Discuss Your Credit with Your Bankruptcy Attorney

Feb 4
10:42

2013

Abraham Avotina

Abraham Avotina

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A bankruptcy attorney will help you to decide if this process is right for you. That includes understanding what will happen to your credit score.

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When you meet with a bankruptcy attorney to discuss your case,Discuss Your Credit with Your Bankruptcy Attorney Articles one of the first things he or she will talk to you about is your debt. How much do you have? What types do you have? It does not matter why you are here, in this debt situation. Rather, it matters what your goals are for the future and what filing will mean to you. One of the things to understand is that your credit will be negatively impacted by this process. However, in the short and long term, the difference in what this means is important to note.

The Short Term

Once you file, as your bankruptcy attorney will tell you, all of your accounts go into a process called the automatic stay. When this happens, you no longer have to pay your debts and your creditors can no longer harass you about it. However, you should continue to pay any debt for an asset you plan to keep, such as your home or car loan. Keeping this in mind, it will impact your credit score right at that moment. That's because you are creating a public record on your credit report and you are no longer upholding the agreement you made with your lenders. As a result, your credit score will fall.

Your Report

Chapter 7 will stay on your credit file for up to ten years. Chapter 13, a debt reorganization plan, will stay on your file for seven years. This is from the discharge date, not the filing date. During that time, you may have a hard time convincing lenders to lend to you. You are seen as a risk factor now because, as many lenders believe, those who have struggled in the past financially are likely to do so again in the future.

The Long Term

If you continue to pay your debt the way it is right now, it may take you five, ten or even more years to pay it off. If your credit score is already bad, it will remain bad for that time. On the other hand, though, as your bankruptcy attorney will tell you, if you file now, within a few years, your score will begin to improve if you make wise financial decisions. For some people, then, it is better to file because in the long term, their score will rise.

What's right for you? To find out, contact a bankruptcy attorney to discuss your case. Find out what you can expect to happen to you if you make this move. You'll find that this process can be intimidating, but an expert legal professional can give you the direction you need.

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