Recently I met with a potential client who was receiving five to ten phone calls per day from collection agencies. Based on the number of calls she received it seemed like she was a good candidate for a Bankruptcy filing. After pulling her credit report, it appears that her debt load was less than $6,000. However, her debt had been sold to a number of different debt purchasers who were relentless in their attempt to collect the debt. Given the amount of her debt we decided to address the debt with settlement offers and Fair Debt Collection Practices Claims, based on her interaction with the collection company. Consequently she will not be filing a bankruptcy for her. To see where payments are going, check your payment history at www.freecreditreport.com This site will take you to the proper location where you can get a report free of charge. This will be a great value in determining whether you need to file for bankruptcy. In some instances there may be errors in your credit report or multiple entries that you can correct to cut down on the calls and improve your credit score. Illegal reporting activity may also provide you with a claim against the creditors and/or reporting companies. In any event, bankruptcy is not for everyone, and not everyone with debts needs to, or should file.
