What To Do If You Can't Meet Debt Repayments

Simon Cunningham

Most people understand how stressful it can become when their financial situation is less than perfect. Indeed, most people struggle from time to time. The problem comes when you no longer have enough cash t satisfy your creditors and make the minimum payments on your debt. While legal help is at hand when things get very bad, we’ve created a short guide that should help to stop things from getting that far. At the end of the day, you will have no choice but to declare yourself bankrupt if you can get things sorted. However, there are lots of things you can do before the issue becomes that serious. Our advice comes from legal professionals who work in the field, and so you can guarantee using it will rectify your situation.

One of the worst things about being in debt is that you can feel like your life is no longer your own. You wake up in the morning, break your back at work, and never get to see any money. That is because the bulk of your earnings go to pay for silly borrowing decisions you made in the past. Now is the time to turn your financial situation around and get things back on track. If you fail to do that, you might have to contact a bankruptcy paralegal much sooner than you imagine.

Talk to your creditors

The first thing you need to remember is that ignoring your creditors will only make things worse. Failing to get in touch with them when you are struggling to meet repayments will simply make them think you have no intention of honoring the debt. That is the last thing you want because it could mean they pass it onto a collector. When that happens, mountains of interest could be added to the balance. That could put you in a situation where it is impossible to get things back in order.

Come to a new arrangement

When you speak with your creditors, you should aim to come to a new arrangement that you can afford. If they offer you a lower monthly payment that is still too expensive, it’s vital that you let them know. When all’s said and done, they want you to pay the debt because they will get more money than they would from selling it on. If a collector buys the debt from your creditor, they will only pay a fraction of the total amount. That is because they need to make a profit too. If you are unhappy with the new payment schedule or you feel it is not fair, there is nothing wrong with asking an experienced lawyer to look over the new contract.

Consider a consolidation loan

There are lots of specialist companies around these days that focus their efforts on debt consolidation. Indeed, you will have almost certainly seen the adverts on television. A debt consolidation loan is very simple to understand. Your company of choice will essentially lend you the money to pay all your creditors. They will then allow you to give them the loan back in affordable monthly payments. Many people have discovered that using loans of that nature is the best way to get out of debt when trying to avoid bankruptcy. Just make sure you research your chosen consolidation firm thoroughly, and always read the small print. There is no point of jumping out of the frying-pan and into the fire. If the new repayment schedule is not affordable, you will find yourself in the same situation.

Find a legal professional

While it’s not the time to give up hope just yet, it’s wise to find a suitable legal professional at this stage. How do you find one who specializes in bankruptcy? You do that in exactly the same way you could locate a DUI attorney. You search online and ask for recommendations from your friends and family. Some of them are bound to know of a good attorney or paralegal.

What exactly does the bankruptcy paralegal do? Well, that’s an easy one. They provide assistance to the attorney of your choice. It’s important to select a lawyer with good paralegal assistance if you want the best possible service in the future. For the moment though, you simply want to book an appointment and explain your situation. The legal professional will know whether or not bankruptcy is on the cards for you, and they could put measures in place that will speed up the process when the time comes.

Sell your home

Selling your home would be a last ditch attempt to get your finances in order. You’re already going down the road of bankruptcy, and so it’s better to jump the gun. If you are declared bankrupt while you still own valuable assets, you could lose them all. The authorities will try to recover any money you owe creditors by taking control of your bank accounts and selling your assets. They will not hang around to get the best deal for your property, and so you could lose out on thousands of dollars. Selling your home ahead of time could mean you can make all your repayments in full before that happens.

Declare yourself bankrupt

If you’ve had no luck with any of the ideas we’ve listed so far, there is little else you can do. Declaring yourself bankrupt is not something that should be done lightly. There are lots of legal implications to doing that, and so you need to understand the situation fully before rushing ahead. Thankfully, you already have a legal professional who is ready to get the ball rolling. Just get in touch with them and let them know you wish to proceed. However, you need to be aware of the fact that bankruptcies are public knowledge. Details are published in the local press, and that means all your friends and family might hear about it. Also, there are laws preventing bankrupt people from running new companies. So, those of you involved in the business world could encounter many problems. As with anything in this world though, there are ways of getting around the main issues. Your attorney is the person best placed to offer advice on the best ways forward.

We hope you never reach the stage where bankruptcy is the only option. However, it’s not the end of the world if you do. Your ability to move on from this dire financial problem will determine how your life pans out in the future. Just make sure you never try to deceive anyone, and you always remain honest no matter what is happening around you. Good luck for the future!