"Bankruptcy and Cancer"
Life After Bankruptcy Stories
I filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in Maryland.
My
husband was diagnosed with cancer when he and I were both 21 years old.
We had to pay for all of
his treatment the insurance wouldn’t cover, such as steroid shots for
$1000/week. Pretty soon, I had over $50,000 in debt from medical bills
and credit cards, as neither of us could work.
I couldn't make the payments on the cards, debt collectors were
harrassing us daily, and I felt trapped. It was like I was in a hole
and could not dig myself out. I decided to file bankruptcy when my
minumum payments on my credit cards hit $500 each.
At first, I felt relief - no more calls, no more debt. I got great
satisfaction telling the collection agents just where they could go.
The next emotion I felt was shame - no one wants to have to file
bankruptcy, after all. And I was rejected for credit cards,
and had to go with providers such as Capital One and Orchard Bank to
start re-establishing my credit.
However, within six
months after the process was completed and my bankruptcy discharged, I
was able to resume normal financial functioning. I enrolled in
Creditkeeper to keep track of my credit report, and made sure that I
kept all of my accounts current.
Although the seven years to come off my credit report seemed like a
very long time, it actually flew by pretty quickly near the end, and
gave me a chance to start fresh.
I made all payments during those years on time, kept my debt low, and
when the bankruptcy cleared I had great credit!
Filing for bankruptcy was
a hard decision, but the right one. I encourage anyone with the types
of debts I had to find a good attorney and get it done.
One word of advice. If you have accounts in good standing - DO NOT
CANCEL THEM! It negatively affects your credit score.
Contributed
by Anonymous from Maryland
