Should I file?

[sixxlondon]

I have 30,000.00 in debt. I make 24,000.00 a year. I own a house and can no longer keep up on the credit card payments. I don't even have enough money to put gas in my car. I have considered CCCS but the more I research it I don't think it will help. Apparently credit card companies do not have to agree to lower the rates. Even if CCCS can help I don't think I could make those payments if they are too high. Any info would be helpful. Thank you.

[gatekeeper]

It all depends. CCCS, may not help at all.

[chicagoannie]

Is your mortgage underwater?

[Peeps]

I don't know if you should file or not, but I can tell you that my ex and I used CCCS a long time ago. It was a terrible experience. They were happy to take our money but over a decade after we supposedly had everything paid off, I went to buy a home and was told by the closing company that several of the accounts were NOT paid off. I actually had to turn over the payoff amounts to the closing company before they would complete the home closing. There was no time to fight it.

Thanks to CCCS and their ineptness, my credit rating was shot for a long time. Probably would've been better, in our case, to have just gone through a bankruptcy.

You might want to schedule some initial consultations with bankruptcy attorneys in your area - they're often free. After talking with them, you might have more information to help you with your decision. Best of luck to you.

[sixxlondon]

Thanks for the info. I keep going back to bankruptcy thinking that is the only thing I can do. My mortgage is paid on time every month, thats the first thing I handle. I just can not keep up with the credit cards and all the late fees that keep getting added on. And it's not like I am out buying things. I spend money on gas to get to work and thats it. All my money goes to the cards and no balance is going down due to interest rates. Does anyone know anything about reafirming a mortgage so I don't lose the house when I file. If I do that will the mortgage company raise my interest rate?

[IamOld]

sixxlondon, I'm in the same boat - PAY your mortgage - you need a place to live - if you can afford the mort itself, it's better than renting because - and this is the main point - your mort doesn't go up like your rent...BUT bottom line, you need a place to live.

I tried debt management and they did very little - basically what's driven me to bankruptcy is not even the fact that I'm working like half a dozen jobs seven days a week to pay the cc's etc, but that my most serious account (which the lender just wants to be rid of) has just filed suit.

I think since you are way under the state's median income CH 7 may be good - JUST MAKE SURE THAT YOUR EQUITY (IF ANY) in your house is LESS THAN whatever your state allows you to keep - same for cash cars.

Bottom line, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE talk to some bankrutpcy attys don't wait until it's almost too late like me!!!!! And the best of good luck.

[IamOld]

Also mort co CANNOT raise your rates if you have a FIXED rate mort.

[ruttie]

your credit is just as dinged with CCCS as a BK, so eliminate the debt totally & file bk

[keepsmiling]

If you tell us more about your house we can advise better. Any realistic idea as to current value? How much do you owe? First/second mortgage?

[sixxlondon]

I have 1 mortgage that I owe 98,000.00 on. Not sure how much it is worth but houses on my street are selling between 30 and 40 thousand. So their is no value in my house. I checked out the home worth value on bank of americas website and it said between 48 and 95 thousand. I just finished a loan modification about 6 months ago where they lowered the apr for the next 5 years. I am meeting with a lawyer tomorrow to discuss my options but after being on this site I think I have made up my mind on what I need to do. I am just worried about my house.

[keepsmiling]

Well at least you don't have to worry that the trustee will take your house.

[keepmine]

Were I you, I'd take a bath in the soothing waters of bk and surrender the house. No need to drag something through bk with $40K or so negative equity.

[discouraged]

Those of us who had to make the decision to give up our homes had a hard time at first to even think about it. Some choose pay and stay (search the posts for that and you'll find plenty). I decided to give mine up because it is so underwater and still needs so much work it's not worth my keeping. But the decision is yours. DO mention your interest in pay and stay to the lawyer if that is what you want to do. The ones I interviewed did not even mention the possibility to me, I guess because I am on unemployment, but still, I wish I would have known the option was there.

Also check out the sticky "Why reafirming your house is a very, very bad idea" great input there.

Good luck in your decision. You'll find a lot of good advice and hand holding on the forum. It has been a life saver for me, and I know many others too.

[chicagoannie]

I posted somewhere about my experience with CCCS. Click on my blue name and it should be easy to find the thread. I'm not sure I agree with the advice to keep paying on your house - you are way underwater and the MI housing market is certainly not on the upswing. What would renting cost you in an area you would like to live? You would likely get months of staying in your current place before the bank would foreclose (some folks here have gotten MUCH longer) and you'd be able to save that mortgage money.

[sixxlondon]

I can afford to pay the mortgage. I am up to date on the payments. So when it comes to paying the credit cards or house Im gonna pay the house before any place else. My mortgage is lower then the cost of rent around my house. Can someone explain the details of reafirming a mortgage? Don't you have to do that in order to keep the house?