In California filing pro se

[arami008]

Hello,

I have questions on whether it's safe to file on your own....?
I feel comfortable doing it myself instead of paying 2k which I don't have.

Well my major concern is that I have two judgments against me. How do I list those on the petition...should it be included in the mailing matrix? As unsecured priority debts or how...I am a bit confused. Thanks in advance.

[justbroke]

Hello,

I have questions on whether it's safe to file on your own....?
I feel comfortable doing it myself instead of paying 2k which I don't have.

Well my major concern is that I have two judgments against me. How do I list those on the petition...should it be included in the mailing matrix? As unsecured priority debts or how...I am a bit confused. Thanks in advance.

Just list the judgments as creditors. Include them on the mailing matrix as well.

If they were not attached to property, like your home or cars or other real property, then they are unsecured "non-priority" debt.

[blankslate]

Ditto what JustBroke said. I also had a judgment against me from a personal small claims case that I didn't show up to contest. It was someone being pissy with me and assumed I'd already filed for bankruptcy and she thought she would really screw me over. I had been planning on filing but kept putting it off until I got an order to garnish my wages over that. Some people really like to kick a person while they're down.

I just added it to the creditor matrix.

[arami008]

Thanks for the advice....i will do just that...by the way do you know if judgments are removed from your records after BK? Just wondering. thanks again...love this site..you guys are so helpful!

[blankslate]

I don't think they are removed. From what I understand everything stays on there with the line "discharged through bankruptcy" or something similar. BK wipes the debt out, but not the marks on your credit unfortunately. If I understand correctly, they will stay on there with that bk line for the full 7 years since they appeared. The bk will stay on as a public record for 10.

[StartingOver08]

You can probably take the discharge and get the judgement vacated in a separate action, but please verify with someone that knows more than me on this subject. JustBroke or hhm? anyone?

[justbroke]

Once you are discharged, you'll need to go get the judgments vacated. I don't know the specific process, as it varies by jurisdiction. You would basically file your discharge Order with the local court and ask for the judgment to be vacated.

I'm sure this is a procedural thing that many forget to do at the end!

I'm also willing to bet that the reason most people say just file for Bankruptcy before the judgment, is because you wouldn't have to worry about the post-discharge issues, such as vacating the judgment order.

Ce la Bankruptcy!

[soleprop]

hmm - for what it's worth - when i filed pro se, i read something that indicated judgements were unsecured priority debts and should be included on schedule E. that's what i did and i had no issues come up during my bk.


good luck!

[justbroke]

Judgments are tricky and how they are treated is based on underlying State-specific non-bankruptcy law. In some States, judgments are treated like secure debt. In other States, they are just general unsecured debt.

Generally, the only judgments which may have more priority ahead of other unsecured creditors, are judgment liens and fines/criminal penalties. But again, depends on the type of judgment and the State

Suffice it to say that many judgments are dischargeable. If it's dischargeable, is it not a priority debt.

[soleprop]

If it's dischargeable, is it not a priority debt.

great info - thanks!!!

[arami008]

Thanks for all the input...I will list it on the mailing matrix and see how that goes. Thanks again.