The laws have recently changed. Most consumers are no longer eligible for a chapter 7, to discharge all debt. If you file for chapter 7 bankruptcy, your case will most likely be dismissed (denied), or forced into a chapter 13 - in which case you will still have to pay your creditors. You will not get a refund from the attorney if your bankruptcy is dismissed, and chapter 13 just won't work. They will give you a budget, and when you can't make the payments, your chapter 13 will be dismissed. So in the end, about 6 or 7 months after you've paid the only extra money you had to an attorney, you will be right back where you started - broke, getting phone calls at home and work, worried about being garnisheed, and not knowing how to put food on your table.

No creditor or collection agency is legally obligated to accept any amount of money you send them. The biggest misconception is that if you send them $1 a month, they have to leave you alone. This is WRONG - they CAN and WILL sue you. Once they have sued you they will freeze your bank accounts, place liens against you, and some of the really shady ones will try to force a sheriff sale on the contents of your home. Debt consolidation companies, if you manage to find one that is legitimate, will merely send a letter to the creditor or agency to request that they take a very small payment monthly, and that all interest on the account be removed. Guess what... they'll say NO. Of course, the debt consolidator won't tell you this. They will just take your money, make ridiculously small payments a few times, and you will still be harassed. Eventually you will give up, and once again, you'll be right back where you started.