Legal Question in Credit and Debt Law in Virginia

Protecting my assets
I have been contacted by a credit card by mail. They say that they will take my debt (around $5300) to an attorney and that I will have to pay all lawyers�fees. I am unemployed, and cannot pay my debt. How can I protect my assets against them and other creditors? I am trying very hard to find work and I don�t want to be taken to court or have a judgment against me. Thank you.--name removed--Renskoff

Asked on 6/26/05, 2:45 pm

2 Answers from Attorneys

Michael Hendrickson Law Office Michael E. Hendrickson

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Re: Protecting my assets

If all that you owe is only around $5000 or so, bankruptcy may not be the best solution for your current insolvency. You may wish to first consider consulting with a nonprofit credit counseling agency to see whether some plan might be worked out that would consolidate your debts and allow you to pay off gradually your various creditors without having to declare bankruptcy.

Note: If you later find, however, that you must take the bankruptcy route, you should be aware that new bankruptcy laws will take effect 10/2005 that will make it more difficult for a filer to secure a complete reprieve of his or her debt under Chapter 7 of the Bankruptcy Code and that some folks will be forced into a pay back plan to their creditors under Chapter 13 that they otherwise might have avoided if they had filed their bankruptcy petitions prior to 10/01/2005.

Answered on 6/27/05, 4:02 pm

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