If you have to file for bankruptcy, the sooner you file the better. The longer you wait, the more it’s going to cost you. The issues become more complex thus you end up paying your lawyer more. Your credit score will take a beating too, as you miss making payments to creditors. Only in a few scenarios does it make sense to delay filing for more strategic reasons. But once it’s determined that you are going to file, just FILE!
Urgent Matters
When you are facing foreclosure and all your alternatives have been examined, you have to file bankruptcy to stop the foreclosure process. Likewise, with automobile repossessions, wage garnishments, lawsuits and evictions, in many cases filing bankruptcy is the debtor’s only solution. You should immediately file bankruptcy to lessen the impact of creditor actions.
Wage garnishment, automobile repossessions, mortgage foreclosures and lawsuits — these are all urgent matters. A good bankruptcy lawyer will tell you your bankruptcy filing “timeline”, including any hard deadlines on when you must file. When your bankruptcy attorney tells you that the time to file is now, work quickly to get your case filed as soon as possible.
Sometimes – Timing is Everything
Other times, you may be best served by delaying filing your petition. For example, if a sheriffs sale on a foreclosure action is scheduled far enough out, it makes sense to delay filing to include upcoming months in the Chapter 13 plan.
Another scenario, if you have incurred debt recently or expect to incur debt in the very near future, it may be smart to delay your filing until you can include those debts in your filing. Or you may have made a large transfer of property recently, which may also justify holding off on filing bankruptcy.
But those are all less common issues. For the majority of Chapter 7 filers, the sooner that you file, the better.
Let the Healing Begin
The sooner you are debt-free, the more attention you will be able to pay to the aspects of your life you really care about.
And the sooner you put daylight between you and your creditors, the sooner you can focus on moving past your debt.
If you know you have to file bankruptcy, don’t procrastinate. Start the process immediately. Call Pikunis Law (856) 282-5505
