I have never in twenty five years had a client who WANTED to file bankruptcy. People are scared, angry, frustrated and frozen with guilt.
The truth of the matter is that we live in a debt oriented society (just look at the Federal government) with flat wage gains and increased expenses all across the board. This makes it very difficult for an individual or family to keep up, and since credit in good times is readily available, people are often forced to rely on credit to make up for a shortfall in their monthly costs, especially when something unexpected like a car repair or uninsured hospital expense comes along, or a person becomes unemployed or is in school, and therefore low on income. Because of continuing needs and constant interest charges, the debt can soon become overwhelming.
Bankruptcy then becomes the only solution to the problem–it’s as simple as that. When more is going out than coming in, you have the RIGHT UNDER THE LAW to stop the madness and process an orderly legal proceeding to discharge your debts and receive a fresh financial start.
This is part of the essence of our capitalist economic system. The banks and other lenders take risks in lending money. And they are richly rewarded, making billions off the American public in interest charges. People take risks in borrowing money, too, always with the intention of paying it back, but sometimes you simply can’t because things happen in life–things like unemployment, health problems, problems with kids, problems with an elderly parent, real estate problems, divorce, and a small business problems–that makes payback impossible. There has to a system to deal with the SIMPLE ARITHMETIC PROBLEM of too little income to service too much debt. That solution is often CHAPTER 7 BANKRUPTCY.
It is really a matter of perspective. DON’T FEEL GUILTY!! If you find yourself with an impossible financial problem, FIX THE PROBLEM! Explore your rights under the law through Chapter 7 bankruptcy to become free of debt and worry and move on to a productive life.
