Talk to me about bankruptcy

[Anonymous]

My husband has been unemployed for two years, and we’re completely in over our heads with credit card debt.

We have a little in retirement funds (about $150k), own our home— our mortgage is less than what a 1 bedroom apartment would cost around here. We’re a one car household, and the car is almost paid off. No student loans, thank god.

Should we consider bankruptcy? I’m feeling hopeless that things will ever get better.

[Anonymous]

Why aren’t you working?
Why is he employed ?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why aren’t you working?
Why is he employed ?

…who said I wasn’t working? I am working.

I don’t want to give too many personal details on here. I just want to know if anyone here has gone through backruptcy. What can you keep? Do you regret doing it?

[Anonymous]

No. The court will likely force you to sell the home, unless you live in Florida. I’d recommend working with a credit union to refinance all your credit card debt into a fixed rate loan and pay it off over 5 years.

Your husband MUST work.

[Anonymous]

I should add that our credit card debt is about what I make in a year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No. The court will likely force you to sell the home, unless you live in Florida. I’d recommend working with a credit union to refinance all your credit card debt into a fixed rate loan and pay it off over 5 years.

Your husband MUST work.

He’s been looking and looking for work. He’s not getting hired. Whatever he gets, it has to be enough to cover daycare for two kids under 5. He used to make over 100k.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No. The court will likely force you to sell the home, unless you live in Florida. I’d recommend working with a credit union to refinance all your credit card debt into a fixed rate loan and pay it off over 5 years.

Your husband MUST work.

He’s been looking and looking for work. He’s not getting hired. Whatever he gets, it has to be enough to cover daycare for two kids under 5. He used to make over 100k.

Can he do customer service work from home via a laptop? He needs to bring in something, even if it’s only $15-20K per year. The cushion will be noticeable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No. The court will likely force you to sell the home, unless you live in Florida. I’d recommend working with a credit union to refinance all your credit card debt into a fixed rate loan and pay it off over 5 years.

Your husband MUST work.

He’s been looking and looking for work. He’s not getting hired. Whatever he gets, it has to be enough to cover daycare for two kids under 5. He used to make over 100k.

Can he do customer service work from home via a laptop? He needs to bring in something, even if it’s only $15-20K per year. The cushion will be noticeable.

No. We have a special needs kid under age 5 who needs constant supervision. And a second kid who also needs constant supervision.

[Anonymous]

Please, if you’re commenting here, just tell me about bankruptcy. I’m trying to learn about that option.

Please save your judgement about how he should be working harder, or I should be working harder.

[Anonymous]

I went through bankruptcy in 2017 and it was one of the best decisions I've made. As soon as you file, your credit score will drop to nothing. I didn't own a house at the time so I don't know how that ties in. I owed on my car and it was repossed after the discharge. I filed chapter 7 and was divorced at the time.

I fixed my credit and built a house last year. All in all, bankruptcy was not that big a deal, and lenders and car dealers will engage with you again.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No. The court will likely force you to sell the home, unless you live in Florida. I’d recommend working with a credit union to refinance all your credit card debt into a fixed rate loan and pay it off over 5 years.

Your husband MUST work.

He’s been looking and looking for work. He’s not getting hired. Whatever he gets, it has to be enough to cover daycare for two kids under 5. He used to make over 100k.

This sounds like a really tough time. But he can get work on an off shift at a grocery store or some other type of shift work job. The. You would t need childcare. Your situation is not sustainable. Bankruptcy won’t save you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Please, if you’re commenting here, just tell me about bankruptcy. I’m trying to learn about that option.

Please save your judgement about how he should be working harder, or I should be working harder.

You’ll likely need to sell your house to declare bankruptcy

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No. The court will likely force you to sell the home, unless you live in Florida. I’d recommend working with a credit union to refinance all your credit card debt into a fixed rate loan and pay it off over 5 years.

Your husband MUST work.

He’s been looking and looking for work. He’s not getting hired. Whatever he gets, it has to be enough to cover daycare for two kids under 5. He used to make over 100k.

This sounds like a really tough time. But he can get work on an off shift at a grocery store or some other type of shift work job. The. You would t need childcare. Your situation is not sustainable. Bankruptcy won’t save you.

Have you been through bankruptcy? Are you a bankruptcy lawyer, or otherwise an expert? If not, then kindly STFU about how we’re not working hard enough.

[Anonymous]

OP, schedule an appointment with a bankruptcy lawyer. I haven’t worked in this field for too long so I cannot give you good advice, except to tell you that DCUM will give you a lot of bad advice and judgment. You can find an attorney who will. Give you a low cost or free consult to explain the proces, the different options. There are also low cost legal services. Good luck to you.

[Anonymous]

If you have significant equity in your home, you probably won’t be able to file for chapter 7 and keep your house. Since your car is mostly paid off, the motor vehicle exemption probably won’t be enough to cover your equity in the car so you could be forced to sell that too. Odds are you would be looking at chapter 13 instead, which will only restructure your debt and won’t discharge it.