my boat has sprung a leak!

[floridian]

ive read over this forum, until my vision is blurring and im still confused...

i paid my lawyer to file chap 7 bankruptcy, but due to my income being protected by statute (disability etc)... i put filing on hold to investigate alternative solutions.....

at first, the lawyer told me that i could do nothing and that since i was giving up my house, i was insolvent.... i could wait for the SOL to run out in 4 years and be ok...

i had too much disposable income for a 7, so i rented a more expensive house walked away from mine and all is well...not! this is a spooky time to be leaving your home, if you dont have to...

the short of it, after a fight with the condo nazis, i moved back to my home and paid my late payments to the mortgage holder, thanks to IRS refund...

so now, i live in the same shitty little town that i hated so bad and the lawyer thinks i might get forced into a 13....(they say everyting happens for a reason, another theory shot!)... i can deal with my living arrangements, as long as i can ride and look at nature....in a 13, i could sit here and watch the pine trees grow....

ok, i owe 10k to citi, 4k to citi, 10k to chase and a couple of 3k cards.... the spooky one, is a credit union that i let repo my harley and im sure it will be 10k deficient when they auction it off... yes, i honestly owe this money and im not going to BS anyone about it... i had all intentions of paying these debts, but we all know how that works...if a judge were to ask me if i owe the money, yes i do!.. i have no defense...

my original plan: im officially a senior citizen and i dont want to go to my grave, being crippled by a 13... i want to keep my motorcycles enjoy my golden years and judgements be damned.....spare myself the stress of showing up for the hearing and get a default judgement, so what!..they cant garnish my wages and maybe 10k equity in my house..

the lawyer, now is saying that eventually someone will sue me and i should file before it happens...change of game plan, i guess....

so my ship has sprung a leak and is going down in the typhoon... plan A, seems to be weak...

since i have referred my creditors to my lawyer and telling them i was looking into a chap 7, all calls have stopped....maybe the lull before the storm....im 60 days tardy paying..

the lawyer is saying if worst scenario happens, take the 13 and abandon it after a few payments.... what difference would that make?? i dont get it..

im still in stalling mode and told my lawyer not to move until i give him the word... should i proceed with the 13, give up my toys and become a hermit with a bottle of jack daniels or what??

[fltoo]

Will your income always be above the median for a 7 or was it just this past year?

If your income is going to drop, take the middle ground, wait it out another few months and file the 7.

[floridian]

im on fixed disability income.... i pass the means test on it, but when you add my SS, im over the disposable income for a single person.

even though the SS isnt counted, the lawyer thinks the trustee will want me in a 13...

[fltoo]

Has the lawyer gone through the entire means test, including all the schedules and still says you are not eligible for the 7?

Honestly, you are collection proof, they can't garnish your income, you are homesteaded in FL.

I say, close your bank accounts, go to a cash and money order payment program, get on your bike, and enjoy life while waiting for the SOL to run out.

I almost went this route because I am also collection proof. I only filed because I might want to start another business some day and just wanted the whole mess behind me.

Just saw your P.S. The lawyer "thinks"? Get a better lawyer who knows exactly how the trustee will treat your income. Shop around.

[Confused33]

I've read alot of your posts through the past few months and they are always the same with the same responses.

I think you need to seek another lawyer.

I filed chapter 7 on 12/29 with over median income, a house, an 03 Tahoe, an 08 Jeep Wrangler, an 08 motocross bike, a golf cart, a $60K wakeboard boat, and an 07 2500 Ram diesel in my name. I had $28K to BofA credit line, $7500 BoA card, $5500 Discover, $6000 charge up to Citi, $1900 credit union.

I passed the means test, gave up the Dodge ($40K), Supra ($60K), Tahoe ($18K) and KEPT, I REPEAT KEPT! the golf cart, the mx bike, the Jeep, the House, ect.

341 was on 2/5 and I was declared NO ASSET and I get to keep my 2008 refund.

GO FIND someone willing to help you. Nothing is impossible. This website is here for help but you have to take what you read with a grain of salt and take from it only what you want to believe. You can sit here and read this all night and all of these horror stories but that doesn't mean that the big bad wolf is going to come knocking on YOUR door as well. With everything that you've learned here you could probably file by yourself. If you have time to go enjoy nature and everything else then put that same effort and passion into getting yourself out of a hole.

Just because you make more than the median doesn't shoot you dead.

My very best advice to you is to put your mind in the place that you WANT to be, not the situation you're currently in. If you put all of your energy into the fact that you're unhappy youre just going to get more unhappy.

[HHM]

Just because you make more than the median doesn't shoot you dead.

Ok, fair enough, but I need to bring some perspective to this comment. An "average", if you are over the median, you will be a chapter 13.

The factors that affect your ability to stay in a chapter 7 despite being over the median are
1. The amount of your secure debt (as the previous poster mention, he actually had to surrender quite a bit of property).
2. The reasonable living expenses in your area
3. The nature of your debt, is more of your debt consumer, or non-consumer.

Most attorneys can figure this out, thus, if you have 1 or 2 attorneys saying you don't qualify for a 7, odds are you don't.

[Confused33]

HHM - I can understand your concern and the need for clarification. It just seems as though every time I visit there are the same sob stories.

If things are THAT bad and you're planning on filing anyhow and you're "judement/collection proof" then why stress? If you aren't going to pay you aren't going to pay whether you file or not.

I suppose I just have a different outlook on this whole issue. I learned a TON from this website and my situation might be different than most but I still think that BK is a TOOL in which should be used to your advantage. Not an end all of end alls that changes your life.

If you don't wanna pay the bills then dont. Then go change your phone number, get a cell phone, become mobile, and move along. If people would put as much effort into every day life as they do trying to get answers to life on a web forum then we'd all be miles ahead.