If you never learned how to make sound financial decisions then there\’s every possibility you don\’t know exactly who your creditors are. As your debts mount you might find that your creditors \”sell\” your debt to other companies who will then attempt to reclaim the money owed by you. You could quite easily receive bills and demands from companies, or individuals, you\’ve never even heard of. Once you\’ve become mired in personal debt things can quickly spiral out of control, and before long you\’ll find yourself in a position where you\’re not even sure who you owe money to anymore.
Some of the issues faced by people with serious financial issues can include medical debts arriving from several different companies, but all relating to the same medical treatment. In other cases demands for repayment can arrive years or months after they were initially due to be repaid, leaving you uncertain as to who the debt is actually owed to.
So, you\’re left in a situation where you desperately need to file for bankruptcy, but you have a legal requirement to list all of your creditors, including their name, address and amount due as part of your bankruptcy filing. It might feel like you\’re being asked to do the impossible, but there are ways to deal with this particular problem.
Credit Report
A simple credit report will list all of your recognized creditors, or at least those that report to credit bureaus. The potential issue here is that a credit report may not list every single one of your creditors, but it will list the vast majority of them. Please ensure that every creditor listed on your credit report is included as part of your bankruptcy petition.
Unknown Creditors
You\’ve done your due diligence, but you\’re still not certain that you\’ve indentified every single one of your creditors. This leaves you with the worry that a \”forgotten\” creditor will appear years later demanding money from you. What most people don\’t realize about a Chapter 7 no asset filing is that it will discharge all of your current debt, including those that you simply can\’t remember or identify.
Based on this you should never delay a bankruptcy filing because you\’re unable to identify every single one of your creditors.
Deliberate Omissions
As you can see a Chapter 7 filing makes provisions for human nature, and that even the most honest person could quite easily lose track of a creditor. Once your debts have been discharged you won\’t need to worry about an unscheduled debt coming back to haunt you once you\’ve put your finances back on track, and are living more responsible life.
If, however, you were to deliberately omit a creditor from your bankruptcy petition, then you\’re committing fraud. At very best the deliberate omission of a creditor will result in your bankruptcy petition being thrown out of court. At very worst you could find yourself being prosecuted for bankruptcy fraud, resulting in a prison sentence and/or severe financial penalties.
Post-Bankruptcy Creditors
There\’s every possibility that you will receive a collection notice from a creditor you have quite innocently forgotten about. This is exactly why you should keep a copy of your court bankruptcy discharge notice to hand. This affords you the protection offered under a Chapter 7 bankruptcy filing, especially from creditors who appear months, or even years, after your debts have been successfully, and legally, discharged. Mailing your creditors a copy of your discharge notice should be enough for them to stop any collection activities against you.
Please consult with an experience bankruptcy attorney if you have any doubts or questions in relation to your bankruptcy filing.