Recently Relocated- Need to file BK (long)

[momto2]

Hi, Long time lurker, first time poster. I was wondering if anyone has had to deal with a similar situation.

My husband, I, and our two kids recently relocated to Wisconsin from Oregon. We moved here to be closer to family and get out of the crazy West Coast housing mess. My husband went from making $18.25/hr to $6.95 here in Wisconsin. It took him two months to find a job after moving out here, and we ended up living on our credit cards for those two months.
Our minimums are now so high that we are barely able to pay them, and after much thought and talking with family we decided to file chap. 7.
Our case is a basic no asset, and it shouldn't have any bumps along the way.
The only problem that we've run into is establishing residency. We've been here 71 days, and our attorney is planning on filing Feb. 1st.

1st- Do you have to be in the state you file for 180 days or the "majority" of those 180 days? (91?)

2nd- Has anyone else had to deal with the residency issue while filing?
We were planning on filing in Oregon a couple weeks ago, if neccessary, to get in under the old laws. After thinking about it, getting back and forth for our required meetings, etc. would be a huge problem and we would be forced to beg more money off of my parents. We are going to have to wait and file in Wisconsin.

Our attorney has assured us that the new laws will not affect us that much because of my husbands income, and that we will still be able to go Chap. 7 He is making the new laws sound not as scary as everyone's making them, and now I am concerned. All of the media and some of the posts on here are making me feel that he may not know much about the new laws. (He's in his 70's and getting ready to retire.) I was thinking about visiting another attorney just to get a 2nd opinion.

Also, our van reg. and drivers licenses are still Oregon, we can't affored to change them. Is it in our best interests to take care of that before filing? My hubby gets his first check on the 20th maybe we'll get them changed then.

Stats: Me-24, Hubby-28, Kiddo #1-5, Kiddo #2-2
Leased Honda Oddysey
Living w/ parents till we find our own place
AT&T-$5,000
Sears MC-$7500
Dell- $2500.00
3 Student Loans (We're both students)- $46000.00
Hubby making $800/month working part time (just started.. full time soon, hopefully)

Love the board, any reassurance would be great. Also if you have any experience with the 180 days thing let me know.

[StaciMM]

Of the $15k debt, how much did you accumulate w/ the move and after your household income was reduced? I ask because you may have fraud issues. Fraud charges can arise if you did not have both the intent and ability to expect to be able to repay the debts. Using the accounts when your income is severely reduced means you did not have the ability to repay them. One aspect of the new law is that the trustee will be able to do more to enforce fraud issues, rather than the creditor being the only one to bring it up.

Other than that, the jurisdicton rule will be different under the new laws. When you file, you must use the exemptions for where you've lived the past 2 years. If you weren't in one place for 2 years, you use the exemptions for where you lived 91+ days during the 180 days prior to the 2 years. If you moved too often to have 91+ days, then you use the federal exemptions. (I think I got that right.)

[momto2]

Thanks StaciMM,

We certinly did not anticipate having such a hard time finding jobs! We did use approx. $4000.00 for expences since moving. This was mainly due to van payments ($335/month), gas, college expenses (registration fees, etc.) Our attorney basically told us not to use them after Dec. 1, although the use has stopped effective 10/10.
This truly was an emergency situation, and we did not anticipate the drastic loss of income. My hubby has his degree and almost 10 years exp. in his field. Guess that's what happens when you move to a rural area. Also, we have some medical bills that we are paying on due to an accident my sons were involved in.
I assure you, we were not using the cards visciously or intent on fraud. The past two months have simply been surviving. I am going to check on the juristiction today.

[StaciMM]

I didn't mean to insinusate you meant to do anything wrong-just wanted you to be aware the trustee may see things from a different perspective.

Good points: it is reasonable to think you'll be able to find a similar quality job to the one you left. (That works in your favor.) And, now that you're contemplating BK, no longer using the cards is wise.

[craigerzz]

Hi mom2,
I moved from Washington to Oregon right before I filed, so I had to file in Washington State because I lived there the greater amount of the last 180 days. I now have a six hour drive when going to my 341 meeting! fun huh?

Craigerzz