Don’t Delay Your Bankruptcy Filing

I usually try and come up with some clever title for my articles (rarely do I succeed), but with this article I just want to relay pure information.  If you need to file bankruptcy, do it now, don’t wait.  Delay will only cause you further grief.

Yesterday I met with a handful of families that were looking into filing bankruptcy. In each of there cases it was apparent that they needed to file and in fact all of them had been talking about filing for bankruptcy for quite some time.  But the delay ended up costing them.  One person had their home foreclosed on, and the others were dealing with wage garnishments or bank garnishments.

I felt for each of these families.  They were all in very difficult situations.  Having every penny you have to your name garnished out of your bank account is awful.  When you are living paycheck-to-paycheck it is devastating.

No one wants to file for bankruptcy.  I understand that.  But delaying the inevitable will usually just make the problem much worse.  In Arizona, if you ignore the lawsuit that was filed against you up to 25% of your wages may be garnished.  All but $150 may be taken out of your bank account.  And if you wait too long to deal with your mortgage you may lose your home to foreclosure.  In each of these situations once the genie is out of the bottle it is unlikely that I can get her back in.  The garnished money will be gone, your house will remain sold.

It is a difficult decision to make.  But there are times when it needs to be made.  Take an honest look at your finances.  If you are in it up to your neck, act now before you are in over your head.