Glad I don't live in MA...

[Jman30]

It's one thing if it was the lien holder and another if these 2 snakes scare you into submission over an old debt. I wouldn't surrender any property to anyone except the sheriff. The sheriff's court order, gun and badge are the only signs that this is legit.
Sorry about your family's rough time jman.

That was several years ago, maybe 5 or even 6 years ago. I was not as well versed on the laws and my rights then as I am now. At the time, I was just a scared kid who thought these guys were from the mob, ready to break my legs. LOL

[Fedler]

As for the laundry list of things I must not have experienced, you're wrong. Not everyone who faces a setback or hardship runs crying to the courts saying, "Poor me. I can't pay."

If you had credit card debt and no cash in the bank to live off of for 6 months then the "bad event" that happened wasn't the cause of your financial failure. It was the inevitable conclusion. And it will most certainly happen again if you don't prepare yourself.

[tradewiz50]

Man, thats just wrong.

[Minnymouth]

Tradewiz50 -

Please note that Fedler is "banned" due to his insensitve remarks he likes to make to other members......

We do have a few members that are "all fact" and "no compassion" whether they be right or wrong....

Some of Fedlers remarks may be very true, but they are also rude, and very finger-pointing at members.....

His "bedside manner" needs a lot of improvement so he's on an R & R for a little while to get an attitude adjustment....

Minny

[ORTNmom]

Cancer takes longer than 6 months

As for the laundry list of things I must not have experienced, you're wrong. Not everyone who faces a setback or hardship runs crying to the courts saying, "Poor me. I can't pay."

If you had credit card debt and no cash in the bank to live off of for 6 months then the "bad event" that happened wasn't the cause of your financial failure. It was the inevitable conclusion. And it will most certainly happen again if you don't prepare yourself.

It is possible to do things "right" and still end up in financial failure. 10 years ago, I had two small children and was an at-home mom; my husband had a nice salary, we owned a house, had cash reserves, and the only credit card we owned was for making car/hotel reservations etc and was always paid off in a month or two. We had to budget of course (1 car, 1 TV, lots of hamburger, etc) but lived comfortably.

Enter cancer. My husband was diagnosed and was off work for nearly a year. His disability plan at work covered him for 65% of his salary and his insurance covered 80% of his medical costs, so we were short money every month with rising bills. With a husband in chemo and 2 small kids I was not in a position to go back to work. Financial failure, step one.

He went into remission and returned to work after a year. We chiseled away at the accumulated medical bills but were not able to replenish our savings immediately. Within a few months he was laid off. He was unemployed for 7 months but eventually found another job, but it was in another state. I found a job while he was unemployed, but having been out of the work force for so long, I did not make much more than minimum wage. We kept current on the bills but nothing went toward replenishing our reserves. Financial failure step 2.

Upon his new job, we sold the house (small profit) and relocated, buying a smaller, less expensive house. We were still paying medical bills from his illness. I signed up for a course at the local community college (on scholarship!!!), thinking that with some education I'd be in a position to make more than minimum wage if illness or job loss struck again. Unfortunately it did....I was only a few months into my schooling when his new company downsized and he was out of work again. I got a minimum wage job during the day and went to school at night. He searched for anything he could find and took part-time work while looking....drove truck, delivered computers, delivered papers. Pinching pennies--keeping up with the bills, but drawing on what was left of our savings. Having to use the credit card for a large repair to our only car that now has 300k miles on it, for impacted, infected wisdom teeth on one of the kids, for medical followup work for husband's previous cancer. Unemployment drags on and on. Credit card bills are mounting. Savings are gone. Financial failure step 3.

He finds a job!! Miracle of miracles! I continue working and going to school nights, managing on 4 or 5 hours of sleep a day....soon I'll graduate, and my salary will enable us to pay those bills! Meanwhile, we budget carefully and make it. Enter August 2008....housing crisis and recession....mass unemployment. I graduate in August 2008 and go out job hunting. Oddly enough, like many new grads....nothing. No one is hiring. In November and December 2008 we are notified by our credit card companies that our unused credit is being cut from our cards and our interest was being increased, on one card from 7.99% to 21% (though we had never missed or been late on a payment to any of them). Now we have no credit left and the credit card payments have gone thru the roof. Financial failure step 4.

We scrape by but the new, higher credit card payments are almost impossible to make without letting the kids go hungry. In February 2009, we are late on a payment for the first time. Add late fees and another interest rate hike. May 2009 I am interviewed for a job!! I make it to the second interview, then am informed that I failed the background check, my FICO score is too low....I am astonished because the last time I checked it was low 700's. I re-check, it is now upper 500's. Why, I wonder? Turns out that the combination of having no unused credit on the cards (!) and a late payment (!) has ruined me. Can't sell the house, it is now worth less than we owe on it. Financial failure, step 5.

Now husband has found out his last day of work will be in April. He will be able to return as an independent contractor (no insurance) part time. I found another minimum wage job that at least has insurance...but the two jobs together will not even come close to meeting our obligations. We have gone to an attorney, who tells us that filing bankruptcy will allow us to live quietly...something we have always done.....without becoming a burden on society. If my husband's cancer reappears, at least he will have had a little peace.

So having 6 months worth of savings in the bank is not always the answer, and bankruptcy is not always the result of one hardship; sometimes it is the result of several. And not all of us are crying "poor me". Some of us are saying "I have fought a good fight, I have finished the course, I have attempted to keep the faith."