New here with questions...

[berrymom31]

First we were going to file chapter 13 as the median for our state with our family size is 71,900 and together we make about 102,000. We have a high house payment of 1,750 and 2nd mortgage of 464. We had one large car payment of 475 but we let that go back and now have two small payments one is $280 and one is $262. We have about $70,000 in unsecured debt, 30,000 in student loans. The cc payments were 2,200 per month and we were just not making ends meet. We met with an atty in May. I make 22,000 and hubby makes the rest. We owe 240,000 on our home with both mortgages and the last appraisal we had was 300,000, but that was before the mortgage crisis and now we figure it might be 275,000 at best. If I were to quit my job and if we were to wait fro 6 months to file would we be eligible for chapter 7? Is this legal? To quit so income is lower just to pass the means test? We would still be over the median by about 8,000.

We are just so conflicted. The biggest part is my pride. We have a lot of friends here and I would be so embarrassed to let this house go. We are planning on moving about 45 minutes away to the town we grew up in...basically moving home. This is still fairly close to hubbys job. His parents have agreed to buy a house for us, and we will make the payments, basically rent...until our credit is good enough to buy it from them. We already have the house picked out and would like to move before school starts.

We are current on our mortgage payments. Could we go ahead and move and just stop making the mortgage payments? How does all this work. I know I need to ask my atty but it's late at night and our atty is so busy they rarely return calls and it's been 2 months since our initial meeting and retainer and we still don't have a number on our chapter 13 payment.

Also, I'm in the middle of a personal injury case. I don't have a lawyer as I'm waiting on results from a medical test I will have this week. It's slip and fall injury and I have been beat up verbally on the chapter 13 thread and made out to be an no good, cheating, ambulance chaser. If I get a settlement from this what happens to it?

Sorry this is so long..I'm tired and stressed.......

[Help!]

We are just so conflicted. The biggest part is my pride. We have a lot of friends here and I would be so embarrassed to let this house go.

I read this in another thread, and it's so true... pride destroys finances. There is nothing to be embarrassed about, and if those "friends" are really your friends they will stand by you through thick and thin. Chances are many of your friends aren't doing much better than you are financially, but that doesn't matter. Your future matters, so do what you need to do and look at it as a business decision. It's the same financial tool the airlines use.

As for the pending injury settlement, that could be a real complication. Any chance it could be wrapped up before you file? Whatever the case may be, you will need to be ABSOLUTELY honest about this with the trustee. In fact, I'd add it on your Schedule I as an anticipated increase in income before you're asked at your 341 hearing (and the case trustee in our district asked *everyone* if they had any sort of injury claim) just to get started out on the right foot. My guess is that the trustee will keep your case open until the amount of the settlement is known. You may be able to protect it with exemptions... if not, it's an asset the trustee will be interested in.

Good luck!

[Joe Farmer]

You do not have to work.

You can quit your job anytime you like. If it makes a CH7 easier and you can swing, go for it. It's the simplest way to bypass the means test and all that stuff. You certianly do not want to be in a CH13 if you can prevent that.