Client seeks Chapter 7 discharge of $250K credit card debts after waiting six years
Client No. 1
THIS is my single mom’s week. Client is 48. She is a registered nurse and has annual gross income of $70K. She has two teenagers. One has started college in a community college. The other is about to graduate high school and hoping to get into the UC system. Doesn’t matter which UC takes her. It’s so competitive nowadays that a 4.0 GPA doesn’t guarantee you a spot in Berkley or UCLA. She would have a fighting chance to get into Irvine and Riverside. That’s good enough. If she graduated valedictorian, and gets into Stanford or Harvard, then she would qualify for full scholarship. That means free college all the way in a name brand school. That’s like having your cake and eating it too. Husband left her ten years ago for a medical doctor. Maybe the income has something to do with it, you think? Husband has not given anything to client for child support. So, she is one of those courageous and hardworking single moms who have raised her children all by her herself.
She doesn’t own a house but pays rent of $1,800. She pays $460 for a car lease for the son in college. I really hope her son is able to get good employment after graduating so he can help with their household expenses. But you know how it is, once the girlfriend comes into the picture, it’s a different story. Girlfriend will move in with son, and now client will have one more dependent. The next item will be the grandchildren who will also become client’s responsibility. Let’s just hope that son will become a responsible adult and be responsible for his actions and remember what his mom went through to raise them without a father.
Client has medical bills of $70K for a surgical procedure that insurance did not pay for. Why the insurance did not pay, I don’t know. But the hospital is now threatening to sue for collection. The health care system is truly ridiculous. I spent overnight in the hospital last year, and the cost was $14K. Insurance paid 80% of it. She also owes about $50K of credit cards. She pays $1,500 a month to keep these cards current. She’s paid that for 7 years so she’s out $126,000 and still owes the same $50K. That $126K would have helped a lot now that she has two kids getting in college. Client decides for a Chapter 7 discharge of the $70K medical bills and $50K credit cards.
Client No. 2
Client is 35. She was disabled last year and has not worked for 8 months. Medical treatment for the injury reached $80K. Insurance paid for half. So she owes $40K for medical bills. She also has $60K of credit cards. She has to get back to work next week because employer has told her that if she still can get back to work, she will lose her job. I guess she wants to keep her job. So despite not feeling completely well yet, she will start working again next week. She will gross $54K a year. She is also a single mom with a two-year-old son. Father of the child gives her $500 monthly to help out. At least, he’s not totally missing in action. But who knows how long that child support will last? Legally, the father is required to give child support until the child graduates from high school or turns 18 whichever is later. We know at least, that our heavenly Father and Jesus will provide for her and her child forever. So that’s more than good enough. Everything in this world is temporary. But Jesus loves client and her child so much that He died for them, so they can have the gift of eternal life! What can be better than that? It’s just mind boggling that God, Adonai, the Almighty, EL SHADDAI, EL ELOHIM, YAHWEH, JEHOVAH loves us so that He sent His only Son, Jesus Christ, who willingly died for us, to gift us eternal life! It’s just incredible when you think about it.
Client decides for a Chapter 7 discharge of $40K of medical bills and $60K of credit cards.
Client No. 3
Client is 45, an accountant and entrepreneur. In 2009, he retained me to file a Chapter 7 case for him to discharge close to $250K of unsecured debt arising from supplier credits, business line of credits, and credit cards that were used to finance a business. At that time, he wanted to continue doing business because he was hoping that his business would become profitable if he discharged the debts then. He paid my retainer but decided to delay filing for unknown reason. I thought that was the end of that. But this week, he comes to see me. He tells me that a creditor for $50K has contacted his employer to garnish his wages. He’s not in business anymore but now works as an accountant. He makes about $80K yearly but has already started a family. He now has a wife and a one-year-old son.
Client decides to get his Chapter 7 discharge to get rid of $250K of unsecured debt to get his fresh start in life without the burden of debt. With his new life as a family man, he also needs a fresh start in his finances without debt. He will keep his house which has $100K of equity, and two nice cars, a 2013 M-Benz 350, which he is still paying for, and a 2014 Porsche SUV, which he also is still paying for. Wife does not work and takes care of the child. That’s just right for his Chapter 7; otherwise, with additional income from wife, he might be looking at a Chapter 13.
“The Lord your God is with you, He is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing,” Zephaniah 3:17.
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Lawrence Bautista Yang specializes in bankruptcy, business, real estate and civil litigation and has successfully represented more than five thousand clients in California. Please call Angie, Barbara or Jess at (626) 284-1142 for an appointme nt at 1000 S Fremont Ave Mailstop 58 Bldg A-1 Suite 1125 Alhambra, CA 91803.
