Consumer Law

Pros and Cons of Bankruptcy

By M. Stan Herring

The Alabama Consumer Lawyer Blog has posted an article that discusses the pros and cons of filing for bankruptcy and the differences in Chapter 13 and Chapter 7.

John W. Sharbrough, the author, suggests that for people who have a house they want to keep filing Chapter 13 bankruptcy is more effective. However, for a totally fresh start, Chapter 7 is the way to go.

The pros of filing bankruptcy, according to the article, are:

It can wipe out or ?discharge? all or some of your debts;

It can give you a chance to ?catch your breath? by temporarily prohibiting creditors from foreclosing or repossessing your home or car;

It can temporarily prohibit wage garnishment or disconnection of utilities;

It will stop harassing creditor phone calls and letters;

The cons are:

It puts a blemish on your credit report that will remain there for 10 years;

Can be a source of embarrassment and may be seen by potential employers, insurance companies and such.

If you are considering or interested in filing bankruptcy feel free to contact us - we don't file bankruptcies but we will be glad to recommend you to a bankruptcy lawyer in your area and often people are seeking bankruptcy protection because of harassing debt collectors. We have been able to keep people out of bankruptcy by suing the collection agencies for violating the law .

Full post as published by Alabama Consumer Blog on May 28, 2009 (boomark / email).