Help! New Here...

[nk29]

Hi Everyone,

I have some questions that have been causing me many sleepless nights to say the least...

First of all, although I know student loans are non-dischargeable, if my father is a co-signer will he know if I file BK?? I just don't want him (or any of my family for that matter!) to know about it. I would continue making the payments as usual once the discharge is done.

Secondly, if I have a lease on my car that is up in 2 years, will I be able to get a loan to buy it out? Even if it is at a high interest rate, I just want the peace of mind in knowing I will be able to get some kind of loan 2 years after BK. Up to this point I have always paid all of my bills on time, only that now that I have accrued about $50k in credit card debt I am just getting by. Because of my high limits on the cards my credit score is suffering greatly, and would most likely increase with a BK.

I am really scared to death to do this, but I feel with my student loans debt being another $75k, I just have no way of getting out of this situation. The credit cards were something that I got when I was still in school with no job yet, and I was just irresponsible with my spending habits. I make about $67k a year but when you're being charged 20% interest in some cases it makes it very hard to ever make progress! I have thought about just trying to buy a house and hope it appreciates over the next year or two so I can pay off some of the debt, but I am not sure if it's a good idea. If it weren't for the law changing so soon I would just give it a shot and see how it works, but I just don't have the time anymore.

Sorry to ramble on...I am just very stressed and very confused, I don't want to destroy my credit or my future and I just need some advice! I am just 27 years old so I don't want this to be my whole life!

[herekitty]

I am in a similar situation and I can honestly say that family support is really good. You'd be surprised at their reaction (I was). My dad has always been a huge stickler with money and I was ashamed to tell him what I was going to do. Once he saw my loans (I'm only 60K) from school and how much I make (25K) he thought the best way for me to get a fresh start was to file - it was his suggestion even though I had secretly met with an attorney.

When I met with my attorney I voiced concerns about my car - my mom co-signed on it and I didn't want her credit affected. He told me not to worry, with reaffirmation I would be able to keep the car, as long as I kept my payments current. I did have to tell her, which she was slightly upset about but also sees the only way for me to have a future is to do this.

I'm 24 and in the same situation and was just as stressed a couple weeks ago (not to say I'm stress free right now). After speaking with a lawyer, he made me feel at ease about alot of my finances. He said you will get credit card and loan offers right after discharge - the longer you wait to accept them, the better they get. He also said in 1-2 years after BK you can try and get a mortgage to buy a home. In the meantime, if you file and get out of the other debt, you can slowly save for a downpayment on a house.

I'm not a lawyer, not a counselor - but to me it seems like you should speak to a lawyer (first meeting is usually free) and see what he thinks. I wouldn't buy a house just to help get out of your mess, you could potentially get into more.

Long ramble, sorry for the hard read - but I hope that helps!