bankruptcy question???

[Jey12]

Thank you everyone....I really appreciate your kindness, advice, and stories. This is so hard, I just cannot believe that we have to do this.

chrissy

Chrissy, I can't understand the issues you are having but I did want to extend a . I know this has to be hard and so very difficult for you and I'm sorry. To me you are doing what you have to in order to provide for your child and give them the best you can. That's what makes a great parent and nothing else matters beyond that. You must put your child first and that is exactly what you are doing. Keep your chin up and I hope everything works out.

 

[arihillfarm]

Thank you everyone....I really appreciate your kindness, advice, and stories. This is so hard, I just cannot believe that we have to do this.

chrissy

Sooo sorry... About your car, if you have a good payment history with the leasing company, have you looked into buying it from them before the lease ends? If you have a good payment history with them on the lease, they may give you a loan for the remaining balance.

-Astrid

 

[DebMcDonald]

I have a friend who is currently in the process of filing. Their attorney advised them to get new cars first, that they will continue to pay for and keep, and then live off cash for everything. Do not deposit anything in your accounts, anything that you need to use checks for, get a bank check or money order. Her attorney is also advising her to walk away from their house, as they are upside down and he's currently afraid that they really can't afford the house anyway, he's recommending they stop paying, and they will probably have about a year and a half before they are actually out of the house, they should then save the mortgage payment and then after all said and done have that money and in 3 years can probably buy something else when the market has recovered.

 

[delmar411]

I would really advise you to talk this out with your lawyer and not take advice from people on the internet. Everyone means well but just reading this thread I see so much mis-information that could really hurt you in the long run. I know it's hard to not have all the answers you need immediately but your lawyer will be able to give you the correct legal advice that you need right now.

Good luck and I'm sorry you are stuck in this position.

 

[brivers222]

you are alloted a certain amount of protection for your house and cars... for most consumers you can protect most of your belongings in chapter 7 (liquidation).

If you have a job tho, you most likely will not be able to pass the "means test" which means you will have to go the chapter 13 route (which is what i am currently doing) and pay back a certain amount

I was able to keep my house and my car along with everything i owned actually. I just have to pay a certain amount to the court trustee for 60 months.

About the car, i had to get a new car while under bankruptcy protection because my 2004 kia spectra was a piece of crap. My lawyer filed the necessary paperwork and the judge approved me to buy a 2010 Honda Fit... got a great loan from my credit union to boot.

so in all, you should be able to keep most of your things (especially house and cars so long as you continue to make the payments on them)

also while under protection (3-4 months for chapter 7 and 36-60 months for chapter 13) you have to get court approval for any purchases over $1000. And you are forbidden from taking out any credit cards during that time.

 

[chrissy92972]

I received the paperwork yesterday from the lawyer with the endless list of things he needs from us before we meet with him.

Last night we worked on gathering all of the info. The only thing I do not have yet is an appraisal on the house that is less then 2 years old. Our appraisal was done Jan 2008.

I have no idea how to go about doing that since before our mortgage company took care of it. We are not behind on our mortgages.

He also wants an inventory of our house room by room. I think I read somewhere that clothes and personal items like a hairbrush we don't count, he means tvs, jewelry etc, I am assuming.

thank,
chrissy

ps for those of your worried I am following the advice here and not my lawyer, I like hearing your stories and advice but all decisions will be made with our lawyer

 

[Fierce Fairy]

We are in our 4th month of a Ch 13. We had to get a CMA (certified market analysis) from a real estate agent. You can ask your lawyer if this would be good enough. You would just contact an agent and tell them you are looking to find out how much your home is worth. You may have to fudge a little about your reason but agents are used to giving CMA's (I was an agent for 5 years). Also you can go to your local department of taxation and get your home's assessment from them, they are done on a yearly basis (again ask your lawyer if that would work). We had to get a car just 3 weeks before filing. My husband's job took him out of town he needed the only car we had. We went to the auction got a late model car (which is working great) in cash. We let the trustee know about it on our paperwork and it was fine. I am happy we did this. We are paying back 100% of our debts because of our income level. But we no longer have 5 calls every min from collections and we can see the light at the end of the tunnel. In 56 more months we will own no one. . Good luck to you, I know this can be a stressful time. But a good lawyer will answer all your questions and make sure you have everything you need before going before the trustee.