Campbell River Bankruptcy, Consumer Proposal and Other Debt Solutions / How to File for Personal Bankruptcy in Campbell River, BC
If your credit cards are almost maxed out or if you are missing payments on your payday loans or other debts, you may be starting to get phone calls or letters from collection agents requesting a payment. It may be due to the fact that lenders are ending their Covid-19 deferral periods and are starting to get more aggressive in trying to collect. Lenders will be transferring debts to collection agencies who often phone non stop.
Filing for Bankruptcy will put an end to all of the collection noise. The phone calls and letters will stop and you will be able to move forward with a fresh financial start.
As with any significant event, the first step begins with a decision. Once you decide that you want to break free from the burden of your debt, you have started the process.
Bankruptcy laws in Canada are found in the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act (BIA) which is Federal legislation. This powerful debt relief option is available coast to coast and is designed to help the honest but unfortunate person have the chance for a fresh financial start. Typically, each year over 100,000 people across Canada either declare Bankruptcy or use a Consumer Proposal to get relief from their debts.
The BIA mandates that Bankruptcies must be filed through a Licensed Insolvency Trustee. Most trustees have an accounting designation, such as a CPA, and have also passed a rigorous set of exams. They then receive their license. Afterwards, trustees, or LITs as they are known, are regulated and monitored by the Federal Government.
There is no requirement to utilize a consultant of some kind prior to contacting a LIT. Our office offers a no-cost, confidential initial assessment so you can obtain information as to whether the Bankruptcy process is best suited for your individual set of circumstances.
The first step, therefore, is to make the decision to reach out to a LIT office.
After contacting us to arrange an appointment, we will arrange a meeting, either in person, by phone or virtually to gain an understanding of what you are facing. We will talk through a variety of options that might be of use to you other than filing for Bankruptcy in Campbell River.
We will also explain the Bankruptcy process and what it will take to start and successfully finish and receive your discharge from Bankruptcy. We will go over a variety of terms and make you aware of the different types of debt that you have.
In order to make this meeting as useful as possible, see our blog, Three Things to Bring to Your First Meeting.
Afterwards, there will still likely be a need to gather additional information such as your prior year’s tax returns, credit card statements, ownership documents and other pieces of information pertaining to your financial affairs.
There is no requirement to file your prior year’s tax returns before starting the Bankruptcy process.
After you have made the decision to proceed we will provide you with an application to fill out. Once your application form is filled in, as best as you can, we utilize that information to prepare documents for your signature. If you require assistance in filling in the application form we can help you either over the phone or in person.
At this point, you have made your decision to proceed, gathered your information, and submitted your application form. It is now up to us to prepare your documents for signature.
Pro tip: We advise that you have a bank account set up where you have no debt. This fresh, clean bank account will mean that there will be no surprises for you in the future as to creditors taking payments unexpectedly. Although this can be a hassle changing pay directions, pensions, and monthly utilities, you will be able to sleep at night knowing that your money will be there in the morning.
The amount of time it takes to prepare your documents and proceed to the signing step can vary depending on the following:
At all times you maintain control of the timing of when you sign your documents. Even once the documents are ready, you decide when you want to meet to sign them.
Once your documents are ready, we will reach out to you to set up another meeting to go through them and have you sign. After they have been signed and witnessed, we can then register them with the Federal Government.
At this point you are officially underway and receive protection from your creditors. You will be scheduled to receive an automatic discharge from bankruptcy and some point in the future depending upon your income level and whether this is your first bankruptcy filing. In general, the timelines flow as follows for the automatic discharge:
The matter of surplus income is a whole other blog. Please contact us for information on this topic.
If you need relief from your debt load, we can help. We have years of experience helping people on the west coast of BC from Prince Rupert to Campbell River to Parksville.
We offer a no-cost, confidential, initial consultation where we will assess your financial situation and provide you with information about ways to move forward. This can be done either by appointment at our local office, by phone, or online. Find the debt help you have been looking for by contacting us today. You will be glad you did!