What is the downside to bankruptcy

[debee]

I have had absolutely no downside to filing. It was the best financial decision I have ever made. The only downside, and it is a very minor one, is that if you work in certain professions, your workplace will most likely find out about the bankruptcy if you ever switch jobs or if your company is acquired etc, and they do a background check. I found that being honest about my bk when appropriate (ie before a background check) and not trying to hide it, removed the stigma for me.

This reality is inflated just right for me. It's an issue in the company that employs my spouse. Being frank about it is the best way to go. Once that's done, there's no need to worry about it coming back to bite - anything, anyone, anywhere.

[hughewil]

We will lose our house, the only home my daughter has ever known. We will have to move out of the small town where we live (no houses for rent) so she will have to switch schools and leave her friends. It tears me up that it will have such an impact on her, but There is nothing else we can do at this point we are to far in the hole.

What really sucks is there are so many empty houses in our neighborhood selling for 1/2 of what they cost when we bought 9 years ago, but no way we could get a loan to buy one.

[drowning123]

Yes, when children are involved, I guess it can be touchy when it comes to moving. My son is 10, and I've made it all sound positive, which it is. Right now I live 2.5 hours from work and I've told him that we can move somewhere where I can be a half an hour from work, which means more time with him! He's not totally for it, but he understands what I mean about it being a good thing. He doesn't know about the bk, though.

[andy158]

1. We will be debt free in 3.5 years. No payment to anyone after that except mortgage payment.
2. Crammed down vehicle to 1/2 of loan balance and am no longer paying $400/mo for a 6 year old car.
3. Learned what is necessary to live and have become quite the frugal shopper. Gave up no creature comforts.
4. Not concerned about FICO scores. The credit card banks wrecked that before we filed.
5. Have an empty mailbox most days and a phone that doesn't ring 18 hrs a day.
5. Best of all we learned to manage money and not live paycheck to paycheck. We even have a small savings.

Can you say nirvana? No downside here.

[drowning123]

I see a common thread here - no pun intended. To the OP: I guess your answer is "There isn't really a downside."

[oregonpilot]

Downside? None for me. I'm still grinning from ear to ear.

ME TOO...smiling so much my face hurts again... hahahaha

[drowning123]

Oregon still on that high. Lol.

[oregonpilot]

Oregon still on that high. Lol.

Oh yeah...I'm not lettin this go away any time soon.
Actually, sittin here looking at my discharge papers.

[drowning123]

Printed mine from PACER today to mail to my court. I kept reading it over and smiling. I know the feeling. Lol.

[oregonpilot]

I like the part that says...

IT IS ORDERED that:
1. the debtor shall be granted a discharge
2. the trustee is discharged as trustee of the debtors estate; this case is closed;

[drowning123]

See, OP? No downside.

[BobMango]

We will lose our house, the only home my daughter has ever known. We will have to move out of the small town where we live (no houses for rent) so she will have to switch schools and leave her friends. It tears me up that it will have such an impact on her, but There is nothing else we can do at this point we are to far in the hole.

What really sucks is there are so many empty houses in our neighborhood selling for 1/2 of what they cost when we bought 9 years ago, but no way we could get a loan to buy one.

Well the harsh reality it that what you describe is a consequence of your pre-bankruptcy financial position, not the bankruptcy. In many cases bankruptcy allows people to keep their houses. If you are losing your house in bankruptcy odds are that you were going to lose it anyway.

I know how you feel though, I had to move 1,500 miles for a job and split up the family for a year. Tough, but the kids all learned some good lessons about life and necessities and friends and opportunities. That year of sacrifice is paying dividends now in so many ways I couldn't have imagined before.

[BKlooker]

Not sure about anyone else, but I have found in going through this that the lead up was a hell of a lot more stressful than the actual filing and processing. I cried like a fat girl on prom night for days after I missed my first mortgage payment. I felt so low…it goes counter to everything I had ever been taught. I had worked so hard to maintain my good credit standing for so many years and felt a sense of pride about it. Letting go of that was hard.

In addition, I like many other people in this country who didn’t really understand BK, thought they were going to take EVERYTHING from me…not just material things I don’t care about…I thought I was going to have to give away my dog (my dog is my whole world!), surrender my car that’s been paid off and is 8 years old, and move back in with my parents, and have to eat at the soup kitchen to make this happen.

Once I started reading around this forum and seeing all these HAPPY people on here reporting about how peachy life is, especially within 6 months of this being over, with comfortable savings, completely debt free, no worries about bill collectors anymore, etc., most of whom never had to surrender a thing other than luxury items (unless they voluntarily wanted to in order to kill the debt), I realized I was worrying about nothing.

I am actually really excited…tomorrow is payday, and it will be the first payday I get where I will actually be able to start saving some money and won’t be broke anymore. Even though the Christmas season is upon us, I have calculated everything, and I will still be better off than any other prior year. Best feeling in the world.

[Fallonedward]

BTS - I so agree. Our only downside after filing if being able to find a job any job at this point to bring in dollars. It was the best financial decision we made for our family as well.

I have had absolutely no downside to filing. It was the best financial decision I have ever made. The only downside, and it is a very minor one, is that if you work in certain professions, your workplace will most likely find out about the bankruptcy if you ever switch jobs or if your company is acquired etc, and they do a background check. I found that being honest about my bk when appropriate (ie before a background check) and not trying to hide it, removed the stigma for me.

[chrisdfw]

All the downsides listed for bankruptcy are really the downsides of being in default on your bills.

You can lose your housein BK thats true, but you also lose it if you can't pay
You may have trouble getting a job, but also if you are deeply behind on your bills and in severe default
Your credit score may take a hit, but that is a byproduct of not being able to pay... mine went up withing a few months of filing
due to no longer being behind

All these things "downsides" are downsides if you are in the position where you need bankruptcy relief, the actually filing doesn't
really do the real damage, being in the position where you need to file has already done the vast majority of the damage. Bankruptcy
is the first step to recovery, not the last step of a decline.