Bankruptcy Because of Gas Prices?

There is a first for everything, and I have now seen my first bankruptcy due to gas prices going up. Here was the situation:
Our client (we’ll call him Ricky) has had the same job for several years. Ricky’s income has stayed roughly the same for the last few years, while gas prices continued to rise. Ricky has a 45-minute to 1-hour commute each way and always put his gas charges on his credit cards. Over the course of several years the credit card balances steadily increased (with gas prices) and all of a sudden, he could not afford the minimum payments on his cards anymore. Then he noticed the total balance of the credit cards…roughly $50,000.
This was not one of those unpredictable life moments that changes everything for you, your finances, and your credit. Ricky could have seen this coming, and could have done something about it. He chose not to because he could always make his minimum payment. He did not want to move, he did not want to get a car with better gas mileage (he liked his SUV), and he did not want to find a job closer to his house.
In the end, we were still able to help Ricky get a new car (which got much better gas mileage) and start re-building his credit after his bankruptcy. He has referred a couple of his friends to us because he liked how we were able to help him buy a car and not make him feel bad about his poor decision making in the past. If you, or someone you know is in a similar situation, contact Washington Auto Credit so we can help you go over your options.




May 7th, 2008 at 12:21 am
[...] informer wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerpt… we were able to help him buy a car and not make him feel bad about his poor decision making in the past. If you, or someone you know is in a similar situation, contact Washington Auto Credit so we can help you go over your options. … [...]