Most people do not wish to file for bankruptcy. They know there’s a psychological aspect. They know there’s a monetary fee. They know that there is a process. In fact, most clients wind up filing for bankruptcy after some catastrophic event triggers the necessity to file. Wouldn’t it be wise if on certain occasions people filed bankruptcy preemptively before such a catastrophic event. Let me give you a few examples of where this would be wise.
Bankruptcy & Outstanding Tickets
1) If you have tickets with the city of Chicago and you know that you are approaching the number required to make the boot list, then filing bankruptcy preemptively would be wise. By doing so, you can avoid the high cost of the boot, the tow, the impounding, and the storage fees that are going to hit you the minute your car gets booted.
Bankruptcy & A Suspended License
2) If you are driving on a suspended license due to the fact that you did not have insurance at the time of an accident or otherwise, you would be wise to file preemptively. By doing so, you can avoid running the risk of getting pulled over for driving on a suspended license, known as a 6–303 violation. Driving on a suspended license will lead to additional attorney’s fees, court costs, and possibly an additional time of suspension.
Bankruptcy & Judgments
3) If you have an outstanding monetary judgment and you have not yet been garnished, it would be wise to file preemptively. A smart creditor with a smart law firm will eventually find you at your job or at your banking institution. There is nothing worse than having 15% garnished out of your wages other than maybe having your bank account frozen and the proceeds taken. By filing preemptively you can avoid any type of garnishment or bank seizure.
Bankruptcy & Auto Payments
4) If you are struggling to keep up to date with your auto payment, yet you continue to drive around the city of Chicago, you are one heartbeat away from a repossession. You may be at your job, you may be at church, and you may be at the grocery store when you come out to discover that your vehicle has been repossessed. By filing preemptively, you can avoid the risk of repossession entirely.
Bankruptcy & Late Mortgage Payments
5) If you are behind on your mortgage and think that foreclosure won’t occur, you’re sadly mistaken. Some lenders will move very quickly in a foreclosure setting where others will wait several months before they take any action. Please note that once they do take action, you are going to be on the hook for the mortgage companies attorney’s fees and court costs which get added on to your outstanding debt. By filing preemptively, you can avoid their attorney’s fees and court costs by working out a reorganization plan under chapter 13.
As you can see from the above examples, there are many instances where it makes sense to file bankruptcy quickly. Unfortunately, most people will wait until one of these triggering events hits them before they seek legal advice. My advice to those people is to think about taking action sooner rather than later. Being in debt is stressful enough. When you compound that stress with a garnishment, repossession, foreclosure, the boot, and other triggering events, you only take a bad situation and make it worse. I have spent my working life dedicated to help those who are struggling financially. If you or someone you know falls within any of these categories, you would be wise to do what thousands have done before you and contact me for help.
