Chapter 7 and Debt Settlement

[bc0kwri]

I filed chapter 7 and have my 341 meeting in April. I am being sued by 4 credit card companies. Since filing bk I was told by my lawyer couldn’t reaffirm my mortgage. He said judges in my area wouldn’t approve it. I want to reaffirm because I have a co-signer on the loan and don’t want him affected by my bk. I have called several debt settlement companies and they are willing to work with me. My question is does these debt settlement companies work and how easy it is for me to cancel my Chapter 7. If I could file BK and not include my mortgage I would do it, but since I have a co-signer who is a family member, I’ve always kept the payments current and don’t want BK to affect him. Any advice would be helpful.

Thanks

[daxtell]

if you cancel your chap 7 filing, all of the creditors will come after you with judgments and garnishments. they may even get liens against your home or other property. and you waste the money you paid to the attorney to file. perhaps your attorney told you a reaffirm was not possible in a chap 7 due to you not meeting the requirements? so, i guess a chap 13 was not possible either? perhaps you could convert if you would qualify for a 13. i could not based on my income. i did not make enough to pay anyone back and lost my house and car and everything. but i am grateful to be able to not have debt anymore so no one can garnish my wages. if they did, i would be homeless. it sucks losing everything.. however there is peace of mind in living debt free and being able to pay for rent and food etc...with no harrassing phone calls from creditors.

it seems to me no matter what you do to file or not, in the end the creditors will come after you and affect your ability to keep paying that mortgage with your co signer...unless you can manage to make more money. debt management companies rarely work......they charge a lot of fees and some creditors will not work with them.

[newbie2]

I filed chapter 7 and have my 341 meeting in April. I am being sued by 4 credit card companies. Since filing bk I was told by my lawyer couldn’t reaffirm my mortgage. He said judges in my area wouldn’t approve it. I want to reaffirm because I have a co-signer on the loan and don’t want him affected by my bk. I have called several debt settlement companies and they are willing to work with me. My question is does these debt settlement companies work and how easy it is for me to cancel my Chapter 7. If I could file BK and not include my mortgage I would do it, but since I have a co-signer who is a family member, I’ve always kept the payments current and don’t want BK to affect him. Any advice would be helpful.

You're already filed and have your 341 meeting scheduled -- to try and stop it now would be foolish. If your mortgage payments are current and continue to be current then it won't affect your co-signer. It won't affect your co-signers credit as long as you keep paying.

[keepmine]

Your lawyer is trying to help you.
Apparently ride throughs are allowed in your district. As the previous poster suggested, as long as you stay current your cosigner won't be affected.

[HHM]

Stay with the chapter 7, you are going to be fine. It would be a colossal mistake to try and get out at this point.

[discouraged]

Do a search on ride throughs. A lot of people are doing that - paying the mortgage without reaffirming the debt.

[catleg]

As long as you keep making payments your co-debtor is protected.
If you quit your BK and get judgments and wage garnishments against you, it will impair your ability to pay.
Just hold the course.

[frogger]

I have called several debt settlement companies and they are willing to work with me.

Thanks

You can bet they are! They will work with you, take your money, and still lead you right down the same path to a Chapter 7 BK.

Do not work with debt settlement companies.....

[woeisme]

I thought once you filed CH 7, that you couldn't dismiss it. I think you have to petition the court to dismiss it, and you have the burden to show just cause at that point (I doubt protecting a family member counts!) I think all you can do at this point is try a ride-through without reaffirming, or convert to a CH 13.

[HHM]

Correct, there is no voluntary right to dismiss chapter 7. Hence, no reason to try to get out of it and settle. Don't be stupid, ride out the 7.

[blockhead]

Not rational to quit now

After all, once you filed it became a matter of public record. And at least in my state, there are no bankruptcy filings shown attached to the property in the registry of deeds (which is online), and as long as you keep up with the payments you are protected from foreclosure or acceleration of the note, most always (see sticky post by Despritfreya on why reaffirming is a bad idea). What I do not know about is whether they (bank) has to keep reporting as current on the co-signer's credit report when they cease reporting on your own.