Very Long Chapter 7 Questions
I will try and make this brief. Because of nasty divorce, an expartner who stole money from the business, and the loss of a big advertising client, I just sold my ad business to a friend of mine. My business was incorporated (S-Corp) and the papers to disolve were filed at the end of December, 2004. The money I was given, was just enough to pay off all media bills that my company owed.
With that said, I just started working for my friend, however, I will not receive my first pay check until March 1st, since I am on a commission only basis. I will still get paid from my old company until then.
I am over $200,000 in personal debt, with most unsecured. Can I file Chapter 7 and not 13 since I do not own a business anymore?
Of the $200,000, about $62,000 is credit card/line of credit debt. $123,000 of it is to my bank which loaned me the money to pay off a big portion to my ex-wife. However, of this amount, $40,000 of it is secured as collateral from my Mom's house. If I file, does my mom lose her house? Does she have to give them the $40,000 upfront? Or will that come due if she ever wants to sell or passes on? What a problem to have. Maybe I can only file on the credit card stuff so my Mom doesn't lose her home.
However, the credit cards are about $2600 a month, the big bank loan is $1480 a month, and I still pay my ex-wife $1250 a month. That's over $5000 a month before I even get started with mortgage and other regular things. I need to get rid of the credit card and bank loan debt. What do I do?
Except for two credit card companies which total 5 accounts between them, I am still current on all payments. Of the 5 credit card accounts, I have not made a payment since September, since I do not have the money. 2 of the accounts were just turned over to a collection company so I need to do something quickly.
My current wife is not listed on any of my debts. But even with both our incomes combined, we will only clear about $5000-$5500 a month, I think. Could be a bit more or less. And our bills are about $8800 a month, so I am out of whack. Even though we had high bills, I was paying them before I lost a big advertising client in October. The loss of that client dropped my pay $90,000 a year in just the snap of my fingers so that is why I am in this situation, even though the divorce was a big factor too. I have not used any of the credit cards in over 3-years, but the high interest rate never brings the balance down.
Any advice you can provide, especially on my Mom's house being used as collateral on the big loan. And if I file, what pay scale can I use? My previous pay when I owned my business will not be accurate, and I do not get a paycheck from my new job until March 1st.
All my other bills are still current including my mortgage which is from the same bank that I have the big loan with. No equity in the house as I have a second mortgage on the home for $20,000 that I needed to pay some other bills with. Between the two mortgages I owe $76,000 and the house is worth about that.
My last question would be...do you have to file in the city and/or county you live in, or can you file anywhere? I ask this because our local paper prints peoples names in their paper when they file bankruptcy which I think is wrong. I thought if I could file elsewhere, my name would not get into the local paper.
Thank-you for any help or advice you can give.
Regards,
David
With that said, I just started working for my friend, however, I will not receive my first pay check until March 1st, since I am on a commission only basis. I will still get paid from my old company until then.
I am over $200,000 in personal debt, with most unsecured. Can I file Chapter 7 and not 13 since I do not own a business anymore?
Of the $200,000, about $62,000 is credit card/line of credit debt. $123,000 of it is to my bank which loaned me the money to pay off a big portion to my ex-wife. However, of this amount, $40,000 of it is secured as collateral from my Mom's house. If I file, does my mom lose her house? Does she have to give them the $40,000 upfront? Or will that come due if she ever wants to sell or passes on? What a problem to have. Maybe I can only file on the credit card stuff so my Mom doesn't lose her home.
However, the credit cards are about $2600 a month, the big bank loan is $1480 a month, and I still pay my ex-wife $1250 a month. That's over $5000 a month before I even get started with mortgage and other regular things. I need to get rid of the credit card and bank loan debt. What do I do?
Except for two credit card companies which total 5 accounts between them, I am still current on all payments. Of the 5 credit card accounts, I have not made a payment since September, since I do not have the money. 2 of the accounts were just turned over to a collection company so I need to do something quickly.
My current wife is not listed on any of my debts. But even with both our incomes combined, we will only clear about $5000-$5500 a month, I think. Could be a bit more or less. And our bills are about $8800 a month, so I am out of whack. Even though we had high bills, I was paying them before I lost a big advertising client in October. The loss of that client dropped my pay $90,000 a year in just the snap of my fingers so that is why I am in this situation, even though the divorce was a big factor too. I have not used any of the credit cards in over 3-years, but the high interest rate never brings the balance down.
Any advice you can provide, especially on my Mom's house being used as collateral on the big loan. And if I file, what pay scale can I use? My previous pay when I owned my business will not be accurate, and I do not get a paycheck from my new job until March 1st.
All my other bills are still current including my mortgage which is from the same bank that I have the big loan with. No equity in the house as I have a second mortgage on the home for $20,000 that I needed to pay some other bills with. Between the two mortgages I owe $76,000 and the house is worth about that.
My last question would be...do you have to file in the city and/or county you live in, or can you file anywhere? I ask this because our local paper prints peoples names in their paper when they file bankruptcy which I think is wrong. I thought if I could file elsewhere, my name would not get into the local paper.
Thank-you for any help or advice you can give.
Regards,
David