filing bankruptcy after being sued

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Fri, 01/30/2009 - 04:02
Forums

Can you file bankruptcy after receiving papers that you are being sued?

Yes you can surely file a bankruptcy after you have been sued. Even if there is a judgment against you and there is a garnishment order on your bank account or your wage, you can proceed with bankruptcy. Once you file bankruptcy, all the existing garnishment orders will cease to operate from immediate effect. If the accounts that are under garnishments are brought under bankruptcy, and if your bankruptcy has been discharged, there may not be further garnishments on your salary or bank account.

Fri, 01/30/2009 - 06:48 Permalink

Yes, you can file bankruptcy after you have been sued. According to the recent bankruptcy law, you need to undergo a 180 days counseling before you file bankruptcy. Now, even if the creditor bring judgment against you before you file bankruptcy, all existing foreclosure, garnishments and other court orders will cease to operate from immediate effect till the time the bankruptcy has been discharged.

Fri, 01/30/2009 - 10:46 Permalink
R.A. (not verified)

We are a small corporation. We have been unable to collect our outstanding balances from our clients due to recession. Clients also have taken their money back from their credit cards, canceling the order leaving us broke. We still owe product to other clients but we are broke. We have no choice but to close down and file chapter 7. Do we notify pending clients? Where do we start. Please help. Thanks. N.M.

Tue, 04/07/2009 - 16:25 Permalink

In such case, I think that you should consult with a bankruptcy attorney and proceed further.

Wed, 04/08/2009 - 07:30 Permalink
chris shalmi (not verified)

ok so i have about 13k in debt and want to know if i should file chapter 7 or 13 i havent been able to pay my biggest debt (which is a car) in 2 years. i am afraid i might get sued at any time. they cant repo the car because it was wrecked please someone tell me what i should do or if its even possible to file for bankruptcy i am aware it is on your credit but my credit is horrible so with this beeing said does anyone know anything that could help my situation i am way to stressed about all this and dont have the money for payments every month. thanks alot for the help

Fri, 06/12/2009 - 02:48 Permalink

Hi chris,

Generally people file for bankruptcy under Chapter 7, when they are left with no property. Filing for Ch 7 immediately stops creditors from contacting you. If you file for bankruptcy under Ch 7, you will have to give away all your assets. The court will appoint a trustee who will sell off the assets and use the money to repay your creditors. You can get your debts discharged within 6 months.

On the other hand by filing for Chapter 13, you are given a repayment plan that extends from 3 to 5 years. Because of the repayment plan, you will have to pay only a small amount every month. If you file for bankruptcy under Ch 13, the advantage is that your home cannot be foreclosed. You can also keep any other property that you have. If you have a regular income, filing for bankruptcy under Ch 13, would be a better choice.

Fri, 06/12/2009 - 04:54 Permalink
BDG (not verified)

Hi chris,

I would like to add to what rachael has said. There are few other advantages of filing for bankruptcy under Ch 13. They are as follows:

1) If you pay sincerely during the entire term of your repayment plan, the remaining debts are discharged.
2)If you already have a notice of foreclosure, filing for bankruptcy will immediately bring stay order of the notice.
3) If you also have some overdue state taxes, they will be included in the repayment plan and interests do not accrue on the tax debts.

Fri, 06/12/2009 - 10:57 Permalink
Dani (not verified)

I was and am being sued from a debt in our divorce decree. I had lost my job and have not been able to keep up with the bills and when he sued me for the debt in our decree, that led me to claim bankruptcy. I'm wondering what I can do now that I have claimed chapter 13 and am still being sued. What can I do about this debt being that I can not pay it? With what liitle I make I can't afford my wages to be garnished. Would that occur?

Thu, 07/09/2009 - 03:35 Permalink

You should contact the lawyer who is helping you obtain the bankruptsy. After filing for bankruptsy all contact and lawsuits from people you owe should have stopped. If you are recieving phone calls and threatening mail..any contact...from creditors , then you need to call you atty asap. He or she will take care of the matter for you. It is actually illegal for creditors to contact youafter you have filed unless they were not included in the bankruptsy.

Thu, 07/09/2009 - 12:46 Permalink
RICHARD METZ (not verified)

ADOPTED A CAT FROM ANIMAL WELFARE ACCIDENTLY THE CAT
GOT OUT OF MY HOUSE AND RAN AWAY. ANIMAL WELFARE IS NOW
THREATENING TO SUE ME FOR 500.00. I HAVE BEEN IN CHAPTER 13
FOR 1 YEAR AND PAYING THROUGH PAYROLL DEDUCT. CAN THEY
STILL SUE ME? I LIVE IN LOUISIANA

Thu, 08/06/2009 - 13:10 Permalink
maggie b (not verified)

My bank just froze about $900.00 after finding out that I had filled for bankruptcy and says they can keep to offset a loan that I included in such bankruptcy. Can they legally do this? Also, I ask the attorney if I should close the acct or move the money out of such bank before filling because of the outstanding loan and he said not to worry that it was fine. He no longer takes my calls. What should I do?

Thu, 08/06/2009 - 18:34 Permalink

Hi maggie

No, the bank cannot freeze any money after you have filed bankruptcy and specially for a loan that is included in the bankruptcy. Talk to a specialized attorney in this regard. I can see the one you consulted was not good enough. Go through the FDCP rules to know your rights further.

Fri, 08/07/2009 - 12:40 Permalink
tony1967 (not verified)

Do you know how bankruptcy filing will affect your ability to get a security clearance?

Mon, 08/10/2009 - 22:15 Permalink
don17 (not verified)

My wife was served a summons tonight relating to 22k in credit card debt she accrued over a five year period. Most of this was done behind my back. Anyway, we have no assets they can go after. She recently graduated nursing school and will be making good money starting next month, but unfortunately most of it will be accounted for. Is it wise to file for bankruptcy before this matter gets worse?

Thu, 08/13/2009 - 05:30 Permalink

Hi Tony

Do you know how bankruptcy filing will affect your ability to get a security clearance?

Well it can affect your security clearance but it will depend on the situation that led you to bankruptcy along with some other factors. These factors also include your performance at your job, whether the bankruptcy was caused by unexpected incidents like a a serious accident that caused huge medical bills or by any additional financial responsibility. Any comments from your co workers may also be taken into consideration. You can see why it never hurts to have a good reputation :)

Thu, 08/13/2009 - 12:45 Permalink

don

First consider answering the summon. Don't neglect it. You will be given a chance to put your case forward in court. Maybe your wife could seek a settlement instead of filing bankruptcy. The creditor may be willing to be helpful. You never know. Your wife can tell the creditor that she still isn't working and can't afford to pay that much. See if it works out. You can think of bankruptcy later.

Thu, 08/13/2009 - 12:49 Permalink
lulu09 (not verified)

If you have initiated ch.13 but not attended court yet for the Ch.13 hearing, during this time, any debt occurred will it be discharged?
Ex: fees on late payments, things that are not yet shown on your credit?

Thu, 08/27/2009 - 02:01 Permalink
Cristiano (not verified)

I am overdrawn on my bank account. I went to the bank and spoke to a manager, and the manager did very little to help me with the fees, and she even made it worse she calculated the fees wrong, and told me to deposit a lower amount than I was supposed to in order to cover for pending transactions and fees for those transactions, but I trusted her suggested deposit amount, and when the transactions cleared, it was over the amount, and I ended up with over $400 in fees from the beginning. My account now is negative, due to her mistake, after all, I went to her for help, and she made it worse and now does not want to waive those fees. If I already filled for bankruptcy and I am waiting on a court day, can it be filled on ch.13?

Thu, 08/27/2009 - 02:12 Permalink

I don't know if those fees can be filed on bankruptcy, hang on, someone should be a long soon to help you out.

Thu, 08/27/2009 - 03:07 Permalink
unhappu (not verified)

can i file for bankruptcy while i'm being sued for a car accident i did not commit?

Fri, 08/28/2009 - 07:14 Permalink

I don't think that bankruptcy has anything to do with a civil matter, I could be wrong though, wait around and see what the others have to say about it.

Fri, 08/28/2009 - 10:35 Permalink

Cristiano , I would recommend going to another branch or the banks main manager and explaining what this person who worked at the bank had told you. I do not think you can file bankruptsy but you may want to ask your atty if you have one.

Unhappy, I imagine you can file for bankrupt at anytime. I would consider asking an atty. Do you have one handling the bankruptcy?

Fri, 08/28/2009 - 13:58 Permalink
Sherrel (not verified)

I am in the process of being sued for 18,000 from credit card company. I have more credit card that are unpaid, like 30,000 more that has not gotton to the stage of suing at this time.
I sold some inherited property a year agoo and paid off one of the bills and started a business that was based on frued trying to make money to pay off all bill. That was a total loss.
My husbasn had a heart attack in 2008 which incurred over 150,
00 in hospital bills that has not been paid.On July3, he had a serious accident in which he broke his neck and remained in the hospital a whole month. He is in therapy now and the doctor says that he will not return to his job as a logger.With my salary of 1083.00 a month(net) He is receiveing 374.00 workman's comp every two weeks. All of his medical bills from 2008 has been turned over to a collection agency. Recenty he has sold a acrea of his inherited property and put the other acgeage in my daughters name. We canot maintain. Yhe house is not paid for which is 696.00
monthly, the car(656.00 monthly plus insurance. It takes 3000 a month just to run the household. We are both diabetics and has high blood pressure. My high blood pressure is bad.
What can I do legally to get out of this situation without all the assets being taken away

Thu, 09/03/2009 - 16:01 Permalink

Hi Sherrel

I am sorry to hear of your situation. I hope you intend to pay up? You could try to consolidate your debts on your own. Try to negotiate with your lender explaining to them your situation. I am sure the company will understand your situation and maybe will devise a new payment option for you. They want their money ultimately and would like to work with you rather than leave out the money. Pay gradually, little by little and let your creditors know of your financial conditions right now.

Fri, 09/04/2009 - 12:13 Permalink
randy (not verified)

hi i have been layed off for the past 6 months and owe on a truck that is 2 months behind also i have 2 more cars that are on my credit report with credit cards . I owe about 40,000 $.
my house and land is payed for and is in my name .
My question is can they force a sale of my property to pay creditors??

Mon, 11/09/2009 - 14:28 Permalink
randy (not verified)

hi i have been layed off for the past 6 months and owe on a truck that is 2 months behind also i have 2 more cars that are on my credit report with credit cards . I owe about 40,000 $.
my house and land is payed for and is in my name .
My question is can they force a sale of my property to pay creditors??

Mon, 11/09/2009 - 14:32 Permalink
randy (not verified)

hi i have been layed off for the past 6 months and owe on a truck that is 2 months behind also i have 2 more cars that are on my credit report with credit cards . I owe about 40,000 $.
my house and land is payed for and is in my name .
My question is can they force a sale of my property to pay creditors??

Mon, 11/09/2009 - 14:34 Permalink

hi i have been layed off for the past 6 months and owe on a truck that is 2 months behind also i have 2 more cars that are on my credit report with credit cards . I owe about 40,000 $.
my house and land is payed for and is in my name .
My question is can they force a sale of my property to pay creditors??

Mon, 11/09/2009 - 14:35 Permalink
Nik (not verified)

Hello, I'm actually in the process of filing bk right now thanks to ALOT of cc debt and two car loans that the payment was just too much after loosing my job. My question is, my husband and I had to use PDL's at one point and they caught up with us too and we couldn't afford them so we have let them go, which in turn ended up over drawing the bank (NSF fees, OD Fees, etc..) after they cashed the checks, and the checks that bounced, we still owe to the PDL companies. Obviously, we can not afford them right now, nor can we afford the bank fees. My attorney told me to try and hold off untill atleast tax time to file, so we're holding off, but I just wanted to

1.) Make sure the PDL's and Bank will be able to be added into the bk? and
2.) The bank and PDL companies can not do anything except for the same thing the CC companies do (send it to a credit agency), correct??

I had every intention of paying off the PDL's when we recieved them, but his hours were cut even more at work so we just can not afford to pay them back and pay rent, utilities, insurance, buy food, diapers, etc.. which is alot more important in my book than paying the PDL's or paying the bank off for that matter as that bank account was about to be closed for the bk anyway. (of course, it would have been closed with a 0 balance instead of a neg. balance. but that didn't happen like that)

Thanks in advance.

Fri, 11/13/2009 - 07:01 Permalink
tlg (not verified)

If your home has already been foreclosed on and you still live in the home, can you file bankruptcy and get the the eviction stopped and have a chance to keep your home?

Wed, 12/16/2009 - 05:15 Permalink
Cheri (not verified)

I signed for some furniture for a friend, she promised to pay back within 12 months and did not, I am now stuck with pmts, she filed bankruptcy and of course could not include this since it was in my name, can I now sue her for the money she owes and have her checks garnished?

Sat, 12/26/2009 - 03:31 Permalink
CHeri (not verified)

forgot to add, she is currently under chapter 13 bankruptcy, also if she defaulted on student loans will she still get income tax back?

Sat, 12/26/2009 - 03:32 Permalink

Chap 7 - all it does is maybe delay a foreclosure sale 30-60 days since mortgage company will almost always be granted the stay be lifted to sell the home.

If no foreclosure pending and if have equity in home could still lose it in BKK if the equity is greater than your states home exemption. But today with so many underwater that is less of a problem.

Chap 13 - rolls up delinquent payments into the plan but can foreclose if don't make future payments.

Can also cram down 2nd mortgage (get rid of as unsecured debt) only in 13 if underwater. The Republicans just blocked a few weeks ago a bill to allow cram downs in Chap 7

Sat, 12/26/2009 - 08:14 Permalink
Gorda (not verified)

I was ready all of your responces thanks so much for posting them.
Thanks you all of the above!!!!!!!!!

God Bless.
Mary G.

Thu, 01/07/2010 - 18:22 Permalink
richeyXxX (not verified)

Co signed 4 a friends bail that has now been revoked cuz of a missed court date. If sued, 4 the total bail amount, will I be able to file 4 bankruptcy?? If so, should I wait to be sued or file now?

Sun, 01/10/2010 - 07:39 Permalink
stl (not verified)

Can you sue or take action against an attorney who contacts you after filing bankruptcy when that attorney was previously notified of bankrupcty. I already know about letter to court to show violation but can I sue to retaliate?

Thu, 01/21/2010 - 15:53 Permalink
Mandy (not verified)

I am being sued for a large sum of money. I cannot afford to pay it off and it has already passed judgement. can i declare bankruptcy?

Thu, 02/04/2010 - 00:13 Permalink

Hi Mandy,

Yes you can file for bankruptcy although the judgment has already been passed against you. However you should remember that this bankruptcy will remain in your credit report for 10 years. Whether or not the bankruptcy will cancel the judgment depends on the type of account your debt is on. If it is a credit card, the judgment may get5 canceled, otherwise it won,t.

Thu, 02/04/2010 - 06:03 Permalink
Mandy (not verified)

I am actually being sued by a person not a creditor, so i am assuming this doe not apply? I cannot file for bankruptcy for a personal matter?

Fri, 02/05/2010 - 05:33 Permalink

Hi Mandy,

The person had given you money at some point of time, right? So he is a lender. Now when he is suing you for not giving back what you owe, you can definitely file for bankruptcy, if you are really unable to pay.

Fri, 02/05/2010 - 06:10 Permalink
Mandy (not verified)

I am actually being sued by a person not a creditor, so i am assuming this doe not apply? I cannot file for bankruptcy for a personal matter?

Fri, 02/05/2010 - 17:25 Permalink
ShannonAnn (not verified)

My husband closed his business because he was unable to sell his product anymore...we struggled for a long time but had to close now we are being sued by individuals for unpaid debts and some are even coming to our home (scaring me to death)....can we still go bankrupt even though we are being sued....we tried so hard to do the right thing but we got knocked down every time with this business.

Tue, 02/16/2010 - 19:45 Permalink
ShannonAnn (not verified)

In my post above I forgot to mention that one of the individuals is trying to sue us in civil court...can we file bankruptcy on this.

Tue, 02/16/2010 - 20:59 Permalink

Hi Shannon,

Yes, you can file bankruptcy even though you are being sued. You can check whether or not, you qualify for a bankruptcy. It depends on various factors. Moreover you had a business, so whether or not you can qualify for the bankruptcy depends on the structure of your business.

I think it's better to take advise from an attorney. Sometimes consulting an attorney also can be got for free.

Wed, 02/17/2010 - 10:27 Permalink
ShannonAnn (not verified)

While running the business, we got some equipment to sell and was sold when we received the money at the time we had another piece of equipment we thought we had sold we had to use the money from the first sell to pay utilities to keep the business running and for payroll...we did this thinking we had more money coming in but the sell did not come through and we were broke now the individual is suing us which I understand but in this case can we go bankrupt on this...I want to make sure I don't waste time by using up a lawyers time to meet with me...The individual is suing my husband not the business.

Wed, 02/17/2010 - 12:53 Permalink
Jan (not verified)

I filed for bankruptcy 3 days ago, what do I tell creditors calling me now?

Mon, 02/22/2010 - 13:29 Permalink

Hi Jan,

You can tell the creditors that you have filed for bankruptcy. This may stop the creditors from calling you. However, some may ask for a proof of the bankruptcy.

Hope this helps.

Regards,

Aaron

Mon, 03/08/2010 - 12:21 Permalink