Finally going to file, have some questions

[limonrod]

Hi all! I've lurked on this site for quite some time and I am FINALLY going to file!

I have purchased the NOLO book, which has been great, but I have some questions that hopefully you all can help me with....here they go.

I am married, but my husband is not filing. He is self-employed, however has not made any income lately as business has been extremely slow. He does handyman work.

We pass the means test with no problem, even including what little he has made lately.

Here are my issues/questions. We have a house that we are going to let go as we are very underwater with it. I am on the deed, not on the mortgage/note. My husband is the only one on the mortgage and note. I have listed it in Schedule A, and have only listed half of the value as mine, and have listed the entire amount of the secured claim. Is this correct?

However, since I am not on the mortgage or note, then I do not need to list the mortgage holder (BOA) as a creditor correct?

Car payment: My husband has a truck, which is secured by a loan. Truck is in his name only. The truck has either very little or no equity. Since his income has been almost non-existent, can I list the truck payment as my obligation since I am the one that has essentially been paying for it? We have a joint checking account and truck payment is made from there.

Re: Schedule J/Expenditures: We are currently not paying our mortgage and plan on riding it out for as long as we can. We live in GA, a non-judicial state, so I don't know how long this will be, hence the reason why my husband is not filing with me. He is going to file at the last possible moment to stall foreclosure sale and buy us some more time. I am working with bank, so I believe we are not there yet. We are only in 2nd month of not paying.

What do I list for rent/home mortgage payment since we are not paying the mortgage? Do I list what our mortgage payment is, if we were paying it? Or, since we will eventually have to start renting, (estimating probably in about 4 - 6 months or so), do I just list an estimate of what it would cost us to rent a home? If I put zero, then I will in all likelihood have a surplus, which I don't want, and besides, it would not be realistic.

I am working frantically on getting everything prepared and finished up by this weekend so that I can file next week, as my pre-bankruptcy course certificate expires on January 28th - yes, it has been almost 6 months since I took the course, and I am only now getting around to filing!

Thank you all in advance for your help and input!

[mountanddo]

Couple of thoughts...

If the truck is in your husband's name and the payment is paid out of your joint account I wouldn't think you could claim that as your expense. Someone will correct me if I'm wrong.

Also, it sounds like you are filing pro se and still have a lot of questions and have delayed filing for whatever reason. If it were me, I would take the debtors class again and make sure that you have all your ducks in a row rather than rush to file and risk doing something wrong. I would hate to see something go wrong because you hurried to file when you could spend an extra $5-50 and make sure it is all right. Just my 02.

[AngelinaCatHub]

You seem to be planning this pretty well. List your house payment as it was since in theory still a valid payment. List all debts as if you were paying them since you do owe them. Reason to list, you owe the money. Stopping the payments does not make the responsibility go away. You are not able to pay them that is the reason for bk. You are showing the Court and Trustee your debit versa your credit. If the house goes under and hubby is not filing he may be sued for the residual amount so he too must be prepared to file before a suit. As 'Mountanddo' said why the rush? Only two house payments not paid? Ride it out a bit further. Take the course again later. Your ducks are falling in a row, but you have time to round up more ducks and get sharper as a pro se person. 'Hub

[OhioFiler]

I'm not getting why you are not filing jointly? What do you anticipate your benefit is from filing separately? Why don't you wait until the last minute with your husband?

[ValleYum]

Also, it sounds like you are filing pro se and still have a lot of questions and have delayed filing for whatever reason. If it were me, I would take the debtors class again and make sure that you have all your ducks in a row rather than rush to file and risk doing something wrong. I would hate to see something go wrong because you hurried to file when you could spend an extra $5-50 and make sure it is all right. Just my 02.

I agree with mountanddo about taking your time rather than rushing Good luck!

[doni49]

I am also concerned that you may be rushing in to this and thinking that he should be filing as well. I see a BIG issue that I think you need to consider.

If your name is NOT on the mortgage, then you filing CH7 won't get rid of the debt--in fact, even if your name WERE on the mortgage, I'm pretty sure hubby could/would still be on the hook for the full balance.

[limonrod]

Thank you all for your responses!

Reason I asked about the truck and me claiming payment is because if my husband was earning a significant or any income, I would have to include it for means test and income purposes, so logically I thought that I should likewise get to include his truck payment since I am the one that has been paying it since he has been out of work. Even if trustee decides that it should not be included as one of my liabilities, we are still really negative, so it should not affect me too terribly.

Reason why I am filing now, and not waiting for hubby, is because we want to at least get one of us on the "road to recovery" sooner rather than later. Like I mentioned, I took my course back in July 2011, and just didn't file, really for no particular reason other than busy with work, life, etc. However, waiting has turned out to be a blessing in disguise as had we filed last year, we probably would have reaffirmed our mortgage as we didn't realize how under water we were, and we REALLY wanted to be able to stay in our house. Also, back then, the thought of losing our house and all of our down payment, sweat equity and work that we have put into it, etc. was heart breaking, whereas now we see it as it is what it is, and let's see how we can strategically do this, move on, and get a fresh start.

My hubs is going to file, to get rid of the mortgage debt and other debt, just not now. I fear if he files jointly with me now, then, after automatic stay is lifted, foreclosure will proceed faster since we are in a non-judicial state. Also once he files and includes the mortgage, the bank will stop "working" with us. Whereas right now BOA has no clue that we (he) is going to file Chpt 7, so we have been in contact with them and they are "working" on something. So that is my thought process on that.

Other reason to hurry and file besides wanting to get on the road to recovery faster, is because I don't want to have to take the debt course again....I know, lame excuse on the not wanting to take course! However, I am half way through completing forms, etc., and if I can complete everything by Monday and feel confident about my entries then I will go ahead and file next week.

Thank you all again for your responses!