If you have little or no assets now and also have judgments and other debts against you which you simply cannot pay, then Chapter 7 is a good option. It will let you discharge or eliminate those debts at a comparatively low cost (since you don't have assets to liquidate). It will hurt your credit for a period of years, but not necessarily that much more than having defaults and judgments against you will. Below is a link to a very good website put out by the federal courts about how bankruptcy works; good luck.http://www.uscourts.gov/FederalCourts/Bankruptcy/BankruptcyBasics.aspx/