MasConcepts Incorporated

In Washington State –

I’m getting sued by a financial institution. Basically, I escaped a decade of DV relationship in 2022, with the clothes on my back. My income took a hit, my expenses quadrupled, and I started putting everything on credit cards as I worked multiple jobs and tried to keep up. Finally, I realized I needed to apply for assistance – but by that time the damage was done. I couldn’t keep making $2k/month minimum payments. Many times, I tried to work with the bank to reduce my payments, or my interest, anything. They refused to work with me. I ended up going to a debt consolidation company for help.

They had me making $1100/month payments into an escrow account. After about a year they finally settled one of my debts. But I simply couldn’t keep up with those payments either, and had to leave the program.

So I knew this day was coming sadly. And if they would let me make payments I could afford, I would!! But they won’t, so here we are.

Essentially I am waiting for the final judgement to come against me. After that, I will have to file bankruptcy. However, I have to be strategic about how I do it. I am disabled and applied for disability before getting sued. Now my attorney says that if I get disability, the bankruptcy trustee will confiscate all of my back pay, so I should wait to file. I am also self employed and the court views my income as assets, to be seized fully, not income to be garnished. So I will have to somehow time it when I am able to take time off work.

We expect the final judgement to come long before I am able to file bankruptcy. My understanding is that the judgement will take anything, in any of my accounts, over $1000. So somehow I have to survive, and pay my mortgage and all other bills, yet not ever have more than $1000 in my bank accounts, for likely several months, until I am able to file.

Does anyone have any experience with this?

I’m on my own, it’s just me. Trying to navigate this.