Can Your Car Be Repossessed for Unpaid Credit Card Debt?

Generally speaking, your car cannot be repossessed for unpaid credit card debts. You credit card debts are almost always unsecured, meaning no collateral has been put down for access to the credit. Now, there are situations where unpaid, unsecured debts (like a credit card) can lead to a car repossession, but they are few and far between.
Read on to learn more about how this can happen.

Is Bankruptcy the Easy Way Out of Debt?

According to the statistics provided by uscourts.gov, there were nearly 1.2 million bankruptcy filings in the last twelve months (twelve months ending in March 2013 are the most recent as of this writing). In 2012, that number was nearly 1.4 million. In a country of about 240 million adults, these filing numbers represent something like 1 out of every 200 adults in the US.
With so many people turning to bankruptcy to get out of debt, it seems like an easy "out". Let's take a look at what's involved, what the implications of a filing are, and how it compares to other debt relief options.

Is the Bankruptcy Process an Easy Out?

Can You Include Business Debt in a Personal Bankruptcy?

Yes you can. Many struggling small business owners will turn to bankruptcy to get business debts discharged, and sometimes, to minimize financial liability when closing down or liquidating a small business.

Further more, if more than fifty percent of your debt is tied to your business, you can file for chapter 7 without having to pass the means test. This means that you can get around the income requirements for chapter 7 and avoid a chapter 13 and the associated payment plan.

How to Handle Your Mortgage in a Bankruptcy

For most of us, a mortgage is the single largest debt we have. While borrowing several hundred thousand dollars to purchase a home is usually a good financial move, it can also become a heavy monthly burden, especially when a loss of income occurs.

If you are considering bankruptcy and you own a home with a mortgage, then you will need to understand what your options are.

Are There Income Limits to File Bankruptcy?

There are income limits for a chapter 7 case, but if you're above the limit that doesn't mean you can't file. What it does mean is that you must be able to pass the means test to qualify for a chapter 7 discharge.

If you are leaning towards a chapter 13, then you really don't need to worry about qualifying based on your income. You do, however, need to consider your income and expenses to find out how much the payment plan will entail paying each month.

How Hard is it to File for Bankruptcy?

It's not that hard to file for bankruptcy, but the process and mountain of required forms and documentation can be a little intimidating. This post will give you the highlights of the required bankruptcy forms and some information on the process.

The process is almost the same whether you're filing for a chapter 7 or a chapter 13, with the exception of designing and getting the payment plan approved.

Let's start with the process for a "do-it-yourself", pro se bankruptcy filing.

Who Can File for Bankruptcy?

It's a simple question and actually has a simple answer. Generally, anyone can file for bankruptcy. Whether it would be advantageous for you to do so and if you are eligible for a certain chapter of bankruptcy requires that you evaluate your debts, your income and your equity.

Step One: Your Debts
First, you are going to want to find out what bankruptcy can do for you, and weigh that against the effect it will have on your credit. To do so you need to understand which of your debts can be discharged in bankruptcy.