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Sorry Tightwad, I really didn't intend that to be thoughtless or cruel. I should have elaborated.
I know from personal experience that a bankruptcy alone does not disqualify you from most jobs. Exceptions are those jobs where you physically handle money or where a high level goverment clearance is required. Otherwise, it may be a matter of someone else having more experience, education, or being more qualified. We all walk into an interview thinking we are the best candidate. When we don't get the job - we want to believe that it is because they have not evaluated our skills correctly, or that they put too much or too little credence on what they saw on paper.
Again, my apologies. I reread my post and it did sound pretty bad.
It's not actually that hard, even with the new rules. The credit card "counseling" is not hard either; I handled my brother's bankruptcy, due to medical, because if you don't file before the judgment, you owe that money and they will get their money.
Some basics include: you cannot make any purchases/use any credit cards 6 months prior to filing, i.e., you can't buy a big flatscreen for $1,000 & throw a $3,000 bankruptcy party today, and then file tomorrow.
Creditors are allowed to show up at your bankruptcy hearing (which is you attesting to your statements and that you are bankrupt). The judge will ask if their are any creditors present (they can request property you purchased on their credit card). Then, a few moments pass, and usually, no one shows. Then, the judge basically slams the gavel down & declares that your bankruptcy is granted.
The afterwards portion is good, b/c you are mostly using cash - I have learned to re-think so many purchases, b/c even with the tiny Crapital One card I got after, I never want to get into that situation again. The bankruptcy made some apts not possible, and certainly you won't have any good credit cards (maybe a credit union would be ok?) but you won't be stressed out.
Debt is highly stressful, though, and once you file your paperwork, no creditors can harass you - you tell them you filed, and give them your bankruptcy file number, which you will get when you file your paperwork with the Clerk of Courts and get a date for your hearing.
Hope this helps; please feel free to send a message if you want more info. We created this "out" for impossible situations, so please don't feel bad. It can, and often does, happen to good people. My family mostly never handled money well; I'm doing much better these days though! You'll get through it.
This post got me thinking though...with so many credit card companies shutting down consumers credit even left and right...going through bankruptcy and trying to get a credit card wouldn't be much different. No???
I don't know but my stepmother lives in Florida. She claims that she has applied for many jobs. Shoe sales,retails,hardware,fast food, and she has been turned down at most everywhere because of bad credit. She gets a letter in the mail saying that because of her credit she has been turned down.
I don't know but my stepmother lives in Florida. She claims that she has applied for many jobs. Shoe sales,retails,hardware,fast food, and she has been turned down at most everywhere because of bad credit. She gets a letter in the mail saying that because of her credit she has been turned down.
She may need to look for a job where she doesn't physically handle money.
Also - unless it specifically said the "bankruptcy," it may be due purely to the bad credit that racked up before she filed.
Those who file bankruptcy, no longer have debtors after them, and have more money to use toward the basic cost of living. People with bankruptcies are actually less of a liability than they were before they filed.
Case #1 - Someone very close to me had to file Ch. 7, 6 years ago. To this day still cannot get even a mortgage loan even though they have been at their job for 20 years, pay bills on time, have no crdit cards since the filing, etc.
Case #2 - Another person I know, their brother has filed 2 or 3 times (Ch. 7), and has bought/sold/lost 4 houses before, during and after each filing (at different times, not 4 at once) and one house was even foreclosed on. Then he waited a few months and was able to get another one.
We went from 80K to unemployment... been unemployed now for 1 year. We had to file #7 and the only thing we didn't file on was our home and my old Harley. We had one car paid for and let the other go the other debts we let go were all credit cards. Our bankruptcy was discharged 4 -5 months ago. Our house is current and the Harley is current. Our credit rating has been mid 700's all our married life. Hard thing to go through. We should be rebuilding credit now with the house and bike but not sure what the numbers are. We would like to sell our home in a year and buy another across the State of Michigan. Do you think we will be able to get a mortgage?
This post got me thinking though...with so many credit card companies shutting down consumers credit even left and right...going through bankruptcy and trying to get a credit card wouldn't be much different. No???
No. I have a freind who went bankrupt and he said bascailly the ones you get have high inetrest and are only good for restablishing some credit for future. Thins like auto laons your much better poayig cash ebcause of the high rates if you can get a loan. Look at what is happeni to those with even gih debt but good credit how. That iswhere the real fiddeerences are to be seen. Ever notices those vehciles 0% loans disclamers. For weoll qualified buyers. Dealers even have alternate crdit lines now days vecause so mnay have raised the credit ratings needed.
We heard all the horror stories too before we filed bankruptcy, but we were forced into a situation by the Navy... maybe that's why ours has been "easier".
First, we reaffirmed all the debt after filing (Chap 7) that we could. Some companies wouldn't even speak to us, some were more than happy to allow us to keep paying our debt. My husband's credit score dropped by over 150 points. Mine by over 100. That was 4 years ago.
We had the use of the two credit cards during that time that we had re-affirmed. We continued as we always had (it wasn't irresponsible behavior that got us into the situation, it was a bad choice compounded by the actions of the Navy, then compounded by 2 years of me listening to people say that bankruptcy "ruins your life").
It's been 4 years. We just bought our first home. We have more credit cards, good interest rates. We went through a mortgage broker to buy the home, but they sold it right after close (we got the notice 10 days later). We called and asked why... the broker said that they don't like to carry loans with interest rates as low as the one we got - 5.25%.
We have always been upfront with everyone about our bankruptcy and it didn't stop us from starting our own business, renting homes, buying a home, buying a new minivan in 09 (7%), moving to another state (twice!), etc. We get lots of offers for "rebuilding our credit" but the re-affirmation of our debt has done that.
It's been 4 years. My credit score is back where it was, and my husband's is just a few points lower than it was before we filed. But on the day we filed, we didn't have even one late payment either (other than the one debt) so maybe that helped.
It was a huge relief and once we got over the shame of it, we were able to move on with our lives and see that worse things COULD'VE happened.
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Yes, I filed in 98 & for my brother in 2007
