If you are facing money issues in Pennsylvania, you may be considering bankruptcy as a means of getting out of debt. While filing for bankruptcy can be very beneficial in some cases, for other people it may not be the best course of action. In this case, it’s important that you ask yourself a few vital questions before going ahead with the process.
According to MoneyCrashers.com, you may want to refrain from filing if you find yourself in a temporary financial bind. For instance, if you’ve recently lost your job and bills are starting to accumulate, you may want to consider holding off on filing because there is a chance you will find gainful employment once again. This is especially true if you have a history of paying your bills on time. The court will review your current income (or lack thereof), as well as past income.
If there is a way for you to take on extra work to pay back creditors, you may also want to pursue that route. Bankruptcy can have a negative impact on your credit history for quite a few years, so if there is another way to settle outstanding debt it’s a good idea to do so. You could also try creating a budget to see if there are any unnecessary expenses you can do away with.
If you’re simply filing to stop creditor harassment from occurring, there are other methods you can use. The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act states that creditors are no longer permitted to harass you after you send them formal notification asking them to stop. Subsequently, creditors will only be allowed to contact you to tell you your case is being passed over to a collections agency, or that they are no longer pursuing outstanding debt.