Personal Bankruptcy in BC
British Columbia is among the provinces across Canada that has the most prosperous economic well-being. The economic prosperity equates to the fact that residents from British Columbia are more responsible for paying off debts. In previous years, Canada’s consumer debt outgrow its national average rapidly than expected, while earlier in the same year, BC residents were able to yield a significant decrease in their consumer debt.
Regardless of reducing consumer debt, Several BC residents are still struggling to overcome their indebtedness. In fact, BC has an extreme level of consumer debt as compared to other provinces in Canada. Most of the residents in BC are trying to seek certain alternatives to cope up with their debts before it becomes inevitable. These alternatives include debt settlement, debt consolidation, credit counseling, and a consumer proposal. While these options are feasible and less damaging, some Canadian would likely prefer filing bankruptcy in BC to clear their debts.
BC Bankruptcy Basics
If you can’t seem to defeat your credit card debts and loans, Bankruptcy in Canada aims to offer you an opportunity to start afresh in restoring your finances. Besides, The Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act of 1985 allows anyone with a debt amounting to not lesser than $1,000 as fitting for filing bankruptcy. In most cases, residents who cling to file for bankruptcy are those who have a huge payable amount of sum.
With all options exhausted yet still finding yourself lingering in a financial pit, your ultimate solution would be to file for bankruptcy in British Columbia. You can file for bankruptcy in BC through a licensed bankruptcy trustee. The trustee will then determines your personal assets to rectify what you owe with creditors. Basically, the trustee will act on ensuring payment of your debts from the creditor. This will somehow require you to give up some of your assets to pay your entire debt. The profit from disposing of your assets will then be distributed to your creditors. In some cases, the property can be surrendered to your creditor without you needing to sell it.
However, this does not entail wiping your entire assets. There are properties that you can keep during the bankruptcy process which will take for up to 9 months. If you’re diligent enough in complying with the bankruptcy agreement, your trustee will approve a discharge that will eliminate unsecured loans.
Pros and Cons of BC Bankruptcy
Most people who cant afford to pay more of their unsecured debt would find bankruptcy as the most efficient way to eliminate it. If you don’t stand a chance to cover all your payments, bankruptcy frees you from your indebtedness and enables you to have a fresh start without wiping all your assets. Besides, financial counseling for bankrupt individuals aids to prepare a person to get back on track and efficiency manage finances. Furthermore, creditors and debt collectors will have to obey an automatic stay of proceedings. This order allows you to get paramount creditor protection.
On the contrary, bankruptcy can also cost you money. You will have to make bankruptcy payments according to your income and may be required for administrative fees. Moreover, bankruptcy yields a significant impact on your credit rating. For BC residents, this remains for 6 years and will be extended for 14 years for the second time. Besides, bankruptcy may cause you to lose any of your non-exempt assets. However, there are still assets you can keep. Few of the things that you may surrender are as follows:
- the net value of vehicle equity in excess of $5,000
- Principal residence equity in excess of $12,000 (Vancouver and Victoria), and $9,000 anywhere else in British Columbia
- household items such as furniture and appliances less $4,000
- Owned tools for work or business valued over $10,000
