Orderly payment of debt (OPD) is a program offered under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act and a viable alternative for someone who does not want to go as far as filing a bankruptcy, or a consumer proposal.
While OPD is an excellent alternative in some situations, because Equifax treats a proposal in the same fashion as OPD, there are relatively few situations where OPD makes financial sense. You find OPD is best suited to the following situations:
1. The Majority of your debt cannot be cleared through filing a bankruptcy or proposal. A good example of this would be student loans. If it has been less than 10 years since you were last in school and your creditors are making payment demands that you have no ability of making, then OPD will allow you to stop the pressure, fix a more reasonable payment level and allow you to make payments over an extended period of time.
2. Sufficient assets / income that would result in your creditors being paid in full in a bankruptcy. If you meet with a licensed trustee who determines that as in a bankruptcy or a proposal, there would be sufficient monies to pay all your creditors in full. Then OPD will make more sense. Financially, when you include the costs of the administration of the bankruptcy, you will find OPD potentially will work out to be less expensive on both a monthly basis as well as overall. Additionally, OPD will have a reduced impact on your credit rating.
3. Your total unsecured debt is less than $5,000. In circumstances where you owe less than $5,000 you will find the cost of filing a proposal can make OPD a more viable option.
In most other circumstances we find that filing a proposal is typically a more effective solution than OPD as it usually allows you to settle your debts for less money, provide the same protection from your creditors, but will you will find that Equifax will treat you in the same manner as if you paid your debts in full under OPD.
posted by Barton Goth, Trustee in Bankruptcy @ 
