[hcmag]

Could someone well-versed with bankruptcy please explain the pros/cons of going that route? I have heard that credit card debt is essentially free money because filing for bankruptcy will wipe out all the debt.

If you already own a home/car, and have no intention of getting a loan in the next 10 years, what is wrong with this strategy?

[alkonaut]

I guess that varies with where you live. In Europe the deal is usually e.g. if you buy a house the safety isn't just the house, it's the house AND the future lifetime income of the buyer. If you manage to buy a house in what turned out to be Detroit and its value goes from $1M to $1k, then the bank might take the house but you will also be paying off that $999k for the rest of your life. Not to mention you'll never get any credit again.

Personal bankruptcy will let you off but not easy. You'll make a plan to live att the poverty line for 5-10 years paying everything you earn to the bank, so they can get maybe 1/3 of their losses, and write off the rest. And after this of course you still won't get a loan again so you'll be a renter without credit cards for the rest of your life.

[rsync]

"If you already own a home/car, and have no intention of getting a loan in the next 10 years, what is wrong with this strategy?"

It's dishonest and is the work of a scoundrel.

[ac29]

Because, at least in the US, bankruptcy laws have changed such that it is difficult or impossible to get a "clean slate" debt wipe. If the courts think you can afford to pay your debts (you had enough money to buy a house and a car outright in your scenario), they may restructure your debts to make payments more manageable, but not eliminate them.

Also as mentioned below, it ruins your credit and might be construed as fraud.

[remyp]

A pesky thing called morality and the fact that incurring debt with the intention of later going bankrupt is fraud?

[tamana]

Don't be moral with corporations that have no intention of being moral with you. The National Mortgage Foundation defaulted on its own mortgage!

[tunesmith]

> Don't be moral with corporations that have no intention of being moral with you.

Why not? Seriously.

[rhino369]

Each state is different, but they'll take your car and some of the equity in your house to make up the difference.

California for example would take all the equity from your house except for 75k so a single person with moderate income.

[dragontamer]

What if your car breaks?