That's a good question. I'm not sure what is the right answer. I'll do some poking around and get back to you if I got an good answer. You should email the people at Lending Tree as they probably know..

Bigmon. You're funny. You better have no plans on owning Property till SOL. Or having Good credit till then..

80k in debt and you think your home free?? lol..

Once your credit starts to get better they will come...

Bigmon,.

How do you "clean" up your credit after all this time? Are you just waiting out the 7 year cycle? Who will EVER give me credit after even 2 years with 6 or 7 unpaid charge offs?.

I have been told that you will get credit offers again soon after filing a chapter 7...simply because they know that you can not file again for 6 more years. Is this true? Would you expect to get credit faster if you just "walk away"?.

Everything is in my wifes name and I lost a very good paying job as stated in previous posts. We just can't pay everything. I have been fighting off filing for a few months now. I just don't want to ruin my wife's credit. I have been reading many posts and see that some of you have had good experiences with just "walking away" and many have had good experiences with bankruptcy. Still fighting to find the lesser of two evils. Such a hard decision...really!..

I'm not planning on getting any property until the SOL runs out. If they turn up the heat then I'll file. There are ways to get property without your name being where the CA's can find it..

The studies show that after 24 months the charge offs aren't as big a problem as they used to be. You'll be subprime for 2-3 years and you'll have to rebuild with secured cards. The idea too is to use some of the techniques here and get them removed..

A lot of people have found it easier to file and rebuild. I think for peace of mind it's easier to file and get on with life. In a couple years you can get the BK of your report. It also depends on how much you want to fight with the CA's.

It's a hard call to make. Keep asking questions...

I walked away from only about $8000 in debt when I was in college in 95 and I was "judgement proof" for much of the time since then because I was a student and was broke. I got tons of letters, but nothing else happened..

Then, just this past year, after I had been making good money at my professional job for the past three years since graduation, and after I began seriously repairing my credit........two lawsuits..

The main reasons I got sued were mostly because of validation attempts and "waking up the sleeping giants" after all these years. The amounts were only a few thousand each. I wouldn't say anyone is out of the woods with creditors. The coals simply smolder until they have reason to think that you are on your feet again, and then they go after you..

For the poster's original question, I don't think bankruptcy is something that should be done without exhausting ALL other options. I never filed and now I am glad that I didn't, even though it got pretty dicey for a while. It really does depend on how much debt is involved and what your financial situation is..

Just remember, even if you are broke there is nothing stopping a CA or creditor from suing for a default judgement that they could enforce if you ever did get anything they could grab...

Subprime for only 2-3 years? I don't know what these studies say, but you will be subprime for as long as those derogs are on your credit reports. If you do nothing, subprime will be seven years. Believe me, I am one who didn't really learn how to effectively clean up my credit until about a year ago, and the seven year expiration for one of my old accounts is next month! I have been subprime for pretty much the entire period, and the only thing I had to deal with was chargeoffs and collections. No judgements, BK, liens, etc..

I'm all for being optimistic, but it just isn't as easy to walk away and magically have good credit 2 years down the road as you make it out to be...

I know a lot of people that are out of subprime after 2-3 years. They don't have much prime, but they have some. Houses and autos are the fastest to get to prime. Having a crooked banker helps too..

In my case I have a corporation as a way to hide myself. I think to have a successful walk away you need to think like a fugitive and not awake up your creditors. If all else fails you can file BK. Keep in mind if you're affected by the new BK laws,if they pass, then you might need to file now while you can..

Everyones situation is different so there isn't a standard answer...

If you every try to buy a home, all of these unpaid collections will haunt you. I did a home purchase Lending Tree loan recently for someone that was a mess. I asked him what happened he said "Those were all from Florida over 5 years ago, now that I have moved to xxx, they can't expect me to pay can they"? Took a long time to explain that they did either expect to pay or take care of the bills or not get a loan. We worked together and settled most of the accounts for 40/55% and then made payment arrangements on the balance..

So my advise is to either go Chapter 7 and get it over with, or never get anywhere where you need credit..

Charles Clark.

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[quote].

So my advise is to either go Chapter 7 and get it over with, or never get anywhere where you need credit..

QUOTE].

Or.......clean up your credit like everyone else around here is doing...