If you file a proposal or an assignment in bankruptcy, your credit card debts are included in the process.
If your account has a co-signor, they will be liable for the full amount due, less any funds received from the Trustee.
If there is a supplementary cardholder, you will need to read the fine print of your card agreement to find out if that person is liable for any part of the charges made by the main cardholder.
If the supplementary cardholder goes bankrupt, the main account holder is liable for the full amount.
If you are not sure, discuss your concerns with your Trustee.
Contact Rumanek & Company Ltd. for more information. Or please fill out the form on the contact us page for additional information. Or if you would like a free evaluation please fill out the evaluation form.
To learn more please visit our YouTube Channel. Rumanek & Company have been helping individuals and families overcome debt for more than 25 years.
Irene is a retiree who had amassed over $18,000 in credit card debt. She had spent the money on household items and some medical bills and being on an old age pension, she was now unable to afford the repayments. Her husband was also on the pension and tried to help as best he could. Irene had never considered going bankrupt before and saw it as an undignified approach to dealing with debt. She was also afraid to lose her car. Unfortunately, her creditors were becoming more aggressive, and she didn’t know what to do.
We talked with Irene, explaining that bankruptcy does not mean the loss of her car, and that sometimes, in some situations, bankruptcy is the only option. Fortunately, Irene did have another choice. She was able to afford monthly payments for a consumer proposal, which satisfied her personal feelings about bankruptcy. We offered her creditors a reasonable repayment on what they were owed, they accepted the offer, and Irene is now on the path to being debt-free.
Contact Rumanek & Company Ltd. for more information on bankruptcy and debt solutions. Or please fill out the free bankruptcy evaluation form. To learn more please visit our YouTube Channel. Rumanek & Company have been helping individuals and families overcome debt for more than 25 years.
Almost all unsecured debts, like, credit cards and lines of credit, are included in a bankruptcy, although you may need to change banks. If you are self-employed, HST, WSIB, and money owed to suppliers are generally covered, although this may impact your future business and should be discussed with your Trustee. Old phone, utility, and rental agreements are covered as well, as long as you are no longer at that address or using those services.
Which debts are not included in a bankruptcy?
Most of the debts that are not eliminated by bankruptcy are still included in a bankruptcy while it is ongoing. Section 178 in the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act lists the debts that survive bankruptcy, or come back when your bankruptcy is over. Most of these debts are stayed, meaning the creditor cannot collect or pursue you without court approval, but once your Trustee is discharged from the file, they can resume pursuit of their debt, with interest. For example:
• Child and spousal support and maintenance;
• Fines and penalties that have been imposed by a Court;
• Damages for bodily harm, sexual assault or wrongful death;
• Debts proven to be a result of fraud, embezzlement, misappropriation or theft while in fiduciary capacity;
• Debts proven to be a result of obtaining property by false pretences of fraudulent misrepresentation;
• Student loans less than seven years old;
If any of your debts are for situations noted above, make sure to discuss your options with your Trustee.
Are there debts that I have to keep paying when I am in bankruptcy?
Some debts have to be paid, even during a bankruptcy:
Debts related to open accounts, such as cellphones you intend to continue using, generally must be paid;
Debts relating to utilities (such as electricity or heat) can be included in a bankruptcy, but you may be required to pay a significant deposit to keep the service active;
Payments for leased, financed, or rented items which you want to keep, such as a car or a computer, or the mortgage on your home.
As difficult as the conversation may be, discuss these issues with your Trustee. Your best choice for a financially healthy future may be to let go of your smartphone, sports car or dream house.
What if I forgot an account that should have been included in my bankruptcy?
This issue is especially important in consumer proposals, as the voting is by majority, based on the amounts owed to the creditors who vote.
If the debt is small relative to your others, call the Trustee and ask them to send the documents to the new creditor. If the forgotten debt is large, the amount the others receive would go down quite a bit, so their acceptance of the original amount would not be valid any more. Your Trustee may feel it is appropriate to update your documents and notify all the creditors of the change. A new vote would be required as well.
In a bankruptcy, creditors receive their share of funds collected by the Trustee from asset realization or monthly payments. If the amount is large compared to the other debts, the Trustee may find it appropriate to notify creditors, so your documents would then have to be amended and signed again. If the amount is small, the Trustee would just add the new creditor to the list.
In general, if the file is complete, and you had intentionally excluded a debt, you would have to ask the Trustee if the creditor would have been entitled to a payout from your estate. If so, you are personally liable to that creditor for the amount they would have received had you disclosed the debt. If there was or would have been no payout, the debt is discharged when the bankruptcy is discharged.
Contact Rumanek & Company Ltd. for more information on bankruptcy and debt solutions. Or please fill out the free bankruptcy evaluation form. To learn more please visit our YouTube Channel. Rumanek & Company have been helping individuals and families overcome debt for more than 25 years.
I owe a bunch of money. Am I the DEBTOR or the CREDITOR?
If you owe money, you are the DEBTOR. You have a debt to a person or a bank that you borrowed from in exchange for a promise to repay.
Each person or the bank that you owe money to is a CREDITOR. They have loaned you money (or provided goods or services) in exchange for your promise that you will pay them back at some agreed time in the future.
A SECURED CREDITOR is a creditor that has protected itself by attaching a legal notice to your property, such as a house or a car, so that if you do not pay them as agreed, they can seize the attached property and sell it to recover their money. Mortgage companies, car finance companies, and generally furniture and electronics stores that give credit to make purchases are secured creditors.
An UNSECURED CREDITOR is a creditor that loans you money without attaching legal notices to your property. The friend that loaned you $50, the gym where membership is overdue, and the bank where you have an overdraft or an ordinary credit card, are unsecured creditors.
Contact Rumanek & Company Ltd. for more information. Or please fill out the form on the contact us page for additional information. Or if you would like a free evaluation please fill out the evaluation form.
Do I have to pay off my credit cards?
Do I have to pay off my credit cards?
Credit Card Debt for Retiree
Which debts can be included in a bankruptcy?