You’re a nervous wreck at your Bankruptcy Consult, Part II
You walk into the office expecting to have a short conversation and maybe just get some information about filing for Bankruptcy, IN CASE, you actually want to file later on down the line. You tell yourself you HAD to meet anyway, because you needed to know what a lawyer actually had to say versus reading everything online. Mostly, you say, you’re just going to listen to what the attorney says and then thank him (me) for his time and go on about your day. What’s the harm, you ask yourself. However, a funny thing happens when you walk into the office; you unload. You literally begin your story by explaining that you never thought you’d be in the situation you find yourself in. Never in a million years. Things began when (x) or (y) occurred, and slowly, very slowly, things began to get out of control. The common term that people use is that they “snowballed” but you can’t come to use that term because you keep thinking that you thought you were in control even when you weren’t in control. At some point, you woke up and realized you were in a serious hole. You woke up and each “out” you thought you had was now slowly diminishing. You could pay the minimums on the credit cards, but how could you ever pay off the entire balance. Until one day, you realized you’d have a tough time paying the minimums. You couldn’t transfer the balances from one card to another anymore. You weren’t getting any more offers in the mail. You were stuck. But how, even in the face of this, how could you end up in a Bankruptcy attorneys office? Yet here you are. The attorney hears everything you’re saying and says “We can absolutely help.” How can he be so sure, you think to yourself? Your skepticism is high. You WANT to believe he can help. In fact, you’re dying to get off this crazy wheel you’re on and allow him to help, but something is telling you that this is too easy. There is no way you can just erase the debts that you have in a short period of time. Why do people use debt settlement companies? Why do they try and negotiate? Why don’t people do this from the very start. You again go over your situation. You know which questions to ask. You’ve read about which questions to ask online and now you’re fully prepared. “When will I get credit again?” “Very soon” is the reply. “What happens to all my unsecured credit card debt?” “Get’s discharged in about 90 days” “How does this affect my spouse if (s)he is not on the cards.” “Doesn’t affect them in any way.” “What about my car? I leased my car. Can I keep my car?” “Most likely, so long as you have enough for the monthly payments. Or, you could give it back now and not owe anything.” “What about my IRA?” “Exempt. They can’t touch it.” You fire question after question and the responses, again, seem too good to be true. WHY, if this was the case, would you have gone through so many sleepless nights. Why, if this was the case, would you have gotten into fights with your spouse so many times about getting out of this mess? You have to think about this, you say. You really have to go home and think about this.
Leaving the office, you feel less tense. You still have no idea what you’re going to do, and you’re still stressed, but less so. There seem to be more options now.
Part III coming tomorrow.