So your life is upside down and in financial turmoil. You can’t afford to satisfy your debts anymore and creditors are calling screaming at you for payments. You feel guilty, stressed out and depressed but at the same time you’re asking yourself, “What in the world am I supposed to do?” After realizing that doing nothing isn’t going to make things better and debt consolidation is a waste of time you come to the conclusion that filing bankruptcy is the best and/or only solution for you. Now you need a MN Bankruptcy Lawyer... So what’s next?
1. Find Yourself An Experienced MN Bankruptcy Lawyer
Once you’ve decided that you want to file bankruptcy the first thing that you should do is find and speak with a Bankruptcy Lawyer that specializes exclusively in MN Bankruptcy. Even though you technically don’t need a Lawyer to file, filing bankruptcy without one is difficult and risky. Besides without an experienced MN Bankruptcy Attorney, standing by your side, you’re leaving yourself vulnerable to debt collectors and the bankruptcy court trustees.
If moneys the issue and you’re concerned about the cost of your Lawyer, take advantage of a Bankruptcy Lawyer like at Kain & Scott who offer $0 upfront fees an easy payments plans. A lot of the times you’ll find that Bankruptcy Lawyers want you to pay their fees in full, or least half, before they’ll file your case and allow you to use them to defend you from creditors. The problem is that you’re already struggling financially so that sure makes your journey to debt freedom a lot more difficult. Hiring a Bankruptcy Lawyer that offers $0 Up Front Attorney Fees is the complete opposite. They’re going to make it easier for you by helping you get your debt wiped clean first, then allowing you to pay them easy monthly payments afterwards once you can actually afford to do so.
2. Stop Borrowing Money or Using Credit
If you’re going to file bankruptcy you should stop borrowing money or acquiring more debt on your credit cards immediately. Why? Because filing bankruptcy on any debt that you’ve acquired after you’ve decided to file is considered fraud and can result in that debt not being discharged in the bankruptcy case. This includes any money that you’ve borrowed from your family or friends. The District of Minnesota | United States Bankruptcy Court views your family and friends exactly the same as a third party creditor. You can receive gifts from your family and friends but definitely not a loan. When you file your bankruptcy petition and schedules with the court it must list all of your creditors and you must sign it under penalty of perjury that everything is true and accurate. Perjury is a serious crime. Therefore you don’t want hide anything on your petition.
3. Stop making payments to your unsecured creditors
Before you file you’ll still have to pay things like rent, car and insurance payments but not your medical, credit card and department store card debts. And don’t pay back any friends or family, an unsecured creditor over $600 or transfer any property, assets, cash or anything else worth a significant amount of value to get it out of your possession and into “friendly” hands. As soon as your case is filed, with a “good lawyer” (one who can file your case properly in days, not weeks), you’ll be eligible for and receive an automatic stay prohibiting any creditors or debt collectors from contacting you to collect payments on that debt anyway. That’s why the best thing to do stop making payments and save that money to help you pay your attorney fees once you’ve been filed and are debt free again.
4. Start Living modestly
Once you’ve filed and you’re in an active bankruptcy (one that has been filed but not closed) you’re going to have to live without credit temporarily. Most of the credit card companies these days know almost instantly that you’ve filed a bankruptcy case. They find this out through various online resources they have access to and cease the ability for you to get credit the second they’re notified. None of them want to give you credit until your case is closed. This means you’ll have to live off cash for a couple months. However, don’t worry; from the day you file until your case is closed usually doesn’t take any longer than 90 days. Once your case is closed and the creditors know you can’t file bankruptcy again for eight years they’ll be sending you credit offers again.
5. Stop Those Pesky Debt Collectors From Calling
As soon as you hire a lawyer, stop paying your bills and file bankruptcy you might still have some debt collectors calling you to try and harass you into make payments. It’s inevitable because that is their job but as soon as you file and receive an automatic stay, you don’t have to let it happen. In fact, they’re required to stop because by law, under Section 362 of the Bankruptcy Code, they are prohibited from any type of debt collection activity. If they call, the first time, politely tell them you’ve filed bankruptcy and they need to stop. If that doesn’t work and they continue to harass you, you need to call your lawyer immediately. A helpful lawyer like the ones at Kain & Scott, P.A. will stop them in their tracks.
6. Start Your New Debt Free Life
After you’ve filed, your case is closed and your debts have been discharged you’ll home free! The next thing you’ll want to do is start to re-establish your credit. As I said earlier, as soon as creditors know that your case is close you’ll start receiving offers again. They know that you can’t file bankruptcy again for another eight years and that you are completely debt free so truly there is no better person to give credit to than, that’s right you guessed it… YOU! Take advantage of this and obtain credit. However, use it responsibly. Go buy yourself gas and groceries on it and make sure you pay it off every month. This is just one way to start rebuilding your credit. For more - Click Here For 5 More Tips For Rebuilding Credit After Bankruptcy.
