When is a good time to file for Bankruptcy? before or after foreclosure?
I received a letter in the mail from an attorney. My lender wants to start the foreclosure proceedings. At the moment, I am 11 months behind on my mortgage. I want to dump the house as I owe 20% more than it is worth. What happens if I file for bankruptcy right away? Does that cover the foreclosure too?? Or would the bank come after me after it sells my condo for the difference? I have a lot of credit card debt n auto loans that I want to get rid off in bankruptcy as well. I’ve been

I live in illinois

Technorati Tags: auto loans, bankruptcy, credit card debt, foreclosure proceedings, good time, letter in the mail, mortgage

Here’s my situation. I graduated from college in December 05 and believe it or not, I have not found a full time, good paying job yet. Yeah, I believe I just wasted money and energy on nothing.

Anyways, I’m working a part time job and make approx 0 a month. I have ,000 in credit card debt, most of which I’m still paying from when I was in college 3 years ago (books, food, so on) I have ,000 in student loans, ,000 in medical bills, and it seems everytime i make a payment, it goes to waste because the interests keep rising. I even pay more than the minimum payment. If a credit card is lets say minimum, I will pay about 5, but it’s still not good enough cause the interests will raise that back.

I can’t keep going like this. My credit score is crappy so I can’t get a consolidation loan to pay all of it all.

Would I be able to file for bankruptcy? I have tried everything to get out of debts. I don’t charge anything to my credit cards any longer, but it is still that bad.

What should I do?

Technorati Tags: 3 years, bankruptcy, consolidation loan, credit card debt, credit cards, credit score, debts, full time, good paying job, medical bills, minimum payment, money, part time job, student loans

I am in ,000 in credit card debt and I have a student loan as well and I know it will take me forever to pay off all my debt so I’m wondering which is the smart way, filing bankruptcy or debt settlement? I really want to get my life back again and have a fresh start. Thanks so much.

Technorati Tags: credit card debt, debt settlement, filing bankruptcy, fresh start, student loan

I was laid off in August of 2009. I still have not secured employment. I had stellar credit until October of 2009 when all my savings were depleted to keep up with my bills. I have over 5,000 in credit card debt as the late fees etc. have been adding up monthly. My credit score was at 720 before October of 09. I’m guessing it is now in the 400’s. No payments have been made on any of my credit cards since October 09. Should I file bankruptcy or just keep postponing any payments until I secure employment? I feel that my credit is ruined for life anyways, so why bother stressing out and paying it off. I’m confused as to what to do. Thanks.
Also, I took the time to write and mail letters to each of my credit cards companies three months "prior" to even knowing I would be laid off. I had requested that they drop the interest rate to 0% so that I could get them all paid off. They ALL declined. It wasn’t until 90 days after each of my payments were due that they contacted me and at THAT POINT wanted to work something out. I was enraged to say the least. I thought…"Now that you’ve destroyed my credit, you want to work something out". Again, I was livid. Had they just done that when I asked, I probably wouldn’t have gotten into more of a mess. I feel now that had they settled for 0 percent interest, they would at least be getting most of their money back, now it looks like they won’t be getting any. Part of me feels bad, but part doesn’t. Also, do I pay taxes here in CA on the released debt through bankruptcy? Because I don’t even have money to do that. Yikes.
One of the responses said I should have filed bankruptcy a year ago, but a friend advised me not to due to my ongoing health problems. Had I filed and needed hospitalization, etc. I would not have been able to add that debt for another 10 years. I have no medical nor dental insurance because it’s so expensive. As far as living beyond my means, a huge portion of my debt is medical and dental charges. Please don’t assume people are careless who get to this point. I had to charge alot just to survive.

Technorati Tags: 10 years, credit card debt, credit cards companies, credit score, dental insurance, health problems, hospitalization, insurance, interest rate, late fees, money, should I file bankruptcy, three months, yikes

I lost my job a little over a year ago, I’ve tried catching up with bills working when and where I could but never caught up. I am recently married with a new son. I do not work and now cannot work with a new baby. I have 5,000 in school loans 3000 in credit card debt and a gym membership I could not get out of that wants 2,000+ dollars from me, I also have a few other bills. I have nothing in my name at this point, my car was purchased by my husband. I’d like a fresh start and see no way out of this at this point. Please if you have any helpful advice, I’d really appreciate it.

Technorati Tags: credit card debt, fresh start, gym membership, job, new baby, school loans

i filed chapter 7 bankruptcy in 1999 jointly with my wife. it’s still on my credit report for another year. i have 40000 grand in credit card debt again.i know the laws have changed for bankruptcy.can i file jointly again and still reaffirm my mobile home loan and keep my crappy cars that are paid off,but they are badly damaged by hail so probably worthless. basically am i allowed to file chapter 7 bankruptcy again?

Technorati Tags: chapter 7 bankruptcy, crappy cars, credit card debt, credit report, hail, mobile home loan

credit card debt

Technorati Tags: credit card debt

I have a little over ,000 in credit card debt between my husband and myself on six different cards. Of those cards all of them are above 20% interest rates. The highest balance is 00. 8 ½ years ago I had to file for bankruptcy before I married my husband because of a car I was duped (very long story and this was the only thing I filed) into signing for, thus I cannot file bankruptcy. We also have 00 in hospital bills we have accumulated in the last year we are paying on sporadically when I can make payments. They were 00. I am about to have a baby in July, which means I will be on maternity leave for two months with a reduced income. We are having problems making payments on our bills now because we are overwhelmed. Prior to, financially we were doing ok, but we had some unexpected expenses come up and we previously had gotten lots of overtime at both our jobs which has been cut due to the economy. I just obtained 00 from a family member I do not have to pay back and I am having a hard time deciding where to put this money towards. A few of the doctor bills have threatened to send us to collections even though I am making payments when I can. I figure credit cards are best to put the money towards because of fees, credit report problems and interest. I have only been about 10 days late on one of the 6 cards and maybe 16 days late on another one, thus none of them show up late on my credit report. I manage to make payments, but barely. Late fees have been racking up though because I may pay a week late here and there on those two. Here are my primary questions after hearing my story…

1) Should I try to negotiate lowering my debt on the credit cards and doctor bills so I can get them paid off although I am not really showing up late on my credit report? Will they work with me if I am going to pay off the balance? I figure it is pointless to negotiate interest rates if my point is to pay it off…
2) Should I pay off the highest balance of 00, which also happens to have the highest interest rate and then put the rest towards doctor bills or the next higher interest rate card, which the balance is more than what will be left over? Or, should I put the left over money towards paying off the lower credit card amounts and the 00?
3) I have read that if I negotiate lowering my pay off amount with credit card companies then it will affect my credit and this is what I am worried about primarily. Has anyone had any experience with this?
Thank you ahead of time!!

Technorati Tags: 8 years, bankruptcy, collections, credit card debt, credit cards, credit report problems, doctor bills, economy, family member, hard time, hospital bills, interest rates, jobs, late fees, maternity, money, overtime, story 1, unexpected expenses

I’ve decided to file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy…my employment hasn’t been steady in the last year and my debts eclipsed my rent even though I was on a debt mgmt company. All my accounts are closed and I haven’t used a card for anything since July (and that was at best a grocery purchase). I’ve been living off of temporary jobs and the occasional two-week unemployment benefit. I’m single, live alone in a small apartment, have no assets (not even a car). I have approximately K in old credit card debt. I’m not a shopaholic…most of the debt was incurred either to help me stay afloat while unemployed (and not receiving UE benefits).

I know bankruptcy will screw my credit, but I don’t really care…I don’t plan on moving anytime soon or buying anything on credit within the next few years. It would be wonderful to be able to put away some savings after paying my bills (00 a month would pay all my bills and allow me a modest budget of disposable income) would feel wonderful after scraping by for years and praying I don’t lose a job.

I can’t afford to hire an attorney, so I’m having a paralegal help me out. I know an atty would be better, but since I have nothing to save (no assets), I figure things would be pretty cut and dried.

At the moment, I am subsisting on temporary jobs and unemployment benefits during the weeks I am not working. A permanent job could come along, but I’m guessing not for at least another month.
wash – you can make payments to an attorney? I visited one early on in my decision and they quoted me 00, all upfront. I’ve heard that if you screw up your paperwork, you cant file for bankruptcy for a whole year, so I realize the value of an attorney…however, I also have a pretty simple financial matter: no assets, no kids, no mortgage.

Yahir – I don’t know if you’re a real person or not since I see a lot of these links, but just FYI – I was working with a debt mgmt company for about three years before I lost a job and could no longer pay them.
I’m single, no kids, never married.

This paralegal is not working for an attorney…she has her own business. She also told me she has filed for bankruptcy herself a number of times….I don’t know if this is a warning sign or it proves that she knows the ropes as far as what to expect.

Technorati Tags: assets, budget, chapter 7 bankruptcy, credit card debt, debt mgmt, debts, disposable income, financial matter, job, mortgage, paperwork, paralegal, real person, shopaholic, small apartment, temporary jobs, unemployment benefit, unemployment benefits, upfront

I have a ton of credit card debt due to divorce, unemployed;credit in toilet; need to file bankruptcy but…I dont even have the money to do that; I have a 2004 cherokee and dont owe anything on it and would take a loan on it to pay bills and get the money to file bankruptcy but dont know if I am allowed to do that; i am unemployed right now; last year i made nothing basically; have no idea how i have even made it; stopped using credit cards nine months ago; what can i do; the grand cherokee is worth like 7 to 8k it only has 55k miles on it; i just dont know what to do; i want to just get my bankrputcy out of the way; a year ago my life was perfect now its in the toilet; barely even getting by; on food stamps; severely depressed; my precription is like 200 dollars a month and now i cant even pay that; i am 36 and make no money and have not for a long time; have no idea if there is anything out there that will help me; i put in applications and resumes in all day long; its so frustrating; now without my script i will be even more depressed and things will only get worse; i wish there was some short term presription help; my doctor charges 50 dollars a visit and i am down one payment with him; if anyone knows about bankrputy or what i can do; i dont want to get one of those 1 month loans and pay 300 screw that; i cant lose my car; plus i dont even know if you can do that when you are about to file bankrputcy i just dont know what to do anymore anyone with advice and not some stupid spam also i have a mortgage on a small condo and am not behind yet because i have a roommate; last year my brother killed himself; my best friend died a month after that and my wife cheated on me and got pregnant and i got divorced; its like can anything good happen; i have never collected any unemployment because i started my own business so i was self employed; i just dont know
i looked into gettng low income but unless your house is in foreclosure or your car is in foreclosure than they wont help you no matter how low your income is; your house or car has to be in foreclosure or about to get your car reposessed for legal aid to do it and i would have no idea on how to file bankrpuctcy; i have no idea

Technorati Tags: bankruptcy, best friend, brother, credit card debt, food stamps, foreclosure, grand cherokee, loans, long time, money, mortgage, nine months, own business, resumes, roommate, screw, spam, toilet, unemployment, using credit cards

how can i pay it off when i do not make that much money. Should i file for bankruptcy or continue looking for options such as settlement co for the loans and credit card debt. Should i forget bout the checking account being overdraft
do not want to take out any more payday loans also for the last several months the account has been overdrawn almost $ 1,000.00 per month
if you write bout getting even more debt on top of other debt when will i be debt free with nothing to worry about. right now the checking account is nearly $ 800 over drafted. last month it was nearly $ 1,000.over drafted

Technorati Tags: checking account, credit card debt, much money, overdraft, payday loans, should i file for bankruptcy

I’m a single male veteran with no children. I want to purchase a home and was prequalified for 110k using my VA Home Loan. My girlfriend has a very high debt to income ratio and will likely file bankruptcy due to high credit card debt. I can’t buy anything with her in that shape. I don’t have a down payment, I do have the VA benefits. Home prices are more expensive than ever. How do I purchase a home on my own? In Phoenix, AZ the housing market seems out of reach and all that is left are small "apartment condos."

Technorati Tags: apartment, bankruptcy, condos, credit card debt, debt to income ratio, girlfriend, home loan, housing market, phoenix az, shape, veteran

I DON’T want to file bankruptcy but if it’s the best thing to do in our situation, then I will. I know it’s financial ruin but so is losing our house, which is what it’s about to come to. We are really far behind on our house because my husband’s job made us move to a different city and we had to pay for it…and still pay for our home too. We are caught up on our vehicles but we do have credit card debt, about ,000. Our house is already in foreclosure status and we don’t have the money to pay all of what we owe in one lump sum which is what the are requiring to pull it out of forclosure. We owe about ,500 on the house. If you have gone through bankruptcy, what are the pros and cons from your experience. Maybe some of you know of a debt consolidation company that is trustworthy. I know they all make money but I also know that some of these companies just take advantage of people when they are vulnerable and just need help. I only have 2 options here, forclosure or bankruptcy. Both will hurt our credit.

Technorati Tags: bankruptcy, credit card debt, debt consolidation company, different city, financial ruin, forclosure, foreclosure status, job, lump sum, money, pros and cons

i had really good credit until a few years ago, i had all the major credit cards and i always paid my bills on time. but i was unemployed because of an injury for almost 6 months so i just lived off of my credit cards, when i finally got back to work i wasnt even making enough to pay all late charges and interest fees. i was paying 50% of my income each week towards paying it back but i was so far in debt by that time that i was still having each account grow in debt because i got so far behind. they were calling me at work constantly , i didnt even have my home phone because i got rid of any luxurys that i didnt need. i ended up moving out of state to avoid them. i understand there are new laws that prevent a person from filing bankruptcy on credit card debt. it has been over 2 years now that i have avoided them. but my debt was about ,000 back then and the way it was growing im sure it has to be double that by now. should i continue to try and avoid them. i earn only 000 a year
i would really like to pay it all back but i couldnt even keep up with the late fees back then and i have a job making less than i made before. is there any way that i could just pay maybe 20% of my income and get my debt paid off? i am barely scraping by now but i dont want to be a deadbeat. but i have also heard that if i avoid them contacting me in anyway for 7 years that they will not be able to collect anything from me. but im sure that they can find me because i work at a normal job and file my taxes every year

Technorati Tags: credit card debt, credit cards, deadbeat, filing bankruptcy, job, late fees, new laws

I found a means test online and I took it, I did it two ways, with our income at the moment and our income in the last 6 months. Depending on how I did it, we either had a negative amount of money as disposable income (last six months) or we had a very low amount of disposable income (8) future 6 months. It said I passed the means test both times, of course I’m not positive if I did it right but I just went with what they had as deductions. If you are below the Median for your state and you pass the means test, will you automatically qualify for chapter 7? We have no assets except for a car we are still paying on. I do have an appointment with an attorney, I would just like to know what to expect.
And I know bankruptcy is looked down on, but we are desperate for some relief, we have had some bad luck and paying for everything we owe is just no longer an option. Only about a 1/5 of it is credit card debt.

Technorati Tags: amount of money, appointment, assets, bad luck, bankruptcy, chapter 7, credit card debt, disposable income, means test, median, six months, two ways

I’m in a substantial amount of debt… Hospital and doctor bill mostly. No credit card debt. Plus, daily living expenses with an infant!!! Problem is — I am being hounded by bill collectors and one debt is about to be turned over to an attorney for collection. I feel certain that this could end in wage garnishment. We don’t have the money to make ends meet — let alone have any part of my wages garnished. I’ve tried making arrangements but we just can’t make the payments no matter how minimal. Should I file for bankruptcy? How can I avoid getting my wages garnished? I have no problem with paying the bills if I just had the money.

Technorati Tags: bill collectors, credit card debt, doctor bill, living expenses, money, should i file for bankruptcy, wage garnishment, wages

My grandfather co-signed on my car, which I still owe 5,000 on.
He co-signed using the house for collateral on a 12,000 loan so I could consolidate my credit card debt.
I have a spending problem that I have got under the reigns TOO LATE, and I have another 6,000 or so in credit card debt….I want to file bankruptcy, but without it affecting their house…it is NOT my house. I can’t even speak to them about it yet because my grandmother will freak out when she hears I’ve continued to spend and I need to be prepared by having these questions answered first. Can I file for bankruptcy and will it affect them? How do I do it?
I have a job, I work very hard, and I am trying to put myself through college. I will not file bankruptcy if it means they will be involved. I am look for sites that offer unsecured loans, I plan to consolidate it all in MY name only….and then file bankruptcy as a loast resort if this doesnt work. I don’t need rude answers, TY.

Technorati Tags: bankruptcy, collateral, credit card debt, doesnt work, freak, grandmother, job, ty, unsecured loans

My husband and I both need to file I’m afraid. We live in Michigan where the economy, as reported, is the worst in the country. I have a job I love but my company is on a pay-increase freeze right now, otherwise I’d be making about more an hour. My husband lost a really good job in September of 2007 and did not receive unemployment. He finally was able to get a job in Jan of 2009 but it pays less an hour than his old job.

Anyway, when he lost his job we had to make do the best we could and decided that if we couldn’t afford to pay something, let the credit cards go so that we can keep our home. Now it’s been 2 years and the economy SUCKS. We would both like to get 2nd jobs to pay off our credit card debt but we are lucky to both have jobs at all! The unemployment rate here is over 15% ! Anyway, he talked to a lawyer a few months back about himself filing bankruptcy without me because I was able to make some credit card payments of mine still. Now because of the rise in my health insurance premiums I cannot afford any of my credit card payments. How do we file bankruptcy jointly on only our credit cards as we can afford and do not want to lose our house and car?

Technorati Tags: credit card debt, credit card payments, credit cards, economy, filing bankruptcy, good job, health insurance, health insurance premiums, insurance, jobs, lawyer, old job, unemployment rate

I made some very stupid decisions when I was 19. I’m 23 now. In 2004, I got into alot of credit card debt. I racked up about ,000. I then panicked and never made a single payment. I was a very stupid and naive person at the time. In any case. I have been hiding from creditors for four years now. I want to fix my debt, or at least do something about it so I don’t have to be afraid anymore. I know I should probably consolidate and make payments, or file bankruptcy. I’m now a Dean’s List student, I live at home with my parents, and I am between jobs, but I would be looking to make payments. I could never afford all of it to be paid back. Is it reasonable to think I can go to a lawyer, contact my creditors and make a settlement for 25% of what I owe? That would be ,500 and I could pay that off with 0/mo for about 5 years. I want to have great credit someday.

Please help.

Thank you

More wiser and more scared
I just pulled a credit report from 2006. The total is actually 36,000. Thank you for your answers. I will consult a lawyer and see what I should do. I could just ‘wait’ I suppose, but I’m a legal US citizen from a poor hispanic nation. I want to do the right thing and fix my problem and own up. I can’t pay all of this back, but I want to try.
Speedbum…

I never said that I was proud of this, I am not. And yes, I agree. Creditors should have NEVER given a stupid, immature, dumb 19 year old like myself this much money to toy with. I think each person should have a debt consultant when they start to establish debt.

And to further add, we also have a war going on, so it’s not helping our economy. I didn’t cause of national deficit, thanks for asking. I do however, pay my taxes.

Technorati Tags: alot, bankruptcy, citizen, credit card debt, credit report, creditors, dean, do the right thing, economy, jobs, lawyer, much money, naive person, national deficit, parents, single payment, stupid decisions

My husband has been in the hospital 5 times since February. We do not have medical Insurance because of many reasons. When he was in the hospital the only way the family could survive without his income was to put everything from groceries to CIPS on the credit cards because we had no income coming in. Now that he is back to good health and we are both working we still don’t make enough to pay off all these bills. We tried filing for state aid to help with the medical but we were denied. The medical bills alone are over 40 thousand and the credit cards are probably around another 10 thousand. What should we do? If we file will we loose our house and car too? I would like to just erase the medical and credit card debt but keep some other small loans that we have. Is this possible?
and if we do file, what will that do to our credit? Will be not be able to get a loan for a long time?

Technorati Tags: credit card debt, credit cards, good health, groceries, insurance, loans, long time, medical bills, medical insurance