More Chapter 7

Basically, in a straight bankruptcy case (also known as Chapter 7 or liquidation bankruptcy), the court may take and liquidate or sell the debtor’s assets (assuming he has any), except for those kinds of assets listed under the law as being “exempt” from being liquidated or seized by the creditors.

Proceeds from any such liquidated assets would then be distributed-through a court appointed or court supervised “trustee”-to the debtor’s creditors,

and the debtor would have no further legal obligation on any of his dischargeable debts. Of course, if the debtor has no assets that can be seized or liquidated in the first place-or, as it most frequently happens, if the assets he has consist only of “exempt” type assets-the debtor will still keep all his belongings while the creditors get absolutely nothing.

Step-by-step procedures for a Chapter 7 filing:

1) Determine that you meet the eligibility requirements

2) Determine whether you should do some bankruptcy planning in advance of filing

3) Order the forms necessary for filing (you might as well get the all-in-one kit)

4) Fill out the initial petition forms

5) Properly Sign the Forms

6) File the Completed Forms with the court and pay the fee (a little over $200.)

7) Begin to prepare for the first meeting of creditors and cooperate with the court-appointed trustee

8) Attend the first meeting of creditors

9) Return any purchase-money secured property you have, or apply to pay for it

10) Take care of any mattes that may arise in the mean time

11) Attend the final (the discharge) hearing

12) Obtain your final papers of disclosure

13) Some post-discharge matters

14) Now you can go home and start your life over…without making the same mistakes again

Tracking down your creditors:

You need to obtain copies of your credit reports to start with. If you are denied credit for anything, you can obtain a free credit report within 60 days. Some people apply for something just so they can be denied and get the free credit report. But that is only part of the picture. It only shows one credit agency and you need all three. Plus you need to get all the information from every company and every person you owe that may have not turned it into a credit agency.

Most people don’t realize you can obtain all three credit reports (a merged report) by paying $35. to Coast to Coast Information Services 800-877-4033 www.fullcreditreports.com

True Credit 800-493-2392 www.truecredit.com

Here are the three individual credit agencies:

Equifax 800-685-1111 P.O. Box 740241 Atlanta, GA 30374-0241 www.Equifax.com

Experian 800-682-7654 P.O. Box 2002 Allen, TX 75013 www.experian.com

Trans Union 800-851-2674 P.O. Box 1000 Chester, PA 19022 www.transunion.com

NOTE: The addresses of creditors on these reports may not be the correct addresses so you need to follow up and call the companies. Whenever you contact the creditors or the credit bureaus try not to give them your phone number or address. They would love to have it to harass you. They will probably ask for your social security number to be sure they are giving the proper information to the proper person.

NOTE: Your lawyer can also get this information for you but they charge $50.foreach credit report. You can save by doing it yourelf.