filing chapter 7

[victoria123]

What is the name of your state? CA

What if? what if I have approx $50,000 in credit card debt and am not late on any of my monthly payments. Can I still file chapter 7?

 

[Ladynred]

Sure. There is nothing that says you have to be behind to file. However, if you're going to file, then stop wasting money paying creditors and use that money for a good attorney.

 

[ric626]

Hey I don't think that's right what you are advising people to do Ladynred... We sure appreciate your inputs, but what I don't really understand is how you could advise people not to pay their debts?? When we decided to charge all the things that we bought on those CC, it was right, it was fair... but then when we need to pay those bills, suddenly, the people that are trying to collect are the "bad guys", "scumbags"!
I have read a lot of your comments in this forum, and most of the time, you are teaching people how NOT to pay their debts, NOT to acknowledge a court judgment or potential one and things like that! Though, most of what you said, might solve problems, they are only like bandages, they only last momentarily. The bottom line is... if you do legally owns any debt(s) and acknowledge that, I believe that there is only one right thing to do... and that is to pay it. How would you feel, if you lend someone's money in good faith and all they try to do is find out ways NOT to pay you back??


Richard

 

[MidnightSwinga]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but this is a Bankruptcy message board?

Hence Ladynred's answer to the posters question was right on the mark. Had she asked "Do I have an moral obligation to pay this money back" I'm sure this would have generated a much different response.

 

[Ladynred]

Thank you MidnightSwinga

You are absolutely correct. This is not a MORALITY forum, it is a bankruptcy information/advice forum. Bankruptcy is a right given to us by FEDERAL LAW and if, for whatever reason, you simply cannot make it any more, then BK IS an option that we can use to get a fresh start. I don't judge people on HOW they got to the point of bankruptcy, I just tell them how it works and answer questions as I can.

 

[ric626]

Heheh... your guys are absolutely right.....
This is not a MORALITY forum!! it's alright to do what you do, spend OPM (others people's money), but when comes the time for the bills.... Hey! i am in deep financial trouble, I cannot pay it back!! great let me use an easy way out BK!

"BK is a FEDERAL LAW given to us as an option to get a new start" Really?? Ladyinred, are you really sure that of all the ppls that have filed BK once in their life, would never got into credit trouble again?? Well in my industry, I have seen many times, where ppls that have filed BK in their life, would do it again (yes they are banned from doing it for a certain amount of years.) or they would be back in Financial trouble again! So is BK a real good option to advise ppls to do??

You said: "I don't judge people on HOW they got to the point of bankruptcy, I just tell them how it works and answer questions as I can." Really?? you don't care how ppls abused their credits powers, how they just abuse the "privileges" that were given to them! No all you advise ppls to do, it just filed BK... because that is a given FEDERAL LAW!! PLS, that's because with advises like that and ppls like you that will force CONGRESS to make a changes to the BK laws!! Because too many of us are abusing it!!

Ladyinred... sorry! it might seems that I am finger pointing at you, I am not! This is nothing personal! I just would like to let this forum knows, that we are lucky to be living in this GREAT, DEMOCRATIC country! we have been given lots of "rights and privileges" that are not available anywhere else in the World! Please, let's cherish them, so that they will not be taken away!!

Yes BK could be an option out, if you have MORALY and SINCERELY tried your best to work out with all your creditors to pay back and if you have really understood how you got into this far in the first place, so that you will not do it again!! BK is not an easy way out, because you have NO MORALITY, and you could care less about the guy who lents you money!

Richard

 

[Ladynred]

Oh please, save the MORALITY speech for the pulpit !!

I never once said that anyone filing for bankruptcy might not end up in the same situation down the road. It happens, people do NOT learn from their first bout of lessons on handling money and credit and they are back in the same stew pot with the flames flying high under them ! For those people, I personally don't have a lot of sympathy, they should have learned the first time around.

I'd be willing to bet the 'repeat' filers amount to a small percentage of the total. There are always going to be frauds out there who abuse the system, and for those the laws should be reformed, but I don't think they should be reformed to PUNISH those who aren't up to fraud, which is what the current BK reform bill will end up doing. Some people get hit with one catastrophe after another, not born of any irresponsibility for handling money, just life throwing sucker punches repeatedly. Like the couple who filed BK 10 years ago after the husband went thru and survived cancer and ended up with hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical bills. 10 years later, the wife ends up with catastropic medical bills and they can't pay the huge medical bills - so they go thru bankruptcy again just to survive and not have to live in a cardboard box under a bridge somewhere !!!

Yes, BK is a good option for some people and if you don't like it, maybe you'd better get yourself into another business.

Morally and sincerely tried to work with creditors ??? PUUUHHLLEASSE ... what planet are YOU living on anyway ?? Perhaps you've just never been in the position that some of these people have been in but creditors don't give a fig about morality or sincerity! All they care about is their bottom line and they make it as difficult to 'work out' anything REASONABLE as they possibly can ! Having personally tried to deal sincerely with creditors when I was laid off last year and had only unemployment to barely live on, I KNOW what kind of callous, nasty people these creditors can be. They didn't care that I was trying to at least pay them something - rather than nothing - NO, they wanted what amounted to my entire month's UE payment just to keep them happy ! I'm sorry, but I'm not about to live out of my 11 year old car and eat out of garbage cans to satisfy a creditor. Up until that point in time I had always paid my bills, but at a time that it was flat-out IMPOSSIBLE to do so, they would not accept any reasonable compromise. I had one collector actually suggest that I find myself a street corner to 'earn' money to pay their bill - I told him exactly where to go and how and hung up on him. Where's your precious MORALITY in that ??????
If that cretin had been within a physical proxmity, I'd have kicked his gonads into his brains and walked away for that disgusting suggestion !

But then.. perhaps you might think that was an appropriate way to pay my bills........

 

[ric626]

Well Ladyinred... I am really not here to argue with anyone and certainly not you, who I consider one of the expert in this forum! Yes I do agree with you that a lot of CA or Creditors are pushing it to the limit to have what you call "their bottom line interest"

But here is a food for thought, when you used their Money.. Did you think about their INTEREST?? did you think about how they got this money to lent it to you?? NO, you did not care less about how they got the money that you had used, did you?? And now that you need to pay back, you are expecting them, no you are DEMANDING them to take lesser than what you are taking from them!! was that right?? and you would get MAD that they don't accept less than what you can pay, because it is your right to just offer them what you can afford today! PLEASE.. the day when you be a CREDITOR yourself, you call me directly at and let me know how you would feel if that person that you had lent money to, just tell you than he can only pay you 10% of what he owes you and he has to do it in 36 payments!! YOU CALL ME AND LET ME KNOW... Until then, you don't know how it feels!!

And you are right, I am not in any of the situation that you had describe! because, I have the common sense not to abuse my "privilege" I also have a few CC, but they are only used if I have the intent to pay it back, not to afford a luxurious lifestyle that I cannot afford!

Richard

 

[Ladynred]

I have never had a 'luxurious' lifestyle and I did NOT abuse my credit 'priveleges' the way you describe, so quit with the ridiculous assumptions on my personal life and 'intentions'.

While creditors may not like being asked to accept less than they're owed, the fact remains that they get a write-off for all of it and while they can't get rich on write-offs and tax breaks, its not exactly breaking their businesses either. It IS business and that's the risk they take. A risk, I might add, that banks like MBNA stuck its neck out for by sending credit cards to anyone and everyone regardless of their true ablity to repay what was used ! I have NO sympathy for those practices and even less sympathy when MBNA whines they're losing a few hundred thousand rather than getting billions in profits because they're suffering too many defaults ! Seems to me that getting SOMETHING is better for business than getting NOTHING !

I've had people who owed me money that I graciously lent in an attempt to help them out of a jam, and one or two over the years who skipped out and left me holding the bag. No, I don't like it and in one case the person turned out to be more of a dirtbag then I'd have ever thought, so don't preach to me about being stiffed for money owed -- BEEN THERE, DONE THAT !!! I won't be calling YOU for anything.

You come off like a rather young person who has never had the ill fortune that myself and other people have had. If you're my age or older and you've never had any misfortune then you'd better say prayers that that angel on your shoulder never deserts you and life doesn't end up smacking you in the face with a baseball bat .. and then the creditors will pick up that bat and beat you senseless with it until you bleed money. Then YOU can call ME !

 

[ric626]

hahaha.... thanks for your reply Ladyinred!! it was fun to debate with all of you, but I realize that it's taking too much of my time. So this is my last post to you all, do what you feel right, but please be ready to accept consequences!

Richard

PS: Ladyinred, thank you for taking your time to debate with me, you are great... just keep doing what you do...

 

[whizzy]

God forbid he ever had a sick child he had to quit his job to care for and max out his credit cards to pay for medical procedures... not all of us use our credit to live high on the hog...