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Bankruptcy ruins your credit. It disqualifies you from holding certain jobs (such as in a company requiring people handling cash to be bonded), not to mention t
by logn 14y ago
Bankruptcy ruins your credit. It disqualifies you from holding certain jobs (such as in a company requiring people handling cash to be bonded), not to mention that credit checks are part of background checks these days. Some debt is difficult to discharge in bankruptcy (student loans). It can hurt chances of getting security clearance.
What the OP is offering seems to be a nice alternative.
- lifeformed 14y agoIsn't this also bad for your credit? Well, I guess maybe it's just less bad than bankruptcy or not paying anything at all.
- logn 14y agoI'm no expert in credit scores, but... If the original creditor already filed with the credit bureaus, that's definitely a negative on your credit. But I think the OWS can report that you "repaid" the debt which would be good. They could also bargain with the creditor to remove the negative report. Also, just reducing your balance of debt is good for credit. Plus, I don't think there's anything worse you can do for your score or future hopes of loans than declaring bankruptcy.
- Millennium 14y agoIIRC, if your debt is being sold to a broker at pennies on the dollar -which is pretty much the only way OWS can get its hands on it- the bank has already long since given up on getting you to pay, and the credit bureaus have long since been informed. In other words, the damage to your credit is mostly already done; an actual bankruptcy would hurt worse, but you're still in for a world of pain.
- lifeguard 14y agoWrong! A BK is a unique event from other delinquent accounts on one's credit report that carries extra weight. As do foreclosure and repo.
- lifeguard 14y agoNot only is it bad, a BK on your file means you will have to use 'special' finance to get a car loan and it will be impossible to find a bank to underwrite a sub-prime loan for a house (for seven years). You would also have to pay a higher rent security deposit on an apartment.
- philwelch 14y agoIf you lose badly enough at credit that you end up declaring bankruptcy, maybe homeownership or car loans aren't for you. Just a thought.
- marvin 14y agoCould be. But there are some unlucky people in there as well - single parents who bought a house at the peak of the housing bubble because they were afraid that home prices would keep rising and leave them without a place to live. And then promptly lost their job in the recession.
- yummyfajitas 14y agoReal estate speculators who made highly leveraged bets that went bad are in fact the sort of people who should, perhaps, not get the opportunity to repeat their mistakes.
- eru 14y agoWhat about renting?
- mkr-hn 14y agohttp://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4763091 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4763091
- eru 14y agoThanks. I never lived in the US. I came to Britain (from Germany) with neither car nor credit history. They let me rent a place, and I never had to buy a car. (Oh, and didn't have to worry about health insurance, either. But that's a slightly different topic.) I wonder how my move to Singapore will play out. But should I ever come to the US, I'll make sure I have plenty of money.
- deleted 14y ago[deleted]
- smsm42 14y agoBut if you're insolvent, doesn't that mean you are... well, insolvent, as in not able to return credits? That's what "credit" means, no? If some company for some reason (which evades me, but that's their choice) doesn't want to hire insolvent people, wouldn't presenting oneself as solvent be a deception? Student loans is a good cause though, indeed it is very hard to get rid of. But since they carry government guarantees (unless it's a private ones) - why would one be willing to sell it for cents on a dollar instead of just getting the money back from the state?