Sophie’s Sob Story
The complications may have slowed down the process, but it cannot stop it. I mean did the authorities really believe that by making the rules stricter and by making it tougher, people aren’t going to file? Agreed, the government must have had some really good reason to pass the new Bankruptcy Act last year, but the reason sure does escape me. Why do I sound so angry? Well because a close friend of mine just went through one of the worst experiences of her life when she tried to file for bankruptcy.
Sophie worked in a small firm that operated out of New York. It was quite a small firm that outsourced work from bigger companies and employed only around 15 people. Now last year, thanks to the outsourcing boom, Sophie’s firm didn’t have much work for its employees and slowly it started laying them off. Sophie hadn’t been laid off but she couldn’t continue with the uncertainty of not knowing if she would get her paycheck this month. And worse, her finances were running dry fast and she was too heavily in debt. Soon, she had creditors troubling her at all hours, asking her to repay her loans.
Knowing she couldn’t repay without going totally bust, Sophie decided to file for bankruptcy. And that’s where her problems started. First, it was almost impossible for her to get an attorney who could explain the new law and the effects it would have on her. Then, she realized she’d have to go in for counseling and pay for it with money that she could ill afford to waste.
So what did Sophie finally do? Last I heard, she’d gone underground. She doesn’t use the banks, asks her bosses for cash payments so her wages don’t get stuck in the way and worse, was very stressed. All this just because she decided to get her finances in order
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