Getting ready to file CH13 BK..

[Flying2BK]

First a shout out to the Mods on this Forum, thank you for the hard work!



I am planning on Ch13 this month. Already hired and Attorney and have some basic questions for you all that have been through it.

1. I am driven to CH13 BK because I have suffered 3 job layoffs in 5 years, have had to move twice and still have a home in Florida. (I now live in Texas but will have to go under the Florida laws) My home was rented out for one year, that was a disaster! My pool was ruined, they were late on rent, and skipped town before the end of the lease! I want to sell but with the closing costs--I am hurting! My Realtor wants $15K to sell the house right at the Loan amount! Add in "Doc Fees" and all the other crap I am quickly in over my head--not to mention paying for lawn care, pool care, taxes, HOA fees--all in a house 1100 miles away from my job!

Home has a 1st $260,000 and a 2nd (Chase) $160,000 I want to GIVE THE HOUSE BACK TO THE BANK! I can't do it anymore!!

I have $33,000 in Credit Card Debt (Mostly from living exp....during the last few years, my plan was to sell the house and pay this off....of course the economy changed that plan! My credit score is 750....but I was really upset when I noticed I have a 30% APR on my Discover card! I have never missed a payment--even when laid off and out of work! (It PAYS TO DISCOVER.....for them!)

Ok--here are my questions:

1. I live on my boat here in Texas (It's 100% paid for and the liveaboard fee for the slip is $500.00 a month. MY Attorney advises this will be exempt.

2. I have a 2003 F250 Truck with 125,000 miles on it--Is it wise to buy a new car? I will keep my car payments in the $400 range or less...will the Trustee frown if I bought a used Corvette? I am looking at new Camaro's for around 22-25K (I am a single guy and I want a car better than a Yugo) Does it matter the make if I keep the payments reasonable?

--From above my plan is to give back the Truck since it is upside down in this market, I owe $14,000 and the "Stealershps offer around 10-12K on a trade (so I am 2K upside down)

I am going to "buy back" my other boat (I have two) but it should not be worth much as it is 20+ years old-- I own both boats FREE and clear-I consider both of them my home as I live on one, and the other I use for storage and extra room.

My income now is $71,500 yr. I am single and again I am doing this to DUMP the debt of a home that I will never live in again--or can ever hope to as in my job will never allow me to move to that area.

Can someone also lead me in the right direction as far as living exp? I have to pay for a Boat Slip (Dock the boats) I will have a car payment, Food, Cell Phone, Gym memebership, etc...

I have about 10K in savings that I am spending (adivce of Attorney) on Boat repairs (ie....like home repairs) and use some of that for a down payment on a newer vehicle.

I have STOPPED paying (actually I will stop paying as two weeks ago I paid all my bills up to date) all Credit Cards, but want to pay the American Express Card as I have always kept it at a ZERO balance and would like to keep it for emergency stuff? Is that a good plan?

Thanks again in advance for any and all suggestions!

[jcj112562]

Well, just my 2 cents, but when you go to your meeting of creditors, I am reasonably certain the trustee's representative will hav eyou surrender each and every credit card you have to them, so they can be cut up. Say goodbye to the AMEX, and any other card you have. I think you need to take a long, hard look at exactly what filing will do to you and the manner of living "to which you have become accustomed". Hope it works for you the way it should. I am almost done with a CH 13, filed pro se.

John

[newbie2]

I have never heard of a trustee or a representative asking filers for their credit cards so they can cut them up. The creditors cancel the cards, not the trustees.

[newbie2]

1. I live on my boat here in Texas (It's 100% paid for and the liveaboard fee for the slip is $500.00 a month. MY Attorney advises this will be exempt.

Your attorney would know best what is acceptable in your district. Sounds reasonable to me, but I'm not in Texas :-)

2. I have a 2003 F250 Truck with 125,000 miles on it--Is it wise to buy a new car? I will keep my car payments in the $400 range or less...will the Trustee frown if I bought a used Corvette? I am looking at new Camaro's for around 22-25K (I am a single guy and I want a car better than a Yugo) Does it matter the make if I keep the payments reasonable?

Just keep the payments reasonable and you should be fine.


I am going to "buy back" my other boat (I have two) but it should not be worth much as it is 20+ years old-- I own both boats FREE and clear-I consider both of them my home as I live on one, and the other I use for storage and extra room.


Many Chapter 13'ers "buy back" non exempt assets over the life of the plan. Again, not an issue.

My income now is $71,500 yr. I am single and again I am doing this to DUMP the debt of a home that I will never live in again--or can ever hope to as in my job will never allow me to move to that area.

Can someone also lead me in the right direction as far as living exp? I have to pay for a Boat Slip (Dock the boats) I will have a car payment, Food, Cell Phone, Gym memebership, etc...

Look up the "allowed" expenses for your area. http://www.justice.gov/ust/eo/bapcpa/meanstesting.htm That site will lead you to what is allowed, etc.

I have about 10K in savings that I am spending (adivce of Attorney) on Boat repairs (ie....like home repairs) and use some of that for a down payment on a newer vehicle.


Again, your attorney would know best how the trustees in your district views this. Sounds like you are getting good advice so far.

I have STOPPED paying (actually I will stop paying as two weeks ago I paid all my bills up to date) all Credit Cards, but want to pay the American Express Card as I have always kept it at a ZERO balance and would like to keep it for emergency stuff? Is that a good plan?


Nope. The card most likely will be cancelled, even if you have a zero balance. Get used to living on cash only.

[jcj112562]

I have never heard of a trustee or a representative asking filers for their credit cards so they can cut them up. The creditors cancel the cards, not the trustees.

Well, come on to the Dirty South, where the list of goodies that they require you to have when you go to the 341 meeting includes all the plastic. Like the previous post suggested, get ready, as you now will be in the wonderful world of cash only. 10 days left until I get paid, and can write the check to pay the whole damned thing off. Nothing like anticipation.

John

[justbroke]

Florida doesn't require bringing credit cards to a Chapter 13 Meeting of Creditors. Must be the really dirty part of the South then. LOL!

newbie2 has covered the basics. You'll probably end up in a 100% plan because with $71K a year, that's about $6K/month with about $4.5K/month takehome. That would put you with a LOT of disposable income (maybe $2K/month) with $120K to pay creditors over 60 months.

Have you run the numbers?

[Flying2BK]

No I have not run the numbers......how can I do that? Will that give me an idea?

I have a house that I owe $426,000.00 on and I cannot live in it since I am 1100 miles away, so I will surrender that back, plus my 33K in CC's and 14K on a crappy old Truck. Sometimes I think I am close to paying it all out on my own, but the House is the killer for me!

What do you advise?

Thanks in advance!

[justbroke]

Try the free means test as LegalConsumer.com. That is really to test for Chapter 7, but will give you a disposable income number which will be an estimate of what you could pay to creditors.