Bankruptcy Kitchener Blog

Today I met with a single lady and her teenage daughter in our Kitchener office.  She had been recently struggling with her debts, primarily do to her reaching the limits on her credit cards.  She is renting an apartment for a reasonable amount.  Her income is based on hourly rates and she nets $1,850 per month.  She has never received support for her child.

Often her cost of living exceeded her income and she therefore used her credit cards to make it by.  Now with interest, her credit cards have become too large to manage.  She has 3 credit cards that total $22,000.  The stress of the situation increased when she took some time off work and as a result, did not get paid for those days.

We sat down and reviewed her options.  Personal bankruptcy was the option she chose, although she was embarrassed about having to file, she realized that the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act is available to give the honest but unfortunate debtor a fresh start.  Her focus was on her and her daughter living on the income they have.

The duties she will have during her 9 months of bankruptcy are: she will have pay $160 per month into the bankruptcy, complete monthly income and expenses statements, attend two one-on-one credit counselling sessions and if her income exceeds $2,237 her payments will increase (referred to as surplus income).  After all of her duties are completed, she will be eligible for a discharge from bankruptcy.

If you are experiencing financial hardship and want to review your options, call me at 310-PLAN or via e-mail.