True, America has given the world more in terms of scientific advancements, military protection, etc., but what about day-to-day life? They don’t have job lock because their insurance isn’t tied to employment, they have freedom of speech, assembly and religion…and, yes, you can own a firearm in Australia —-look it up instead of listening to propaganda! They have a high per-capita income also and a reasonable tax rate, no one goes bankrupt over medical problems….so why do so many Americans say that their country is the greatest on Earth when Australia appears to be a pretty great place as well? Some could argue that it’s actually greater.
So, Australia is not the centre of the English-speaking world and they don’t have the bread basket that America has, what good are those two things if you’re not doing well in America? So what if Australia isn’t the centre and doesn’t have a fertile interior….we’re talking about day-to-day life of an Aussie versus a Yank, and from what I am reading, it sounds like the average Aussie has it better these days. Flame away with ignorant comments about the "poverty, fascism, illiteracy, violence and socialism" of this foreign land and how much they suffer and all want to immigrate to America. Australia’s great.

Technorati Tags: aussie, australia, bread basket, earth, fascism, freedom of speech, illiteracy, insurance, job, medical problems, military protection, per capita income, poverty, propaganda, religion, scientific advancements, socialism, tax rate, violence, yank

That’s why I think everyone should have health insurance..I work at a hospital and believe me, we all pay when people don’t have insurance!

Technorati Tags: health insurance, insurance

I owe Bank of America k on an unsecured line of credit. I borrowed k on the line of credit a year ago at 5% to remodel a foreclosure I bought. The market turned 4 weeks after I bought the home last Sept 08. I finally sold the home for a huge loss. During the process, I was never late on a payment and I still have never been late. BofA jacked the interest to 12% and place credit insurance on the balance without my permission. I had them remove it and they still made me pay them 0 for the one month they had it on. Dirt bags!

I took less than I owed on the house just to get rid of it. I now have in my possession a check from the sale of k. I want BofA to settle for less than this check.

How do I do it – Will they do it? Who should I call? I have k toward a k debt and I am not late. I am calling them in 24hrs to start negotiating. What do I do?
Additional Information: This line of credit was never secured with real property. It was always unsecured, hence, BofA does not know how much my check is for. Look, I am not trying to be dishonest or rip anyone off. I want to give them every penny I owe them but unless I aproach them on my terms, they will continue to take advantage of me. All I want is a level playing field.

Technorati Tags: 24hrs, bank of america, bofa, credit insurance, dirt bags, foreclosure, insurance, possession, unsecured line of credit

I was told by a car dealership salesman that the only way I could get into a car was through a lease, so I did. I have not had the vehicle for a year yet, but have put about 40K miles on it and am having a difficult time making the lease payment and paying the considerably higher insurance requried. I want to turn it back in, but am unsure about how much money they are going to try and bill me for for the mileage and wear and tear, and a host of other penalties etc. Will they put a lien against my home for this, garnish wages, etc.? Would filing bankruptcy before turning it back to them protect me from this? Would a bankruptcy be better than a repo on my credit history?

Technorati Tags: car dealership, credit history, filing bankruptcy, garnish wages, how much money, insurance, lease payment, mileage, repo, wear and tear

I have quite alot of debt and am looking into filing bankruptcy. How far back are they going to check my bank statements? Also my father passed away and left a life insurance policy to my mother that my name is on as a trustee…will this matter?

Technorati Tags: bank statements, filing bankruptcy, insurance, life insurance policy, trustee

After trying to find ways to be able to take care of our responsibilities we have come to the last resort and that is to file bankruptcy. We don’t own any homes or any real property. what I am curious about is which is better chapter 7 or chapter 13. We want to be able to start saving a soon as it done and when feesible start rebuilding credit. Our credit card debt is only 00 which is a lot, but it could be worse. We just had two bad years with this one being the worse. I am looking for advice on the best way to go between the two. Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 and why.

We are not happy about doing this as we have tried everything. We don’t have anything of value and we have tried to pawn stuff but couldn’t get .00 for most. We live very modestly. So please do not answer this question if you are going to be negative.

Thank you so much. We want to do the right thing so we can start over and never have to do this again.
Thank you so much for all that has given advice so far. I guess I need to add just a few details to make the situation clearer.

As I stated it has been a bad 2 years, actually almost 3 years. I got real sick and had to leave my job and am now on disability. My husband took on a second job a year ago. He pays child support. Between the two of us we have 5 kids between the ages of 9-16. We have two vehicles, which one is in the shop. We also are surrendering this vehicle.
We have an attorney and he is recommending chapter 13. I (we) have a lot of medical bills. After I had to leave my job I couldn’t afford the cobra payments for continued health insurance. To maintain health insurance with my husbands employment (state worker) would have cost more than the cobra payments.
My ex- husband filed bankruptcy and I did not know that anything he had when we were together, came back to me.
I never thought I would get sick and have to quit work. I was not prepared.

Technorati Tags: 3 years, bankruptcy, chapter 13, chapter 7, child support, cobra, credit card debt, disability, do the right thing, employment state, health insurance, insurance, last resort, medical bills, pawn, rebuilding credit, second job, state worker

I bought my car at California Buy Here, Pay Here lot. I love the car but after three months almost four now, they still can’t get the financing to go through and keep running my credit. I put down 00 and have been paying faithfully month 0 based off the terms the Buy Here Pay Here lot wrote the contract for. I am about to file bankruptcy now and was hoping to keep this car. Now my attorney said that she is listing the car NOT to Reaffirm but to retain collateral and continue making payments. This so I can turn in the car at any point in time if I need to after the discharge without them being able to sue me later on. She also told me that there is NO valid legal contract because the financing company denied me NOT once, but twice and so the contract I had signed is null and void. I want to know, since this is the case, can I go back, turn the car back in and get all my money back? I put down 00 and have made 0 in payments so far. There is no in-house financing, I didn’t sign anything else. ALSO, she did a blue book and found that the car has dropped in value since purchase, can I renegotiate the price? They also refuse to get registration done on the vehicle because they said they need to get it financed. Help! If there are other alternatives, please let me know!
After making some phone calls, I have found all replies to be wrong. I just got a call yesterday stating they can’t get the car financed after three months. The dealer has lead me on to this point thinking everything has been done and they informed me they have forwarded my payments to finance company. Just to find out I have no finance company. Yes, I have insurance. I am passing this new information on to others as they have been clueless as I was until now. You can research this info yourself:
If the car dealer cannot find someone to buy your purchase contract, it can cancel the purchase contract, BUT it must notify you within 10 days of the date on the purchase contract! If it does not, then the purchase is FINAL and cannot be cancelled. It states on the back of the contract. I found out:
I do not have to turn in the car and they have to "honor" the contract and in-house finance it. They have been taking and accepting payments up until now and they must continue to do so.

Technorati Tags: bankruptcy, blue book, car dealer, collateral, financing company, insurance, legal contract, money, point in time, purchase contract, three months

I was in a car accident in july, but have no idea how long the settlement will take. The guy that hit us had no insurance, so my lawyer said i half to sue my own insurance company. If i file for chapter 7 bankruptcy can they take my entire settlement? It will cost 1100 bucks to file for bankruptcy, which i will half to make payments on. If i get my settlement before im done paying for bankruptcy, can they still take it? Is there anything i can do??

Technorati Tags: car accident, chapter 7 bankruptcy, insurance, insurance company, lawyer, own insurance

I had a wreck awhile back and i’m being sued. Am I going to owe money or will my insurance company cover it? and should I file bankruptcy? I’ve heard that somewhere also…and will i ever be able to get insurance?
i had full coverage if that matters

Technorati Tags: full coverage, insurance, insurance company, money, should i file bankruptcy

Myself and my husband are both self employed, we have two children -In 2007 we were doing well and decided to purchase a larger home, so we placed our home which we had lived in for 7 years (have a mortgage at a credit union) on the market. A sale was pending so we purchased a larger home contract for deed, as we could not get a mortgage for it until the other sale was final – but there was an adendum to where the then buyers needed to be in by a specific date so we had to be out by the date the sale was scheduled for. The sale fell through due to the "buyers" on the day before the closing was scheduled – so we were left paying for 2 homes… we had to carry both homes then from 9/07 – 01/08 paying excessive interest for the home we moved into as we were unable to get a mortgage on it until we sold the other one… – this drastically cut our savings down to nothing – 1/2008 we had to sell the house contract for deed (the original house we had lived in for 7 years) – or lose it to the bank as we could no longer continue to pay for both – we closed on the sale 1/11/2008 – they buyers have a 3 year balloon to come up with their own mortgage – after the sale is complete – we will have taken a total loss of ,000.00 on that house. So the amount of money which the "cfd buyers" pay to an escrow agent – who then cuts us a check – which we then take the the bank to pay the mortgage on – and then place the remainder into a escrow account for the property taxes and home owners insurance on that home – leaves us with approximately .00 income each month (which we get to pocket – whoopie) but it allows us not to be foreclosed upon – now when the sale is final and they get a mortgage – we will only get ,000.00 (the difference from what they owe to us and what we owe to the bank on that house) 2 years from now.

Now – here is my question – 2008 has been a HORRIBLE year for my family – the economy has made my husbands self employment income to drop nearly 75% – and while mine increased from the previous years, it by no means has increased enough to make up that difference – additionally there were multiple situations that came up during 2008 that drained us – (i.e. child illness, one child with dissabilities, furnace went out, gas leak for 3 days, powerbills skyrocketed, you name it, it probably happened to us this year) now – we are now facing bankruptcy as all of our savings is gone – and everything is backing up it is everything we can do now just to make the house pmt, car pmt and insurance and survive. My husband is a contractor – so winters are usually slow anyway – but due to the economy people just can not afford extras – we’ve always built up savingns during the spring and summer months and set aside for the winter – that was not possible this year. Now we qualify for the EIC which we desperately need. but due to the sale of the house CFD – they (the CFD Buyers) paid just over ,000.00 in interest which then came to us – but we paid just under ,000.00 in interest to the credit union which holds the mortgage. – but in having to claim the ,000.00 interest income – (no matter whether we itemize or take the standard deduction our tax is 0 because we add our self emp tax at the end) the only chance we had of a credit was the EIC and additional child tax credit – and Not being allowed to claim the EIC because of the ,000.00 of interest income (which did NOT benefit us as income, as opposed to the .00 that we did get to keep during the course of the year) eliminates our ability to take the EIC because it’s over the ,000 and some odd dollar Interest income allowement)

Is this right? If so this leaves us owing the IRS more money (which we absolutely do not have) than we will make on the sale of the house in total when it’s complete (not considering the entire thing is at a overall loss anyway) I do not have to file form 6620 or schedule D because it was a loss, but the interest apparently I do have to claim – as income – when it wasn’t…

Is there any LEGAL way to only have to claim the interest income of .00 which we did get to keep – as opposed to the entire amount?

If not – we’re going to end up on the street living in a box eating trash. I’m saddened to think that we’ve worked for so many years for nothing – my husband is 37 years old and I am 30 – both of us have always worked more than full time – and now my husband has not worked more than 40 hours since October – and things were slower in August and September than usual – who knew this was going to happen -(No one can plan for everything to go wrong in 1 year as it did for us) Now what….?

Please help if you know what you are talking about… If you do not know about taxes, EIC, Contract for deed/Installment sale, or are just plain rude because your situation is not nor has ever been grim due to no fault of your own, please keep your comments to yourself. (I only say this because I have read several other answ
**I disagree that I got that 00.00 to spend even if it (doesn’t feel like it) because I did not get to keep and "spend" more than .00 of that money. Out of that 00.00 per our contract we are required to give to the bank that holds the mortgage so that the house is not foreclosed upon since these people are paying the payments – the contract also states that out of that 00.00 we have to set aside so much each month into escrow to pay the property taxes and their home owners insurance (which is in their name). Therefore that was not OUR money to spend…. We simply "worked for them" by obtaining the mortgage, paying the payment for them to remain in the home, pay the property taxes so that there is not a lien placed on the house, and pay their home owners insurance which they were required to obtain -All we should have to list as Income is the .00 that was actually income to us, and not take the credit from the 1098 from the bank holding that mortgage…

Technorati Tags: adendum, amount of money, balloon, cfd, economy, escrow account, escrow agent, excessive interest, home contract, home owners insurance, insurance, own mortgage, property taxes, remainder, self employment income

Ok i have had a few americans tell me its true, why cant i believe it?

Is it really true? Do people in the worlds greatest and richest nation (debatable nowadays) really go without care if they dont pay rip off insurance premiums? Do people die because they cant afford care?

Is this really true?

Technorati Tags: insurance, insurance premiums

Since my soon to be ex-wife racked up over 50K worth of credit card debt behind my back while we were married, my lawyer suggests that we file for joint bankruptcy.

I’m not crazy about the idea due to the downstream consequences…it stays on your record for 7 yrs., insurance co’s adjust your rate by credit score, renters wont sign a lease with you, etc.

Your thoughts?

Technorati Tags: bankruptcy, consequences, credit card debt, credit score, insurance, insurance co, lawyer

If the family is on welfare (government-assisted apartments & food stamps) but has much unpaid medical bills? Husband has only VA insurance but apparently they won’t pay much of the bill because he reported it past 90 days (or something close to that). Not sure what bankruptcy entails but I know it means "start from scratch" but we also don’t have anything to give….so can a person on welfare file?

Technorati Tags: amp, apartments, bankruptcy, food stamps, insurance, quot, start from scratch, unpaid medical bills, welfare

I can understand why people are upset at that part. I think a happy alternative would be that you have to sign a waiver saying that you recognize by not having any insurance you are responsible for all of your personal medical costs. Failure to pay may result in foreclosure or bankruptcy.

What do you think of my alternative?

Technorati Tags: bankruptcy, failure, foreclosure, insurance, medical costs

If the family is on welfare (government-assisted apartments & food stamps) but has much unpaid medical bills? Husband has only VA insurance but apparently they won’t pay much of the bill because he reported it past 90 days (or something close to that). Not sure what bankruptcy entails but I know it means "start from scratch" but we also don’t have anything to give….so can a person on welfare file?

Technorati Tags: amp, apartments, bankruptcy, food stamps, insurance, scratch, unpaid medical bills, welfare

last year my wife changed careers, we risked no insurance for 2 weeks, i had a heart attack in those 2 weeks, almost 0,000 i am doing ok, i have depleted our saving, sold my 57 nomad, and cashed in my life ins., to pay the bills. these "wolves still call everyday wanting me to increase my payment(to over 0 i have 2 different bills wanting this much) i cannot afford this, i haven’t been able to pay my credit cards, they are huge now with all the late fees, i can barely put food on the table. i would like to keep my house. should i file bankruptcy and rid myself of all the stress? for my health’s sake

Technorati Tags: credit cards, food on the table, health, heart attack, ins, insurance, late fees, nomad, quot, sake, should i file bankruptcy, stress, wolves

When democrats raise taxes to pay for the Bush spending spree and Giveaways will we be so short sided as to blame the democrats for being responcible enough to pay our debts .Or should we do like all good republicans and file for bankruptcy .Wipe the slate clean and start from scratch .Its like going to re-hab when you walk out you are free from your past because that was not really you somehow .
I get it now .you just have to lie to yourself every minute of every day and tell yourself that you are ok often enough till you believe it .
How does a person live with themselves when its time to tell the family with a sick child that they have reached the limits of the insurance policy and the treatments will no longer be paid by them .How do they walk around after the fill up the pockets of all their friends with money taken out of people savings that they loaned to there college buddies and familys to buy homes with and then declare the company banckrupt leaving tax payers to foot the bil

Technorati Tags: bankruptcy, bil, bush, college buddies, debts, democrats, familys, giveaways, insurance, insurance policy, money, pockets, republicans, sick child, slate, spending spree, tax payers

I recently lost my job and i can`t keep paying not even minimum balances. I have around .000 in debt and minimum balances add to almost 0 a month + i have the car payment with insurance 0 a month. Please guide me to the best solution that i have without destroying my credit score. Thank you

Technorati Tags: best solution, car payment, credit score, insurance, job, minimum balances

Has anyone ever used this? I have quite a heavy load of debt and want to consolidate to reduce fees, etc. Has anyone ever heard of these guys:
APEX FINANCIAL SERVICES
DEBT SETTLEMENT PROGRAM
Smart, easy and proven alternative to bankruptcy!
Debt Settlement REDUCES your debt by as much as 40% to 75%!
You could be debt free in as little as 12-36 months.
Our negotiators have settled millions in consumer debt.

Please let me know if you’ve had any experience or have any advice. I have about 5 revolving credit lines (including car insurance, etc.) and want to consolidate all to one account, or use the service I mentioned above. Any advice is appreciated!

Technorati Tags: apex, bankruptcy, car insurance, consumer debt, debt settlement program, financial services, heavy load, insurance, negotiators, revolving credit

I am currently in a chapter 13 bankrupcy and my car is included. My car was totaled this week and now I want to know how this will affect my monthly bankrupcy payment and term. Payoff on the car is 17k and insurance is giving me 20k.

Technorati Tags: bankrupcy, chapter 13, insurance

Are you jumping on the band-wagon with the idea that health insurance be mandatory for all legal US citizens and if you cannot afford to pay for it yourself…the US tax payers will? Well, heck…why don’t we all just go file for bankruptcy then! From the sounds of it, if you make less than K a year…you qualify.
Good thought Zanz…I agree…none the less he is the president.

Technorati Tags: band wagon, bankruptcy, citizens, health insurance, heck, insurance, tax payers

I am about 30,000 in debt, mostly from credit cards.

I was married already when the debt occured but they are all in my name, not my husbands. This weighs on me alot. I stopped paying on them about 3 years ago. It got very over whelming.

We are wanting to buy a house in about 2 years. I dont know what to do file bankruptcy, offer a settlement, or continue not paying. Alot of them are "charged off as bad debt" or in collection accounts"

What is in the best interest for me and my family?

Take home pay is about 30,000 a yr. We still have to save for a down payment on a house. We have rent, insurance, gas, electric, internet, tv, phone and all the obvious, normal bills to pay too.

I will answer all questions. And I Thank You for any advise any one has to offer.

Technorati Tags: 3 years, bad debt, bankruptcy, best interest, collection accounts, credit cards, insurance, internet tv, occured, tv phone

I have about ,000 in debts. Mainly from credit cards dating before 2002. I used to pay my bills on time, however, in 2002 I was diagnosed with a disabling illness and fell way behind on my bills. I no longer am able to work and have been on Social Security Disability Insurance for 6 months now. Would it be worth filing for Bankruptcy? or should I just wait till the "7 year reporting period" from creditors have passed, and not file? I really want to improve my credit rating ASAP! Also, I live in California and I’m planning on moving to Texas very soon. IF I should file for BK, Should I do it in CA or TX?

Technorati Tags: bk, credit cards, credit rating, creditors, debts, filing for bankruptcy, insurance, security disability insurance, social security, social security disability, social security disability insurance

Can you file Bankruptcy without an attorney? Please do not say "Pay your bills". The bankruptcy is due to an anormous amount of surgery/ doctor bills that the insurance company came back almost a year later and denied after turning in form after form. It is a long story.

Serious Answers ONLY please and if you don’t have an answer please don’t answer at all. I just need the answer to the question, just a yes or no. I know it is better with an attorney. I just did not know if you can without one.

Technorati Tags: bankruptcy, doctor bills, insurance, insurance company, surgery doctor

My fiance recently got his credit report and has about ,000 in debt that he was unaware of. He’s been drawing disability for several years and has medicaid and medicare. The majority of his debt is medical bills that he thought the insurance paid for, but obviously it didn’t. About ,000 of it is basically identity theft. His former roommate opened up two accounts in his name and ran the bills up. We know he did it, but we have no way to contact that person. Well, my fiance decided his only way out of this is to file bankruptcy. However, he doesn’t have enough money to get a lawyer. Would he just totally be screwed if he filed himself? He doesn’t have any assets. No car. He rents his house. So, I’m assuming it wouldn’t be as complicated as it would be for someone with assets. However, I’m sure it’s no easy task either. Yes, I’ve heard the saying that if you represent yourself, you have a fool for a lawyer or whatever.. but we just don’t know what else to do. We have to get this taken care of before they start getting his pay check. He just started working again and isn’t drawing disability anymore so we’re really tight on money. Is there any way a lawyer could help him file bankruptcy and then we just pay the lawyer payments? I’m sure that seems pretty contradicting, but we could afford payments for the lawyer if we didn’t have all this other crap that we’re paying on.

Technorati Tags: assets, bankruptcy, credit report, disability, enough money, fiance, fool, identity theft, insurance, lawyer, medicaid, medical bills, medicare, other crap, roommate

Hi, my dad past away 3 years ago and my mom never worked, so when he died (he was 46) only had 100k for her and an annuity. She spent all the money on fixing the house, like my dad wanted, and paid off all the debt they had. The annuity brings in 0 and her bills are triple that! She’s financially dumb! She listens to nothing we say. She does have a job now, but only pays 5.50/hr.

She also has 2 vehicles, one leased and one on a loan, fully financed. She has come to the point of them sending the repo papers, but she pays them eventually, she asks for money from family.

Should she file for bankruptcy?
Thanks for all the advice so far….
To answer some of the questions…..

1. she has two vehicles because my sister is in the same situation (spending more than she makes), newlyweds and already having trouble, so my sister has one of the cars!

2. I have bought books for her, but she’ll read maybe 10 pages! She does not want to sit down and see the whole picture, she use to do that with my dad.

3. She owns the home, she paid off a HELOC after my dad died.

4. She has canceled her sat., cell, pest control and is on a basic land line service. All she has is her debt.

5. She’s living off of her CC’s because she uses her 0 to pay the car bills and maybe part of the care insurance. My grandmother gave her ,000 last month and paid maybe 4 bills, including the cars, and still ended up over drafting 0 because she ate out too.

6. I’ve told her to sell, i’ve even posted an ad in craigslist myself, but she says she can’t sell because she needs a car! So frustraiting.

Technorati Tags: 3 years, annuity, bankruptcy, care insurance, cars, dad, grandmother, heloc, insurance, job, mom, money, newlyweds, pest control

Ok, i am getting sued by another person as result of a car accident. I was under the impression my insurance was still current but turns out, it had expired, so i had no insurance to cover thier accident. I have 3 questions regarding this 1) when you have insurance, aren’t you covered agaisnt uninsured moterists? 2) if i declare bankruptcy will it eliminate the money they sue me for if they end up going through with everything? and 3) do i possible have any options or alternatives? PLEASE HELP

Technorati Tags: bankruptcy, car accident, insurance, money

I am not sure if I even qualify… Here’s the scoop-
My husband and I lived in California but moved to Kansas City, MO in January. I haven’t been able to get a job. I am pregnant and starting to show. Although it is illegal, it makes it even harder for me to get a job. California we were making 5k a month. In Missouri my husband is only making 1800 a month. The significant price difference is affecting us. I have 6 credit card payments adding up to exactly 5 a month. 2 Car payments adding up to 5.00. Since they are under loan we have to pay 270.00 a month for insurance. Rent 529. Utilities… Food/gas. Basically, 1800 a month don’t cut it.

Even if there were alternatives to claiming bankruptcy, I’d like to hear about them.
It adds up to ,000

Technorati Tags: car payments, claiming bankruptcy, credit card payments, insurance, job, kansas city mo, scoop

Brief background: Moved from one state to another for a job, which was lost. Income has dropped to about 50% of what it was. We’ve gone through our savings to try and pay things. Bring home pay now covers ONLY new house payment, utilities, groceries, life insurance, and government student loan. Have previously surrendered 2nd vehicle, (1st vehicle is paid in full). Old house in old state foreclosed on and being sold tomorrow. Credit cards remaining unpaid and sent for collections, etc.

My question is this: should bankruptcy proceedings begin or should we continue as is? What, if anything, can our creditors do to us (other than trash our credit – which has already happened). We live in Texas. I would appreciate any suggestions. However please refrain from replies such as "get a job", because we are both working full time jobs and have cut ALL unnecessary spending. We dread the thought of bankruptcy, but see no other alternative.
We’ve done the credit counseling, etc., and the funds are simply not there.

Can they garnish wages for debt in Texas?

Thanks for the replies so far – I appreciate it.
The one vehicle we have is paid in full and is a 1999 Ford Ranger – not new. Excellent comments everyone – thanks!

Technorati Tags: 1999 ford ranger, bankruptcy proceedings, collections, credit cards, credit counseling, creditors, dread, ford, ford ranger, full time, government student loan, groceries, insurance, job, life insurance, texas thanks, time jobs, trash, wages

I have private mortgage insurance on my loan, will this pay the balance off if foreclosure goes through? What will I be penalized with? How will my credit be affected? Would bankruptcy be a better alternative, and is there any way possible to file Chapter 7 instead of 13, even with a steady source of income?

Technorati Tags: bankruptcy, chapter 7, foreclosure, insurance, private mortgage insurance, steady source