my means(house needed roof, car died,helped my dad with a loan, then when the recession hit, hours at work dropped took a 10% pay cut just to keep my job...I picked up a second job, played the nutshell game for 4 years to try and keep up and finally had a heart attack at 35, in part from the stress of working 80+ hours a week to try and pay them back. Medical bills slammed me, creditors started suing me..I finally filed because i honestly felt i would have died trying to pay them off, creditors calling telling my kids they were gonna take our house!! I hope they all burn in hell. After looking back...each of them got payed back at least 10% over what I actually barrowed from them over the 10 years i had owned the cards. In reality I wish i had done it sooner, but my ego and fear of loosing everything stopped me, ironic that I almost lost the importaint things trying to stay afloat.

Steve(never again!!)

[LinSC]

Ultimate Reason for BK - excessive credit debt. Factors leading up to excessive credit debt:

1. Husband's salary was mainly commission for past 5 years and we lived on credit cards during the lean months.
2. Took out second mortgage at pretty high interest rate to try and alleviate some of the credit card debt ... only made our payments worse.
3. My new job in different state in 2004 ... along with cost of moving and making rent and mortgage payments (1st and 2nd) until first house was sold.
4. Husband couldn't find position in new state for 8 months!!

Unfortunately, it's been a downward spiral for a long time and we just paid the minimum until my husband's paychecks stopped coming in and then until the credit limits were maxed. I guess we always thought it wasn't that bad and we would be able to dig out "next month." Thank God it's over!! I can attest that we'll NEVER get into that situation again.

[EdytaHome]

$25,000 unsecured credit card debt, buying a second house without selling the first one, and than losing my job in November of last year, as an icing on the cake.

[Greg0538]

34 years of "trying to keep up with the Jones'" has led to approx $100,000 unsecured debt and a 1st & 2nd mortage.

[3131tj]

Greg0538

and I'll bet the "Jones" moved out of your neighborhood a long time ago!

[bnkrpt]

several reasons why i filed bk:

my hubby rec'd a better job in another city, even though I had bought a home 1 year previous we moved, but unfortunately now he has a good job and I don't...took a long time for the house to get rented, meaning we were paying rent and a mortgage at the same time....by the time it got rented this Feb, it was too late and I filed BK 3/31.

i have also had tendonitis problems in my hands, and took out a loan so i could take some time off work...this was a big factor in declaring bk. since my health problems prevent me from working full time at what i was doing (office work)

i have 20K in student loans that will not be discharged (probably) and I make a very small amount of money per month...

i filed as one spouse with a non-filing spouse...

[danacollins]

Why I filed bankruptcy

Divorce would be the easiest answer, however, it came with a bigger price. My ex-husband is now serving a life sentence for child molestation, rape, sodamy, and incest. He tormented and sexually tortured our daughter for over six years and spent another year trying to find judicial forgiveness for it. He was tried and convicted in two counties; leaving my children and I to find our way through to recovery, living, and making a new way for the three of us. The financial strain was just too much. I did everything I could to sell, pay, borrow-against, eliminate through repossession, and eventually walk away from. I lost a house in another county when I lost a life-long friend and renter. I finally abandoned our country home when it became painfully obvious that my daughter was not going to find anything good about herself in a place that had held so many dark and dirty secrets for so long. We literally left with the clothes on backs and just a few personal items that we thought would meld in our new lives. I was persued, harrassed and eventually convinced that bankruptcy was the ultimate answer for me; especially, if I was to ever find life after death; so to speak.
I files Ch7 last May, 2004 and recieved notice in August from the court that my bankruptcy had been granted and all debts listed were discharged. It was almost as good a feeling as the day my daughter stood on stage at her high school and announced that she is a lovely child of God, brought forth to earth on heaven's wings and granted to a good and loving mother, who happens to be a personal hero for her. I feel exactly the same way about her! ;)

[Sondance]

Spiteful/Nasty Ex-spouse

Her quote to me on the last night we were in the same home at the beginning of it all..."I'm going to destroy you emotionally and financially"

I've heard this too...

Similar story, utilized credit to afford court awarded alimony and child support, as ex-wife pleaded with the court for add'l funds so that she could return/finish college so as to support our two children as a single mother. Court so awarded it.

Two weeks after divorce final, she remarried a fairly wealthy friend of mine, which happened to be her boss. Rec'd her degree, and then decided she didn't want to work full time, using our/his children as the reason.

After my son's Christmas visit, she decided I had become too successful and filed for a modification to child support.

Despite the evidence provided, courts allowed her an increase in child support and granted her my son's tax exemption.

In order to keep my house and vehicle I am more or less forced to clean my debts to afford this new order and subsequently, the accumulated attorney fees..

Thx for allowing me to vent..