There are many people who are feeling overwhelmed by the burden of their high credit load. This can be seen though the increase in consumer bankruptcies over the past year. If you are feeling like you’ll never be able to pay off the debt you’ve accumulated, you might be wondering if you should file for bankruptcy.
In yesterday’s article about dealing with your debt through a consumer proposal, I mentioned how you can reach an agreement with your creditor’s to pay back a portion of your debt within 5 years and they will freeze the interest and forgive the remaining debt. But what if you can’t afford to offer and complete a consumer proposal? This could happen, either due to not having enough available money to make the structured payments or even worse, divorce or job loss.
Using an example similar to yesterday’s but with twice the debt load, say the same person is still only able to pay $500 a month but their debts equal $100,000 instead of $50,000. Before they could offer, and be accepted, to pay $500 a month for 50 months, paying off 50% of the original debt. Since a consumer proposal can only last a maximum of 5 years, the new example with the higher debt could only offer $500 a month for 60 months, or $30,000. While not impossible, it’s unlikely that the majority of creditors would accept receiving only 30% of the money owed to them.
This may leave you with no other option but to discuss filing for bankruptcy with a licensed bankruptcy trustee. If you do claim bankruptcy, the trustee will seize your non-essential possessions to pay back as much to your creditors as possible. While it varies by province, the items you are allowed to keep may include your primary residence, a car, food, clothing, furniture and tools for your job. Also depending on the province, these can all have set dollar limits of what is considered reasonable.
On top of giving up many of your possessions, during your bankruptcy you must report your income and expenses each month and attend credit counseling. Most first-time bankruptcies last for nine months, though it can be longer. Your credit report and credit rating will suffer as well as there will be a bankruptcy note on your file for 6 years after you were discharged.
So why would you want to file for bankruptcy when it involves handing over most of what you own and destroying your credit rating? If you can’t afford any other option, bankruptcy will eliminate all your unsecured debt and can give you a fresh start towards responsibly rebuilding your credit history and keeping your finances under control.
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After filing and having an accepted consumer proposal I am having doubts if there are any benefits to this other than soothing my own guilt. I will pay for 5 long years, then have another 3 tacked on for “bad behaviour”. Well, is it not the same amount of time for a bankruptcy? Might as well go bankrupt, then at least you have a chance to recover financially sooner, and still only suffer the same amount of time for “bad behaviour”. I see this as a way for trustees to make money, nothing more.
Carol,
It depends on your situation. Do you have any assets that would be taken under a bankruptcy? If you have no savings and nothing but food and a reasonable amount of furniture, then you might be better off under bankruptcy. However, if you have a big screen TV, a large CD collection, etc. these would all be repossessed to help pay the debt.
Before anyone settles their debt or files for bankruptcy there is an entire process that everyone should go through because either one of these options will impact your credit score and may prevent you from doing certain things in the future:
* Before you make a decision always use simple math to add up your monthly income and expenses, to know where you stand. This is the beginning of budgeting.
* Afterward, find opportunities to increase your income and/or reduce your expenses. It’s best to avoid filing for bankruptcy as much as possible.
* If you are worried about your situation, take a bankruptcy evaluation test. There are many of these online
* Lastly, contact a debt settlement company or a bankruptcy trustee near you for a free consultation.
Good luck everyone!