Starting to freak out now

[goneunder]

Hey all, been snooping here for a while as the wife and I are looking at chapt 7 soon. So with all my searching and reading here I am left with some lingering doubts. I am self employed in construction so that pretty much makes me self unemployed. My business grosses about $2-5k a month and net is close to zero and my parents insist on giving us some money here and there to help. And with my wifes job we come in under on the means test (free online) but not by much. Heres my confusion we have a 19 year old in college, lives up there but is home often, are we able to include him to be a family of four on the means test? What about my crappy 1984 Nissan, the only thing I own free and clear, are they going to want that? One last one, If I file on Monday then get a regular job on Tuesday where does that leave me? pushed into 13? Thanks for your advice.

Home loan has been modified already 4 months ago

3 cars 2 financed 1 junk

approx. $30k in CC debt $14k is small business line at BofA

2nd time for me, discharged in 1997, will this come into play?

[frogger]

Heres my confusion we have a 19 year old in college, lives up there but is home often, are we able to include him to be a family of four on the means test?

Do you claim him as a deduction on your tax return?

[goneunder]

Yes we do so is that how it is determined? Can I hire an Attorney and get all the collections calls stopped but not file just yet? I am at a crossroads here, if I get this job I am going to let the equipment from the business go back in the BK, as the leasing co. has told me they will persue the balance on the account. But if the job does not come through I will pay them up and continue on. I appreciate you all reading this and giving your advice, I have read through hundreds of posts but still have a hard time wraping my head around this whole process.

[MSbklawyer]

Can I hire an Attorney and get all the collections calls stopped but not file just yet?

You don't need an attorney for that. Poke around here and read about cease and desist letters and debt verification letters.

[goneunder]

UPDATE TIME! I hadn't realized how long it has been from my last post here. We filed chapter 7 and had the 341 last week we were first on the docket and were out in 20 minutes. Smooth as glass only hang up was the value of one of our cars was listed as unknown so the trustee continued until October. No biggie we gave the Lawyer the value and he filed it with the court and said we are done. Having a great Lawyer really made it go smooth.
So we received the motion to lift the stay on our house yesterday and panicked thinking it was awfully fast so the mortgage Co. is on it and want us out now, so we started calling on rentals then I thought how I hate the unknown and called them to ask. The bank was super cool and helpful and she assured me we have minimum nine months from discharge, and that's a good four months away so we are relieved and are going to bank money and hopefully leave next year with close to $20k in the bank. Nobody cared about any old cars or anything just seemed too easy but that goes back to having a great Lawyer.

One thing I am unsure of is the HOA, we notified them but did not list them so that leaves them where? Will they lean the property and duke it out with the bank when it sells or come after us personally? I am awaiting the Lawyers answer but hope some of you will chime in with your experiences on that.

[scorpion35]

you are responsible for the HOA fees until the house sells

[tcreegan]

Enough horror stories about HOAs on the forum to go around twice.....apparently some think they are above the law. You don't owe anything pre-file date, you do owe anything post-file date until your name comes off the deed.

Congrats on your success w/ the BK !

Tom in Colo

[ramirezhenry]

Glad you are slowly and bit by bit making it out. I would just suggest to try to augment your income by doing some online jobs so you could afford to pay your HOA for the meantime.

[goneunder]

My Lawyer said that they generally will attach it to the house but on rare occasions come after you as an individual so we are going to play it by ear and see what kind of hate mail they send. For anyone who says "just pay it, how much could it be?" When we moved in five years ago it was $116 and now it is $387 per month. Many neighbors have stopped or pay every other month and feel that there is some sort of financial mismanagement going on. We can pay if we have to but it's hard to write that check when I am the one repairing their fences and irrigation, there is a damaged drain in the greenbelt behind my house that floods my (or the banks?) yard, 6 months of complaints and board meetings, nothing. There are a lot of horror stories associated with CH. 7 and I sympathize with all of them and am sooo very happy that so far so good for us.

[nceguyfromne]

A condo owner in my state recently won a case against their HOA for this very reason. The HOA kept sending bills and threat letters to the debtor for the overdue pre-filing balance, so the debtor sued them for violating the automatic stay. The HOA tried to claim they did not receive the 341 notice because the court mailed it to them at the right address but wrong 4-digit zip extension, i.e. the 6789 in 12345-6789, apparently the difference between specifying or not specifying a suite number on the address. The judge didn't buy it and awarded the debtor damages and attorney fees.