Articles Posted in St. Louis Chapter 7 Bankruptcy

Yes, you can. But you will be limited to a Missouri or Illinois Chapter 13 bankruptcy. The federal bankruptcy code states that an individual may not file a St. Louis Chapter 7 bankruptcy more than once every eight (8) years. Once the eight year mark is passed (this is the date on which you filed the case, not when you received your discharge), you are again eligible.

But yes, you may still file for bankruptcy during this eight year window. You can still file a St. Louis Chapter 13 bankruptcy. This is described as a repayment plan over the course of three (3) to five (5) years, during which certain creditors are paid back. Examples of the types of debts paid back are mortgage arrearage, car notes, tax debt, back child support, and possibly a portion of your unsecured debt (however, there is always a good chance that even this type of debt can be fully discharged as well).

There are a number of beneficial things that you can do in a Chapter 13 that you cannot do in a Missouri or Illinois Chapter 7. For instance, you can get rid of a second (or junior) mortgage attached to your house in a 13. So long as the fair market value of your home is less than what you owe on the first mortgage, then any junior lien can be stripped off. This means that you would only have to deal with one mortgage thereafter. It is also possible to ‘cram down’ the amount that you owe on your car to the actual value of the automobile. Many people are upside down on their cars (i.e. they owe more than the car is worth). So long as you purchased the car 910 days or more ago (which works out to be roughly two and a half years), then you will only be required to pay back the value of the car as opposed to the balance on the note (which can sometimes be a difference of thousands of dollars).

If you make it clear to the debt collector that you dispute the debt that they say you owe, then they may not contact you anymore until the dispute is resolved. If in fact the collector does contact you about the debt after such a dispute is made (but before it has been resolved), the collector has violated your consumer rights. If it can be shown that this happened, then you stand to receive an award of damages from the creditor.

The area of law that covers this particular subject is the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). This is a federal statute that regulates what a collection agency may or may not do in their attempts to collect on a debt. Section 809(b) of the law states: “If the consumer notifies the debt collector in writing within thirty (30) days that the debt, or any portion thereof, is disputed, or that the consumer requests the name and address of the original creditor, the debt collector shall cease collection of the debt… until the debt collector obtains verification of the debt or any copy of the judgment.”

So if a collection agency contacts you about a debt, and you dispute the validity of it (in writing, or by making this dispute clear over the phone), then the collector has to cease all collection activity until the debt is verified. This means that the collector must provide you with some sort of documentation proving that the debt exists. But very often (for whatever reason), the collector will continue calling and harassing you during this period (before they provide you with any document proving the validity). It is on those occasions that a violation occurs.

No, they may not. In fact, it is unlawful for the collection agency to contact you several times in one day via the phone. This is described as ‘incessant calling,’ and is actionable in the courts.

The area of law that governs what a debt collector may or may not do is the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) and the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). These statutes regulate the practices of collection agencies. For instance, it is unlawful for a collector to contact you on your cell phone. The reason for this is because the law states you cannot incur charges from their attempts at collection. Most cell phones come with a calling plan of some sort, in which you are provided a certain number of minutes. Each minute used is deducted from the total minutes afforded each month, after which you pay a certain amount for each additional minute used. So if a collector is calling and using up those minutes in an attempt to demand money from you, they are violating your rights.

Or if the collection agency is leaving you voice messages (either on your cell phone or land line), they must be very specific in the type of message they leave. It is necessary, when they leave you a message, to inform you of the fact that they are a debt collector, that the call is an attempt to collect on that debt, who the underlying creditor is, what the name of their company is, and a number that you can reach them at. So if you receive a voice message that says something like this: “Hey John! This is Frank. I have something I need to talk to you about. It’s very important that you give me a call as soon as possible, because this is very urgent. Call me at 1-800-blah-blah.” That kind of message is a violation of federal law, and the collection agency that left it can be held accountable.

You have a right to demand that the debt collector cease any and all communication with you regarding your debts, but the federal law governing this area states very clearly that such a demand has to made in writing. Assuming that you do indeed make a written demand, then a collection agencies’ subsequent efforts to come after you for the debt in question is a violation of your consumer rights.

The body of law that determines what is or is not acceptable behavior for a debt collector is the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). This statute regulates what a collection agency can do in their attempts to collect on a debt. One such regulation is found in Section 805(c), which states: Ceasing Communication: If a consumer notifies a debt collector in writing that the consumer refuses to pay a debt or that the consumer wishes the debt collector to cease further communication with the consumer, the debt collector shall not communicate further with the consumer with respect to such debt…

If after a proper written notification is given the collector continues to make demand on the debt (either by calling or mailing letters), then it has violated the statute. The damages for having done so is to pay you $1,000. The other nice thing about this particular law is that if in fact a violation can be shown to have occurred, the collection agency has to pay your attorney fees. This means that you do not have to pay any upfront fees to an attorney for them to file suit for you.

Not as bad as you think. But the more important question to focus on would be how long it will take to rebuild your credit. The answer to this may surprise you as well.

To begin with, the filing of a bankruptcy will appear on your credit report for ten (10) years. But this does not at all mean that it will take that long to rebuild. Nor does it mean that it mean that you will have to wait ten years before you can make a major purchase (like on a house of car). In fact, you can expect to see your credit score jump upwards by about thirty (30) points once the debts in your bankruptcy are officially discharged. After this discharge occurs, you are well on your way towards the fresh start / clean slate that the government provides. In other words, you will have a great many opportunities to move forward after the slate of creditors is wiped clean.

For example, when you file a St. Louis Chapter 7 bankruptcy, your unsecured debts (like credit cards, medical bills, payday loans, etc.) are knocked out forever about three to four months after you file. At this point, you may be surprised to learn that the credit industry will be more than willing to extend you lines of credit. Why? Because overnight, you will have become the most attractive candidate in the world. All of your old debt will be gone, and from the credit industry’s point of view, that means that you will be in a perfect position to pay them monthly minimums on new balances. Of course, no one would suggest that you go out and get right back into credit card debt. But many people who want to be more aggressive about rebuilding their score and/or rating will take out one of these cards with a low ceiling, make small purchases, and then make monthly, methodical payments. This will certainly go a long way in raising a credit score over time, while putting you in a good position to make larger purchases (like the financing of a car) in the future.