You have thought about it and you have decided that you aren’t going to file for bankruptcy, despite the recommendation from a competent attorney who has recommended that you file. And here are your reasons.
- It will hurt my credit going forward and I need that credit if something comes up. Fair enough. Yes, if you have good credit now, filing bankruptcy will temporarily make your credit worse. Temporarily, I said. Because if you have a large amount of debt, and you do not have a reasonable plan to get it paid down, you may end up with worse credit than you have now, and, of course, you will still have the debt to pay. And if you have bad credit now, bankruptcy will give you an opportunity to clean it upand get a fresh start. I can’t tell you how many of our former clients have thanked us time and time again because they were able to clear their debts and rebuild their credit much more quickly than they believed. In many cases, they were able to finance a vehicle immediately after the bankruptcy was over. Most were able to buy a house within two or three years after the conclusion of their bankruptcy. Correct: a house. So if you think that you need your credit more than you need to take care of your debt, think again.
- I want to use a debt-settlement service. There are bunches of these, many of whom are not at all legitimate. How do I know? I have several clients that have been bilked out of thousands, even tens of thousands of dollars from these companies who promise the world and don’t deliver. And after they have been bilked, they still needed to file for either a straight bankruptcy (Chapter 7) or a reorganization bankruptcy (Chapter 13), only now they have lost large sums of money to companies in some other state. Ever read some of the reviews and blog articles about these places? There are some legitimate companies, but I subscribe to the common-sense theory: If you can’t sit down with them and look them in the eye, why would you send them thousands of dollars?
- I want to pay my creditors back. This is a very good thought, and we would like to help you do just that in many instances. Let’s suppose you have about $300.00 available at the end of the month to pay to creditors but the minimum payment is $900. It won’t work, unless you sacrifice things you and your family need. But in many cases, a Chapter 13 payment will be based on the amount of money you have left to pay, not on how much you owe. Therefore, you pay your creditors back what you can afford. Make sense? Sure does to me. We may also review your situation and determine that there is no way to pay your creditors back, and we will recommend a straight bankruptcy. We don’t do this lightly, but only if it is the best way for you to proceed, in our opinion. We have been doing this a long time; let us take a look at your situation.
We get lots of other reasons why people prefer not to file for bankruptcy. But don’t you owe it to your family, or your spouse, or, best, yourself, to at least examine all of the options? I guarantee that no matter what decision you make, you will feel better making a decision with all of the important information in front of you. Let us help get you there.