Both clients seek chapter 7 relief to discharge credit cards
THE one true GOD YAHWEH, created man and woman with free will. He gave us free will to choose what we want to do, because our GOD doesn’t force us to do anything that we do not want to. If we love Him, He wants our love for Him to be a free choice on our part, a love freely given, not forced. Indeed, what a great and wonderful creator we have! He could have made us into drones and robots with no free will, then the whole world right now, all 6 billion people would be worshipping Him without any free will; a world without terrorists!
All throughout our lives here on earth, we have to make choices. Therefore, we are responsible for our own choices and the consequences of those choices. Even when you drive to work every day, you have to decide which freeway to take. When its time for lunch, you have to decide, what you want to eat. So it is, life is full of choices to make. Will you vote for Hilary, or will you vote for Trump. That’s the choice you have to make. I’m voting for Hilary. That’s the choice I make.
Client no. 1 is 64. He is single and has never married. But he has several dependents. He works in the health care industry and makes a good salary of $80K a year. He has never owned a house because he has a number of dependents. He takes care of his brothers and sisters as well as his nieces and nephews, here and abroad. One niece is now a registered nurse because of him. He paid for his nursing degree. Another nephew is an accountant. He paid for his business degree. Without client’s help, his brothers and sisters, nieces and nephews would not be able to provide a roof over the heads much less pay for their children’s college expenses. In short, without the help given by client, his loved ones, his dependents here and abroad will not be able to get out of poverty. Client is actually the main breadwinner for his extended family. So this is why he never married. His priority was to help his family. If he had his own family, then obviously, he would have to give his wife and children first priority, leaving a small amount as help for his extended family.
Client actually spends $2K a month for his extended family. Even with his $80K gross income a year, he still has to budget carefully. He rents a house, not an apartment, because two nieces and brother live with him. He takes care of them, and he is really happy to be able to provide that help. And he still sends his sister and her children who live abroad, a significant sum every month. The problem is that client also has $40K of credit card debt. He allocates $1,500 a month to keep those cards current. But with his age now, he would rather use the $1,500 to save up to buy a house for his extended family, and to be able to continue providing for his extended family. The choice he is faced with is to keep on paying $1,500 a month for $40K of credit card debt for the next 20 years, or get ride of those credit cards now with a Chapter 7 discharge and use the savings of $20K a year to buy a house and to continue providing help to his extended family. If you were him what would your choice be? It makes client happy to help his extended family and to save up for a house for them. His choice is to get rid of his $40K cards now with a Chapter 7 discharge. Smart choice.
Client no. 2 is 70. She owns and lives in a condo. She still owes a hefty sum on the condo. Her equity in the condo is about $100K. She stopped working last year and now gets social security of $1,800. Her mortgage is $1,400, leaving her $600 for the other necessities. The problem is that she owes $30K of credit card debt, which she has been paying $1K a month for the last 10 years, just to keep them current. Having paid $120K of minimum payments for 10 years, it’s really sad to say that she still owes the very same $30K! She did not think about this situation when she was still working and when her husband was still around. But with her husband gone and with her now retired and receiving just social security, she had to decide if she wanted to keep her house or keep her credit cards. Let’s see. You can live in your house; it provides you shelter from the elements and a nice place to sleep in. You can’t live in your credit cards, can you? Needless to say, client decided quickly to file for Chapter 7 to discharge $30K of credit card debt so that she could keep paying her house. She chose to keep her house over her credit cards. It’s a matter of choice, is it not? But the choice you make should be the correct one. Otherwise, you will suffer the consequences. On my way to court his morning, a homeless man was all wrapped up in rags in really filthy blankets, sleeping right there on the sidewalk. I felt bad for him. But that’s his choice. Our God gave him the free will to make that choice.
I hope you make the right choice in your situation. If client had discharged her cards ten years ago, she would $120K save up right now, instead of $30K of cards that need to get discharged. “
“Guide me in Your truth and teach me, for You are God my Savior, and my Hope is in You all day long.” — Psalm 25:5
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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 appointment at 1000 S. Fremont Ave, Mailstop 58, Building A-1 Suite 1125, Alhambra, CA 91803.