Trying to decide what and when to do

[ivehadit]

Hi everyone,,, I'm so glad i found this site alot of great information. I'm starting to feel better already.

I'll give a little back ground where I am. I'm in Ohio, My Wife doesn't work, hasn't worked since our son was born. He is 17 yr old son soon to be 18 in 1 week. I make just under 59,000 we have been barely getting by for the last 18 yrs and it finally came to an end july 07. That is when i quit paying CC's. been getting calls and threats and a few offers to settle for around 50% but i don't have enough cash saved up to do that yet. besides now i'm thinking it would just be throwing good money away. we have 45,000 unsecured debt. used to be 60,000 but last year i tried to get the cc's under control by taking a 2nd mortgage out and paying some off. I realize now that was probably a huge mistake. the only secured debt is our home and 2nd mortgage. Sounds pretty simple so far it gets ugly now, my wife and i are having marital problems i think most stem from all the debt we have. I also own farm machinery and farm rented land. It would crush me to give up that, it's a form of mental therapy for me i just love to do it. If i sell all my machinery it wold be about $25,000 leaving me still oweing $20,000. I can't dedide what to do and it's almost time to be planting crops again. I don't want to get my landlords in some kind of bind by having assets (a growing crop) on their land and tie it up in BK porceedings if a have to file. I tried to get a friend to farm it for this year and give it back to me the following year if i can get things worked out but he doesn't want to. I'm also thinking i could let my son do it in his name, i'm not sure what the courts would think about that. I could sell part of my machinery and still have enough to get the job done, that would get me about $15,000.
I guess i'm hoping someone on the outside looking in can give me some advice. sell it all and partially out of debt, maybe i could negotiate lower payoffs and be totally out debt with the proceeds. to file BK i'll have to sell some of the machinery to pay the attorney, do you think that will be a problem?

[lrprn]

Hi everyone,,, I'm so glad i found this site alot of great information. I'm starting to feel better already.

Glad you found us and glad you are feeling better!

I also own farm machinery and farm rented land. It would crush me to give up that, it's a form of mental therapy for me i just love to do it. If i sell all my machinery it wold be about $25,000 leaving me still oweing $20,000.

Since you are renting the land and it does not belong to you, it isn't your asset. You can't tie up the land in a bankruptcy if you don't own it.

I could sell part of my machinery and still have enough to get the job done, that would get me about $15,000.

But then what? You still won't be out of debt. Will it lower your debt load enough so that you can live within what you make? If it doesn't, then you are just delaying the inevitable. You either have to make more income, reduce your living expenses, or give up assets to get to the point you can live on what you make - there's just no other way.

As much as you love farming (and being from a farm state myself, I really do understand that), sometimes in dire situations we have to make hard decisions. You've tried maintaining the status quo and that hasn't worked for you. Something has to give for now. Not forever, just for now. As much as you are able, try to start thinking about this in as unemotional way as you can. If a close friend or family member came to you and shared the same situation as you have shared with us, what advice would you give them?

to file BK i'll have to sell some of the machinery to pay the attorney, do you think that will be a problem?

First you have to find out if filing bankruptcy is going to help you or not. Start by making appointments for free or low cost consultations with 3-4 experienced bankruptcy attorneys in your area. You will learn so much and the best options to pursue in your situation will be much clearer. Also keep posting questions here - we'll help you sort things out as best we can. Hang in there - there are answers...maybe not ones you want to hear....but there is a light at the end of the long, dark debt tunnel.

[JollyGG]

Just a few quick questions?

How much is your household income from all sources? What is your household size (you mention a wife, and one child, so I assume 3)? Do you own your home? How much equity do you have? Do you own your own vehicles? How much equity do you have? If you were to whipe out the credit card debt can you live comforatably on your income?

Here is a link to Ohio's exemptions http://www.bankruptcyinformation.com/OH_exemp.htm, and here is a link to median houshold incomes by state http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/incom...medfaminc.html

[Flamingo]

Your wife probably lacks marketable skills at not having been in the work force for 17 years to maybe get you out of debt in five years. Your son is of working age and can easily carry a part-time job/weekend job to cut some of his expenses. It appears your debt has been cumulative over a period of time. It's a shame your wife couldn't have brushed up on any skills and/or gone back to school when your son hit school age to maybe help with the accumulating debt. You don't mention your situation there so I am assuming she is healthy and can work. You are in a pressure cook as to the debt and you know that and that could be the cause of your marital problems. You need to find out exactly where you stand financially wise as to what you can or cannot do. Many attorney's give free initial consultations for bankruptcy. To find a good one in your area that is well recommended if you do not know of an attorney personally you can consult for a reference, call your State Bar Association for the name of a BK attorney near you. Call and make an appointment. Take with you your wife, a listing of all your debts, monthly payments, paystubs, sources of income, listing of assets and your most recent tax returns. The attorney will go over all that with you and advise you accordingly.

Best of luck to you - do it now because it just will become worse...

[ivehadit]

I'll try to answer the questions so far,
Since you are renting the land and it does not belong to you, it isn't your asset. You can't tie up the land in a bankruptcy if you don't own it.

I may be overly cautious on this one, I know the land isn't an asset of mine but the crops there would be. I have no idea how they would handle this. If they force a sale of my epuipment I couldn't harvest the crops.

How much is your household income from all sources? What is your household size (you mention a wife, and one child, so I assume 3)? Do you own your home? How much equity do you have? Do you own your own vehicles? How much equity do you have? If you were to whipe out the credit card debt can you live comforatably on your income?

The $59,000 is stable but the farm income varies. last year i made $10,000 farming. (it was a good year) My old truck was on it's last leg so I used the money to buy a better one. the one i wanted was out of state and the bank wouldn't finance it because of that and it was on ebay. I paid cash for it $13,000) and got the title work done then went back to the bank to finance it but then they said no my credit is too bad. the truck came witha snow plow and i made $6,000 this winter with it so I really don't think it was a bad investment. I still have $5,000 of it in the bank. I'm thinking about selling it to maximize the investment profit and to be rid of it since it has good value before all this goes down and buy something in the exemption range.
Yes i have 1 wife 1 child soon to be adult. I'm paying on my home, if i use the county tax evaluation price i have no equity since i took the second mortgage which i used to pay CC's. yes if i wiped out CC debt we would be ok. i take on side work when i can.

My wife has no marketable skills only education is ged. she worked in a facotory when she worked. she has an inherited bone disease which mostly affects hearing so far, i think she is developing more problems as she ages many aches and pains now she's 46 same as me. she is totally deaf, with a very strong hearing aid she can pick up sounds in one ear. Thats another thing i have to buy her a stronger aid soon which is around 2500 insurance won't cover a dime. Dr says the noise of factory work accelerated her hearing loss so i seriously doubt she will work another day. She wanted to home school our son so i agreed, that's a whole other topic but i would never do that again.

[ivehadit]

I really don't know what to expect to happen if i continue going like i am but since i've been reading here i think i'm a little more knowlegeable. please reply if you think i'm right or wrong. from what i found out so far small claims limit in ohio is $3,000 and median income for my situation is $59,000.

since all CC's are over the small claims limit i'm not sure what effect that will have if any.

I figure I will eventually be sued, I may or may not be able to delay action by debt verification etc. When i eventually get a judgement against me then what. garnishment? Lein on a house with no equity? since it's all unsecured can they touch my assets like truck if i don't sell it. and farm machinery if i don't sell it?

[Flamingo]

I really don't know what to expect to happen if i continue going like i am but since i've been reading here i think i'm a little more knowlegeable. please reply if you think i'm right or wrong. from what i found out so far small claims limit in ohio is $3,000 and median income for my situation is $59,000.

since all CC's are over the small claims limit i'm not sure what effect that will have if any.

I figure I will eventually be sued, I may or may not be able to delay action by debt verification etc. When i eventually get a judgement against me then what. garnishment? Lein on a house with no equity? since it's all unsecured can they touch my assets like truck if i don't sell it. and farm machinery if i don't sell it?

In a posting above I gave you advice that you should investigate your entire situatoin with a BK attorney and how to go about doing that - that will give you a perspective as to where you stand financially and what you can or cannot do and also as to the same in the state in which you live.

In your recent posting above you mentioned your wife is deaf and cannot work. Has she applied for disability through Social Security if she is unable to work?

[Teddy]

I agree with Flamingo - your wife should apply for disability if she's not already on it. My husband is on it, and while it's not great money, it's $1000/month.

I think you should speak to some attorneys also.

[DivorceRuinedMe]

She wouldn't be able to file for Social Security if she hasn't worked in the past 18 years. She wouldn't be able to file for SSI either b/c her husband makes too much money so that is out too. She would have had to file for DIB back when she quit the factory job while she was still "insured" for Social Security (and that's even IF she was insured in the first place.)

[ivehadit]

I do consider it good advise to consult an attorney and i plan on doing so in the near future. We checked on ssi disability for her 3 or 4 yrs ago and yes their is a timeframe to file a claim which had passed i think it is 10 yrs. can't remember for sure. I''m trying to figure out now what all i have that is subject to be taken from me if I get a judgement against me. Seems to me I need to do that first and foremost.

[Teddy]

Yes, I would agree. It sounds like you have money along with items that could be sold and the trustee would take it all. I am fairly new so I'm not giving much advice but I hope you can get out of this mess and get things back in order.