Question for all

[kennyg]

i just talked to a lawyer and recommended not to pay at this point. I currently owned 50k and i made about 24k a year. And i have to pay about 1.5k a month. There is no way i could afford paying anymore. My sister has been helping me so much so far to keep up but this it it. He said not to pay a single dime for the next 6 months. Then negotiate for a cheaper settlement.

Here are a few questions for you

1) Would they will garnish my salary since i don't have anything, no house no car?
2) What else could they do besides give me mad, crazy, frequent calls for the next 6 months?
3) What happened if they sue me and they won? is that going to be on my record??? any record besides my credit history record?

Man...i literally digged myself into a hole but i don't want to file for bankruptcy at this point since it will be on my record for 10 freaking years and 50k seems to be alot but not enough to be permanently on my record for the next 10 years since i wanted to look for a good job later on..

please help...thank you

[AngelinaCatHub]

Kenney, yes, I hate to tell you, bk will be on your record. However, if you cannot and do not pay, that too will be there. Your sister, as kind as she is, should not be involved and suffer too.

In my humble opinion, you need relief. Your lawyer, I assume you paid for advice, is right, and go with his advice.

I don't know a lot about you as you told little, but, if you wish relief, you may need to bite that bullet, and go on to a "new start", then, sin no more. 'Hub

[AngelinaCatHub]

1) Would they will garnish my salary since i don't have anything, no house no car?
2) What else could they do besides give me mad, crazy, frequent calls for the next 6 months?
3) What happened if they sue me and they won? is that going to be on my record??? any record besides my credit history record?

OK, I didn't answer questions. One, they cannot garnish your wages until they sue you and get a judgment.

Two, about the calls, once filed, they will not call you. Otherwise, don't answer the phone.

Three, yes, but the suits and Judgments will be discharged in your bankruptcy and if you bk soon, a suit will be stopped.

Don't worry so much. We have all been there and we all know the pain and stress you have. As we, you too will make it. 'Hub

[kennyg]

thanks HUB for your response...

My goal is not to file bankruptcy. I will however hire this lawyer since he is the first one to tell me honestly a viable option.

I just want to see what you all thing about this option. I know my credit scores will be very bad for the next three years. I know i will be called and i will be sued....what else could there be???

[Bandit]

Then negotiate for a cheaper settlement.

I just want to see what you all thing about this option. I know my credit scores will be very bad for the next three years. I know i will be called and i will be sued....what else could there be???

What do I think? I think you will get some banks that will settle for less and some banks will never budge an inch.

[justplaintired]

Kenny it sounds like you are way in over your head. I don't think I am saying anything you don't already realize. You have to step back and ask yourself are you ever going to be able to pay off that much debt? Ok if you get them to settle for 1/2 can you pay off the $25000? Now keep in mind they won't allow long drawn out payments, they want the money fairly quick like maybe in 2 payments.

We took over 1 1/2 yrs to finally file, we didn't pay cc for that long, what pushed us mostly was fear of a garnishment, finally one of the cc sued us. Can you afford to be garnished? I know BK is a very scary word. But weigh out your options, eventually the cc companies will come after you, maybe not for awhile, but someday your going to have atleast one of them serve you papers for the debt. Now you have time, but think about this, by not paying your credit is going to be damaged anyway, and you will still have that debt hanging over your head. With BK your credit will be damaged, but the debt will be gone.

Good luck with whatever you decide.

[liz417]

Hi Kenny,

I agree with 'justplaintired', I think you are in over your head on this one EVEN if each credit card company settles for 1/2 the amount owed. I don't understand why you don't want "a bankruptcy on your record", but *if* you stop paying...that's going to be on your credit report FOREVER! Also, I don't know if anyone mentioned this...if/when you settle the debt say for 1/2 the amount ($25k), you will be TAXED on the forgiven amount! Can you afford that extra tax burden?

What ever you decide, I wish you the best~ Good Luck

[kennyg]

thank you all for ur responses

liz, i didn't know about the tax on the forgiven amount. What would be the percentage of tax that i would have to pay, would it be the same percentage as my income tax bracket?
I think i know what you meant when you said i don't pay it will be on my credit history forever, but my credit scores and my for all the creditors, all they need is the last 3 years correct? The rest wouldn't matter right?

Plus, i think the good thing about getting collection call and sued is that it won't be on my record, public record. BK does stay on my public record for 10 years...

damn, i don't know how i got into this but this is so bad and i seem not to have a solution for the last 5 months now..

thanks again everyone and you all are right i am way over my head

[OhioFiler]

I always thought playing the soprano saxaphone as a world renowned artist payed more than 24K a year.

Kenny, if you are not filing BK. why are you retaining this attorney? His advice to negotiate for a lower settlement in 6 months won't work for you.

[AngelinaCatHub]

I always thought playing the soprano saxaphone as a world renowned artist payed more than 24K a year.

Kenny, if you are not filing BK. why are you retaining this attorney? His advice to negotiate for a lower settlement in 6 months won't work for you.

I agree but I am guessing Kenny prepped the attorney with the idea that he did not want to bk, and the attorney did his best to accommodate Kenny in his wishes. Kenny may have to attempt what the attorney suggests until failure and then he will realize the wisdom of the "business decision" of bankruptcy.

Good luck Kenny in whatever you decide.

We are enjoying our "new start" and bk was the best thing we ever did. 'Hub

[StartingOver08]

Also, credit recovery after BK is much faster than after settlements. Just a thought for you to consider.