Help, need advice on chapt7

[james113]

I was laid off about 2.5 years ago and have not been able to find a job since.
I have been living off of my 401k but now it is drained . I made the mistake of doing balance transfers from CCs to pay off my mortgage, other CCs and car loan. Looking back this was a very big mistake. I have about 40k total CC debt from various CCs (chase, boa, citi). The last balance transfer I made was last month for around 8k, 3k of it used to pay taxes.
I am upside down on my mortgage and will be missing the first payment in may, which will start the foreclosure process. I realize now that I shouldnt have done the balance transfer but what can I do now? I read that I should wait for 6 months before filing bankruptcy?

[Trixie007]

We opted to wait a full year from the last BT - but that's just us. The "rules" say a much shorter time, so I think it must depend on your total circumstances. IMHO, since you were unemployed for 2.5 years prior to the 8k BT, you might want to have a lot of time between that charge and filing?

[james113]

ok thanks, i'm afraid i may have to do that, but if i can't keep up with credit card payments, they will start to sue me?

[poorold]

my experience with credit cards is as follows.

They start calling fast and furious.

I NEVER answered their calls or called them back. I simply let them leave a message.

After a month or three it died down until it was obvious the credit card company farmed it out to a collection agency.

I treated them all equally. I NEVER spoke to them.

After several more months they all stopped calling. My guess is their pipeline of people to call is overwhelming and if they never reach you, they move on to riper pastures.

I figured that speaking to them would only encourage their calling me. Besides, I had NOTHING to say to them. I knew I would be filing and I was patient enough to ignore them.

I suggest you turn your ringer off. They all had my home number and I use my cell phone for everything so it was fairly easy for me to compartmentalize them.

I don't even get letters anymore.

On the other hand, American Express did decide to sue me, but it took them 11 months to get around to it and I'll be filling in under 30 days and just delayed them with a Motion to Extend Time, so by the time anything would happen with their lawsuit, I will have already filed ch. 7.

depending upon the state in which you live, you could remain in your home quite a while. It is 11 1/2 months since I've made a mortgge payment and although foreclosure was filed in January, I've done the "produce the Note" defense and have not heard anything in 3 months.

I live in FL.

[poorold]

ps--I owe amex over 45k and have total unsecured debt of over 100k in credit card debt. I was sure I would be hunted down and put in jail, but I just ignored them.

they are so overwhelmed I think if they can't reach you, after a while you just go on a pile to be dealt with at a later time.

[james113]

thanks, my plan is to try to find 2 or 3 jobs of any type (1 day, 1 night/weekend) and try to keep current with my ccs. i think i need to make payments on at least the balance transfers to show good faith. I don't think i can save my home though, my total monthly expenses:

1250 first mortgage
400 second mortgage
600 in cc minimum payments
400 car payment
200 - 300 misc bills (electric, hoa fees, insurance...)

i hope i can find some jobs fast though.

[poorold]

there are timeframes for when they look for things. perhaps someone can shed light on that. something like don't use them for 70 or 90 days before you file.

also, if you use them or take an advance with the knowledge that you are filing bk, that is a no-no.