I have done so much reading and researching lately, everything is starting to run together and I am so confused!
General background, during 2004 til mid-2006, I lived in Florida with one of my sisters, one of my brothers and my 9 yr old granddaughter (I have custody), as our Mom was in a nursing home there and we wanted to be closer to her. In mid-2006, our brother bailed and moved to Wisconsin, forcing my sister, granddaughter and myself to move (no way we could afford south Florida any longer!). The three of us moved to eastern North Carolina in July, 2006. Although my only income is from Social Security Disabillity and State of Florida Retirement Disability, and my sister had to take over a $20,000 a year cut in pay, we managed to purchase a mobile home there, closing in October, 2006.
Everything rolled along ok for a few months, and then my sister's employer (a construction company) began having problems with making payroll, paying their taxes, writing bad checks, etc. My sister began searching for another job that would pay at least as much as what she was currently making, and none were to be found (month after month!).
Then we received notice that our property taxes had almost doubled and our homeowner's insurance tripled due to hurricane damage several counties away; therefore our mortgage payments went up because of the escrow! We contacted the bank and explained our problem, which was of course no help.
So, after much soul searching and research on different areas, we decided to cut our losses, and moved to Texas the last week of October, 2007. We are now renters again, and my sister has managed to find a better job. The only bills that we have had to stop paying (so far!) is the mortgage payment and the equity line of credit, both through Wells Fargo. We are two payments behind at this point, and there is no way to catch them up, nor is there any way to sell the place, because of the depressed area that it is in. Also, according to the mortgage, we were not allowed to rent the place out, to try to cover the payments.
If I understand any of what I've been reading, we have to be residents of Texas for at least six months before we can file BK-7, and we would have to use the exemptions for North Carolina, because we have not lived in Texas for at least two years. Am I right so far? Or is the time limit in North Carolina over a year also, where we would have to use Florida exemptions??
Is there anything we can do prior to meeting the six month residency requirement to prepare? I have no other secured debt, and approximately 13,000 in CC's. The only other secured debt my sister has is her car, which is current, and she intends to reaffirm that if possible. She has considerably more in CC's. We each had to charge and/or get cash advances on our cards in order to make the move; how far do the trustees look back on the charge records? We both passed the means test for Chapter 7.
We will need to try to scrape the money together for all the fees involved, so, as much as we hate to, we are probably going to have to quit making the payments on our CC's, and just pay our living expenses and save the rest towards that goal. What would the possibilities be of creditors freezing and/or seizing either of our bank accounts? We have both been paying most CC payments on-line, and are now seriously considering changing banks due to this. Roughly what would the total costs be for each of us to file a BK-7?
Any and all comments, advice or anything would be greatly appreciated!!! And sorry this is so long!!!
General background, during 2004 til mid-2006, I lived in Florida with one of my sisters, one of my brothers and my 9 yr old granddaughter (I have custody), as our Mom was in a nursing home there and we wanted to be closer to her. In mid-2006, our brother bailed and moved to Wisconsin, forcing my sister, granddaughter and myself to move (no way we could afford south Florida any longer!). The three of us moved to eastern North Carolina in July, 2006. Although my only income is from Social Security Disabillity and State of Florida Retirement Disability, and my sister had to take over a $20,000 a year cut in pay, we managed to purchase a mobile home there, closing in October, 2006.
Everything rolled along ok for a few months, and then my sister's employer (a construction company) began having problems with making payroll, paying their taxes, writing bad checks, etc. My sister began searching for another job that would pay at least as much as what she was currently making, and none were to be found (month after month!).
Then we received notice that our property taxes had almost doubled and our homeowner's insurance tripled due to hurricane damage several counties away; therefore our mortgage payments went up because of the escrow! We contacted the bank and explained our problem, which was of course no help.
So, after much soul searching and research on different areas, we decided to cut our losses, and moved to Texas the last week of October, 2007. We are now renters again, and my sister has managed to find a better job. The only bills that we have had to stop paying (so far!) is the mortgage payment and the equity line of credit, both through Wells Fargo. We are two payments behind at this point, and there is no way to catch them up, nor is there any way to sell the place, because of the depressed area that it is in. Also, according to the mortgage, we were not allowed to rent the place out, to try to cover the payments.
If I understand any of what I've been reading, we have to be residents of Texas for at least six months before we can file BK-7, and we would have to use the exemptions for North Carolina, because we have not lived in Texas for at least two years. Am I right so far? Or is the time limit in North Carolina over a year also, where we would have to use Florida exemptions??
Is there anything we can do prior to meeting the six month residency requirement to prepare? I have no other secured debt, and approximately 13,000 in CC's. The only other secured debt my sister has is her car, which is current, and she intends to reaffirm that if possible. She has considerably more in CC's. We each had to charge and/or get cash advances on our cards in order to make the move; how far do the trustees look back on the charge records? We both passed the means test for Chapter 7.
We will need to try to scrape the money together for all the fees involved, so, as much as we hate to, we are probably going to have to quit making the payments on our CC's, and just pay our living expenses and save the rest towards that goal. What would the possibilities be of creditors freezing and/or seizing either of our bank accounts? We have both been paying most CC payments on-line, and are now seriously considering changing banks due to this. Roughly what would the total costs be for each of us to file a BK-7?
Any and all comments, advice or anything would be greatly appreciated!!! And sorry this is so long!!!
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