Call the Attorney tomorrow morning.

[lee307]

We have been stressing ourselves over our current situation and finally understand what we have to do. We tried to get a handle on things ourselves but everytime we turn around something happens. We are embarrassed that we let this happen but there's nothing we can do about it now. We were plugging along until we missed a payment by one day on a CC with a 12k balance. Interest went up 20+%. Then got caught up in the downward spiral. Hindsight is 20/20, now I know we should have done something then. We put alot on CCs since then, groceries, gas, power bills, etc. Then we both got furlough days over the rest of the year and I'm sure next year as well.

we have around 65k on CC's

I am worried about a couple of things.
1. I have a watch that was given to me for my college graduation (11 years ago). I am not going to try to hide anything. The last thing I want is fraud.
It cost around 2500.00 when new, I have no idea what the value is.

2. I opened a new CC account about 3 months ago and transferred a balance to take advantage of a low interest rate. I had no intention to file BK then but will it raise flags? (we actually just made the decision this weekend)

3. In the past I have gotten around 5-6k bonus at the first of the year but with the current economy I'm sure that is over. Will they still use that figure for disposable income?

4. I used the online means test on legalconsumer and although we make more than the median, the test shows us with $64 disposable income (without the bonus). Chp 7 scares me since we want (need) to keep our house and 2 cars.

5. We have checking, savings, CC (5k balance), 1 auto loan, 1st mortgage and 2nd mortage all at the same bank. Do we need to open accounts at a different bank and change our direct deposits ASAP?

6. As of right now we are current with everything but can only hold on another month or two. Savings is almost depleted. I have been through some of the post on here and some say to stay current before you file if possible. It will help your scores in the long run. If that is correct when can I stop paying the CCs? I will be asking the Attorney these questions but like to know what others on here say.

We hope to get all this behind us so we can actually start to breath again.
Thanks in advance.

[DeadManCrawling]

Don't try to hold on for another month or two, if you have decided to file. One exception MAY be the card you just transferred a balance to. Often attorneys advise to pay on new cards with recent transfers to show some "good faith" effort. Ask the attorney, of course. Usually a few months minimum payments will be sufficient.

Most of us need (want) to keep cars and homes and so on, but you should take a deeper look at things. If removing your credit card debt will allow you to comfortably make the other payments, a CH 13 may be preferable.

Your current unsecured payments are not used in the means test, if they are going to be discharged. If you did indeed include them, you will want to run the test again to get a better idea of your true DMI. This may qualify you for a 13.

For Ch 7, to keep cars and home, you need to be current on those payments and your equity needs to be within the allowed exemptions for your state. If not you may be able to buy back the equity from the trustee.

A CH 13 will allow you to keep those items and get caught up through the plan. The downside here is 36 months minimum to make payments, but your assets remain yours.

A 7 is quickly over and you can move on. That is the real value, I think, for most people.

[lee307]

I did not include the unsecured payments in the means test. Only the autos and house.
Like I said in the first post, we are current on everything, house, cars, student loans, CC's.

With the current housing market, I feel sure we have no equity in our home. According to KBB & Edmunds we have no equity in the autos either. 1 is almost a wash the other is a couple K negative but I have no way of replacing it.

[lee307]

Ok, so my first meeting with an Attorney is tomorrow. I have used almost an entire ink cartridge printing records out.

We are extremely nervous about this.

Too many questions at this point.

[Flowers]

glad you are seeing the lawyer.

I had thousand of dollars worth of jewelry, many here do. Do not worry about the watch , it is yours. A used watch, over 10 yrs old? $100 on the used market , that is what you tell them, they do not want the watch believe me.

Your attorney will help you with strategy

[lee307]

Ok, I don't know if I feel better or worse yet. We are over the means so CH13 it will be.
I have a large CC payment due tomorrow and I was told not to pay it. It will hurt not paying it but I do understand the big picture here.

The attorney told me not to worry about the watch but it does put us over on the jewelry exemption. I have an insurance policy on it for "replacement value" so that is the figure they are using.

Oh well, hopefully I can sleep better tonight. Last night really sucked.

[DeadManCrawling]

Sounds like it went pretty well.

For the watch: If it is not much more than the exemption, the trustee will probably not pursue it or at least give you the chance to buy that portion back. Glad you used the insurance appraisal. Some folks forget they even have insurance on jewelery. When the trustee reminds them, it doesn't look good.

Please keep us posted, there is a lot of support here.

[lee307]

I'm not sure I would have remembered the policy on the watch but I ran across another thread on here where someone else was talking about the same type of thing. We have another appointment next week. It is really killing me not to pay the CC payment today.