In most cases, the very last thing any person wants to do is file for bankruptcy protection.
In many cases, an average person will wait two years longer than he or she should have to file bankruptcy.
Don’t rearrange the furniture on the Titanic. Instead, realize it may be time to jump ship.
You may stop answering your telephone — because you know it’s just another bill collector. You may stop opening your mail — because you know it’s just another bill. You could be parking your car around the block, or on a different street — because you’re afraid it will be repossessed. You may even jump when the doorbell rings — because you know it may be a process server with a lawsuit or garnishment in hand.
Most people know when it’s time to consider bankruptcy, but they put it off anyway. Here are several indicators that you should consider bankruptcy as a tool for getting your finances back on track:
• Have you stopped paying bills? If you can’t pay a debt, why ignore it? In the meantime, you’re hurting your credit history and collecting interest and late fees.
• Going through a home foreclosure or car repossession? These events, not a bankruptcy, are what will truly devastate your credit. Moreover, your creditor will file a lawsuit down the road to recover the deficiency from the resale of home or vehicle.
• Getting hit with a garnishment or a tax levy? If it takes a court order to force you to repay a creditor, then it is very likely you are unable to pay that creditor. Garnishments usually take many years to fully satisfy a debt.
• Making only minimum payments? If you have more debt than you can pay off in the foreseeable future (or worse, you’re borrowing more from Peter to pay Paul), it’s time to either restructure (Chapter 13) or eliminate (Chapter 7) your debt.
Ask yourself whether you want more of the same — dread and fear — or whether you want to take control of your future and deal with it. Ignoring your debt won’t make it go away.
If you are considering filing bankruptcy in Northern Virginia, call Lee Legal at (703) 879-2870 or (202) 448-5136 in Washington, D.C. for a free consultation.
2. Don’t take out cash advances within 70 days of filing bankruptcy. Cash advances aggregating more than $750 from a single creditor within 70 days before filing bankruptcy are presumed nondischargeable. Even if you take less than this amount, cash advances are looked at with special scrutiny, and may be determined to be nondischargeable even if you take less than $750. It is better not to take cash advances from credit cards at all within several months before filing a Chapter 7.