Legal Question in Bankruptcy in Missouri

I live in Missouri and need to know if credit cards can be discharged in Bankruptcy. I have 2 cc company's that have placed liens on my house, the judgements total $20K plus 9% interest and 2 cc accounts that have gone to collections totally about $20k. I am currently paying on 1 cc. and this company's representative (in the middle of a heated conversation) told me that Missouri is exempt in discharging cc debt in Bankruptcy. I need to know if this is true or if she was trying to bluff me. I had missed 2 payments and she was talking pretty bad to me. She even went as far to call my daughter at work about my debt and she called my ex husband also. She had their information because my daughter is a joint acct. holder and my ex is still a member of this credit union. I have since caught my payments up but, because I was late they raised my interest. My question is: Would Bankruptcy help me? and if so, would I be able to sell my house later on without any problems if I chose to not list it in Bankruptcy?

Thank you!


Asked on 7/02/10, 12:35 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Alicia Beeler Villines Alicia Beeler Villines (sole practitioner)

Yes, she is bluffing you. Credit card debt is an unsecured nonpriority debt. This type of debt is the easiest to "write off".

Preparing a bankruptcy which has the additional issue of a house lien is a little more work and so will most likely cost a bit more, but nothing close to $20k.

"Exemptions" refers to the property which you are entitled to keep in a Chapter 7. Bankruptcy law is a federal law and therefore Congress has provided a set of standard exemptions, but states had the option to "opt out" of the federal exemptions and substitute their own. Missouri is one of those states.

When you say your daughter is a 'joint account holder"--do you mean that the two of you own a credit union account together that is NOT LINKED to the credit card that is the subject of the judgment? {That would be a good thing.) Or, do you mean that your daughter is a joint account holder of the credit card that is the subject of the judgment? If so, your daughter may be jointly liable on the debt.

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Answered on 7/02/10, 3:51 pm


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