Jacksonville Bankruptcy Lawyer Blog
If you want to reaffirm a debt after filing for bankruptcy, your must executed a new agreement with your creditor. This reaffirmation agreement must be written and must be signed by both you and the creditor. Should you sign this reaffirmation agreement? Here are some pros and cons.
Pros
First, if you want to keep the property, you must sign the reaffirmation agreement. Also, if you do sign, you will be certain what your payments will be, what your interest rate is, etc. Signing a reaffirmation agreement may also help rebuild your credit, since you are taking responsibility for a pre-filing debt and are making regular payments on a debt.
If the collateral is something other than a car, say furniture or electronics, then you may be able to negotiate a lesser amount due before signing the agreement. This is because the alternative to reaffirmation for the creditor is to repossess and auction off the property -something that costs the creditor money. Sometimes creditors would rather renegotiate your contract than to go through this hassle.
Cons
By signing the reaffirmation agreement, you are stating that you are now going to be responsible for the debt again. So if you cannot pay in the future and default, you no longer have the remedy or protection of bankruptcy available to you (unless you file again). If you default, a creditor may be able to garnish your wages to cover your debt.
If you have a debt for which you would like to reaffirm, or have any other consumer law issue contact a Jacksonville Bankruptcy Lawyer today for your free consultation.