Desperate living in a hotel. Need some guidance.

[livingnhotel]

I don't even know where to start and I found this forum so I am hoping someone can maybe help

To make a very long story short for the past 12 years we have been abusing our credit and now have no where to go. We have burned every bridge and should of filed years ago, but didn't mainly because we just kept putting it off. We put blinders on and just kept putting it off. We even meant with a place that would help you file yourself 7 years ago. I am kicking myself not doing it. We were immature and now are waking up to what hole we have dug ourselves into. Right now we are living in a extended stay hotel for the last 9 months. I will say it is very nice. Its a 2 bedroom, full kitchen, living room, about 650 sq ft. We could never do a 1 room because we do have 2 small children. We were able to work out with the manager for $245 weekly. It is a slap in the face of what we have done. We ended up here after a being evicted.

Here is where we are at

• My husband has several years of backed taxes that he recently filed. We are looking at about 10-13k I know we can't file on those
• I have around 15k in student loans. Those are in forberance and I know I can't file on those.
• We have several evictions. Which is why we are at the hotel. I know we can probably rent through a private owner by just not telling them we have previous evictions. We have done this before We didn't this last time because we were pretty much living pay check to paycheck. So no first/last/deposit.
• We owe a couple banks for checking accounts
• My husband took out several payday loans several years ago that went bad
• We owe in each of our names every water/electric/gas/trash/phone/cable
• We also owe 2 cellphone companies large amounts.
• My husband does have repossion from about 10 years ago. We thought it would drop off but they recently contacted us again about it.
• We have lots of odd and ends medical bills in smaller amounts. Then a couple larger amounts from ER visits and births. It is pretty much what our insurance didn't cover.
• All of our credit card debt is very old 7+ years but seems to have been sold over a few times so it keeps coming up new.

Here is where we are at

• We have no savings. Other then a couple hundred dollars here or there we live pretty much paycheck to paycheck.
• We have one car. That is completely paid off.
• Husband makes about 40k a year
• I am not able to work due to my husbands schedule. We have tried to make it work before. Pretty much the hours my husband works there is no way for him to really watch the kids when he is home because he is sleeping. With daycare it would barely break even. Also with the one car there is no way to get our 2 kids to school and he wouldn't be able to drive them in the mornings.
• Family helping is not an option.
• We have no way of obtaining any credit. Which I think might be our biggest crutch. If our car breaks down we are screwed or even getting a place to live.
• We do have a checking account that we have had for a few years that is in good standing.
• We live very paycheck to paycheck right now and only buy what is needed.

I am at breaking point I guess you could say it couldn't get any worse. We don't know where to go from here. Now one knows we have been even living in a hotel. We are not super close to our families and if they knew it would just go badly. Bankruptcy to them would be seen as shameful and the situation we are in now would be unforgivable.

We don't even know what to do or where to go. We can't afford a lawyer so we are thinking about trying to do it ourselves maybe but don't know if that is a good idea. Does anyone know if previous evictions can be put on a bankruptcy so we could have a fresh start? I keep looking about the checking account and payday loans and the bill collectors told me they couldn't. Then I have read they can. I think part of me was hoping for so long that all of our debt was so old that it would just drop off. I wish I would of never listened to that rumor

[Drazil65]

Sorry for your situation. We have all felt like we were at the end with no hope, that is why we all ended up here. A couple of questions, you mention kids are in school? Is there a way you could do part time work to help out? Even if its housekeeping at the hotel and maybe they cut your rent in exchange? If not for the hotel then something else? Also, does your childrens school offer aftercare? This would allow you to work a little longer during the day.

Even though you do not have the money for an attorney I would still suggest you setup at least 3 "free" consults with attorneys. They might be able to shed new light and hope on your situation and at the least give up a lot of great information in case you file on your own. I would also suggest you read everything you can on this site, all the stickies at the top of each section, great information and suggestions. This research will actually make you feel like you are doing something proactive and give you hope believe it or not.

Have you gone to the organizations (county, city, state) that might be able to help you get into a place of your own? keep looking into that stuff until you get help. I would also suggest you maybe go to your local library and get the Dave Ramsey book, "The Total Money Makeover". I think this book would also help you in the long run with your financial goals and "teach" you how to budget. This book is very uplifting and you might actually get excited about what you could accomplish with what little money you do have. The best of luck and you will make it happen.

[despritfreya]

Welcome to the forum. I am glad you found us. You will find very useful info here. The first thing you and your family need to do is stop feeling guilty. Garbage happens. We deal with it and move on.

Assuming $40k is below median income for a family of 4 and there are no other sources of "income" such as food stamps, other government assistance not including SS, etc. (you did not post your state but my guess is that it is) you would be looking at a Chapter 7. This would get rid of everything except the taxes and, unless you prove a hardship, the student loans. (See my last comments as it relates to these 2).

You may not be able to afford an attorney however, most attorneys give free consultations. You can learn a lot just by talking to them. Do it.

You certainly can file without an attny (pro se) and using this site and Nolo Press will be of great assistance. Filing a bk when you basically have nothing is not rocket science. Now that you have reached the point where you are willing to file, just do it. You and your family will have a huge weight lifted off of your shoulders.

Some of your debt is beyond the statute of limitation but that does not mean a creditor cannot attempt to collect. What it means is that you have a defense to a law suit brought by the creditor. If you want peace of mind you file the bk. When you file you list each and every creditor/collector that you have. This includes the taxes and student loans even though you will still owe them.

As to the taxes. . . If you qualify (sounds like you do), the IRS will either agree to put you in a non-collectable status or allow you to enter into an installment agreement that you can "afford".

For info on the installment payments go to:

http://www.irs.gov/individuals/article/0,,id=243335,00.html

There may also be info on qualifying for uncollectible status. If you are in uncollectible status the IRS will not attempt to collect from you for at least 12 months.

As to the student loans:

Attempting a hardship discharge is very difficult. While your loans are currently in deferment they are not a problem. But interest is being added to the debt. You may want to see if you qualify for the "Income Based Repayment Plan". For info on this go to:

http://studentaid.ed.gov/PORTALSWebApp/students/english/IBRPlan.jsp

I hope this helps in some small way. You will find lots of support here so stop worrying about it.

Des.

[tobee43]

livingnholtel, first, my heart goes to you and your family about your terrible situation.

i do want to mention that many atty's in most cities do some pro se work. i know when we went to our 341 bk meeting the other two clients our atty was working with, the firm was not charging.

i would call a few atty's if possible to see if they handle any pro se cases. also your country bar assoc. may be able to give you some leads or your local legal aid office.

i don't know were you are, as you have listed "private", however for what you are paying at the hotel, now, in many areas you may be able to get a regular apt. or small home. that may be an better environment for you and your family while you are re building your lives.

des, has provided some wonderful information for you. check it out! we are all here to help and welcome to the board, you are not alone!

[AngelinaCatHub]

Welcome Home 'hotel'. Now that you finally realized you have to act, things will by themselves start to get better. Ignoring a problem does not make it go away, it always gets worse if you do nothing.

You have made your first step towards healing. Nolo Press at nolopress dot com sells the C7 book with sample forms and ALL the info you would need to do to go pro se'. You have the time to read it now and download the forms from your Federal Courthouse. You can ask for forgiveness for the filing fees as destitute. There are applications for that too. Once you file, the whole world will look different and your thinking will sudden get clearer. 'Hub

EDIT; the Nolo book runs about $26.

[tobee43]

i would call a few atty's if possible to see if they handle any pro se cases. also your country bar assoc. may be able to give you some leads or your local legal aid office.

sorry i meant pro bono!!!

[mountanddo]

Welcome to the forum livingnhotel! It sounds like now might be the time to file. A great organization that helps families get on their feet in MN is http://www.lssmn.org/debt/
You don't say where you are from but it's possible there might be an organization like this in your state. If you let people know where you are from then we could do some research for you or posters that live in your area might be able to help. I know somtimes it is hard to figure out resources when you are in crisis mode.

It doesn't sound like you are paying any of these past debts yet you recently were evicted. Are you having trouble meeting your day to day expenses without debt? In other words, after you file BK and things are discharged will you be ok? No one has responded if BK will erase your evictions but from what little I know unfortunately I don't think they do. Also, if you owe money to all the utility companies you might have a hard time getting them to connect your service.

Have you considered looking on Craig's list for owners that might have houses that they rent out portions? I know it isn't ideal but you would not have to come up with utility deposits because you pay them directly to the owner and a lot of time cable and internet is included as they already have them. It may be difficult to find the right situation but it is another option to look at. When I was a single Mom with two small children years ago I found a basement that the homeowner had converted into an apartment. It had two bedrooms, bath, kitch and included all utilities and cable. (no one cared about internet then at that time) and they even let me use their W/D for free as long as she could use it when I wasn't home (it was in the basement)

You may also want to look into food shelves. You may qualify for some help. Some food shelves you pay a certain amount for food but it's generally about 40% off retail. Some you are just able to go and pick up food.

Please keep us updated. I know everyone here will put our heads together to brainstorm ideas to help you through this. We've all been through the ringer here and whether we are here due to poor debt managment, loss of a job or medical issues everyone is pretty great at helping everyone else out!