How much caught up on house/cars?

[GreenMonkey]

Hi folks

I've been postponing meeting with a lawyer or filing simply due to a couple factors. One of them is the tiny baby who isn't being real conductive to getting sleep these days.

But mainly the problem is simply I haven't caught up yet from when I was struggling to pay all the CCs. I stopped a while back (some of them are hitting 90 days late now) but I haven't caught up yet.

The mortgage is running about 20 days late (getting paid with 2nd paycheck of the month) and the cars (due midmonth) are getting paid about the same - about 2 weeks late. I'm doing a bunch of oncall shifts /holiday time over the next few weeks which should hopefully help me catch up...

I'm leery of moving forward with any lawyer discussions/filing/etc without having them all caught up. My wife seems to think I'm just stalling.

One of the things I could do is get ready the necessary paperwork. I work fulltime and will have halftime school next semester again, and the wife goes to grad school fulltime, so it would be nice to get some of the busywork done. So...

Is there a list somewhere of what I need to file? Tax returns, bank statements, etc?

Any how caught up do I need to be? 100%, as in, back to paying early or on time?

I could just continue to wait until January/February when I'll surely have student loan refunds / tax refunds / maybe a work bonus / etc but we could really use that money for the siding our house desperately needs (we're tired of the woodpeckers living in the siding and the hole in the front steps!)

[chpxiii]

Only get caught up on loans you want to reaffirm - i.e. mortgage, car. Don't worry about the CCs - you do NOT need to be caught up if you're going to file bankruptcy.

Consult with 3 to 4 lawyers. They'll give you more insight into your situation and you may run accross someone you may want to use if you do file.

[GreenMonkey]

Only get caught up on loans you want to reaffirm - i.e. mortgage, car. Don't worry about the CCs - you do NOT need to be caught up if you're going to file bankruptcy.

Consult with 3 to 4 lawyers. They'll give you more insight into your situation and you may run accross someone you may want to use if you do file.

Yeah. I guess I was a little unclear there. I stopped paying the CCs a while ago to try to catch up the mortgage/cars/etc. I've just not made a whole lot of progress on that front.

I also stopped using the CCs entirely. I think the wife made a couple of stray charges for formula or diapers once or twice in a pinch but that was about it.

I really can't use my cellphone any more. We have a pair of cellphones on a family share plan / company discount instead of a home phone. I was getting about 30 calls a day from creditors. I talked to some and they've stopped calling for now, but others (wells fargo) told me they will continue calling until I pay them. These days I leave it off and check my voicemail a couple times a day.

[rrockinggramma]

where in michigan are you located? If you are making your secured payments each month, mortgage and car but just not making them on the due date (you said 2 weeks late?) then I would go ahead and file. Those who run into trouble are more than 30 days past due on those items. If you are not, then get it done!!!. I am in eastern district of michigan. In addition, Michigan does not take the refund. Use that to get everything on track, but file first.

[CindyLou]

change your cell phone number. Its free to change it.

[ssdsco]

I really can't use my cellphone any more. We have a pair of cellphones on a family share plan / company discount instead of a home phone. I was getting about 30 calls a day from creditors. I talked to some and they've stopped calling for now, but others (wells fargo) told me they will continue calling until I pay them. These days I leave it off and check my voicemail a couple times a day.

You might want to google the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). If you're getting 30 calls a day some/most have to be automated which I'm pretty sure are illegal if they're making these calls to a cell phone. I believe you can collect $500 a call if you can prove to a judge you notified them it's a cell phone.

[Gabe]

I created a new contact called "Junk" on my cell phone and keep adding all the number that I don't recognize.

The Junk contact has its ringtone set to silent.

Next step may be to change the number but this system is working so far.

[GreenMonkey]

change your cell phone number. Its free to change it.

That's a pretty good idea. I might do that.

I'm down to about 10-12 calls a day now since I talked to some creditors and told them I hoped to catch up in January.

Any input on student loan money refunds? I'm a little worried about those more than anything. I'd hate for creditors to take loan money to pay off CCs or something.

[FreshLikeADaisy]

Any input on student loan money refunds? I'm a little worried about those more than anything. I'd hate for creditors to take loan money to pay off CCs or something.

There are only two or three ways a creditor can snatch funds like that. One is if they are deposited in the same institution where you have past due debts (for instance if your checking account is at the same bank as your credit card, and you've defaulted on the credit card, they may snatch any available balance in your checking acct to cover it). The second is if you have made a payment to a creditor from that checking account in the past and the creditor comes back and does an unauthorized debit (snatch by EFT, usually justified by some questionable policy written in tiny letters on the back of some form you never saw). The third is if you receive the funds right before filing for bankruptcy and just let them sit in an acct for the trustee to grab, or you spend them on something the trustee doesn't like, generally "luxury items" (vacations, jewelry, high priced electronics, etc.) instead of food, clothing, shelter, child care, medical, necessary home and auto repairs, etc. Your siding repairs should be fine.

So I guess the biggest question is, when do you expect these refunds? If you expect them before filing, don't worry about them being taken but DO spend them on necessaries fairly quickly. Pay your mortgage and keep it current, but don't use this money for credit card bills. You could even use a chunk of this to pay for an attorney.

It is better all around, when one is anticipating receiving extra cash, like your student loan refund, or tax refunds, to receive it and spend it on necessities before filing. If you receive any money that you may consider to be exempt from bankruptcy (Disability comes to mind, workmans comp, etc) always keep it in its own separate account. If you receive money after you file, in general the trustees will take it: they especially love tax returns.

And if you have any checking or savings accts at the same bank where you also have other debt, especially past due debt, take steps now to switch it all to an entirely different bank altogether, and as soon as that is open switch your direct deposit, etc. to the new bank. Close the old accounts entirely to prevent any new activity or fees. This one move alone will save you a great deal of grief.

Good luck!

[GreenMonkey]

Thanks for the advice on the refunds/loans/etc!