Internet's first get-out-of-debt community - 134,000 members

Posted: Sun Feb 03, 2008 10:56 pm Subject: bankruptcy

Does anyone know the exact procedure for bankruptcy.thanks in advance.

Posted: Mon Feb 04, 2008 8:09 am Subject:

There are different types of bankruptcy, are you talking about complete liquidation? The first step is to see an Attorney for a consultation, usually most Attorney's offer a free initial consultation. With the new bankruptcy laws, you can then see if you qualify. I can tell you that there is a massive amount of paperwork involved.

Posted: Mon Feb 04, 2008 11:20 am Subject: BANKRUPTCY PROCEDURE - DO IT YOURSELF

My mom recently filed chapter 7 bankruptcy through a company called US Bankruptcy Centers (www.usbankruptcycenters.com). They ran her credit reports and prepared all the forms for her. All she had to do was sign the forms and send them to the bankruptcy court in Milwaukee. A few weeks later she met with a trustee that asked her a few questions. She had to provide some recent paystubs to the trustee to show her income. Then she got her final discharge in the mail. She didn't have to appear in court and she didn't need an attorney. The hardest part about filing bankruptcy is filling out all the forms (around 50+ pages) but the bankruptcy place did all that for less than 200 bucks.

Posted: Thu Feb 07, 2008 9:38 am Subject:

That's interesting, but I am sure there were some fees involved, how much did this end up costing her? Is this legit, for sure?

Posted: Thu Feb 07, 2008 9:46 am Subject:

Erin, for 200 that is excellent. And yes it is legit if she already got her discharge papers from the court.

Posted: Thu Feb 07, 2008 10:03 am Subject:

I actually did a search about this company at the BBB and didn't find anything. It seems almost too good to be true, I am definitely going to explore this further. That would be a wonderful solution for people who are not able to afford all the Attorney fees!

Posted: Thu Feb 07, 2008 10:25 am Subject:

I could be wrong but I think it is too good to be true. At least here in Ohio you are required to go to court..............if they are legit, less than $200 is a heck of a deal though!

Posted: Thu Feb 07, 2008 10:53 am Subject:

I'm a little skeptical myself, but, I hope it's for real!

Posted: Tue May 27, 2008 2:57 pm Subject:

That maybe less then $200 to do the papers - Which is about the same price as any online bankruptcy mill/preparer.

You still have to pay the filing fee of $300, and the counseling classes $100, so your total would still be at least $600.

Also, you are not required to go to court for a chapter 7, you only have to go to the meeting of creditors, which is what the OP described above.

Posted: Sat May 31, 2008 5:35 am Subject:

It definately seems a little shady. As far as I know you do have to pay filing fees but I guess those are actually atty fees which could be avoided if you filed your own bankruptcy. But what about the classes. According to the new bankruptcy laws I thought that the only way that you could file for a bankruptcy is if you agreed to take counseling classes.

Posted: Tue Jun 03, 2008 3:33 pm Subject:

The filing fees are what you pay to the BK court to file the paperwork - Not avoidable.

The counseling classes cost $100 total - Not avoidable.

At best, it would cost you $400 to file for Chapter 7, and that is doing everything yourself. Any cost would start with that and then add on what you are paying someone else to do it.

Posted: Tue Jun 03, 2008 9:57 pm Subject:

Dear Garogarov,

I am giving the steps involved in filing chapter 7 bankruptcy: -
1. List the details (Name, Address, Debt amount) of all your lenders
2. Make a list of your properties
3. Take a detailed note of your monthly expenses required for your living
4. Now, fill up the bankruptcy form and submit it in your nearest court
5. After this the court will issue an “automatic stay” order on your accounts. This will bar your creditors from contacting you for debt recovery. In addition, they will also be restricted from filing any lawsuit against you or ask for wage garnishment.
6. 20 to 40 days after your petition filing you have to appear for 341 meeting which usually continues for 15 to 20 mins. In this meeting you have to sit in front of your creditors and explain your inability to payoff their debts. After hearing your point they will, for the last time, insist you to make 50% of their payment. If you are still unable to do that, then your creditors will cease from contacting you further.
7. Your petition will be accepted by the court and the trustees will liquidate your non-exempt assets.
8. Court will accept your discharge (generally takes 2-3 months) by sending an official mail of discharge notice.
9. Discharge notice will officially release you from paying off your past debts and thus restrict your lenders in taking any legal action against you or your property.

The costs involved in it include: -
• Fee for filing bankruptcy
• Surcharge for trustees
• Miscellaneous fees

The total costing of all the above mentioned fees comes round to $200. The payment of this sum can be made within a time frame of 4 months.

But it is always advisable to try and avoid bankruptcy because it will cause mayhem to your credit score and will remain in your credit report for 10 long years, though its intensity decreases with the passage of time.

So, before filing for bankruptcy, you should consult a debt counselor for avoiding negative consequences. You can also get a Free Counseling from one of the expert debt counselors of our community through the link: - http://www.debtconsolidationcare.com/debt-solution.html .

Regards,

Phoenix

Posted: Wed Jun 04, 2008 4:22 am Subject:

hi garogarov,

Though you have already received some good advices from the other members of the site, I'm only trying to push my two penny worth of knowledge forward.

Its important that you decide first that whether you should file ch-13 or ch-7. Chapter 13 helps you to set-up a repayment plan with your creditors and can help you in protecting some of your assets, while ch-7 is more severe in nature. Hence, you need to decide first which way to choose.

If you have a regular income and have assets to protect, I'd rather request to look into the possibility of filing ch-13 instead of ch-7. And as Phoenix has suggested, try to avoid bankruptcy altogether if you can.

Posted: Wed Jun 04, 2008 7:47 am Subject:

Phoenix - I think you are thinking of pre 2005 - With the new laws all BK's are federal and there are some very stict laws in place.

The filing fee is $300 - That is for Chapter 7.

The counseling costs $100

That is $400 total, that is the least you could possibly pay to file for Chapter 7 bk.

I don't know where you got the $200 total fee, but that is very old information.

Also, the paperwork to file for BK has increased since pre 2005, and there are pages and pages of papers to fill out. You make it sound very easy, but it is not as simple as listing your creditors and properties and filling out a form. It's actually now a very complicated process.

Posted: Wed Jun 04, 2008 8:06 am Subject: reply

exactly goudah,that prevented me from filing.the bankruptcy laws have changed.i filled out about 10 pages at least of info.the fees are right too,plus you have to get a paper stating you went to a debt class,seminar i can't recall what it was,but you had to complete it before the debt test was given to make sure which bk you qualified for.things have changed from when my brother filed 10 yrs ago.

*Name:
*Email:
*Phone:
*Zip:
*Debt

	* denotes required field

Internet's first get-out-of-debt community - 134,000 members

bankruptcy

Members Area

Free Debt Counseling

Ask the community

Featured Discussions

Featured Articles

Question of the Month

Also See

Recent Forum Discussions

Recent Blog Post