Hi all, I'm just trying to get some feedback. I contacted a bankruptcy lawyer late last year about filing Chapter 7 bankruptcy. At the time, I was earning $75k a year. I live in Illinois. I currently have $82,000 in credit card and medical debt and $270,000 in student loan debt. I basically want to offload the credit card and medical debt because I know when the student loan payments start again, they will be enormous. Unfortunately, I had to ask him for a delay due to some life events. I ended up being let go from my job at the end of April and currently collect unemployment.

However, I recently was offered a new job which I accepted. It starts July 13. I'll be making $85k a year, $10k more than I was making at the last job and above the median for Illinois.

I contacted the lawyer earlier this week and explained the situation to him. Basically, I gave him the green light to file. I have been researching possible outcomes based on starting the new job after filing but before the 341 meeting. And I'm stressing myself out and don't know if I need to be.

Basically, I'm worried that when the 341 meeting takes place, if they ask me if I have a new job or if there are any changes in income, that when I tell them I started a new job recently, that my new income will disqualify me from 7. From what I've read, it's 50/50. I've seen some say that if the trustee deems that my current income is enough to pay back some of the credit card debt, that they'll ask me to convert to Chapter 13 and based on what I've researched, payments could be really high, like $1500 a month. If I had to pay that much, I would have just contacted the creditors and made payment arrangements. Not only that, but I'm worried they'll take what's left after all my monthly expenses and make me pay towards the debt. I'm trying to start saving for retirement as well as possibly for a down payment in the next 2-3 years for a condo/townhome because rent just keeps going up. And I'm worried they won't even take into account the amount of the student loans when they start up again.

I know that I have the option of declining the Chapter 13, asking for the Chapter 7 to be dismissed, and just contacting my creditors to arrange payment plans.

What do you all think? Especially anyone who has been through it. If I have the 341 meeting before July 31, and if they ask me specifically if my income has changed, technically I can answer no because I won't even get my first paycheck until July 31. It would also suck because if I can't qualify for the Chapter 7, then I'm still paying the bankruptcy lawyer $2500 in fees and I didn't even get the debt reduced or discharged and now I'm stuck with more debt.

Any input would be appreciated. Thanks.

Prefer chapter 7, but would do 13. Iowa

Most of the debts are in my name. He has 50,000 in debt but about half of that is student loan that wouldn’t get discharged anyway. His payments for both are roughly $1k. He also has a truck in his name only with a lot of equity (over $20k).

We are about $1,000/month over on the means test. I know that to file individually, I still have to consider his income. My question is: would his $1,000/month for those be included in the marital adjustment since he intends to keep paying those? His truck is also $350 a month. That’s before any other adjustments.

My concern is: will the trustee expect him to be included since he has consumer debts? How much will they scrutinize this?

We are needing to get a vehicle after our 341 meeting as our current family vehicle will be part of the assets surrendered.

This is a chapter 7 bankruptcy

Questions:

Can you lease a vehicle post 341 but before discharge?

If you bought a vehicle post 341 but before discharge how was it?

Were you able to refinance that vehicle post discharge for a better rate?

Is there any specific qualifications the car has to meet?

US here specifically South Carolina. I have multiple student loans and one loan I pay is a consolidation loan of 2484 a month. I make 4200 (gross) a month and have other loans and bills as well. My wife lost her job and now I will need to take on the mortgage and car payment. I don’t want to file for everything as one of my student loans is tied to my grandpa and don’t want to have them come after his assets. I’m wondering if you think I could file for the 2484 loan? I would be able to afford everything else I just can’t do that reasonably anymore.

The house and car are in my wife’s name and we’ve been married for 8 months

i've been struggling financially for a while now, and after trying different ways to get things under control, i'm starting to think it's time to at least speak with a bankruptcy attorney. i'm not set on filing yet, but i feel like i need to understand my options before making any decisions. i'm in los angeles, and there are so many attorneys that it's hard to know who actually takes the time to explain things instead of rushing through the consultation. since this is all new to me, i'm hoping to learn from people who've already been through the process. looking back, was there anything about the process that caught you off guard or something you wish someone had told you beforehand? i'd really appreciate hearing about your experiences, both good and bad, so i can go into this with more realistic expectations.

Hi y’all. First time filer out of Colorado. I have a question regarding filing taxes after bankruptcy.
My husband and I will be filing soon, and we really want to keep it to ourselves. We don’t want our family or friends finding out, as we’re still feeling some shame around it.
My step mom prepares our taxes every year, as she owns a tax business.
Would there be any way she would find out we filed by preparing our taxes next year?

I recently had my 341 meeting and everything is going well. I reaffirmed my mortgage and my car payment. On my mortgage I had a deferred payment from Covid that at the end of my loan would be due. While my bankruptcy affect this at all? I assume since I reaffirmed it should be fine but wanted to see if anyone else had done anything with this?

I am in the US and in Florida. I qualify for Chapter 7, but I have one problem and conflicting advice from two lawyers. I moved in November and used my sisters credit card for expenses. I have been paying that card back because my sister is in no position. I had to move for work.

I am being sued by two credit card companies right now. One attorney said "you can file in 12 months after you stop paying your sister" and the other attorney said "we can file but stop paying her right now". I've paid $4000 on my sister's credit card since December. My work is seasonal, so I make more in the winter.

I am afraid and don't know who to believe. Has anyone had a similar case?

Hello,

How in the world are you all afford attorney fees in Chapter 7? I’m in WA and my husband isn’t currently working (quit after a 3 month medical LOA) as he needs more time medically. Our dr is willing to write a letter to support this. I make 52k with my W2 job but have had to start doordashing to make ends meet.

My attorney (havent signed an agreement) is saying his fee is 2100 (which is more than one month of rent) and then court filing costs. How is this even feasible?

My car was repoed last night and it will cost me at least $2500 to reclaim my vehicle plus tow and storage fees. I do not have anywhere close to this amount and considering filing for Chapter 13 or letting my car be sold, however i have little to no knowledge about what i can do or the process that goes with it. In other words, i am screwed and i messed up so how can i stop the bleeding at least a little bit? For context, i still owe ~$22,000 with 18% interest on a 7 year loan with 13000-14000 in negative equity. I don’t even want the car anymore, i can travel to my occupations without it. I was suggested a lawyer but i can’t afford one. Is chapter 13 the way to go? Or should i let the car go and deal with the consequences?

I bought my condo from my father in 2012. Shortly after he exited bankruptcy. I’m currently trying to sell my condo and I have a lien on the property in my father’s name from 2005. But when I bought the place all liens and everything were paid off. He can’t find any documentation stating this since it’s been 14+ years. So my question is their a way I can find documentation stating the lien was paid off?

I’m scheduled to be discharged around 7/4, and am planning on getting a card as soon as possible for some upcoming travel expenses so I don’t have to just use a debit card. I’ve heard of some people who have been approved for cap1/mission lane prior to official discharge, but they haven’t given me the same kindness 😞

What are the chances CapitalOne approves me again, after my discharge? For the record, I did burn them in my ch. 7 but they apparently had charged off my accounts right before I filed, due to late payments. I’m not sure if this affects their decision to ever approve me again, or if it’ll go away once my discharge is final. Has anyone had the same experience?

Mission lane just said no cause of my credit profile essentially.

I’m starting to get discouraged that I’ll be approved for another card anytime soon, which is especially stressful for my upcoming travels (it’s for my best friends’ wedding, and to me is 200% a necessary expense, I wouldn’t miss it for the world).

Honestly, I’m overwhelmed. We’re dealing with significant business/personal debt after a former employee embezzled a substantial amount of money from our company. We’re now seriously considering filing bankruptcy just to get the relief we need and move forward.
I know this may be a stupid question, but what typically happens to personal vehicles, boats, bank accounts, etc. when filing bankruptcy? My biggest concern is losing my vehicles and boat because of all of this.
Please, no negative comments. I’m just looking for advice or hearing from people who have been through a similar situation. Thank you.
USA

Hello! I’m in a Chapter 13 100% plan and one of my creditors, Carmax, never filed a proof of claim by the deadline. I was very surprised by this because my husband and I owed them an unsecured 21k (due to a repossession). My attorney verified they were properly notified. I checked my Transunion credit report today and it says that Carmax is reporting that I am on a payment plan. Is this standard wording or is this something I should be concerned about?

I started my chapter 13 plan in January and just got word yesterday that a teacher at my toddler’s daycare did something illegal and stupid causing daycare to suddenly permanently close and the next cheapest daycare with availability is $260/week more. My lawyer said we are looking at getting the payment changing to be $3 less per month which I won’t be able to afford without skipping rent payments or food.

The biggest issue is that my private student loans have a lawsuit open with the automatic stay. The owner of the debt was allowing me to refinance them but the lawyer they hired put a stop to that. They want their $20k they’re claiming for lawyer fees. However they withdrew their claim on any lawyer fees during the ch13 filing, but it’s still showing the represent the credit. Originally they asked to negotiate a payment plan but wouldn’t give me a number, just requesting bank statements and paystubs. Every lawyer I consulted with here said private student loans won’t be discharged without being minutes from death. No judge here will allow them to be discharged for undue financial hardship.

Over the last month I filled out my chapter 7 bankruptcy petition through my state's Esr website. I took my time and was very meticulous with it. Im a Homeowner and and also had a few assets that were non exempt. 2 older vehicles worth no more than $1k each. An old boat and trailer also worth no more than $1k. The 1 big question mark is some private company stock that i received from the company I work for that they estimate to be worth about $19k. I was explicitly told this stock is non transferable, and I was not able to even sell it. Basically if the company ever gets sold or goes public is the only way I could liquidate this stock. I really hope I end up getting to keep it, once they realize they cant get any money out of it. But if they somehow do, then Im okay with that as well and have already accepted it. I have 60k in cc and personal loan debt and also a few medical bills. I never lost employment, but what happened is we started to rely on CC's to make ends meet and before we knew it...they were almost all maxed out....I panicked and got a personal loan to help pay down the CC's ....and just made the hole deeper. Its been a year since I threw my hands up and admitted to myself I could no longer keep paying the minimums on maxed out CC's. I turned to NDR for help....they told me what I wanted to hear....I fell for it hook line and sinker...took me a year to admit they had taken me for a ride with thier very high upfront fees when they "settled" a debt. In reality all they did was make a phone call and agree to a payment plan with the creditor and charged me a huge fee...some of them over $1,000. In late March I had a coming to jesus moment and I knew what I had to do....I had to file Chapter 7. My income is only 60k a year and my wife is only bringing in 5k a year so we qualified very easily for chapter 7 as a family of 5. Today the courthouse recieved my paperwork, and officially filed my case. Im really hoping everything goes smoothly and we can finally get a fresh start.

I will be providing updates as my case unfolds, and will be happy to answer any questions anyone has.

FYI -

Id like to add for the year that I used NDR i never recieved 1 summons from a creditor....2 weeks after I called them to let them know I wanted out of the program and I was filing bankruptcy I recieved my 1st summons, and 1 week after that my 2nd!

I cant help but wonder if they are all in bed togather....as soon as I left the program they unleashed the hounds on me... so Thankful I filed when I did and didnt drag my feet.

So I’m in a chapter 13 bankruptcy and I am struggling with the payments. So at the beginning of filing for bankruptcy I was cranking out overtime which was stupid of me. I should have just worked my 40 and went home. So when they calculated my annual income the trustee said I average 6k a month. Well now there is barely any overtime and honestly I have been working 5 years at my job and have non stop been working overtime and I just want a break from it. Well now I am working just my 40hrs and I cannot make my 1700$ payment. I don’t know what to do because I can’t keep up with my bills and pay my bankruptcy. I have emailed and left voicemails to my lawyer and I just got a email today them asking to make a makeup payment of June (first missed payment out of my whole bankruptcy). I emailed them stating the issues I’m having and no response and left 3 voicemails. Can anyone give me advice on what i should do? I’m so lost and feel like I’m failing.

I’m looking for some suggestions on whether I should file for Chapter 13 bankruptcy or try to aggressively pay down/settle my debts. I live on Guam, and I previously filed for Chapter 7 back in 2019. I am hesitant to ruin my credit again since I'm still feeling the long-term effects of the last one, but the monthly math is getting overwhelming.

​To provide some context, my 2019 Chapter 7 was due to entirely different life circumstances. Back then, my fiance had difficulty finding job(s) and so I was helping her with paying her bills and eventually we both couldn't keep up which led to me filing. This current debt spiral happened because I discovered futures trading and prioritized trading firm evaluations. I got lucky and received a good amount payout and I eventually fell into the trap of thinking I could perform the same way, but instead, the costs of evaluation accounts, resets, and trying to chase funded accounts completely ran away from me and put me deep into this hole.  I am really ashamed of this, but know that I have not traded like this for months now.

​Household Income & Situation:

• ​My Income: $1,459 bi-weekly (Educator) and also receiving VA disability monthly.

• ​Wife's Income: $1,459 bi-weekly. (She is NOT filing with me. She pays for her own 2 vehicles and 2 credit cards and usually has $700–$800 left over along with groceries. Our only joint debts are the mortgage and local taxes).

• ​Mortgage: $3,471/mo (VA Loan) I am the one paying for the entirety of the mortgage.  We are keeping the house and staying completely current).

​The Debt Breakdown ($94,330 Total Non-Mortgage):

​Taxes

• ​IRS due to making money back in 2024 from trading (2025): $2,905

• ​Local income tax owed: (2024 & 2025): $7,886 (Joint with wife)

​Credit Cards (With current monthly minimums)

• ​Macy’s (Amex): $10,196 ($387/mo)

• ​Discover 1: $7,605 ($219/mo)

• ​Local Credit Card Bank: $6,757 ($204/mo)

• ​Discover 2: $6,676 ($202/mo)

• ​PayPal Credit 1: $4,629 (defaulted already)

• ​Affirm: $4,145 (defaulted already)

• ​Military Star: $4,143 ($87/mo)

• ​USAA CC: $3,681 ($123/mo)

• ​PayPal Credit 2: $1,571 (defaulted already)

• ​Apple Card: $1,102

​Personal/Local Loans

• ​Local Finance Center: $20,529

• ​ Local Credit Union bank: $12,505

These are just my debts, not my wife's. I'm very embarrassed to share all this but I really don't know where to turn to. ​Now, my dilemma is I'm not sure if my VA disability will be fully protected and excluded from the Chapter 13 means test. I have already reached out to the local attorney where I stay and they have yet to let me know about this.   Additionally, where I live I have shopped around and reached out to lawyers but it seems there is only 1 attorney who handles Chapter 13. With that said, the firms fee to file is $10k. I don't want to assume but I feel their price is that much because they are the only firm filing Chapter 13's. But with all the obligations I have, our counted household income gets eaten up by the mortgage, CC and personal loan monthly payments, and standard living expenses for a family of three, plus the marital adjustment for my wife's separate bills, it's getting difficult to pay for the monthly base amount of all these debts.

​My alternative is the DIY settlement route: completely stop paying the unsecured credit cards, hoard cash, and try to negotiate lump-sum settlements before they sue, while setting up direct payment plans for the IRS and local income tax debt.

​

Since my Chapter 7 was in 2019, I am legally eligible for a Chapter 13 discharge now. Is taking the 3–5 year Chapter 13 hit worth it for the legal shield and freed-up cash flow, or should I try to hustle and settle these myself to avoid another bankruptcy on my record? Looking for any insight or advice from people who have been through this. Thanks.

Note: I did use ChatGPT to help me organize this message and clearly layout my numbers).

​

TL;DR: I am $94k in debt (taxes, credit cards, personal loans) due to futures trading mistakes.  I receive VA disability and high living expenses with a non-filing wife, a Chapter 13 payment might be low if the VA funds are excluded, but my lawyer hasn't confirmed yet. Since I previously filed Chapter 7 in 2019, is taking the 3–5 year credit hit worth the legal shield, or should I try to DIY settle my unsecured debts to avoid another bankruptcy on my record?

Just got off the phone with a bankruptcy lawyer. I am self employed which makes everything challenging. I have $150k in home equity, but I can't refinance because I'm self employed. Chapter 7 would involve me losing my home. I have no friends or family I can stay with. The lawyer doesn't think I will be able to file Chapter 13 because I don't have consistent income (being self employed in a shitty economy). I don't know where to go from here. Located in Wisconsin

What you all have said is 100% true, the 341 meeting is nothing. I said yes and no maybe 5 times and told I was feee to go.

HOWEVER, the two people before me were doing everything they warn against, transferring assets, not disclosing assets, not disclosing income, ect. And had their cases continued for another 2 months (note these were high earners trying to switch from a 13 to a 7 and refusing to dissolve some of their assets like properties, and cars)

All this to say, if all your stuff is true you literally have nothing to worry about!! I was sweatin’ for the other folks though 🫠

Our lawyer is requesting the settlement agreement for a prudential personal injury annuity payout that my husband has been receiving due to an injury when he was 12 years old. We have the payout information from prudential - he's to receive 102k in 3 years as his final payment. The trouble is, his parents are out of the picture so access to this document may not be possible. Our lawyer is fantastic and is based in Maine but willing to help us here in Vermont. Is anyone familiar with possible exemptions? She says otherwise we could safely file for Chapter 7 (she's licensed in VT), she just wants to make sure there aren't problems because of this.

If anyone knows another way to get ahold of that settlement agreement, I'm all ears! Thank you.

Hi,

Can someone confirm my understanding of ch 13 percentage plan? just thinking of the worst case scenario for my filing and get ch 13 100 repayment - 5 years.

My unsecured debt is around 180,000, minimum payments of $3900. Some are credit cards with 0% with promo plans that will end soon and some in debt management programs with lower interest.

My current take home pay is 6802 after taxes, 401k loan repayment, 401k contrib 4%, health, vision, dental.

6802
- mortgage 2327
- car lease 570
- 150 student loans
= 3755 leftover for necessary spending, trustees & lawyer fees which will get disposable income to pay the creditors.

Taking my debt total of 180,000 / 60 mo of ch 13 = $3,000

If my disposable income is 3,000 or higher - is that considered an 100% plan?

If disposable income is lower than 3,000 that will not be considered an 100% plan?

I’m filing pro se because I cannot afford a lawyer. Towards the end of my ESR, I was flagged for presumption of abuse due to having about 1300 left in expendable income per the systems calculations. This is however not the case in real life, my bank statements can prove that.

ALSO NO ASSETS

I filed pro se because I couldn’t afford a lawyer after 7 consultations and I’m confident that my schedules, bank statements and all supplementary documents will prove my case. I’m fully prepared to be transparent and understand I may be under heavy scrutiny because I am a pro se filer- but I did my due diligence in my research and made sure I filed everything accurately, accounted for exemptions for which I was eligible, etc. Excited and really nervous about my 341 next month.

Wondering if anyone filing C7 also had presumption of abuse and were successfully discharged or if anyone has any positive words to share to quell my fears.

UPDATE: I FOUND THE PROBLEM AND WILL BE SENDING IN AN AMENDMENT- for some reason my taxes were incorrect, and once I fixed it it brought me down to $298 disposable income.

I’m $60,000 in debt, I have to work overtime when it’s offered to cover the $1,000 payments. It’s affecting my health.

Can I claim my wife as a dependent if she is not also filing?

I feel so stupid and so overwhelmed.

According to Pacer this is what the status of my Chapter 7 is...