New Member - Emergency Filing Pro Se

[BankruptinSD]

Hi everyone -

I have been lurking on the board for the past few weeks trying to soak in as much information as I possibly can. I have learned quite a bit from all of your posts (thank you!) and have decided that my case is fairly simple and I should be able to file pro se without any issues (knock on wood). I do have a few questions that I have not seen addressed anywhere on the forum.

1. I am going to try and file an Emergency petition since I have a judgment that very soon will be turning into a default judgment since I did not respond. My question is, will the BK Court consider this enough of a reason to accept my emergency filing? The lawsuit is for approx. 20K and is from an attorney who is suing me for attorney fees that I was disputing (family law case). I am a single parent and cannot in any way afford for him to garnish my wages, this is actually the main reason why I am filing for BK.

2. I am a co signer on my car (the car is in my possession) and I want to reaffirm and keep it since I am current on all payments and can afford the payment. Does the fact that I am the co signer and not the main signer on the car affect this in any way? Will the BK affect the main signers credit at all?

Please let me know if I have not included enough info in order for you to help me out with these issues. I did purchase the NOLO book but have not yet read through the whole thing.

Thank you!

[justbroke]

1. I am going to try and file an Emergency petition since I have a judgment that very soon will be turning into a default judgment since I did not respond. My question is, will the BK Court consider this enough of a reason to accept my emergency filing? The lawsuit is for approx. 20K and is from an attorney who is suing me for attorney fees that I was disputing (family law case). I am a single parent and cannot in any way afford for him to garnish my wages, this is actually the main reason why I am filing for BK.

Emergency Petition is not what people think it is. Emergency means, here's the relevant pages of the petition, the rest will be filed in 15 DAYS!!! (That includes your Plan of Reorganization if this is a Chapter 13.) You should get a few Bankruptcy Lawyer consults to see how you should approach this first.

2. I am a co signer on my car (the car is in my possession) and I want to reaffirm and keep it since I am current on all payments and can afford the payment. Does the fact that I am the co signer and not the main signer on the car affect this in any way? Will the BK affect the main signers credit at all?

You are just a co-debtor, not a co-signer as far as the (BK) laws are concerned. If you didn't re-affirm, the entire debt would be on your co-debtor. Also, you will need to prove that you are not burdened by this payment, and more than likely, you can't be too upside-down (negative equity) on the car. This has to be approved by the Judge. You have to state, on your Statement of Intentions, that you are re-affirming and you need to get this done within 60 days after the 341 Meeting.

Please let me know if I have not included enough info in order for you to help me out with these issues. I did purchase the NOLO book but have not yet read through the whole thing.

Keep Reading!