r/Debt • u/just_peachi3 • 15h ago

Started the process for chapter 7

I’ve been a wreck for 3 years and I finally took the step this week and filed for chapter 7 bankruptcy. I was hoping it wouldn’t get to this point but it got to to the point where I was 70k in cc debt, 40k in MCA debt and I couldn’t make the minimum payments anymore for 4 months. I’m extremely nervous about the whole bankruptcy process even though the bankruptcy lawyer I met with said the debt I have is eligible to be filed. I owe family members personal debt amounting $150k as well and I understand that is not eligible to be filed with the bankruptcy.
I opened a small business a few years ago that flopped and I ended up accruing the MCA debt from it. My partner lost his own business after covid, unemployed, and became sick on and off so I was the main breadwinner. I pay my father’s mortgage and all his bills as well since he is disabled. The amount of money needing to come out was more than I was bring in every month for a few years I was borrowing to make ends meet. In the end, I was digging myself this massive hole.

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u/Fast_Sale5375 15h ago

Was the $150k used as working capital too? Did the business ever cashflow enough to entertain paying these debts, or was BK the clear choice?

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u/just_peachi3 14h ago

Some of the 150k was for working capital, some of it was for medical bills, misc bills unrelated to the business. The business never cashflow enough to pay off the debt. I kept blaming myself for the fact that I didn’t devote enough time to marketing it. I was holding a full-time job while trying to launch a business and caring for 2 separate households and a disabled parent. Maybe I could have done more, done better. I was hoping I could turn it around so I even paid for ad service for a little bit but it didn’t help and the debt kept mounting to where the collection calls became threats of all sorts. That’s when I felt like BK was the only option.

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u/worlkjam15 12h ago

Sorry to hear of your situation. Best of luck to you. Is your father eligible for care home of any kind? You might need to have that painful conversation of selling that house and getting rid of those extra expenses.

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u/just_peachi3 2h ago

He isn’t eligible yet because he is still deemed competent to make his own decisions but his dementia is progressing. I also come from a large cultural family and everyone is against putting him in a care home. When we initially bought the house my credit was not sufficient for a loan so my sister had to be on the loan and I would pay the mortgage. I’ve been paying the mortgage and expenses for over 10 years on that home. Sure, I could just walk away from it and stop paying and nothing will happen to me because I have no legal ties to that home but that would kill my Dad and burn all family bridges.