Quote:
Originally Posted by Miss Absynthe
Doesn't it cost money to declare bankruptcy? And after it's all been declared and settled and it's seven years later, don't you still get asked credit companies and places if you've ever declared bankruptcy?
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Since you can only declare it once every seven years, some lenders like it. Before they have the risk of a borrower declaring bankruptcy, once you have then the debt sticks with you with no out (until you can declare bankruptcy again). I don't know if that counts as predatory lending but it seems like it should.
Seven years after the bankruptcy, I don't think the reporting agencies can disclose past bankruptcies. I guess some people can be serial bankrupters, racking up debts and stuff and then declare every seven years to the day to "screw" their lenders. That's kind of an outlier, but part of the justification for high interest rates - they want to make their money from the financing.
Abuse on both sides (admittedly power is heavily weighted to the creditors than the debtors) is why we can't have nice things.
Yes, it costs money to declare bankruptcy, but in the lead up to it creditors have to stop attempting to collect. You'll need to save up somewhere around 2k US -- a good chunk of cash out of pocket, but it is supposed to be something of an extreme measure.