help!!

[savanasue]

Hi
I am deep in CC debt and considering BK. so far my cc and collecton agencies havent sued but i am afraid they will. I am most afraid of them garnishing my wages(not that i earn much). I am also scared to file BK. I dont own a home, drive a 14 yr old vehicle, have nothing svaed and earn just 10.00 an hr. am sure i will qualify for ch.7..A question i have is if i hire an atty for BK will they accept payments as i dont have 2 to 3000 dollars on hand to pay for it. also what i am most fearful of, is i rent an apt... when my lease is up do modt apt. complexes run a credit check before you renew and if BK shows on ,y credit report i dont kmow if they would renew and i cant afford to move plus if i have BK no one will rent to me, anyway...please help..

[disconapper]

I'm not sure what your question is. There have been many here like you facing a financial crisis, myself included. Bankruptcy gives you a fresh start. You can meet with an attorney for free and they can go over the specifics of your situation. My attorney took installment payments. As far as renting is concerned, yes, that could be an issue. But, many have had no problems renting etc...

[tobee43]

Hi
I am deep in CC debt and considering BK. so far my cc and collecton agencies havent sued but i am afraid they will. I am most afraid of them garnishing my wages(not that i earn much). I am also scared to file BK. I dont own a home, drive a 14 yr old vehicle, have nothing svaed and earn just 10.00 an hr. am sure i will qualify for ch.7..A question i have is if i hire an atty for BK will they accept payments as i dont have 2 to 3000 dollars on hand to pay for it. also what i am most fearful of, is i rent an apt... when my lease is up do modt apt. complexes run a credit check before you renew and if BK shows on ,y credit report i dont kmow if they would renew and i cant afford to move plus if i have BK no one will rent to me, anyway...please help..

we filed in florida...and i know that the day we went to court with our atty, the firm also represented 3 others there, they were ALL pro bono cases. so some atty's do pro bono work. i would call the local bar associated with your county or call the state if you have to. i'm certain they could give you some direction.

[daylate]

Don't know about Florida specifically but from what you describe your situation to be, 2-3k for an attorney sounds high. Most here have quoted around 1.5k for attorney-not chump change but half of what you will need. I like tobee's suggestion or you could look into filing pro se (by yourself) if you have the aptitude to study up and learn how to do it.
As to the rent, depending on when your lease is up, can you wait until after you renew to file? If so you will probably fly under the radar as long as you have been paying your rent on time.
Good luck.

[tobee43]

daylate, your correct 1500, is eacatly what we paid for the "general" filing in this area of florida.and, we had to do via monthly payment plan. we could not file until the entire amount was paid in full, but the atty sent out CD letters and advised us to direct all creditors to their office. (although none of the creditors listened until we actually had that docket number. ). we did have an AP, but we used another atty with that one and it was an additional cost.

savanasue...i think on the fl group disscussion group area...http://www.bkforum.com/group.php?groupid=9...

go to this discussion: http://www.bkforum.com/group.php?dis...=16&do=discuss

that has the florida means test...(which varies county to county) and it also explains your florida exemptions...( there is a wildcard exemption when you do not own a home). just read through it, it may help you see where you stand.

best of luck!!!

[savanasue]

ok i thought i had heard it cost 2-3grand to file BK.. And i did just renew my lease but what about next year when my renewal comes up and i have filed? so confused..lol

[IamOld]

Hello - I dare say that most places will offer you the lease automatically - they don't want you to leave if you are a good tenant! You're already there and paying!!

[StartinOver]

SavanaSue, take a deep breath. Exhale slowly. Your post sounds as if you are responding to a sense of urgency... but in reality, nothing is moving as fast as your heartbeat is over this. We all come in feeling that way, but really there is no need to panic.

Rates for attorneys do seem to depend on where you are to a certain degree, because the cost of living makes all things higher in some places. Tobee gave you a good response regarding your area, and the option to either study up and go on your own, or find an attorney doing pro bono work for applicants who qualify for free help is also really good.

About your lease situation... I would be inclined to wait until your renewal unless you are sued or garnished before that. Right after your renewal, you file your chapter 7, a few months later you are free of your debts. Meanwhile, you've continued paying your rent and perhaps, now that you are not paying your dischargeable debts, you can begin being the model tenant who pays 7 to 10 days early every month. In other words, you are going to set yourself up to be the exception to any rule that they don't want a BK tenant. "THIS BK tenant pays early, every month," could go a long way towards getting a personal exemption from the credit rules they usually go by.

If in the long run, however, they won't renew you after you BK, you will be able to find another place, because you'll be looking for an individual landlord not a complex with a management company, and you'll be able to show them bank statements and cancelled checks that prove you pay your rent on time or early.

We are about to be foreclosed and we've filed BK Chapter 7 which will be discharged on August 1. I wrote to an ad for a small apartment I found in Craigslist, that I got a good feeling about the landlord (looked up his company from his email and they do charitable work, etc.) So I told him the actual story about our circumstances and asked if they would consider us as tenants. Got a sweet, supportive response and yes answer. Long story short, however, we aren't taking the apartment because we found that our carpenter/handyman friend who always did all the work we needed in our house that's foreclosing, bought a small old home that he's gutted and is almost finished fixing up for rent. He'd be glad to have us as tenants, understands the nightmare we've been through, and was willing to meet my maximum rent figure, which is slightly below his targeted rent, but is still doable for him. House will be ready in mid-July. We are going to try to pry a cash for keys out of them, though the BK department lady told me that the foreclosure team told her they don't do cash for keys on foreclosure, only on short sales and deed in lieu following a short sale attempt. Whatever. They would be foolish not to do cash for keys, and market a waterfront house this summer. Maybe someone there will understand that.

[keepmine]

ok i thought i had heard it cost 2-3grand to file BK.. And i did just renew my lease but what about next year when my renewal comes up and i have filed? so confused..lol

You need to stop listening to people who likely don't know what they're talking about and just start doing research and legwork yourself.
I'm sure you can find a lawyer with rates well below $2K. Most bk lawyers give free or lowcost initial consultations. Speak with a few and see what they say.
Most apt. complexes just run credit reports for new applicants. If you have a good payment history with them, I doubt they'll run another report when it's time to renew.
We have a lot of people worried about finding a place to live post bk but, I've never seen a poster say they were left homeless because they filed.
Just calm down and realize this is a process and just work your way throught it.
One thing you need to consider is, can you support yourself post bk on $10/hr? Do you have health insurance? If not, you may want to hold off filing until you find a job with healthcare benefits. You don't want to file and 6 months later you get sick and run up large medical debt you can't pay and then not be able to file a bk again for 8 years.
Just take the time to plan your bk and file when the time is right for you so you'll maximze the benefits.