Talk to me about bankruptcy

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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

Crap. We live in a modest home in a modest neighborhood. With 2 kids. I don’t know how we could afford housing if we had to rent. Our mortgage is currently less than what a very small apartment would cost. We wouldn’t make enough from a sale to simply buy a cheaper house. We already live in one of the least expensive areas in the DC area.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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

Crap. We live in a modest home in a modest neighborhood. With 2 kids. I don’t know how we could afford housing if we had to rent. Our mortgage is currently less than what a very small apartment would cost. We wouldn’t make enough from a sale to simply buy a cheaper house. We already live in one of the least expensive areas in the DC area.

Not necessarily if you file chapter 13.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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

Crap. We live in a modest home in a modest neighborhood. With 2 kids. I don’t know how we could afford housing if we had to rent. Our mortgage is currently less than what a very small apartment would cost. We wouldn’t make enough from a sale to simply buy a cheaper house. We already live in one of the least expensive areas in the DC area.

The idea is that you could sell your house and use the equity to pay off your debt instead of stiffing your creditors. Bankruptcy isn’t for people who don’t want to use their assets to pay their debts, it’s for people who don’t have the means to pay off their debts.

[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.

It is NOT just Florida. Florida just has the most generous homestead exemption, allowing you to, for example, install expensive things in your home and count them as part of the home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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

Crap. We live in a modest home in a modest neighborhood. With 2 kids. I don’t know how we could afford housing if we had to rent. Our mortgage is currently less than what a very small apartment would cost. We wouldn’t make enough from a sale to simply buy a cheaper house. We already live in one of the least expensive areas in the DC area.

But where specifically? State I mean

[Anonymous]

Even if you could get your debt discharged (which you probably cannot), how will you get by afterward when you have all of the same expenses and your husband is still unemployed but now you don’t have access to any credit lines to cover your shortfalls?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Ok sounds like you want chapter 7 so your debts are discharged. Do you meet the means test? If so that could be an option. But you risk losing possessions with any value. Maybe you keep the car or house if the court allows you to reaffirm the debt if they have little value. But if you have significant equity, they could well be sold to repay your debt.

Thing is, you still have to figure out how to stay out of debt and pay your bills if you get your consumer debt discharged. And as others mentioned, it could be really tough if you can’t keep your house and car.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Even if you could get your debt discharged (which you probably cannot), how will you get by afterward when you have all of the same expenses and your husband is still unemployed but now you don’t have access to any credit lines to cover your shortfalls?

We would have at least $800 a month more if we didn’t have to pay minimums.

[Anonymous]

Sorry I wasnt finished. As someone else mentioned, DCUM is not the place to come for legal advice. You should go to a lawyer and maybe a consumer debt counselor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Even if you could get your debt discharged (which you probably cannot), how will you get by afterward when you have all of the same expenses and your husband is still unemployed but now you don’t have access to any credit lines to cover your shortfalls?

We would have at least $800 a month more if we didn’t have to pay minimums.

Sure, but something got you into the debt to begin with. It didn’t just happen to you.

[Anonymous]

I went through bankruptcy and it was one of the best things I ever did financially. My situation was very different from yours but I think you would be very wise to schedule a consultation with a bankruptcy lawyer to find out exactly where you stand and what would likely happen.

I did not own a house but I did own a vehicle I owed 10K on and I excluded it from the bankruptcy so I could keep it. That meant I had to keep making the payments.

I don't want to advise you about anything else, the lawyer should be doing that after knowing your specific situation. I can tell you though that within a year my previously excellent credit rating, which tanked during the bankruptcy, was back up over 700. Unlike many people I was very good at not incurring more debt and thus ended up with a credit rating over 800 now and zero debt other than a mortgage I have now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Even if you could get your debt discharged (which you probably cannot), how will you get by afterward when you have all of the same expenses and your husband is still unemployed but now you don’t have access to any credit lines to cover your shortfalls?

We would have at least $800 a month more if we didn’t have to pay minimums.

So your credit card debt is what, around $30k?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sorry I wasnt finished. As someone else mentioned, DCUM is not the place to come for legal advice. You should go to a lawyer and maybe a consumer debt counselor.

There are so many predatory companies out there. I’m scared. I’m scared of getting in an even worse situation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Even if you could get your debt discharged (which you probably cannot), how will you get by afterward when you have all of the same expenses and your husband is still unemployed but now you don’t have access to any credit lines to cover your shortfalls?

We would have at least $800 a month more if we didn’t have to pay minimums.

Sure, but something got you into the debt to begin with. It didn’t just happen to you.

About 90% of the debt was accrued before my husband lost his job. We thought we were on track to pay it off eventually. And then the rug got pulled out from under us.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Even if you could get your debt discharged (which you probably cannot), how will you get by afterward when you have all of the same expenses and your husband is still unemployed but now you don’t have access to any credit lines to cover your shortfalls?

We would have at least $800 a month more if we didn’t have to pay minimums.

So your credit card debt is what, around $30k?

It’s a lot more than that. Like, triple.