"Chapter 13 Horror Stories" Discussion

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CONGRATS!!!

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Daniel that is WONDERFUL!!! And thank YOU for the shout-out to the Upsolve Team! They do ROCK! :-) and YOU DO TOO for persevering and seeing this project through in earning your Fresh Start! Now it's time to rebuild and I hope to see you in the new Upsolve Personal Finances "Conversation" (room) where topics like "budgets", "rebuilding credit" -- what works, what doesn't will be discussed. I was discharged in June of 2020 and it has been an interesting rebuilding process! :-) 

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Woo hoo! Congratulations Daniel!! So happy for you!! (And thanks for sharing your experience!)

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Did you have to dress up for your meeting?

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How did you get discharged so quick?

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@rahmel- mine 341 was over the phone.  @Michael I filed on 9/17 and didn't have the 341 until 11/4 then 60 days for creditors to object.  

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Many credit unions utilize cross-collateralization language which result in loans you thought were unsecured to actually be secured obligations. They thus require a debtor to reaffirm on both loans in order to retain the secured collateral. You might find this blog post helpful. https://www.bondnbotes.com/2016/10/03/credit-union-bankruptcy

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You may also want to consider filing a Chapter 13 bankruptcy which, in some cases, will allow you to simply pay the value of the car rather than the entire balance owed.

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Hi Vanessa, this article from the Upsolve Learning Center: https://upsolve.org/learn/credit-unions-and-bankruptcy/ Perhaps this may be of assistance to you. Good luck! :-)

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Vanessa, it will ultimately depend on the credit union's policies, but it is common to reaffirm both types of loans. The article Mark suggested will give you more insight on the topic. I did just notice the article https://upsolve.org/learn/car-payment-too-high/ says this "It is common for credit cards through a credit union to be secured by your car when you also have a car loan with the credit union. While credit cards are usually unsecured, this type of cross-collateralization effectively makes a credit card into a secured debt. Due to this cross-collateralization, credit unions often won't reaffirm a car loan unless the credit card is also reaffirmed. If the credit card balance is high enough, it may be best to surrender the car."

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A Chapter 7 bankruptcy doesn't involve a payment plan and the discharge is typically entered about 4 months after filing. In a Chapter 13, you have a 3 - 5 year repayment plan to complete before the discharge is granted. 

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Check out these two articles for more!

Upsolve Community Member
https://upsolve.org/learn/how-long-does-chapter-7-take/

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https://upsolve.org/learn/how-long-does-chapter-13-bankruptcy-take/

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If you're asking about Chapter 7 v. Chapter 13 bankruptcy, check out this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hrQS1MqXnDw.

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that’s what i want to know as well good question 

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Stephen, thanks so much for asking! This may be a good place to start learning more: https://upsolve.org/learn/how-long-bankruptcy-on-credit-report/ 

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Generally speaking, information on your credit report isn't taken off once a bankruptcy is filed. There's generally a time limit for how long any information will stay on a credit report (i.e. for charge-offs it's generally 7 years). This wouldn't automatically change due to a bankruptcy filing. 

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Please let us know if you have any other questions! 

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Hi Stephen, even LATE payments can stay on your credit reports for up to 7 years! So don't be late! ;-). FYI, Upsolve has a new "Room" in this Community where conversations about https://my.upsolve.org/rooms/19 and rebuilding credit are/will be happening! See you there! :-) 

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Stephen, you might also be interested in reading https://upsolve.org/learn/chapter-13-credit-report/ and https://upsolve.org/learn/remove-hard-inquiries-from-credit-report/ after you read the article Claire suggested. 

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Hi Bobby! Here is an article from the Upsolve Learning Center that should help answer your question! https://upsolve.org/learn/how-to-file-chapter-13-bankruptcy/ I hope this helps! :-)

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This might help, too! https://upsolve.org/learn/can-you-file-chapter-13-bankruptcy-online-yourself/ 

Upsolve Community Member
Generally speaking, Chapter 13 cases are much more complicated than Chapter 7 cases and have an extremely high rate of failure when filed without the assistance of an attorney. Regardless, you always have the right to represent yourself in any court proceeding, which is called representing yourself “pro se.”

Upsolve Community Member
The success rate of Chapter 13 cases filed without a lawyer is really really low. May I ask why you're considering https://upsolve.org/learn/chapter-7-versus-chapter-13-bankruptcy/? 

Upsolve Community Member
Bobby, if you're low income consider contacting your local legal aid office to see if they can help or if they can give you a referral for help. (Not all legal aid offices handle bankruptcies.) If you're not familiar with legal aid, the article https://upsolve.org/learn/nonprofit-legal-aid-explained/ is an excellent explainer.