We are considering chapter 13 as we are deep in debt with interest rates so high we can barely afford the minimum payments. We are not behind on our mortgage. Do we have to include our 1st and 2nd mortgage in the reorganization? Or do we keep those separate? Is it all debt? Or just unsecured debt?
A few years ago I settled a debt with a credit card company and I had to claim the part of the debt that was forgiven as income. Now here it is about 8 years later and I am having to file chapter 7, with all the K in unsecured debt that I have, will I have to claim this as income too?
Over the past few years, my husband and I have had several financial setbacks. First, he had a severe heart attack which left him unable to return to full time work. Because we were very proud, and I had a good job, we chose not to file for disability for him. Then, I lost my job…. Because of his health, I signed up for Cobra, thinking I’d only be out of work for a few months at most. The monthly payments were 0 more than my unemployment benefits! What little savings we had were eaten up, and then I started charging the Cobra payments. With the credit cards maxed, I was forced to give up Cobra. To top it all off, our ARM skyrocketed last year, and we ended up losing the house. Thankfully, we were able to do a short sale, so we at least didn’t have to foreclose. I am working again, but have no benefits. He suffered Congestive Heart Failure this spring, and now is receiving disability pay. We get our medical services through a community clinic, but make too much to qualify for free services, and of course his lab work is sent to the local hospital which offers no discount. So, we have approximately ,000 in unsecured debt, with a combined income of about ,000. About 15K is credit card, and the rest is medical. We get conflicting advice on how to get out of this mess – bankruptcy or credit counseling?
I know a lot of people are filing bankruptcy on credit card debt. I did this myself and got 35,000 dollars worth of credit card debt discharged. That means my credit card companies lost a lot of money on me. I know my credit is ruined but oh well. Unsecured debt should be more difficult to get. It is still easy to file bankruptcy if one meets the means test. Your opinion, please.
we modified our home loan with our mortgage company and they lowered the rate and tacked the past due onto the back end of the loan. can we file a chapter 7 now to rid the unsecured debt?
OK firstly, if you’re coming on here to give me advice and help: thank you. If you’re someone who is coming on here to stand in judgement, and tell me what horrible people me and my husband are for ‘racking up debt’ and then going bankrupt, then don’t bother wasting your time, because I will just report your post and ignore it anyway. Not being funny, but all I have got during the three times I have posted this today is nasty comments from a few people who have no idea of the circumstances that led up to the bankruptcy, and spam from people advertising loans! So if someone could give me some helpful advice, I would appreciate it. I havent posted it for several hours, so hopefully there’s some different people on here now.
So here is my dilemma:
We went bankrupt in November 2010, moved out of our mortgaged home, and moved into rented accommodation.. We owned a property (mortgaged) which had a 75K mortgage and also we had a 30K secured loan and £50K UNsecured debt. Just recently, one house near our old house, went for £105K, so the most it will get (at auction probably) is about £90K.
So we went bankrupt and the receivers contacted us to see what assets we have – we have none, except for the house. We haven’t been back to the house since, and didn’t have our mail redirected as we have informed anyone of any importance about our new address.
Well, I phoned the receivers today to ask if they have let the creditors know yet, (because at 12 Jan 2011 they hadn’t..) and they said yes they informed them and sent a report of our debts and other creditors on 18 Jan. Then this girl said, ‘your unsecured debtors (we had £50K unsecured debt) will know there’s little point in trying to you, but the mortgage company will need to contact you and know your ‘current’ address, because they will need to issue a repossession order,,,’
I am utterly baffled, as when we spoke to the receivers in November, (AND the court too,) they both informed us that the receivers would deal with everything, and that the creditors will need to go to the receivers for any assets we have. This is how bankruptcy works surely.???? And now this girl tell us that we should have contacted the mortgage company voluntarily, because the creditors ‘only let the creditors know the person is bankrupt,’ and because there is little equity, they don’t take the house themselves, they just leave it up to the mortgage company to reposses it at their leisure. So apparently, we are supposed to work with the mortgage company through the repossession. !!!
But why on earth should *we* have to let them know our new address so they can badger us here, ?? Surely they can repossess it without us. I was under the distinct impression from the court and from the receivers (at the start) that once we go bankrupt, it’s out of our hands. and now 3 months on, one girl at the receivers office is saying that we should have contacted the mortgage company so we can help in the repossession process!
Well excuse me, but we did pay the receivers £900 (£450 each) to do this job for us, and what would happen if we had buggared off and just abandoned the house like a lot of people do? Surely the repossession can go ahead without us?
Can anyone advise? I am super reluctant to contact the mortgage company and see no reason why they can’t simply repossess without us. And I am particularly pissed off that the receivers AND the court said it’s out of our hands and we need to do NOTHING, as declaring ourselves bankrupt freed us of the debt (and the assets of course..) and now this girl today has said we should inform the mortgage company of our new address, or the repossession order will take many months, as they ‘need our signatures…’ for the repossession order to go through swiftly.
For one, why only say this now? And what happens if someone abandons a property? Should we just leave it and wait for them to repossess without us?
I have done everything I can to reduce my spending, and my interest rates (on unsecured debt), yet there are still so many demands on my income that I am still unable to meet my monthly obligations. (My VA Compensation was just "reduced" making my problems even worse). Due to the nature of my current "graveyard employment", I have been experiencing a great deal of trouble finding a second job.
Must Bankruptcy be my only solution? I entered into a Debt Management Program (to have interest reduced), 4 months ago. Until then, I had not even had a "late payment" in over 8 years (no longer the case thanks to the DMP).
I was forced to file Bankruptcy in 1999 (so it is about to be removed from my credit file), due to my divorce and excessive student loan payments.
Now I am about to "start all over again" due to my inability to obtain reasonable interest rates on my debts.
Can anyone suggest alternatives to Bankruptcy?
I am 27 and 3 mos. behind on a total of 24k in unsecured debt. My credit score has already been negatively impacted and am left with two options: credit counseling at 0 a month for 6 years or debt settlement at 0 a month for 3 years. All the research I’ve done seems to give debt settlement a bad reputation because it makes your credit rating bad, but I don’t see how much worse mine can get anyway. Which option should I choose?
I am waiting for my attorney to get back to me next week. In the meantime if anyone knows the answer to this, I would really appreciate it. I have already filed and had my court date for my Chapter 7 bankruptcy. My Chapter 7 bankruptcy will be finalized on January 30 2007, and I will be released of all unsecured debt.
On my "Debtors Statement of Intention" document, we put "Surrender" for my car, and that’s exactly what I’m doing with it.
For my house we put "Exempt" which made the equity exempt and allowed me to keep the home without a forced sale. The problem and question is with my home. The mortgage company’s lawyer is pressuring me to "Reaffirm" by January 30. She says of I don’t sign the reaffirm agreement then it will default to "Redeem" "Redeem" seems to mean pay a lump sum or surrender the property? The question is; Is a Chapter 7 debtor’s home mortgage limited to reaffirmation, redemption or surrender, after Exempt? My attorney says there is a 5th choice, do nothing.
I’m 25.. I don’t own a house, but have about k unsecured debt I owe and want to file BK… Additionally, I have a 2 yr new car currently financed for an additional k I want to keep.. I know attorneys are expensive in my area Van Nuys/ West San Fernando Valley, so am finding myself at possibly going with a paralegal.. Please help, and advise if this is smart or not… I definately don’t want to lose my car… Thanks!
I was thinking of signing up with a debt settlement company but I have heard the debt settlement companies not what they seem. They promise to settle your credit card and unsecured debt for half or less than what you owe. I have heard what they don’t tell you is that you usually get sued, get your wages garnished, and that the debt settlement companies over report what they actually save you while charging you a huge fee. In addition, I have heard that your savings are reported to the IRS as income and that your credit report is trashed. Supposedly their seemingly caring sales people are paid high commissions. Apparently you can negotiate with your creditors and be just as successful while saving the thousands of dollars these companies charge you. What I want to know is if all that is really true about these companies and can I actually negotiate with my creditors myself and save thousands in fees. I need the scoop from someone that is honest and knows the truth about these companies
I have about 25,000 dollars in credit card unsecured debt. I live at an apartment. I do not own any houses. The only asset to my name is my car and my 401k from my company work about ,000. Is it possible to file for bankruptcy and not liquidate my 401k and my car? I make about 55k a year and the monthly payments are very difficult to make.
I am in a industry that deals with peoples secured debt and all types of credit but I’m looking for some positive and negatives views/experiences. I’ve been asked to help someone make a decision or at least inform them the best I can to make a decision on their own. The situation is 3/4 accounts with 70k of unsecured debt.
Is it best to try to settle on your own? with a company? which company? use a attorney? etc…
Thank you in advance
unsecured debt; collections accounts
I’ve heard of companies like cureadebt.com that will settle your credit card debts for 70% of the amount owed. I’ve also heard of government grants to pay unsecured debt(credit cards), but I don’t know where to get the info on them. I’m considering a second mortgage to pay these off with a lower interest rate. Thoughts?
We no longer use credit cards, so the balance only increases because of high interest rates.
I work in Debt Settlement for an extremely ethical, 100% above-board company who work to assist our customers with legally, legitimately getting out of (unsecured) debt so they can move on with their lives. Yes, legislation is needed to regulate the industry to ensure that all Debt Settlement companies have clearly defined requirements that protect consumers, but our government is trying to villify the industry as a whole, exemplifying contempt without genuine investigation.
Can the credit card companies get my disability money like they garnish wages?
Will my credit clear-up in 6 year if I don’t file bankruptcy?
It has been 15 months since I have charged anything on any credit card account.It has been 12 months since I have paid on any of my credit card debt. It is well over 10 times the reported national average. My life situation changed dramatically. My old job was great money and I would be back in it in a heart-beat , if I could. Income from disability doesn’t cover the unsecured debt I have.
I hope to heal and someday go back to work; however, what looks worse a bankruptcy or bad credit? I need advice that will help pull my life together in a way that I can return to the mainstream without some creditor popping up to sabotage my attempts to become productive again. (next time without credit cards- I have made it a year and I am determined to go longer even though the idiots keep sending cards(with hugh credit lines) in the mail.
I’m considering filing bankruptcy on my unsecured debt. and medical bills, but my husband doesn’t want to. Can I file on my own debt?
I am severely underemployed, making minimum wage, 20 hours per week. I used to make more money and was given credit which I used, to the tune of ,000 in unsecured debt. Between my rent and utilities expenses, I can’t make my minimum payments to my creditors. I am striving to improve my employment status, but until I succeed with that, what can I do? I have no assets to sell and {content} to pay to debt consolidators and in payment plans. Is there any way to put my debt off for a few more months, or should I start thinking seriously about personal bankruptcy?
If a person has a lot of unsecured debt that has been charged off by the lenders and the person is not eligible for Chapter 7, should they file Chapter 13? What are the benefits of filing Chapter 13 in this situation? Thanks!
I was talking to a friend of mine this morning and he was telling me he was going to do debt settlement even though he still had the ability to pay his bills. He said he would get the settlement company to get his balances on credit cards and unsecured debt cut by 40% or more, then make a lump sum payment right away and his debt would be cleared with almost no negative effect on his credit. He said usually what happens is you take from 1 to 3 years to pay off the amount and in that time it reflects poorly on your credit, but as soon as you pay it off it is as if it never happened. Is this true? If so, why doesn’t everyone do this? It sounds like he is a little mis-informed? Or is it true?
I have some serious debt issues and need some help. I talked to a debt settlement company, but I can’t find any specific information about them. Does anyone know about American Financial Services or Axiom Financial Solutions? And does debt settlement really screw up your credit as badly as some would have you believe? It seems to me if you have unsecured debt you can’t pay that would damage your credit just as badly. Help! I need info from somebody who knows about these things.
My husband and I were planning to file Chapter 13 bankruptcy (we are seeing lawyer tomorrow) and I just found out that we should qualify for Chapter 7 too. We own a home, but only have 10k in equity in it. This wouldn't even begin to touch our 43k unsecured debt. I've heard that not eveyone loses their homes in Chapter 7. Does anyone know if this is true?