In her January 3, 2009 article, The Case for Walking Away, Jane Bryant Quinn, Newsweek columnist and financial advisor, makes the same argument that many bankruptcy attorneys make: sometimes the best thing you can do is walk away from your house and your bills and get the fresh start that’s the purpose of the Bankruptcy Code.
Ms. Quinn talks about the difficult process of coming to the realization that bankruptcy is often the best option among bad choices:
It’s painful and humiliating even to consider bankruptcy, let alone join that crowd in the courthouse corridor, waiting for your name to be called. Normally I’d say suck it up, cut spending and repay your consumer debt. But that’s not always possible, especially with an economic tsunami rolling over your home, job and health insurance.
When is the right time to consider bankruptcy?
Sooner, rather than later. Waiting until you’ve tapped yourself out “defeats the point of bankruptcy—to stop the self-blame and hopelessness that goes with bad luck and bad bills, and give yourself a second chance.”
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