3 Questions...

[michaelsmom]

My husband and I were hoping to be able to avoid filing bankruptcy and trying to pay off our debt, but I am pregnant and was just put on bed rest (with a two-year-old at home), which means no working for me! Some quick info: We have met with an attorney and have decided to keep one of our vehicles ('00 Jetta), and give the other back to the bank ('03 Explorer). We want to give up our house (we have to refinance soon and our payments will sky rocket!), and of course the debt we have on a few credit cards. We are current on all of bills, but know this will change soon since I will not be working until after the baby is born now.

The attorney has advised us to stop making payments on the things we don't plan on keeping after we file bankruptcy (credit card bills, mortgage, etc). So here is my first question: How long does it take for companies to start coming after us for the money (ie garnish our wages, etc)? We were advised to not file bankruptcy until after the baby is born in case we acrue more medical bills than expected, and he isn't due until October, so we won't be paying certain bills for at least two months.

Here are the last two questions:
Since we are giving up the Explorer, how do we go about doing this? We were told to just drop it off at the bank, but I have heard negative things about this. Should we call the bank first and ask them where to drop it off? What do we tell them exactly?

And lastly, we have a Discount Tires card that we would like to keep after this whole process. We only owe $35 on it so it will be paid off next month. Will filing bankruptcy force us to lose the card?

[ForumReader]

Sounds like you have alot going on and I wish you all well especially with your new baby on the way soon. I will let other experienced posters answer most of your questions since I am still new and getting familiar with all kinds of financial information from this forum. But I will tell you one thing, your last question, there is a 50/50 chance your account the one you want to keep, may survive after your BK has been filed.

Again, best wishes!

[justplaintired]

First, congrats on the new baby.

Far as your questions, it will take awhile for them to "come after you". You will get phone calls, probably lots of phone calls. If you have an attorney ask if you can direct calls to him, ours took all our calls buying us time until we filed, our attorney was paid in full in Feb 08. We stopped paying in Jan 08 and didn't file until June 09. It was May 09 that finally one cc sued us. That pushed us to file.

None of our cc survived, they were all closed. I don't think many on here have had a card survive. Try not to worry about that too much. We have been on a cash only basises since Jan 08, and it really is ok, we have learned somethings have to wait, we have to save for this and that, but it's ok.

I can advise on turning in the car. If you are filing soon, then there will be a stay and they won't be able to touch you. If not they will repossess so don't worry too much about that either. What you might do, is when the call to ask where your payment is, tell them if you have an attorney and are sure you are filing, that they can come pick up the car whenever they want. Just don't drive it, it isn't worth the headache if something happens to the car.

Good luck!

[michaelsmom]

A lot of the debt we have is medical bills...do you think these companies will come after us faster than the credit card companies? Or does it really make a difference?

What you might do, is when the call to ask where your payment is, tell them if you have an attorney and are sure you are filing, that they can come pick up the car whenever they want. Just don't drive it, it isn't worth the headache if something happens to the car.

This made me think...my husband ran into a garbage can with the Explorer a couple months ago and it dented the right front fender and knocked out the head light. Will this be an issue when we turn over the vehicle? Should we fix it beforehand if we can afford to?

[stressedNC]

We turned over our car and it had a huge dent and scrape on the fender, it was not an issue. What they do is auction it off and the difference in what they get and what you owe is your debt well until the BK then it is wiped out. They don't care about damage, they don't care how much they get at auction(they got 1k for ours we owed 12k and it was worth 7k with the damage).
Just make sure you keep insurance on the car until they take it to protect yourself, also make sure you follow your states guidlines for the plates.

[LSUTiger32]

I would just say that if you know you are going to file then move forward. I think a lot of people would say that the one thing that they did wrong was waiting too long. If you get it done soon then enough time won't have passed by for them to be "coming after you". Phone calls, yes.....they will be relentless with the phone calls but don't worry about the lawsuits that usually takes longer.

[michaelsmom]

Thank you so much for the information so far, it has been really helpful!

I would just say that if you know you are going to file then move forward. I think a lot of people would say that the one thing that they did wrong was waiting too long. If you get it done soon then enough time won't have passed by for them to be "coming after you". Phone calls, yes.....they will be relentless with the phone calls but don't worry about the lawsuits that usually takes longer.

What sort of time frame do you think is good? When we file we want to give up our house, and go find one to rent (we don't pan on buying another house for years to come..we like the freedom of change). We were thinking of finding a place to rent in about 6 months incase they start the forclosure process on the house in 8 months or however long it will be. Then we thought about going through with the bankruptcy process after we move..is 6 months too long do you think?

[LSUTiger32]

6 months might be pushing it but you never know some of these mortgage companies are swamped with foreclosures. 6 months on the credit cards should not be an issue, I think many people went longer than that before they get sued.

[justplaintired]

Another thing, your income is a 6 month lookback. So in other words, if you have been employed and your income looking back reflects that, you may want to wait until it reflects you not working. I know in our case, we did pay our attorney so we had them to handle phone calls. Honestly if you wait 6 months, they may turn you into collections, but keep in mind, when the baby's born you will have more medical that could be included in your BK. You wouldn't want to file now, then end up with more bills that you didn't include. So, if I was in your shoes, I would find a good attorney use all the money you won't be paying on debts to pay the attorney quickly. Then once the baby's born, and the medical bills are all in, file. Make sure your attorney will handle your collection calls. Then when the collectors do call, which they will, you can give them your attorney's name and number. I even told all collectors we would be filing and what chapter. I honestly think this bought us more time.

[JustOverBroke]

A lot of the debt we have is medical bills...do you think these companies will come after us faster than the credit card companies? Or does it really make a difference?



This made me think...my husband ran into a garbage can with the Explorer a couple months ago and it dented the right front fender and knocked out the head light. Will this be an issue when we turn over the vehicle? Should we fix it beforehand if we can afford to?

I can only comment on my personal experience with medical bills.
We had a hospital bill we were sued for,but they waited 18 months before they filed suit on us.

We were summoned on 6-26 and we filed on 7-7,so they were granted judgment but we stopped them dead in there tracks after that when we filed.

Everyone of these are different some are more aggressive then others ours didn't waste a lot of time,but just enough to get us filed.

You're mileage may very.

[justplaintired]

I can only comment on my personal experience with medical bills.
We had a hospital bill we were sued for,but they waited 18 months before they filed suit on us.

We were summoned on 6-26 and we filed on 7-7,so they were granted judgment but we stopped them dead in there tracks after that when we filed.

Everyone of these are different some are more aggressive then others ours didn't waste a lot of time,but just enough to get us filed.

You're mileage may very.

That is use with cc debt. They didn't sue until after almost a 1 and half years not paying. I guess some are luckier then others. But I do think paying the attorney first and then preparing for the file date is best. This way if a lawsuit shows it's ugly little head, you are ready to proceed and in this case, I would try to wait until after the baby is born, it gives another exemption and if there are new medical bills, they can be included too.