Very scared / 1st lawyer consult tomorrow

[andysmom]

Lalady,
i truly appreciate all of your information. I want to be prepared as possible. I think if we wait a month or two, which we would probably have to - to come up w/ lawyer fees & such - that we may get below the median but just a little; maybe only by a few hundred dollars or so.
I wish I was able to settle w/ my creditors but I don't have access to large amounts of money nor do I have anything of any value to sell to raise funds.
I'm at the end of my rope & don't know where to go or what to do.

[LALADY]

Basically, I was told by my attorney that if Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 doesn't work out for me, I'm back at square one with creditors chasing me, with no protection. Same place I was when before I considered bankruptcy.

[LALADY]

I feel for you, I do. When I first thought of BK, I WANTED to do a 13. I WANTED to pay my creditors. My attorney suggested 7. The attorney was aware of the large 401k loan and my desire to pay it back. The attorney was aware that it was important that I keep my house. The attorney was aware that the valuation of my house was in constant flux and timing was everything. All the right words. I hired the attorney. Come to find out that I didn't know WHAT to ask before I hired the attorney, and I was not advised by the attorney of all the issues facing me with what I was trying to accomplish. So, as I proceed down the path of Ch 7, a large tree falls in my path. Not only does it fall in my path, it falls on my head because I didn't see it coming. That's all I'm saying. Ask the questions. Get the advice upfront. Know what you're looking at. From the 401, to the house, to everything. Read these forums until you are blue in the face. Buy the Nolo books for 7 and 13 and read every page and every line in every form. Try to have your questions in hand. I read everything in Nolo, and really Nolo with how great they are really didn't even touch on the significance of the 401k loan repayment issue--at least in my opinion. Good luck! And you're welcome, and I'm sorry if I'm scaring you.

[LALADY]

Time to head out. Good luck with the attorney. I'll check back sometime over the weekend in case you have anything else you may want to ask me. Good night.

[andysmom]

Hi, everyone
Needless to say last night I did not sleep at all. We have our first lawyer consult in a few hours; anyone have any more input as to what we should be asking the lawyer & what to expect?
Thanks in advance

[andysmom]

quick update:

lawyer DID NOT show up for the appointment & hasn't returned the calls to his cell phone # he gave me!

Consult w/ next atty isn't til March 18th, so I guess it's just nail bitting until then

Has anyone tried debt settlement - either through a company or trying to settle on your own?

Thanks

[helpmeout]

Hi,
How hard was it to keep your house? That's the only thing I'm really worried about.
Our cars are old and we don't owe anything on them.
I really hope you qualify for a 7 after reading alot of the stories on the Chapter 13 threads.
Thanks for all of your advice so far.
I do have most of my paperwork already put together that the 2nd lawyer wants. Appt is 3/18 with him. The one tomorrow only asked for a few things.

Have you looked at your budget after you get rid of the cc debt realistically? Can you afford the mortgage payment and all of your other living expenses without your husband working overtime? How does the mortgage payment compare to renting in your area?

I wanted to keep the house, as well. But after a hard look at what a realistic budget would look like, I realized that I couldn't keep both the house and pay childcare costs. Since I am a single parent, the childcare costs are necessary. So the house is going. It does have equity that would have been exempted, but I can't afford the payments. Be sure that you can before you make any kind of commitment to reaffirm the mortgage. Trust me, it will be easier to move your kid now if you can't afford the house than when they are my kids' ages (8 & 10).

Also, if you are concerned about being close to the median, now would be the time to stop paying the credit cards and your husband to stop all non-mandatory overtime. That will help lower the income. Besides, it is very stressful to work overtime because you need it to pay the bills. Let any voluntary overtime (and mandatory, as well) in the future be because you want to save for a fun vacation or you want to build a reserve just in case of an emergency.

Good luck.

[andysmom]

Hi,
yes, w/out the debt the mortgage would be a breeze- we just refinanced from a 15 yr to a 30 yr and our monthly payment now is only about $780 with taxes & insurance. Couldn't rent a decent apt in a decent location for that amount.

trust me, I would love to pay back all of my creditors everything we owe, we just can not make the minimum payments- there's no way in the worls. The payments are around $2600 a month and how would you decide who to pay and who not to pay and i'm assuming that would show some kind of preference?

[helpmeout]

Thanks Mi Bankruptcy. What do I do about credit cards tha are on auto deduct from my checking account / payment plans? Just call & tell them to stop the payments?
Should I wait to stop paying all of them until I retain the lawyer? I don't have the money to pay all this month, should I pay some- especially if I need to wait a month or 2 to file?

After you file bankruptcy, will they close my checking account? I have never bounced a check in my life. I don't care about credit/ if these bills or most of them are gone, I can survive on our income.

Thank you all so much.

You can have them blocked from your account (this will cost you money to do) or you can close the account (and if any of the credit cards are from your bank, you definitely want to switch banks) and open another one.

When opening another account, be careful which bank you choose. I have heard that Wells Fargo will freeze your account once you file. I switched to TD Bank as my prior bank holds my mortgage to the house I'm not keeping, so far, they haven't frozen the account. I filed on 2/22/10.

[helpmeout]

My husband just got home from work- thankfully-

He said that his work's plan (other people have done it) allows you to close your 401k plan & take your money out. I know there would be a 10% penalty & taxes, but if this is the case, would this help at all?

Do not take anymore money out of your 401K, that is typically exempt in a bankruptcy as long as it is in a 401K.

[andysmom]

No, we're definately not taking any more money out of the 401k; that was a very stupid move in an effort to pay down a creditor who jumped our minimum payment to nearly $700- can't remember exact amount but well over $600 min a month.
We tried to keep ourselves afloat for as long as possible.
Deperate people sometimes do stupid desperate things when scared.
I still don't know what I'm in for as my 1st lawyer consult was supposed to be today but this lawyer never showed & won't return the calls to the cell# he gave.

[helpmeout]

Hi,
yes, w/out the debt the mortgage would be a breeze- we just refinanced from a 15 yr to a 30 yr and our monthly payment now is only about $780 with taxes & insurance. Couldn't rent a decent apt in a decent location for that amount.

trust me, I would love to pay back all of my creditors everything we owe, we just can not make the minimum payments- there's no way in the worls. The payments are around $2600 a month and how would you decide who to pay and who not to pay and i'm assuming that would show some kind of preference?

You don't pay any of the credit cards. Not a single one. Use the money for an attorney. When I finally decided to file last Oct/Nov/Dec (not really sure which month), I had already stopped paying most of my cc. I started putting stop payments on the one that came out automatically because a year ago (when I really should have started preparing to file instead of struggling to pay the bills) I wasn't able to pay my citicard, I went on a hardship plan.

Even with that, it was a struggle (my mortgage pmt is $2,030 a month, includes taxes not insurance). Now that I am not paying the mortgage, it is easier. And the rent that I will end up paying will be cheaper than my mortgage. It will be a struggle, but I won't have to chose which bill gets paid based on who sent me the shut off notice. And this summer, I will actually be able to take my kids on a small vacation. Something that we haven't done since the summer of 2006.

Filing is scary, but once I did it, I felt somewhat relieved. I do have anxiety about my 341 in about 3 weeks, but I will get through that. But even with this anxiety, it is nowhere near as bad as it was when I was awake at night worrying about bills. Or when I was crying on the week-ends that I didn't have my kids (they go with their father every other week-end).

Breathe, it does get easier.

[andysmom]

thank you so much for your kind words helpmeout!
It's tough; the problem is our income i believe is right on the boderline so i think they'll make weather it's a 7 or a 13. I'm terrified on a chapter 13 from alot of what i've read online. but what other choice do we have?
i feel like i'm suffocating.