Personal Bankruptcy Ch. 7 vs charge-off?

[etherealfocus]

I'm massively in debt with low income. I owe $400 to Chase and a credit union, $1600 to Discover, $2500 to a US Bank reserve account, another $2500 to a US Bank checking account, and $13k on a US Bank Visa. The Discover just charged off and the US Bank reserve account is about to, as is the Visa.

Apparently it costs about $1500 to declare Ch. 7. I currently have about $150 to my name and currently very low income as a writer and newbie web designer.

I don't have a car or anything else of major value. My questions are:

1. Since I can't afford bankruptcy now (ironic, huh... I'm too broke to be bankrupt), how bad is it if the US Bank reserve account gets charged off? My credit score is probably already fried so I'm not worried about that, and jobs in my field don't tend to do credit checks. What I'm worried about is them raiding my bank account or doing other more "sinister" things to get money. Is that a risk at all if I get charged off?

2. At what point do companies start taking more aggressive action like lawsuits to get money? What's the worst that can happen in my situation? I'm especially worried that they might sue over the $12k on the Visa, although like I said I really have nothing worth taking.

3. Is there any kind of financial aid available to help me declare bankruptcy?

4. Any other general advice? I'm just a college student that got nailed by having to put my last year of tuition at a private school on my credit card and this stuff is all new to me.

Thanks in advance!

 

[sfitz]

Apparently it costs about $1500 to declare Ch. 7

It may cost that much to hire an attorney to file the necessary paperwork for you, but it cost much less to file the paperwork yourself, and it is not too difficult to do so. What will happen after you file is there will be a hearing which will determine what assets of yours are exempt from liquidation. Since you have few assets, little will be liquidated, and your debt will be cleared. There are instructions for filing Chp 7 numerous places online. Google 'bankruptcy' and the name of your state and you will find much information.

 

[etherealfocus]

I knew self-filing was an option, but I was under the impression that it was actually a fairly complicated process and that if any of the companies tried to fight the bankruptcy I'd basically get slaughtered. Googling 'bankruptcy texas' yields plenty of results; my primary issue with them is that I had trouble finding anything that left unbiased and trustworthy - hence this forum.

Is self-filing actually feasible for a liberal arts student with good writing skills but very little legal process knowledge? I'm hunting for information on the exact process but haven't found it yet. I'll post links for posterity when I find them (unless someone else feels like pre-empting me).