We are a married couple in our late 40's with 2 kids living with us in their 20's. The 21 yr old currently is unemployed due to a health problem he is recoverin from and has no income. The 24 yr old is working for minimum wage and just sold his truck to pay off his bills from when he had a better paying job. Neither of them are able to pay any sort of rent to help us out. We filed Ch 7 in 91, when they were just babies due to medical expenses and a failed small business. In the time since, we have struggled to keep our heads above water due to low wages in our eastern TN area. Here is my story:
We received our first CC while going thru the first BK in 91. Used it at times we shouldn't have and the bill got up there. When kids were in last years of HS, wife started working and we started living better with the added income. Because of this, I had paid the card down. In 2/09, she quit her job (without notice) to take another before checking further into it. She ended up not getting the job and her previous employer announced they were closing the store. Because of her actions, no job and no unemployment. This suddenly brought our income down from $50K to around $30K now.
Here we are, nearly 18 months later and she still can't find a job. Since she has been unemployed, we had to start relying on CC's again and they are almost maxed out. My credit score has been 760, but I know it will start dropping very soon, as I have exhausted CC's just to stay on top of bills and buy groceries. We have been considering BK again, but don't want to lose what we have. I am not currently late nor have I been on any of my bills, but that is about to end. We also receive rent from daughter, her bf, and 2 kids from a doublewide we own next door. The problem with that is that his hours have been cut and sometimes he is having problems paying all of the $300 rent.
Specifics:
Current income from my job = $1800/month net after taxes & health insurance deductions
Rent from doublewide = +300/month
Mortgage = -490/month with about $40K owed
Credit cards (total of 3) = -800/month minimum with total of about $45K
Electric bill = -250/month average
Phone/cell/cable/etc = -200/month
That's not even figuring in approx. $250/month for property insurance on both properties and car insurance for us, or even groceries and clothing. Right now, the compressor on our heat pump is out so we are using window a/c's as I can't afford to repair. There is also something wrong with daughter's heat pump so they are using window a/c's too because I can't afford to fix that either.
Back in the mid 90's, we bought the doublewide new and it is now paid for. Wife's grandparents gave us 1 acre of land for it and when they passed away in 2000, wife inherited their small farm and house which is where we are living now. It was built in the 1890's and we have been trying to make repairs on it to get it current on insulation, etc. When we inherited it, we got a mortgage on it to pay off doublewide and to have money to remodel and repair this old house.
As all of this property has stayed in the family, we didn't want to lose any of it. I would just give the d/w and land to daughter so that it would stay, but I know that in BK, they wouldn't like that too well. We talked about Ch 13 so we could keep it and the house, but I am not sure they would even approve it. As I said before, my earnings are a gross of around $30K and the state median is $47K. When I did the means for Ch 13, the calculator said that in 5 years, I have the ability to pay -$85K (negative). I feel that if the CC payments were gone, I could pay $200/month toward them but not sure they would have it. Since my income is below the median, this means I would only have to pay for 36 months, which would only be $7200 and I don't think they would go for it. The d/w (by tax records) is valued around $80K and our farm is around $120K.
Does anyone know of a way I can do this without losing either of the properties? In TN, you only get a $7500 homestead exemption for equity when a couple are involved. I am at my wit's end and can't keep going on like this. Thanks
We received our first CC while going thru the first BK in 91. Used it at times we shouldn't have and the bill got up there. When kids were in last years of HS, wife started working and we started living better with the added income. Because of this, I had paid the card down. In 2/09, she quit her job (without notice) to take another before checking further into it. She ended up not getting the job and her previous employer announced they were closing the store. Because of her actions, no job and no unemployment. This suddenly brought our income down from $50K to around $30K now.
Here we are, nearly 18 months later and she still can't find a job. Since she has been unemployed, we had to start relying on CC's again and they are almost maxed out. My credit score has been 760, but I know it will start dropping very soon, as I have exhausted CC's just to stay on top of bills and buy groceries. We have been considering BK again, but don't want to lose what we have. I am not currently late nor have I been on any of my bills, but that is about to end. We also receive rent from daughter, her bf, and 2 kids from a doublewide we own next door. The problem with that is that his hours have been cut and sometimes he is having problems paying all of the $300 rent.
Specifics:
Current income from my job = $1800/month net after taxes & health insurance deductions
Rent from doublewide = +300/month
Mortgage = -490/month with about $40K owed
Credit cards (total of 3) = -800/month minimum with total of about $45K
Electric bill = -250/month average
Phone/cell/cable/etc = -200/month
That's not even figuring in approx. $250/month for property insurance on both properties and car insurance for us, or even groceries and clothing. Right now, the compressor on our heat pump is out so we are using window a/c's as I can't afford to repair. There is also something wrong with daughter's heat pump so they are using window a/c's too because I can't afford to fix that either.
Back in the mid 90's, we bought the doublewide new and it is now paid for. Wife's grandparents gave us 1 acre of land for it and when they passed away in 2000, wife inherited their small farm and house which is where we are living now. It was built in the 1890's and we have been trying to make repairs on it to get it current on insulation, etc. When we inherited it, we got a mortgage on it to pay off doublewide and to have money to remodel and repair this old house.
As all of this property has stayed in the family, we didn't want to lose any of it. I would just give the d/w and land to daughter so that it would stay, but I know that in BK, they wouldn't like that too well. We talked about Ch 13 so we could keep it and the house, but I am not sure they would even approve it. As I said before, my earnings are a gross of around $30K and the state median is $47K. When I did the means for Ch 13, the calculator said that in 5 years, I have the ability to pay -$85K (negative). I feel that if the CC payments were gone, I could pay $200/month toward them but not sure they would have it. Since my income is below the median, this means I would only have to pay for 36 months, which would only be $7200 and I don't think they would go for it. The d/w (by tax records) is valued around $80K and our farm is around $120K.
Does anyone know of a way I can do this without losing either of the properties? In TN, you only get a $7500 homestead exemption for equity when a couple are involved. I am at my wit's end and can't keep going on like this. Thanks
341 on 10/20
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