Chapter7 vs debt settlement

Without knowing what state you are in and what equity you have in your home, it is hard to say what is better for you. Talk to another attorney if you were not comfortable with the one you spoke with. They should answer all your questions.

Your best bet would be a Chapter 7 bankruptcy. More than likely you will be able to keep the house, and, you could also reaffirm the vehicle.

You should talk to an attorney.

I would love to speak with an attorney if I could find one to just tell me the facts and not try to push me into BK. Is there anywhere I could just look at some requirements and see if it would be the best option for me. I am in Fla.

Talk to friends and coworkers...tell them "a friend" of yours is looking for a bankruptcy attorney. Nowadays, everyone knows somebody who has filed bankruptcy and that way you can get a good bankruptcy attorney referal.

I filed both ch 7 and ch 13 bk myself. Just look at your states laws on what you can "except" in a CH 7 filing. For instance, in WA state, you have a vehicle exception of $2500. That means if your vehicle is worth only 2500 if you sell it privately you can keep it. If it's worth more, than there's an addition 2000.00 "wild card" exeception you can use to keep it.

Legalese is sometimes hard to understand, but usually it's laid out pretty straight forward...
Forms are easy to fill out, just takes a while....and if you do something wrong, the court will send you a list of corrections you need to make on various schedules and resubmit. (usually no fee for CH7)....

here's a website for starters: w w w dot flabankruptcy dot net slash Chapter_7 dot html

If the federal exemptions are kinder that the FL exemptions for a specific item, use that instead. you just document which exemption you are using on the schedules....
Just search for Federal CH 7 Bankruptcy exemptions.
You can contact me if you have further questions, but BK filing was ALOT easier than I thought it would be....
HECK - I've done it twice without and atty and I'll prolly have to file CH 7 again in September !

It really depends on how much you owe. I tried an credit counseling agency before my first CH 7 and it didn't do much good. CH 7 was a godsend to me....I wiped out 10,000.00 in debt I had been trying to pay off for years and was able to buy a condo within 2 years. I kept my car as well.

Yes, BK is a stigma and a tough pill to swallow, but if you go that route you'll feel like a gigantic weight had been lifted off your shoulders...and no one really needs to know, do they?

Thanks sister, I will look into that.