Please help me asap

[Starcry]

I just moved into a household with a friend and his wife. we are all 3 on the lease first off. The power is in the wifes name and the cable is almost free due to one roommate working at a cable company.

The reality is i pay almost everything. He can afford pretty much nothing. He makes 1400-1600 a month, He goes to drug treatment, mental health, buy alot of meds, pays his own bills and when its said and done he pretty much gives me nothing. I mean i may eat his food once in a while but we keep that mostly this is so and sos and this is so and sos food.

My only income is my job and i am about 2k under the median household test which will let me file. BUT does he in some way effect me? In fact some months i have to give him money! I know its stupid to be doing this in my situation but i have decided to file and to change my accounts and stop paying the debts. I am starting to panic badly when i read stuff about roommates counting as income!

Please tell me do i have 6 months if i stop paying now to file? and is my roommate going to destory my chances?!

[mmenz22779]

The income he gets could count agaist your income.

Remember it is "HOUSE HOLD INCOME"

And you stated that he does not even pay you rent, so you have no way to show that what he earns is not contributing to your income.

All the courts care about is that the money he is getting is being used to help you out as well. That is what they want to see. If you can prove that you support him over 50% then he might be able to qualify as a dependent.

This is a sticky one, I would consult a few lawyers and see what they say.

[Starcry]

So even though i pay the bills, He counts as income?!, i mean what if we where roommates in the since of he paid half the bills and i paid half the bills and we where totally on our owns (as in i cut him off)

I am just trying to get under the median income, not write offs or anything. The median in my state is 49.678, i make 47,000. I am living in heck from all this debt. If i cant file chapter 7 i just dont know what to do anymore. I cant afford a laywer.

[dingdong]

I believe if you include your RM income in BK, then he is included as a member of the household , thus increasing your HH size and median income.

I think?

There was a case that discussed this issue, don't know for sure though.
RE: Ellringer , 370 B.R. 905 (Bkrtcy.D. Minn. 2007)

Don't know how it works, dependant wise or not. Worth researching or doing free consults and asking an attorney?
Perhaps?

[mmenz22779]

Google that question and you will see. From what i found yes it counts agaist your income as it is HOUSEHOLD income.

[Starcry]

That would push me over he makes about 20k a year but its all spend on things like personal debts, drug rehab, insurance, etc etc etc. Basically he gives nothing to the household.

[mmenz22779]

You really need to ask a lawyer this question,

when you get down to it will be up to the trustee and the judge.

[mmenz22779]

As said before you might be able to use his expenses as a offset of the income as well.

[Starcry]

Then does that mean that i can count each person who leaves in the house as a household member then? including his wife who does not work?

[mmenz22779]

This is a very respected site. Look at this paragraph on this page

http://www.legalconsumer.com/bankruptcy/nolo/syn_nolo_bankruptcy-means-test.php?ZIP=61107&ST=IL&CBSA=40420&FEDCT=ILN&CITY=Rockford&METRO=Rockford,%20IL

"Ramifications of the number of people in your household
You may have noticed already that changing the number of persons in the household dramatically affects the median income figure. You can't include a roommate who is not your dependent in your household size, yet you may have to include the portion of their income that contributes to the overall income of the household. See the help topic on that subject. "
"

[mmenz22779]

Then does that mean that i can count each person who leaves in the house as a household member then? including his wife who does not work?

No according to cosumerlegal you cannot include roomates as a household person but you might have to include some of ther income."

[Starcry]

Well thanks anyway guys that about wraps it up for me. I dont have the money to get a lawyer, if i did i would be trying to pay debt. It seems horribly unfair to count his income with mine but i guess welcome to america. It just seems so out of wack that i cant count anything out before the median income but things can be counted in from outside sources. The reality is he has a negative income.

thanks for the answers guess its time to move to canada :/

[mmenz22779]

Dont give up so easy, you can talk with laywers, they all have a free 1 hour consult. I spoke with 10 of them asking them different questions.

When you meet with them just get right down to buisness and ask the important questions first.

It looks like this is a grey area for BK, so see what they say.

Good Luck

[bk2009]

Well, if you're filing bankruptcy, what's to prevent you from moving out on your own? Then you don't have to worry about a leachy roommate and you won't have to worry about counting his income either.

[Starcry]

That leachy roommate is a good man who years ago saved my life, supported me when i had nothing, almost died of cancer and got hooked on pain meds in the whole mess and is doing his best to pull back together. Please be weary of saying things like that. I understand what its costing me but he would have done the same for me and more. Its the backwards law counting an income that isnt even mine and does not help me in anyway against me thats at fault here.