Anyone have experience with bankruptcy vs. judgements? - Page 2

[PlayaMama]

regarding student loans, if you are in default they WILL OFFER RECOVERY!!!!

you make payments for a certain amount of time and they consolidate your loan, be very careful about the interest rate you consolidate under, but once you do this they erase the fact that you ever defaulted from your credit
record, it just says the debt was transferred.


i did this and it totally works.

if you are in deferment then you can get back on the income contingent plan or economic hardship and you don't have to pay if you aren't making enough.

judgments are serious in quite a few states and i would contest the debt immediately. check out the credit info site listed previously. also, i'd not declare bankruptcy over $9 k either. the student loans will never go away and you can get a settlement amount for the cc. though, 7 years isn't terribly long if you already have a house and a car....

[Twopeaedpod]

Okay, I am following up on this now.

I saw the lawyer yesterday and here are all the correct answers! (for NYers, at least)


1. Bankruptcy stays with you for the rest of your life, not just 7 years b/c applications and other forms ask "have you EVER filed bankruptcy" and you have to answer "yes" legally!

2. Judgements last 10 years and can renewed (although seldom followed through on) for 10 more. So, a judgement will stay with you for (worse-case) 20 years. Very few, if any, applications/forms ask "have you ever had a judgement filed against you".

3. Student Loans do not get written off in bankruptcy (private or govt). I knew this, but some ppl on here did not.

4. Student Loans - government - easy...I am just signing up for the Income Based Repayment plan that another poster recommended, under that we owe NO PAYMENTS with our current income!!! THANKS A TON!!!

5. Student Loans - private - not so easy. They won't take "don't have the money now" for an answer as long as the government loans will. The lawyer said I should call them and be honest with them about my ability to pay and they will do what they will to collect or they will defer.

6. I am collections proof - my car and my bank account have so little value that they are protected by law. I have no other assets other than these.

7. Our house is perfectly safe b/c it's in my husband's name, not mine.

8. The credit cards may place judgements on me and then the most they can do is call alot and send an offical form asking for all my assets. I have to answer that honestly and send it in, but they will only see that I'm again, "collections proof".

So, yeah...that's about it.
I did mean to ask about taxes, but I forgot. I'm going to email him about that. If you have any questions regarding any of this stuff, I'd be happy to help, just PM me!

Bad credit isn't the end of the world, really. Not in our situation. My husband has prime credit so when our car dies, it'll go in his name. We already have our house. We are all set for quite some time. If anything ever happens to him, then yes, I'd be in some trouble perhaps, but we'll have to take that risk so I can stay home with the children and we can have a good start for them.

I feel good about my decision and at peace b/c I know who benefits from it.

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[JudiAU]

On further reflection, removed content.