Bankruptcy grace period

Wojtek Sokolowski sokol at jhu.edu
Fri Mar 23 08:37:33 PST 2001


At 10:32 AM 3/23/01 -0500, Doug wrote:
>I'll say again, anyone with substantial debts should seriously
>consider filing. The consequences of going bankrupt aren't all that
>awful, and those of servicing onerous debts can be. Many credit card
>companies are happy to give new bankrupts a card, since they're now
>debt-free and prohibited from filing again for 6 years.

I wholeheartedly agree.

I went through the procedure myself about a year ago and was able to discharge about 80% of my debt (all unsecured credit card loans) except student loans which cannot be discharged, as well as a car loan and mortgage which I wished to continue paying (but which were dischargeable, but would result in losing the collateral). The attorney fee for the procedure was ca $800. Before the procedure I made sure that I did not have any assets in excess of $2k (including outstanding tax refunds). The procedure itself was quite painless, no more difficult than, say, a traffic court. The bankruptcy judge asked routine questions about the reason for not being able to pay (overwhelmed with debt) and the value of any real property in my possession. There were very little adverse concequences thereafter (most of them limited to refusals of new credit cards). Nonetheless I was able to retain one of my (relatevely) low interest, high limit "platinum" cards which I had obtained before the procedure.

I would advise anyone with a substantial debt to do exactly the same, before it is too late.

Wojtek



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