Although a bankruptcy filing will appear on your credit report, some people have found that their credit will begin to improve after the filing if they were experiencing different debts that they were just unable to pay. Sometimes, obtaining a bankruptcy discharge is the first step to improving your credit score.

Yes, but will you achieve the result you’re looking for?

A Bankruptcy Court in California released statistics that when a person was represented by an attorney for a Chapter 7, 93% of them received a discharge. For a Chapter 13, the American Bankruptcy Institute Journal published a study that found only 2% of pro se (debtor’s without attorneys) were able to get a discharge. It is probably tougher for pro se debtors to obtain a discharge because there are a few hurdles that an experienced bankruptcy attorney will be well versed and better prepared to overcome (such as, potentially getting your case dismissed, fighting creditor’s objections within the case, losing assets that may not need to be lost, inability to get the discharge order or even prison time).

A chapter 7 may generally take about 3-6 months and a chapter 13 is generally 3-5 years. So long as the automatic stay is in effect, your creditors will not be permitted to collect debt from you.

This is a personal decision. If you feel you cannot reasonably repay your debt, you may need to file for bankruptcy. With a bankruptcy discharge, you can wipe out all of your unsecured debt - this could be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. But knowing this, you cannot rack up a bill knowing that it will get discharged - this is fraud and the trustees are very experienced in sniffing out this type of behavior.

Generally yes because once the bankruptcy is filed, the automatic stay goes into effect, which stops the continuation of the administrative process. But it is important to note the timeline and for what reason the license was suspended because this could change whether the license is in fact able to be reinstated and whether the money accrued from the incident can be discharged.

Yes but the courts created an incredibly high standard of “undue hardship” to get them discharged.

The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA) prevents creditors from reaching out to debtors who have attorneys & they cannot contact you when it’s inconvenient to you (if they do not know, they are to assume that is between 8am to 9pm)., threaten criminal prosecution, etc.

Ordinarily, credit card companies such as Visa, Mastercard or American Express are unsecured creditors. Large tag items (lawn mower, TV, computer, bedroom suite) purchased from, say, Macys, Furniture Companies, Jewelers, Lowe's, or Best Buy, for example, may be subject to a retained lien for payment.

Yes

Most likely, yes. It will use up $450.00 of your exemptions.

No. You will probably never see a real court room nor judge. You will only need to attend the 341 meeting once, which is held by the Trustee.