Straight dope on bankruptcy in Ontario, Canada

March 6, 2020 11:02 AM

About $40K in credit card debt after a small stroke and years of severe depression and lack of fulltime employment. Starting to come out of it but don't have real employment and haven't for years. Thinking of declaring bankruptcy. What's the full process and consequences? How does one prove they're "broke" when they have excellent credit? I have not missed a minimum payment on a CC in decades and have never been late with rent. No debt collection agencies are after me. I do not own any property or vehicles.
posted by anonymous to Work & Money (1 answer total)

You don't have to prove you're broke. A credit counselling agency can negotiate a payment plan for you that basically cuts up your credit cards so you can repay the principal at 0% interest (well, it's actually around 1-2% interest because of the CCA's fee, but that's still way better than the 18-29% that you see on cards)). I did that a few years ago, and don't regret it, and my credit will be back to normal in about another six months. In the meantime, though, you will not have any credit at all.
posted by Mogur at 11:29 AM on March 6, 2020 [2 favorites]