“Hi Steve,
After searcing out every option and reading everything in your articles I finally filed for bankruptcy. I signed the papers yesterday.
I had a few appointments before I found a Lawyer I was comfortable with. I wrote you about one attorney who was so nasty I cried afterward. I took your advice and tried again. So here I am , rather sad and scared, but in reality knowing it was the only way short of a miracle.
My question now is…I am a little uneasy as to how simple the process up to now has been. Other than my guilt feelings and a little searcing for paperwork it was not hard. Is something wrong with this picture or is it going to be a lot harder as the case progresses.
The attorney is of a good firm and a little more expensive than the others. He also says its a straight forward chapter 7, I won’t lose my house because I am current and its value dropped so much the trustee would not be interested.
I worry that what seemed simple could end up a nightmare. I hear people say bankruptcy was the worst thing they have had to go through.
No matter how it turns out, I think there are worse things in life, I have lived them, but I am scared of what is next.
The stress has been so much lately with the creditors I am glad this part is over, but fearful to what is next. Can you shed any light on how bad the rest of the process is, the attorney does not say much he is very business type.
Thank You
Lynn”
The Answer:
Dear Lynn,
I wish I was there to give you a really big hug. It will be easier from this point out. Have I steered you wrong yet?
Bankruptcy is a process. Everyone involved in the process knows how this works, but the person filing bankruptcy. For that person, it’s scary. When I went through bankruptcy I was scared, stressed and nervous also. Maybe you watched my video about my experience.
Here is what I did not realize until years latter. Because bankruptcy is a process, the minute you file bankruptcy you can no longer be manipulated by the creditors or debt collectors. They know that when they get the papers or you give them your case number they can’t bother you anymore. They also know to move your file/account from bin A to bin B.
Trust me on this, not one person is judging you here but you. The rest of the folks in the debt collection chain are far too busy manipulating others to pay.
So we hear all these bad things about bankruptcy, the stigma, the shame. The irony is those messages are actually best serving the creditor and collectors to keep people from considering bankruptcy.
If there was some other legal way to eliminate your debt that gave you as much protection I’d be singing about it. There just isn’t. Back in the mid 1990s when credit counseling could cut your payments in half and all interest rates to 0% I was singing about that over bankruptcy. But creditors eliminated credit counseling as a reasonable solution and left people in problem debt with only one solution, bankruptcy.
I’m so glad you found a different attorney. And in case someone is reading this right now and wants to find an attorney, you can click here to find a local bankruptcy attorney you can talk to.
Lynn, the only thing you have to fear now is the unknown. You will walk into the court house when your appointment is scheduled and be part of a throng of others. Your attorney isn’t going to be stressed, he’s done this a lot. He’s just throwing paper at that point. The bankruptcy trustee won’t be stressed, he’s just catching all that paperwork. There is not one person in the remainder of this process that wants to judge you or has the time.
Come back and give us all an update about how the process was and I’ll tell you then how to rebuild your credit and get back on your financial feet.
If you have a credit or debt question you’d like to ask just use the online form. I’m happy to help you totally for free.