Foreclosure defense attorney John Anastasio has been in practice since 1981. At the Law Offices Of John Anastasio, in Stuart, Florida, he works on behalf of clients facing bankruptcy or foreclosure. Here, he gives us a timeline of when it may be time to call in the pros when you’re facing a personal bankruptcy.
By the time you are looking at a pile of bills and feeling like you can no longer comfortably make those payments, it’s time to call in a professional to help. Only by doing so will you really know and understand all of your financial options.
One of the things I look for when someone comes into my office asking about bankruptcy is whether they will be able to ever pay off their debt in the absence of any major changes. If you cannot see any way in which you would be able to afford to pay off your bills using your current income, then it is time to call in a lawyer and start seriously thinking about filing for bankruptcy.
For a lot of people, it can be tough to make that decision and know when it is okay to look at your finances and just restart. But, you know, filing for bankruptcy is not a moral decision, and there is nothing wrong with it. It’s business, not personal—as Michael Corleone‎ would say in The Godfather.
People need to think of their own financial situation more as a business. Look, Ford and General Motors went into bankruptcy. A lot of the banks across the country have filed for bankruptcy. Toys ‘R Us went into bankruptcy a couple years back and now that’s a business that is stronger than ever; they’re at the top of their game. Even Donald Trump has had to restructure his debt. So people need to give themselves the permission to do this.
I hear people commonly say that they’re concerned that nobody will want to work with them again. But the truth is, if a bank or a mortgage company is not willing to negotiate with you to restructure a loan or modify it, then this might be your only option. If they won’t work with you, then you have got to give them an option they can’t refuse—and that just might be telling them you’re planning to file for bankruptcy.
Once you have made the decision and determined that this debt is too big for one person to handle, a lawyer can really help guide you through the rest. Questions about which type of bankruptcy to file for can be answered best by a qualified bankruptcy professional.
Sometimes you have got to know when the debt you’re facing is impossible and it’s time to just push restart on the game. By the time you have looked closely at your finances and made this personal decision, calling a lawyer to help guide you through the bankruptcy process should be easy.
