Not Filing Bankruptcy
I had posted earlier about needing advice on whether we should file bankruptcy or not. We have 70,000 in credit card debt. One balance of 23,000 on my husbands card. I negotiated a payment plan with the collection agency yeseterday and it was very fair considering the high balance. We were primarily concerned about the high balance and being sued for it. We have some other balances that are 10,000, 6,000 and lower. 17 creditors in all. We definitely don't want to file bankruptcy. We were all prepared with our lawyer to file Chapt. 13. Should we try to negotiate with the highest balances and let the others just go? How likely are we to be sued? We don't own a house and are still paying off our cars. We basically have no assets. My husband makes a good wage working for UPS but my hours were cut to P/T. We are basically living on his wages. Secondly if we let the others just go and they don't sue or garnish our wages, I understand they will stay on our record for 7 years in CA? Can we get those removed after 7 years? I know statue of limitations is 4 years and they cannot sue us after. I know these are alot of questions. I'm losing alot of sleep over this matter and want some advice to try to understand what I'm doing here. Some say the best thing is not doing anything at all, but the high balances worry me. Thanks in advance for any advice.
Answer:
I'm no expert but used to work in a collections department and I know for a fact that if you settle for less than the amount owed, the "forgiven" amount gets counted as income on your taxes in one year so that can really hurt you taxwise. Sorry I don't have anything else for you though.... I was reading about that tax thing. If we owe 75,000 and our assets are way less, ($18,000) like maybe the equity in our cars it wont make any difference on our tax return. I know there is a legal term for it, I just cant remember it right now. We didn't settle the account, just arranged a payment plan for now. Maybe we will consider a payoff if we have the extra money later. If our assets were say 85,000 and our debt 75,000, we would be reposible or anything in the amount of 10,000. Someone correct me if I'm wrong
| Bankruptcy FAQ Main Page | Do It Yourself Bankruptcy | Cost Of Bankruptcy | Business Bankruptcy | Bankruptcy Types | Bankruptcy Procedure | Bankruptcy Mortgage | Bankruptcy Law | Bankruptcy Info | Bankruptcy Forms | Bankruptcy Debts | Bankruptcy Court | Bankruptcy Chapter 11 | Bankruptcy Chapter 7 | Bankruptcy Alternative | Bankrupcty | Bancruptcy | Personal Bankruptcy Laws | Personal Bankruptcy | Life After Bankruptcy | Filing Bankruptcy |