Earlier this year when we dismissed the (not yet confirmed) 13 the intent was to get solid transportation & mortgage modification, refile after a few payments on the car loan and do a 36 mo plan. With higher DMI from lower mortgage payment & no more mortgage arrears, would have been able to resolve in 36...
Some details have changed, such as hubby no longer working. Expect to be able to get my reliable replacement vehicle in late August (close enough to my birthday that I can get '11 tags and not have to pay the ad valorem tax for '10). Should still have a small + dmi after taking on a low car payment ($200-275) thanks to gas savings if I'm able to find the used Prius I want, and because the mortgage mod reduced our mortgage payment. That is considering we have not been paying on hubby's vehicle - USAA has been dormant since the dismissal but can't count on that for a permanent resolution. If they get aggressive, we'll have a problem. Would not be able to catch up the loan (after paying $ down on the car I buy) or make the old car payment of $335 which has a couple of years left.
Thinking now the best move might be for me to file ch. 13 solo in the spring, using income tax refund (child tax credits, I claim exempt so can't intentionally get less refund) to pay the atty fees. By my calculations, we could do a payment of $475, resolve both vehicle loan balances and the 5.4% our trustee takes off the top. Would leave a few $'s left for unsecured. If I filed sooner then the '10 refund would go to the trustee, might as well use it to my advantage first I think. Very few $ in the plan would be available for unsecured, though they'd also get our refunds for '11 and '12. Possibly '13... $475 would be doable I think, but there'd be nothing left. Including the atty fees in the plan would require a higher monthly than I think we could manage.
I'm thinking to file solo - so that if/when hubby gets a job that income would not be subject to the plan and would give us some breathing room. Things would be tight @ $475, bare bones on expenses. He has some credit cards in his name only but as long as his net pay is under $217.50/week - they could not even touch him if they went for a garnishment. And perhaps if he is not part of the 13, it would give us cause to keep some refund $ each year - file jointly - though maybe not a good argument if all or most income is on me.
No matter what - we're under median. My gross on main job + pizza delivery is best case scenario of $50k per year and we're family of 5 in GA. Will not have a minimum amount to pay in for the asset/liquidation test. Any equity in vehicles can be exempted even if I file alone.
Like I said, I do have a question... If I alone file - household of 5 w/ 2 adults in the household - could it pose a problem that my plan would pretty much just be paying off 2 vehicles? One was purchased in 3/07. The other would have 6-7 months of payments before filing. Atty has said 3+ months of payments on the 'new' car are enough, but I have not discussed the idea of only me filing.
Some details have changed, such as hubby no longer working. Expect to be able to get my reliable replacement vehicle in late August (close enough to my birthday that I can get '11 tags and not have to pay the ad valorem tax for '10). Should still have a small + dmi after taking on a low car payment ($200-275) thanks to gas savings if I'm able to find the used Prius I want, and because the mortgage mod reduced our mortgage payment. That is considering we have not been paying on hubby's vehicle - USAA has been dormant since the dismissal but can't count on that for a permanent resolution. If they get aggressive, we'll have a problem. Would not be able to catch up the loan (after paying $ down on the car I buy) or make the old car payment of $335 which has a couple of years left.
Thinking now the best move might be for me to file ch. 13 solo in the spring, using income tax refund (child tax credits, I claim exempt so can't intentionally get less refund) to pay the atty fees. By my calculations, we could do a payment of $475, resolve both vehicle loan balances and the 5.4% our trustee takes off the top. Would leave a few $'s left for unsecured. If I filed sooner then the '10 refund would go to the trustee, might as well use it to my advantage first I think. Very few $ in the plan would be available for unsecured, though they'd also get our refunds for '11 and '12. Possibly '13... $475 would be doable I think, but there'd be nothing left. Including the atty fees in the plan would require a higher monthly than I think we could manage.
I'm thinking to file solo - so that if/when hubby gets a job that income would not be subject to the plan and would give us some breathing room. Things would be tight @ $475, bare bones on expenses. He has some credit cards in his name only but as long as his net pay is under $217.50/week - they could not even touch him if they went for a garnishment. And perhaps if he is not part of the 13, it would give us cause to keep some refund $ each year - file jointly - though maybe not a good argument if all or most income is on me.
No matter what - we're under median. My gross on main job + pizza delivery is best case scenario of $50k per year and we're family of 5 in GA. Will not have a minimum amount to pay in for the asset/liquidation test. Any equity in vehicles can be exempted even if I file alone.
Like I said, I do have a question... If I alone file - household of 5 w/ 2 adults in the household - could it pose a problem that my plan would pretty much just be paying off 2 vehicles? One was purchased in 3/07. The other would have 6-7 months of payments before filing. Atty has said 3+ months of payments on the 'new' car are enough, but I have not discussed the idea of only me filing.
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