Think again... Or should I say Read on...

Why I applied for BK

I never thought of filing a BK. On 2005,  my credit score was at its peak 750+. I get every loan, easily get new cars, credit applications from mail everyday. I even helped a friend buy the house from her Dad. It was great but not too great.

On 2004, My (was-friend), a real estate broker, a peanut-looking guy and I started this MLM business. I as a webmaster seeded the operation with a website. It was doing great in the first 6 months. In fact, it was doing too great, that we can't handle any more processing. It was a good but not sustainable as with all the MLM business out there; it was bound to collapse under its own weight. Anyway, 9 months into the business, the broker was not being paid (or paid well) and the webmaster was not getting the right cut, we are not getting our just-desserts. So, the broker asked me to shut it down and down it went. Without the web, the people went into chaos and the management behind the front management went mad. Here comes the lawsuits  (to me and not the broker). So, after months of  battling this peanut-looking guy,  I finally conceded (I do not have money to retain good lawyers) and asked what can be done about our situation. The peanut-looking guy and his Japanese-looking wife wanted 400k for the damages. Naturally, I don't have 400k. So the peanut-looking guy put lien on my first house thinking he'd get 400k if the house is sold. But, the house was actually worth 450k-ish because the market started falling. 450 minus 400 on the current mortgage equals 50k minus agent fees etc. So, why I applied for BK? The peanut-looking guy put 400k on each of the two houses making the total lien 800k. That's so absurd! What do I do? File for BK and the peanut looking guy would get nothing.

What are the repercussions?

After filing the BK and being discharged in 2007, life never returned to normal (yet).  We wait for the foreclosure of the our townhouse, the second house already foreclosed. I lost my friend because of that. We are squatting in our own house, we could not  get a rental property, I could not refinance my car, can't get another credit card, bank  tellers ask for override every time you make a deposit, you can't get a new car and the stress from all of this.  In America, the dream comes with a price. You can not get a credit if you don't have credit and if you're low on credit score, they'd jack-up the interest -- some economy. Leaches!

What came good out of BK?

There are only a few things good coming out of BK. 1. You spend all in cash or check, so you can manage finances better. 2. No spending-spree in the mall with your plastic money in your pocket. 3. Some establishments will give you financial-support 3. You are released from all of your debt but make sure your spouse is out of  joint accounts before filing else he/she inherits your debt.

The moral of it all

Thank you for your time reading my rant and hope you learn a little about it and my experience. By now, you get the idea to Pick your friends and business partners very carefully  and Always have a good lawyer even if you don't have money, so you can asked friends to help out.