Why Are/Have You Filed BK?

[Sk2010]

I have been out of work since 2009. Apply for about 10-15 positions every day but no luck.
Survived on parent's help, some savings and paying bills through credit cards. Now running of funds to pay for stuff. I have no house, no car and about $1000 in bank

[msadar123]

hi buddy

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[Drazil65]

We (me, husband, 4 year old son) moved to NC (from home state of Ohio) Jan 2007 for husbands job, he was making $82,000 without his bonus, rented out our home there as we thought we would only be down here until project finished, maybe 2 years. Things good, had CC debt but had stopped using them the year before and was on Dave Ramseys method of paying them off (started the year before we left and up until last fall (2010) had paid down from $66,000 to $29,000 using this method in 4 years, we were very proud and used cash to pay for everything). We decided that we would build a house in early 2009 (husband was project manager for real esate developer) as we could build with significant equitity and use as nest egg (which we did not have because we were paying everything off), husband built house in early 2009, moved in June 1st to our new home and out of the blue he was furloughed (fancy name real estate developer used ofr laid off) on July 1st, they were now going to finish the big project we had moved here for 2 years earlier. Obviously, the building industry was a very hard industry to try to get a job in dduring that time espcially in a state where husband did not know anyone but now we have this new home, a tenant locked into a lease back home in our old home and no jobs to speak of in Ohio so that was not a real option for us at the time. We had used a portion of the construction to finish paying off our CC (well supposedly and it was int he bank to do that at the time) but instead of using it to pay off CC bills we ended up using it to live on while my husband looked for a new job and I looked as well (we live in a very small resort town in NC so all our efforts were focused out of town in the bigger cities), our son had just started kindergarten so we had daycare issues to work around. Unemployement was not alot here so we were thankful to have the intended pay off the rest of the CC money sitting in the bank and my husband finally found something in the middle of October, 5 hours from home. So this meant he would have to have alot of gas money and luckily they provided him with housing during the week, we saw him on Sat. afternoons when he got home and then he would leave late Sunday to go back for Monday. They started him at $60,000, no benefits, 1099, so with him being out of town during the week and no family here we decided that it would be better if I continued to stay at home because of daycare costs and the fact that our son was having a hard time with his dad being gone. Things were looking up but of course we still had to use the money we had for the CC to supplement things as the gas costs and several other work related things (husband had 13 year old car that was on its last leg) and the distance prompted us to get a new (used) vehicle in January 2010 as his car was not going to make it much longer and was costing us alot of money to keep fixing. We get the car mid January and he is once again laid off the second week of Feb. 2010. We are devasted and he begins to search once again, laid off 2 times in 10 months (he had never been laid off before) after being in the business for 20 years had never happened to my husband and it took its toll. He found a temporary position in mid April slated to last until mid August (he was finsihing a project) but this time it was 3 1/2 hours from home in the other direction! We had to pay for gas once again and he actually stayed during the week with another employee that worked for the same company as he could not do that comute on a daily basis, they started him at $40,000, half of his salary from his original job he was laid off from only 10 months prior, we were thankful to have something but we used all the construction money we had to supplement things including our new mortgage that was not even 1 year old. We went to the mortgage company (local bank) and begged for a modification and they graciously gave us one that saved us $500 a month on the mtg. We knew husband had to get out of business as we could not keep going like this so we started to look at the health care industry and was fortunate enough to be near a college that had an accredited program (2 year allied health program) full time, we knew it would be hard but applied for private student loans (husband already ahd 4 yr degree so no help for us had to go all private) and I was able to get a full time position (out of town but only a 45 miniute commute) and he was accepted. He has been in school since last August and as of this summer semester (still carrying full time load with 15 credit hours this summer and 20 hours of homework) he is about to start his clinicals this August through the fall. He is the top of his class and he is already being looked at for a job early next year, the problem is that my salary does not cover everything and we once again maxed out our cards to live month to month, we cannot get any more credit and we have been crazy trying to keep up our payments to our creditors, no late payments yet but that will change next week because we are out of money completely, no crdit to pull from, back in debt and we are stressed to the max, we stand to lose both houses as well, husband wants to quit school but he is 80% through the program and it will be a good field for him to be in as there are more jobs than certified people to fill them, he also has a chance for a job next year at Duke Medical where he will do his clinicals being he is the top of his class, how do we walk away from that chance? Have our first consult this friday and second next week, the stress is about to kill us both and we feel horrible about even thinking of bankruptcy not to mention it could hurt his job outlook? I don't know at this point...

[BKOnce]

Oh my God... My eyes.. are sorely watering RED...after reading your long msg.... LOL

[Snax]

@Drazil65, please don't take this as a jab, as no doubt your story is as sincere as any, but my eyes simply can't track it.

That said, it gets better! It may seem overwhelming now, but once you emerge from the end of the BK process with the realization that your finances are at least somewhat if not fully in-check, you won't regret it. The worst part about all of this is the realization that you simply can't keep going the way you have been going, followed by the relief that the pool you have been drowning in is starting to drain.

[Drazil65]

Sorry to all, I guess its nerves and the need to vent/let it out but thanks for the comments.

[iswmle]

Drazil, I wish you the best of luck, you situation sounds horribly stressful. But be leery of those private student loans. I finished my 4 year degree back in December, and only have fed loans... I feel for having loans that I am fortunate with that. Student loans, especially the private ones, are horrible! The horror stories are terrible and you can't BK them. I don't mean to be so negative, just warning you to be cautious.

[BRDownAndOut]

Now planning to file on my own. Went on civil service disability in 2002 (retroactive to 1996--fought all the way to US circuit court of appeals). Unfortunately 2003 was the end of my computer career--haven't been able to find anything lucrative since, but kept hoping I would. Kept using credit card advances to keep on keeping on. Then my husband's home building business tanked in about 2007-2008. We kept paying on credit cards but then interest rates skyrocketed. The cards are mostly in my name for about $70000. We talked about filing joint a year ago and I should have filed alone then, but didn't know I could. We had about $17000 in retirement funds at the end of 2009. Now we have $1500. Kept paying those greedy banks: I'm sure I still owe more than I ever borrowed even after paying back about $35000. We modified our 1st mortgage and now our line of credit is a closed end loan. I've filed for social security disability and retirement.

Quit paying all unsecured debts: we have enough for mortgage, food, utilities by doing that. One son due to graduate college in 2012; daughter starting college in September. Just need to pay the attorney now and see if I'll file Chapter 7 or 13. I still have $15000 in Parent Direct Plus Loans deferred until December 2012. Hubby is paying Sears $216 a month, doesn't want to file. I had had all sorts of payment agreements with Citi, Chase, BoA, CapOne but the MINIMUM was at about $2000 a month. Wish me luck. I don't want any more credit except maybe to replace the cars (should lease though).

[IamOld]

Best of good luck! And maybe tell hubby - he isn't paying SEARS - Sears got paid already - he's paying 30% interest to Citibank! (issues Sears card I believe.)


Look, we did the same. I could have like...$70-100K in 401k by now - but have about $3K why? Paying bills (and childcare years and years ago).

[tmkats]

Now planning to file on my own. Went on civil service disability in 2002 (retroactive to 1996--fought all the way to US circuit court of appeals). Unfortunately 2003 was the end of my computer career--haven't been able to find anything lucrative since, but kept hoping I would. Kept using credit card advances to keep on keeping on. Then my husband's home building business tanked in about 2007-2008. We kept paying on credit cards but then interest rates skyrocketed. The cards are mostly in my name for about $70000. We talked about filing joint a year ago and I should have filed alone then, but didn't know I could. We had about $17000 in retirement funds at the end of 2009. Now we have $1500. Kept paying those greedy banks: I'm sure I still owe more than I ever borrowed even after paying back about $35000. We modified our 1st mortgage and now our line of credit is a closed end loan. I've filed for social security disability and retirement.

Quit paying all unsecured debts: we have enough for mortgage, food, utilities by doing that. One son due to graduate college in 2012; daughter starting college in September. Just need to pay the attorney now and see if I'll file Chapter 7 or 13. I still have $15000 in Parent Direct Plus Loans deferred until December 2012. Hubby is paying Sears $216 a month, doesn't want to file. I had had all sorts of payment agreements with Citi, Chase, BoA, CapOne but the MINIMUM was at about $2000 a month. Wish me luck. I don't want any more credit except maybe to replace the cars (should lease though).

I waited to file also. We have about $50,000 in cc debt for various different reasons, but the cards are all in my name. I'm filing alone as wife has her own cards which have little balances on them and can be paid off fairly easily. I've come to terms with the fact that it is what it is and we can't go back and change anything. Our minimums are almost up there with yours and I decided enough was enough.

I've retained a lawyer and have started telling creditors to contact him. The next 6 months should be fun.

[fileda13]

Why did I file? Because after 51 years of playing "the game" of life and buying into the rat race of western civilization, I lost a round. Haven't been knocked out, but I certainly hit the mat pretty hard.

[Snax]

Why did I file? Because after 51 years of playing "the game" of life and buying into the rat race of western civilization, I lost a round. Haven't been knocked out, but I certainly hit the mat pretty hard.

Well put. I think that describes the vast majority of us pretty well, having found relief through the bankruptcy process after years or even decades of barely staying afloat.

[548dakota]

1. Wife unable to find job
2. Wife had $150k in student loans from Med School
3. House worth 55% of what we paid
4. My job just pays the student loans as a Police Officer

Looking to file around end of year if things dont change quickly. About to miss my first payment ever in my 40 years of life. Feels really strange too. Spoke to GMAC this morning about it, but they didnt seem to care. Just wanted to know what I had in my retirement and if I could use that to make the house payment. So tired of banks.

[laszlonagy]

hey guys,

i just found this great website where you can charge your credit card and get cash right away. check it out. just go to google and type in Cashnowshop.

[larajackson]

One of the important reason to file bankruptcy is worst financial condition. If someone have unsecured debts, medical bills, home loans and many more. To come out of all this & for having strong legal protection filing for bankruptcy is essential.