You may rest assured knowing that your credit card bills, medical bills, and personal loans, among other debts, may be discharged with your Chapter 7 bankruptcy filing. But you may be worried that gambling debts may be viewed as reckless debts in the eyes of the Kentucky bankruptcy court. Read on to discover what factors are considered when discharging gambling debts and how a seasoned Louisville, Kentucky Chapter 7 bankruptcy lawyer at Schwartz Bankruptcy Law Center can help you in erasing them.
What factors are considered when discharging gambling debts in bankruptcy?
Of note, your gambling debt may be considered a type of credit card debt; or even as a casino marker, which may be viewed as a line of credit. And so, there is a possibility that it qualifies as a dischargeable debt in your Chapter 7 bankruptcy. Nevertheless, the Kentucky bankruptcy court may look at the following factors when considering the elimination of this debt:
- Whether or not your gambling debts were recently incurred:
- If this debt was incurred more than 90 days before your bankruptcy filing, then it may be discharged.
- If this debt was $650 or more and incurred less than 90 days before your bankruptcy filing, then it may be considered a “luxury good or service” and non-dischargeable.
- If this debt was $925 or more and incurred less than 70 days before your bankruptcy filing, then it may be considered a “cash advance” and non-dischargeable.
- Whether or not, based on your gambling history, there was a statistical likelihood that you would have repaid them.
- Whether or not your gambling debts make up a majority of your total debts.
How might creditors argue for this to be a non-dischargeable debt?
Unfortunately, you must anticipate the chance that your creditors are going to address your gambling debts to the Kentucky bankruptcy court. That is, they may attempt to make a convincing argument for this debt to become a non-dischargeable debt in your Chapter 7 bankruptcy proceedings. Examples of potential arguments they may make are as follows:
- Your creditors may argue that you are attempting to discharge this gambling debt under false pretenses, false representation, or actual fraud.
- Your creditors may argue that you incurred your gambling debt with no intention of repaying it.
- Your creditors may argue that you carelessly gambled away money while you were unemployed.
- Your creditors may argue that you recklessly gambled away money while you were already under crippling gambling debt.
However, your creditors must prove these arguments beyond a reasonable doubt. So you may counter their arguments by referencing your history of paying off your gambling debts. Further, you may point to the fact that you never gambled large sums of money, consecutively, without first repaying some of your debt.
This is all to say that you must be proactive in your petition to get your gambling debts discharged. This starts with retaining the services of a competent Louisville, Kentucky consumer bankruptcy lawyer. Contact Schwartz Bankruptcy Law Center today.
