spouse didn't file--deficiency?

[Tabbygirl]

We live in Texas, which is a community property state and dh did not file ch. 7 with me; he just refused. OK, fine, but I did.

I'm reaffirming one car and surrendered the Nissan lease. We have already turned the Nissan in at the dealership and I've contacted Nissan. HOWEVER, since we didn't file jointly, he's still liable for the rest of the lease per Nissan.

I knew that going in; the amount still owed on the lease is $25K and I know they have to still sell it at auction. And, they can come after dh. We know that. But we can't pay it--that's why I filed.

My understanding is this works like a repo, of sorts; anyone ever have one? What happens if you can't pay? I'd honestly just be fine if they would do a 1099 and count this as income; but there really isn't money to PAY the deficiency--that's why we got rid of the car!!!!!!!

Dh doesn't have that much debt in his name only and wanted to just pay his credit cards off. So that's maybe $3k-4k; if he ends up with the deficiency, that's like another $10k and I know he would hate to file ch. 7 over $13-15K but I also know we can't afford to pay on a car we no longer own and admit we couldn't afford.

Any ideas? He doesn't own property or anything of asset and also Texas doesn't allow creditors to levy bank acocunts or garnish wages, so I'm guessing about all they can do is try to collect, charge-off, sell to CA, harass us and so on until the SOL runs out.

The kicker is that we tried to work w/Nissan and they weren't helpful--either we pay the lease or we don't; no payment modification help or anything.

[AngelinaCat]

Oh Dear, I sure wish DH had filed with you. As it stands, you are protected by the BK. The car company will sell the auto at auction and the difference between what you owed, and what the vehicle is auctioned for will be the deficiency. The BK will protect you, but the car company can then go to court and get a judgement against DH and he will be responsible for the amount. At least this is the way this sort of thing works in Florida.

If he doesn't own any property, or anything that the creditor can levy on, then he essentially is judgement proof. But it will stay on his record for at least 7 years, and can be renewed twice, making it impossible for him to own anything in his own name as long as the judgement is in place.

I just hate being the bearer of bad news. Hopefully someone can offer a solution to this dilemma.

[Tabbygirl]

Mrs. Cat, that's exactly what I was thinking as well...personally, if Nissan pursues the deficiency, I'd like to see him file as well, even if it's over $13k or $15K. If he goes pro se, like I did, it would only cost maybe $350 out of pocket. I can assure you that I have no intentions of ever purchasing anything on credit ever again (I mean this quite seriously--if we have no debt then paying cash for everything and saving like crazy becomes a reality.) and therefore the credit score becomes a non-entity.

His thinking, I believe, is that his mom filed ch. 7 twice (she was mentally ill and bought and bought and bought when she was manic) and he doesn't want to go that route. I can see his thinking, but I also realize he may be setting himself up for judgements and all the rest.

He says he doesn't care and let the creditors harass away and that all they can do is call.

[deafbroke]

He's not judgement proof. They can go after his wages per garnishment.

Tell him he's an idiot for not filing with you and he's going to pay where it hurts most, his wallet. If your case hasn't been closed yet, it's best to ammend and include him.

DB

[TEW]

We live in Texas, which is a community property state and dh did not file ch. 7 with me; he just refused. OK, fine, but I did.

I'm reaffirming one car and surrendered the Nissan lease. We have already turned the Nissan in at the dealership and I've contacted Nissan. HOWEVER, since we didn't file jointly, he's still liable for the rest of the lease per Nissan.

I knew that going in; the amount still owed on the lease is $25K and I know they have to still sell it at auction. And, they can come after dh. We know that. But we can't pay it--that's why I filed.

My understanding is this works like a repo, of sorts; anyone ever have one? What happens if you can't pay? I'd honestly just be fine if they would do a 1099 and count this as income; but there really isn't money to PAY the deficiency--that's why we got rid of the car!!!!!!!

Dh doesn't have that much debt in his name only and wanted to just pay his credit cards off. So that's maybe $3k-4k; if he ends up with the deficiency, that's like another $10k and I know he would hate to file ch. 7 over $13-15K but I also know we can't afford to pay on a car we no longer own and admit we couldn't afford.

Any ideas? He doesn't own property or anything of asset and also Texas doesn't allow creditors to levy bank acocunts or garnish wages, so I'm guessing about all they can do is try to collect, charge-off, sell to CA, harass us and so on until the SOL runs out.

The kicker is that we tried to work w/Nissan and they weren't helpful--either we pay the lease or we don't; no payment modification help or anything.

[danaf]

I'm pretty sure they cannot garnish wages in Texas. And the bk that you filed protects you both anyway with reference to his paychecks because they are considered community property while you are married in a c. prop. state.

[Tabbygirl]

I'm pretty sure they cannot garnish wages in Texas. And the bk that you filed protects you both anyway with reference to his paychecks because they are considered community property while you are married in a c. prop. state.

you're right--no wage garnishment in Tx. no bank levys either except for irs; only domestic support obligations and the irs can attach to wages.

[Tabbygirl]

He's not judgement proof. They can go after his wages per garnishment.

Tell him he's an idiot for not filing with you and he's going to pay where it hurts most, his wallet. If your case hasn't been closed yet, it's best to ammend and include him.

DB

no, they can't--see above about texas.

please don't call him an idiot; that's a pretty harsh criticism. it's his choice not to file, same as it's mine to file--i may not agree, but i'm not going to call names.

[Tabbygirl]

Why are you reaffirming that’s like reversing you BK on the loan. I just don’t get why it was done like this. DH is end up owing a ton of money on that car you no longer have. I hope he makes a lot of money so he can bail himself out of this.

i'm reaffirming the other vehicle that has a "good" loan on it. the leased car is the one we surrendered. i bet he will file ch 7 at some point if they come after him, but for now he doesn't want to. i can't change that. one good thing is that texas is debtor friendly for the most part, so we shall see.

mainly, i'm curious as to what happens with a deficiency--do they pursue or not, how it's done etc.

quite honestly, i know the creditors TELL you they come after you, but I also know that when i divorced my ex-husband, he surrendered the car (we had bought it together) while we were separated and nissan (yes, another nissan) never came after me or even contacted me. his other creditors also never contacted me nor did they appear on my credit reports...i think honestly, my current husband wants to see what happens after i file.

[AngelinaCatHub]

[texanboy76]

So my question is this. If I'm filing single in the state of Texas and have about 100K of unsecured debt (all credit cards) then my wife is going to be responsible for this after I file? She has some minimal debt of her own but the intention is leave to her credit in good standing. My attorney told me AS LONG AS the cards are in my name only then she IS NOT responsible for the debts. If they were joint applications then it was a different story. I''m SO PISSED OFF after reading this as we could get back on track if mine went away!!