Help Please Don't know what to do.

[cameron]

I'm 26 and married with two kids. I found out 2 months ago that my wife ran up 21000 in credit cards without me knowing a thing she was sending the bills to a po box without me knowing. She lost her job 2 months ago and we start overdrafting thats how I found out.


I contacted moneymanagement to try and get me on a debt management plan and paid them for the last 2 months straight. The credit card companys said no and don't want to work with them so I have no way of paying all those minimum payments.


We have 2 cars that are paid off that we use to go to work.

We have a trailer that we owe 36000 on and its valued at 28000 now.


We need to keep the cars for work.

What do I do?

They are calling me at work wanting payments and stuff and my boss is getting agravated.

[Faust]

You need to take a deep breath!!

No, start reading under the collections area to see what your options are regarding calls to your place of work. You SHOULD be able to stop them calling you there.

Next, read some more and weigh your options but I'm thinking you need to file bk. Talk to each other figure out was is best for your family. Try to work it out and stand together because "divided we fall". It's now you and her against the creditors. Figure out a battle plan.

My battle has just begun, I hope I'm ready!

Good luck to you!

[cameron]

We are really worried about the two cars they are payed off

its a 2000 toyota camry adn a 2005 civic. We need these cars to go to work.

[Faust]

Well, how late are you on payments? Some people on here have gone a year and some more than that without paying.

Figure out if you need to file bk and then you go from there. If filing bk you need to find out what your state vehicle exemption amount is. If your wife intends to return to work then you are both allowed a car.

There is a lot that needs to happen before they can get anywhere near your paid for cars.

[cameron]

My wife is working now. But we tried going through debt management and they didn't want to work with us. Now we owe 100's of dollars in late fees. We own both car's she works full time and so do I. We have to keep these cars for work and our kids. That is our only concern.

[Faust]

Screw them and their late fees but how late are you?

What state are you in?

[cameron]

louisiana. 3 months on everything except trailer note.

[sunshineMN]

my husband and I are over $100,000 in cc debt and both of our vehicles are paid off. we just met with a lawyer on monday, and found out that we don't qualify for a ch 7...but we do qualify for ch 13.

we were told that in a 13 we can keep our vehicles and our house and pretty much all of our assets (which isn't many). Any non-exempt portion of your assets are factored into the total amount that you need to repay over the 5 year time frame.

kind of confusing -- i'm not the best at explaining. But, you should relax as there ARE options for you. i know how you feel as I've been in your shoes with the harassing calls. it's frustrating, i know!

my advise is to look around on here and see what others have gone through (that helped comfort me a bit)....and then maybe talk to a few lawyers to see what they think. many will give you a free consult.

most of all.....HANG IN THERE!

[BobMango]

We are really worried about the two cars they are payed off

its a 2000 toyota camry adn a 2005 civic. We need these cars to go to work.

In Louisiana it looks like you're limited to $7,500 on a vehicle. It doesn't look like you can double your exemptions there either. No wildcard and Federal exemptions are not available either.

Best advice is to schedule a free consult with an attorney or two and see what they advise. Chapter 13 may allow you to keep the vehicles, but you will be tied into a repayment plan for 3-5 years.

You could sell the car that is worth the most and buy a beater, then use the excess funds for necessities until you file. There are lots of ways to approach this, no need to panic just yet.

[cameron]

my cars are only worth about 7000 for both of them together. does that matter?

[JRScott]

my cars are only worth about 7000 for both of them together. does that matter?

If combined they are worth 7k then you could exempt them. You should go to kelly blue book site or NAPA site and get a valuation on both cars. That'll give you a better idea. Even if you can't fully exempt them depending on the amount left over the trustee might surrender his interest in them if its not worth his time. Don't give up.

[lovebirds]

Can you save money every month? If this is your only debt, you may be able to come up with enough cash to settle with them. If not, consult a bankruptcy lawyer. Don't worry about the late fees or the interest rates. After a few months, the credit card company will be begging you for nickles and dimes.

Your wife also needs to get some kind of help for her spending problem. No shame in it...I had to stop cold turkey. I can only online shop now so I can look at each item and the individual price before purchasing.

[nc73]

If I had that much debt I'd be jumping up and down. Seriously it's not much. Just work something out. I wouldn't bankrupt myself for that much. Your wife needs to find a job ASAP.

[JustFileSuit]

[QUOTE=cameron;360077]

I'm 26 and married with two kids. I found out 2 months ago that my wife ran up 21000 in credit cards without me knowing a thing she was sending the bills to a po box without me knowing. She lost her job 2 months ago and we start overdrafting thats how I found out.

If the credit cards are in her name only, and are not used for maintenance and support of the household (e.g. used for buying food), then you are not an Obligor on the cards. So she would file for Bk protection independently of you.

I

contacted moneymanagement to try and get me on a debt management plan and paid them for the last 2 months straight. The credit card companys said no and don't want to work with them so I have no way of paying all those minimum payments.

If you are not an Obligor then the CC people are not going to talk to you.

We have 2 cars that are paid off that we use to go to work.

Who are the cars titled to? If one is titled to each person, then if one person (wife) files for BK, the other car is not in the BK Estate, and is anyway not attachable by her creditors; it is YOUR car.

We have a trailer that we owe 36000 on and its valued at 28000 now.

If this is a "trailer" that you are living in, then yo have no worries in the bankruptcy court. Just keep paying the trailer obligations faithfully.

We need to keep the cars for work.

Only the car titled to the person who is filing bankruptcy is inside the BK estate. The other one is yours to keep as long as it is paid for, or being paid for.

What do I do?

They are calling me at work wanting payments and stuff and my boss is getting agravated.

Why are they calling you if the cards are your wife's and she had the bills sent to a postal box to keep you from finding out? Or are you BOTH on the cards as obligors? Makes a huge difference.

Let us know more details and we will try to point you in the right direction. Start by writing the creditor(s) a Letter stating that they can only communicate with you by mail. Then be sure to keep all the letters. Those phone-call artists are all liars.

[cameron]

The card's were in both of our names, so are the car's. She took them out of the safe in our closest.


I did the means test and it said i automatically qualify for chapter 7 no need to count exemptions or something like that.