"Experience with Bankruptcy"

My experience with bankruptcy . . .

A few years back my husband and I were buried under a load of debt. We had been making a very good income but shortly after September 11th, it all came to an abrupt stop. The good days were over.

My husband had been working in the construction field and unexpectedly lost some of his largest contracts. Our entire budget was based on a much higher income and as a result we immediately sank into a quicksand of debt.

We were besieged by demand letters at first and we attempted in good faith to honor all of our debts to some degree. We wanted to repay our obligations so we joined a debt repayment program to facilitate smaller payments and lower fees for late payment.

However, since our debt level was extensive when compared to our previous income and debt distribution to our current one, we were not able to continue to pay such a large amount monthly in the program and still maintain our household. We made every attempt possible to get them to restructure our payment but to no avail.

By this time we were receiving court summons for judgments and never ending phone calls from morning to night. We had turned off our answering machine and voice mail systems so that our relatives wouldn't hear the creditors demanding payment.

We quit responding to their calls because they were always trying to get us to set up an advance payment that we knew we logically couldn't meet.

When all else failed we turned to bankruptcy and even though I regret not being able to meet our obligations on our own, I never for one minute regret the peace of mind that it restored to my husband and myself.

It was like a huge stone lifted off of our backs and we were able to breathe a sigh of relief. We were actually able to laugh again and look toward the future. We had lived in the moment for so long and felt imprisoned by our debt but now we were finally free from this excessive burden and worry that had bound us for so long.

Contributed Anonymously