Things To Consider

These are some important things that may effect you.

1. If you owe money to a bank you bank at stop using your that account.  You do not have to close it down but you do need to move the money out of it and direct all deposits to a bank account at a bank where you do not have any debt. This includes mortgage and a vehicle loan even if you intend to keep paying it.
2. If you have both a car loan and a personal loan/credit card with a credit union they are both secured by the car.  This is call cross-collateralization and it applies exclusively to credit unions not banks.  If you stop paying the personal loan or credit card prior to filing your case your car could be repoed.  The solution is to file quickly or keep paying on the personal loan/credit card until you are ready to file.
3. If you are filing a Chapter 7 and you want to keep a vehicle that has a loan on it, you must be current on the vehicle payments at the time of the filing.  To guarantee that you can keep a vehicle you must sign a “reaffirmation” with the lender during the bankruptcy process.  If you are behind on the payments, we cannot certify the reaffirmation and the court will generally not approve it which could result in losing the car.  Please be current on payments.
4. Do not pay any relatives or friends back before filing bankruptcy.  The money you pay can be taken from that friend or relative by the bankruptcy trustee.  Wait to file your case and then you can pay any debt you would like.  Ask your attorney about this.