Eden, NY Bankruptcy Law Firms & Lawyers

Unfortunately a creditor or debt collector is generally not under any obligation to negotiate a settlement. The amount of payments if any is up to the agreement of the parties. On the other hand, medical bills are very difficult to collect. They are often filled with errors and overcharges. Send a letter disputing the debt, requesting a detailed itemization of the bills, and request a copy of the medical records, with a copy to each provider. Go through the bills and compare them to the records and see if there are any discrepancies. Chances are there will be some, along with charges for items or services not furnished and outlandish items (e.g., $100 for an aspirin). The provider or collector has to prove that the bills are accurate, the services are medically necessary, and the reasonable value of the services. The collector may become more reasonable when it sees you will not just accept the charges at face value. Also, check and see if you qualify for charity care/ write offs. Illinois hospitals are required to provide same in exchange for their tax exemptions.

No it is not advisable to reaffirm a mortgage and the time to have done that is over as there is a specific timeframe during which a reaffirmation can be executed. More importantly, you are not required to have reaffirmed a mortgage in order to later obtain re-financing. What you may need is a written proof from current lender that shows what payments that have been made on the loan since the Bankruptcy filing. Send a written request to your current loan servicer asking for a statement showing account activity since the BK case was filed. The potential new lender in determining whether to finance a loan will want to see the current balance on the note and proof of consistent on-time payments. You can also request that this statement be appended to your credit report by forwarding it to the credit bureaus with such a written request. Once the document is added to your credit report it will be available to anyone who runs a credit check although it will age with time and therefore I advise my clients that if they wish they can request such a document once a year and append it to their credit report or simply keep a copy in their records and provide it with the loan application when they seek different financing options.

Chapter 7 is means tested for income. If your income after certain expense are deducted is over the threshold you will not be able to file a Chapter 7. You will have to file a chapter 13 or pay the debts. It sounds as if you may qualify for a Chapter 7.