Well, that stinks....

[LifeNLemons]

I NEED to file BK to stop repossession of my car. I wanted to file on Monday Dec 3rd. I have been filling out the papers and am almost done, and I got to the statement of financial affairs. They want information about my income for the past two years. CRUD! I have copies of my tax returns, but not the W-2's, like I said in another post. I have no idea what my portion of income was for those tax years. No clue whatsoever. The W-2 info is at my old house that my ex lives in. There is no way I can get that information by Monday, as I am going to have to call previous employers to get the info mailed to me. I cannot ask my ex for the paperwork as he is a violent kind of guy and I have a restraining order on him. I can guesstimate my income, as it was relatively low anyway since I didn't work for most of 2005, but will that be sufficient? Can I amend it with the correct (actual) information when I get it?

[Lindsay]

In one of the books I read on bankrutpcy, they mentioned an emergency filing where you only had to submit bare bones information and you would have 2 weeks to submit the rest of the paperwork. Maybe someone else on the board knows more about it.

[Bandit]

I am not sure if just filing BK will stop reposession of a car. Will it? It might for temporary but I think you need to be current or not too far behind on payments if you plan on keeping it when things are discharged. You are probably correct though that it would buy some time & not get it reposessed like as in (not sure when they may come, like any day?).

You might be able to get the w-2s that you need (if you really need them) from the IRS and they will come fairly quickly.
Sounds like there was a joint return at some point, so you probably will need the w-2 eventually. Call them monday right away.

An emergency filing would be good to learn about here in this thread since I have never heard of it before.

[Lindsay]

Here is what I found on emergency filings:

http://www.rib.uscourts.gov/Pro%20Se/Chapter%207/Skeletal_Petition.pdf

It seems that you have to make sure that you'll be able to get the rest of information within a few weeks or you will be dismissed. I think it will stop a repo because a repo after a BK filing will violate the automatic stay. The car finance company would have to file a motion to get the stay lifted before they could take the car. I think the purpose of emergency filings is to quickly stop a foreclosure or repo action.

From this bk webpage:

http://www.mdbankruptcylaw.com/faq.asp

For an emergency filing, we can file just the Voluntary Petition, but we also need a list of all of your creditors, collection agencies, sheriffs, attorneys and others who are seeking to collect debts from you. If we do an an emergency filing, the additional documents must be filed within a 15 day period or your bankruptcy will be dismissed.

[HHM]

The issue is what are your intentions with the car?

Like was already pointed out, the BK will buy you about 30-45 days before the car will be gone.

You can file an emergency petition, the first 2 pages of the petition and the list of creditors, but all the remaining paperwork must be filed within 15 calender days of the filing date.

[FreshLikeADaisy]

It sounds like you're trying to fill out Form 7. Is it possible you could get that income information from your employers, enough to answer the question on the form? Also, if you have pay stubs and were at the same job all year, you can generally look at the last pay stub of the year and get the W-2 info off of that (year-to-date totals for income, withholding, etc.).

(If you used TurboTax, you can log in and see last year's W-2s. I haven't tried it recently, but I know that every year I log in and see last year's stuff.)

As far as I know, you DO have to submit copies of tax returns (which you have) but NOT W-2s unless the trustee specifically asks for them. Seems like if you can just get the dollar amounts right to fill in on the form, you'll be fine to go ahead and file. You could even request the W-2s from the IRS the day you file, and then if the trustee decides he/she wants them, you can ask for an extension if they are actually needed but have not yet arrived. The fact that you filed an emergency petition plus the fact that you applied for copies the same day would be what you could give to the trustee to support your request for more time (if you actually end up needing it).

I'm filing next week pro se myself, and I have no W-2s, just tax returns, so I'm kind of in the same boat except I already knew what numbers I needed for the form. I've done a lot of studying but haven't seen anything to suggest they'd ever want my W-2s, just my tax returns.

Has anyone here ever been asked for a W-2 by a bk court or trustee? I'd be interested in knowing.

Good luck, especially with your car!


P.S. When you get your case number, call the car people right away and give them that, so they can't repossess (knowingly violate the automatic stay) and then claim they didn't know you had filed. Tape the call if you can, or get a fax number and fax them a letter to the same effect, so you have proof they were notified. The court will notify them anyway, but it may take a few days. This way you *know* they know and can prove it.

[FreshLikeADaisy]

P.s.

Oh, I forgot to add something. You wrote,

"There is no way I can get that information by Monday, as I am going to have to call previous employers to get the info mailed to me."

Many employers stand ready to give salary information over the phone because that is one of the few things they are legally allowed to provide when someone calls to verify employment (dates employed, title, and salary). If it were me, I would call the company and ask to speak with someone in payroll, and then explain to that person I needed the information for "a legal form I have to fill out". If they hesitate, and you're located in the same town, offer to stop by and show ID. All you need for Form 7 is the numbers themselves, not the actual W-2. Yes, go ahead and have them mail it, but what you really want is the gross income (pre-withholding) numbers for 2005 and 2006. 2007 you get from your latest pay stub, because the year hasn't ended.

And yes, if you get it wrong, you CAN file an amendment. It's not recommended, and there's an extra fee, but yes you can. That's why the option of filing an amendment is available: lots of things change, mistakes get made. I finished my own paperwork a few days ago, but am waiting for a check to clear, so in the meantime I've been rechecking my work... already found two big mistakes. And this exact question on Form 7 is one of the things that tripped me up, because I misread it, and didn't realize they were basically looking for three years (this year, AND two years prior). So yeah, if I hadn't been waiting on a check to clear, I'd have been filing an amendment too!

Good luck to you!

[LifeNLemons]

The issue is what are your intentions with the car?

At this point I don't know. But I need it to get to work. I can afford it, I've been affording the payments, but I've been consistently 45 behind because I lost a month when I left my husband and was unemployed. My check just started getting garnished for a debt my ex stop paying and we got sued for. (I'm working, he's not.) I couldn't make the payment last night and they said they would be repossessing the car. (I'll be 60 days past due on the 10th of Dec).

You might be able to get the w-2s that you need (if you really need them) from the IRS and they will come fairly quickly.

I'm going to go to the IRS here in town and see what they can provide. Also, I'm going to call all the employers I need to and see if they can send me new copies, and also just tell me the totals.

I want to make sure that I have W-2's because our returns were submitted with $95000 & $70000 worth of income and I want to be able to show that only about $15000-20000 a year was actually "mine".

[genseeker]

You can also try going to the Social Security office and ask them for an earnings printout. You may have to break down and tell them you are filing BK. The Social Security statement of earnings, the form that gives estimates for retirement & disability benefits, will state your income for every year you had earnings reported. Since it is an official government form, it may also suffice to show the BK court what your actual income was. Worth a shot, just takes some time sitting & waiting

[LifeNLemons]

You can also try going to the Social Security office and ask them for an earnings printout. You may have to break down and tell them you are filing BK. The Social Security statement of earnings, the form that gives estimates for retirement & disability benefits, will state your income for every year you had earnings reported. Since it is an official government form, it may also suffice to show the BK court what your actual income was. Worth a shot, just takes some time sitting & waiting

Oh my gosh! I got one of those in the mail!! It told me the total for the year, but didn't break it down. But its a good starting point. THANK YOU!

*now I wish I hadn't changed jobs mid year BOTH years, lol*

[ameliabedilia]

"And yes, if you get it wrong, you CAN file an amendment. It's not recommended, and there's an extra fee, but yes you can. That's why the option of filing an amendment is available: lots of things change, mistakes get made. I finished my own paperwork a few days ago, but am waiting for a check to clear, so in the meantime I've been rechecking my work... already found two big mistakes. And this exact question on Form 7 is one of the things that tripped me up, because I misread it, and didn't realize they were basically looking for three years (this year, AND two years prior). So yeah, if I hadn't been waiting on a check to clear, I'd have been filing an amendment too!"

Actually there is only a fee for adding creditors. That type of amendment is free, so don't worry too much about a mistake here or there. I know lots of amendments on the schedules can be red flags for trustees, but form 7 would probably be fine.

[rrockinggramma]

If your goal is to KEEP the vehicle, you need to file a chapter 13 and that is really not a do it yourself project. But you can roll attorney fees into the filing. You might want to call a local attorney to get some help asap. Your chapter 7 will only delay the vehicle being repo'd but not for long.

[CindyLou]

If your goal is to KEEP the vehicle, you need to file a chapter 13 and that is really not a do it yourself project. But you can roll attorney fees into the filing. You might want to call a local attorney to get some help asap. Your chapter 7 will only delay the vehicle being repo'd but not for long.

Unless you will have the funds to get the car current before they lift the stay to reposses, you could still file a 7. But you will have to bring it completely current very soon after filing or they will lift the stay and take it.

Another warning. Even though you file doesn't mean they will not come get the car if they BK papers cross the BK papers in the mail. There have been many instances of this happening. So if and when you do file you need to make sure you communicate very clearly with your finance company to put the breaks on the repo process. Don't depend on the BK notice to do the job. I would even consider keeping the car at another location for a few days until you are sure they stopped the process. I don't mean to make your nervous, but just wanted to make you aware. Good luck with the process and keep us posted.

[leftyf]

I had to request tax transcripts which only took a few days to get to me. It's official from the IRS, I guess, so I couldn't tamper with it.