‘Susan’ a Case History: Consumer Proposal – Finding Help in Toronto
‘Susan’ (not her name), was a bright, hard-working professional who was moving up the corporate ladder. After university, she had moved to Toronto where she was hired by the company she most wanted to work for. After six years with her firm, Susan was in good professional and financial condition.
Then everything changed. She became a drug addict. In a few months, she had nothing left but debt. She had lost her job, her apartment, her car and her future.
Hitting bottom was hard on Susan, but it convinced her to turn her life around and get the help she needed to deal with her drug addiction. After several months of intensive treatment and counselling, she was ready to begin rebuilding her life.
Susan approached her former employer and asked for a job. Because of her excellent performance before the drug issues surfaced, they decided to take a chance on her and gave her a job. It was at a much lower level – and it would take time for her to re-earn their total trust, but it was an opportunity that Susan gratefully seized.
She then had to clean up her financial mess. She now owed nearly $20,000 in unsecured loans, credit cards, student loans and taxes. With her new lower income of $1,750 per month, she realized she simply could not repay her debt.
Susan called David Sklar & Associates (DSAI) and booked a free consultation to see what could be done about her debts.
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During her consultation at DSAI, Susan met with Trina Powell, Estate Administrator. They reviewed her financial situation in detail.
Susan had:
No Assets
No Secured Loans
Unsecured Debts:
| Credit Cards Totaling | $5,500 | |
| Unsecured Bank Loans Totaling | $6,000 | |
| Payday Loans Totaling | $2,300 | |
| Student Loans Totaling | $990 | |
| Canada Revenue Agency | $5,000 | |
| Total Unsecured Debt: | $19,790 |
Income of $1,750/mo
Trina and Susan reviewed all of her options and while Susan could have filed for bankruptcy, she decided to go with a Consumer Proposal. She felt it was important for her recovery, to make as much of an effort as possible – to pay back her debt.
Fortunately, her student loans were over 7 years old – which meant they could be included with her Proposal.
DSAI submitted Susan’s Consumer Proposal to her creditors (including Canada Revenue Agency) and it was accepted. Under the terms of the Proposal, Susan would pay $9,000 over a 60-month period at $150/mo.
Susan continues to honour the terms of her Proposal, with monthly payments of $150 and by attending credit counselling sessions. At work, Susan is slowly regaining the trust of her company and co-workers. Her recovery is still the most important part of her life – and she is re-building her life, one day at a time.
To protect our clients’ privacy, details of this case have been altered.
