Keeping a computer in Ch. 7? Friend of mine's vehicle repo'd by unsecured creditor!

[TEW]

This is the crap I keep finding and reading about:

http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/303/RipOff0303525.htm

Why do they all talk about this consolidation garbage instead of getting people to do a Ch. 7?

Because BK is a dirty word that people do not understand. I have relatives that think I am going to dragged away any day and thrown in jail. everyone wants me to see a financial management consultant. like one of them would have given DW a job when she needed one. or debt consolidation loan specialist. DW just got a 30 check from the FTC for a class auction lawsuit they file against one of those company's. you pay them a percentage of your debt and they do nothing for you. been there done that.

[bcvw]

They are going to help you decide what to do, not tell you what to do. In the end, it is YOUR decision.

You arrange for PRE-BANKRUPTCY counseling and will get a certificate when completed. They will give you this. They don't prevent you from filing, it's not THEIR choice.

They may steer you in one direction or another, but if you feel that BK is the way to go, then that is what you do. The purpose of the counseling is to inform you that there may be other options than a BK and also will show you the BK process if you choose that route.

[debtmonster]

This is the crap I keep finding and reading about:

http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/303/RipOff0303525.htm

Why do they all talk about this consolidation garbage instead of getting people to do a Ch. 7?

[bcvw]

Check with Family Services in your area. That's where we found ours.



Aside from that, You should be able to find something here: http://www.usdoj.gov/ust/eo/bapcpa/c...cc_florida.htm or here: http://www.cccsfl.org/bankruptcy/default.asp

[debtmonster]

I just wish I could find one. All I keep finding is web sites for debt consolidation.

[Never_Again]

The visit to the counselor will be an important first step for you. Perhaps it will get your wife to understand just what is going on, when she hears it from a trained professional.

Good luck to you!

[Never_Again]

The visit with the counselor will hopefully be an important first step. Good luck to you with that.

[debtmonster]

Thanks for your posts, everyone. I still need to see that local counselor. I want to show all of my bills and income and see what they say. To go bankrupt, I still have to get them to sign off on that paperwork allowing me to file. Without them giving the nod, I still can't file. I guess I'll have to do this in baby steps.

[GreenInkOnPaper]

I have to admit that I am probably a little like your wife. I was in denial- always thinking that I would just have to put in a "few" more hours every month to pay for something I wanted. $55K later, and now it's clear there just aren't that many hours in a month. I'm still working two jobs, just saving for the Ch7, and trying to keep the rent paid, food on the table, gas in the cars, the utilities on, etc,etc,etc.
Point is- some people (like me) just take a little longer to realize that some problems have very painful solutions. I value my marriage very, very much and I want us to move on to happy times together. Unfortunately, those happy times will have to follow some very UNhappy ones.
I'm wishing you all the best - I hope you and yours get to YOUR happy times!

[AngelinaCatHub]

My mom and a friend of mine who I've know for 20 years have both done a Ch. 7. Both of them told me it was the best thing they've ever done. That's why I want to do it so badly. Yeah, so we would not have two new cars anymore, but it would be so nice for a change to look at the balance of our checkbook and not see $50 available all the time. I would love to see $2500-3000 after paying the mortgage.

[AngelinaCat]

You guys keep posting as if I will keep the Bimmer. I already said MULTIPLE TIMES that I WANT to GIVE IT BACK.

We're paying $1055/mo. on both cars. By doing what "Never Again" suggested, we will have $3,000+ saved.

The thing is, WE CAN pay the cars and credit cards. But in order to do this, I have to "NOT PAY" the following:
- NOT put money away for the IRS for self-employment income
- NOT pay $350 for my monthly medical prescriptions (all needed)
- NOT pay any money to keep my home business going

I have argued with her until I am blue in the face. There is no reasoning with her. I have told her at least 100 times that we need to go bankrupt. In her mind, she thinks that we can afford everything. By her going back to her old job instead of college, she thinks she can work for $8/hr. to pay towards our $6,000/mo. in living expenses.

I found so man nice cars on Auto Trader for $3000 to $7000... as long as you have CASH IN HAND and "NOT" finance. I did a search and looked for cars like under 40,000 miles that are 5 to 7 years old and there are many as long as you're willing to drive up to 500 miles to go pick them up. I have no problem in doing that if I am going to save thousands.

Where can I go in order to do this "pre-bankruptcy" thing that you are talking about?

I need to get a good local credit counselor that I can lay everything on the line and have that person tell my wife, face to face, that both of us need to file Ch. 7.

The problem is that other people are not telling her. She doesn't trust me at all from my bad decisions. She thinks that bankruptcy is simply another one of my bad decisions and she refuses to be any part of it. So if all of her friends or family would recommend her to do it, then she would.

If you guys were a fly on the wall, you would see what I am going through. NOTHING and I mean absolutely NOTHING I tell her sinks in. There is no reasoning what so ever. Nothing that anyone here can say that I can relay will make a difference. It has to come out of the mouth from someone she knows and respects. Those people are all in South America and none of them speak English.

Come April 15 of 2009, $hit is going to hit the fan like you have no idea (actually you and I do), but she doesn't. When it comes time to pay $7,000 in back taxes and then continue paying $800/mo. taxes for next year and pay back this years taxes all together... it's going to be VERY, VERY nasty.

Where can I find some good bankruptcy attorneys that can help me file Ch. 7 even making $60,000 or $70,000/yr. gross?

Dear Debtprisoner (for that is what you are):

Hand your wife the books, and make HER balance them, and make payments on EVERYTHING. If she refuses to do it, then you have your answer. You will have to decide if your life is better WITH her, or WITHOUT her. At this point, I think you have MANY MAJOR decisions to make.

When 'Hub and I first thought about getting married, my church has a mandatory pre-nuputual counseling session that you must complete or you cannot be maried in my church. Of about 10 seminars that we went to, 8 of them dealt with MONEY and how to handle it. The major break point for couples is the MONEY issue.

But again I say, hand over the books to the Mrs (save out some cash for yourself for your emergency fund) and LET HER FLOUNDER TRYING TO PAY EVERYTHING.
Have I screamed it loud enough?

Good luck to you my friend. You have more problems than just 'money issues'.

[debtmonster]

My mom and a friend of mine who I've know for 20 years have both done a Ch. 7. Both of them told me it was the best thing they've ever done. That's why I want to do it so badly. Yeah, so we would not have two new cars anymore, but it would be so nice for a change to look at the balance of our checkbook and not see $50 available all the time. I would love to see $2500-3000 after paying the mortgage.

[debtmonster]

This one answered first. Yes you can. In Florida, they will mail you by VIN an intent to tow, and then they tow. You have a month to bail it out and if you do not, they auction it. About a ticket, I have never heard of that as they have the car.

That's pretty sweet. You could not rent a car for $450 for all that time.

I once bought a Toyota Celica with 200,000 miles on it for $150.00. It lasted about a month. One day I had two friends in the car and we were doing about 30 MPH down the road. We passed under a traffic light and then, "BOOM!" The car through a rod.

I sold the car to my friend's brother for $50. He never did fix it from what I heard. I bought many used cars for cheap in the past and never had any luck with them. My very first car when I was 16 years old was a '76 Corolla. It had about 100,000 miles on it. I changed everything on this car... timing chain, motor mounts, A/C compressor, brakes, water pump, clutch and lots of other things. Luckily my dad had a lot of tools that I had access to. I did all of the work in the front yard for dirt cheap. Back then the clutch was $29. Water pump was about $30. The timing chain was the hardest to replace.

I had that car for maybe 4 years. I drove it the whole time without car insurance since I had no job and could not afford it and my father refuses to pay it.

I traded it for a friend who had an '82 Plymouth Reliant. I sunk a ton of money into this car as well. I got tired of fixing cars and that's when I joined the brand new vehicle bandwagon. My first new car was an '89 Hyundai Excel. $214/mo. with $1000 down and 17% interest.

Why can't you get these deals anymore? Everybody nowadays wants $300-700/mo. for a payment.

[AngelinaCatHub]

Next post answer. You were very succinct about your problem. Since we are all anonymous here, may I make an observation? You have a spouse problem more than a money problem. Perhaps hand her over the cheque book and the bills and ask her to balance them as you “seemingly (to her) can’t do it right”. Let her fail. You cannot hold back your quarterly taxes as that would amplify things. Yes I could easily get that lusted for HD LCD TV and afford it, if we don’t eat for two months. That is poor rationalization. DW is not seeing the numbers. YOU finally are. YOU and she need a new start. I pray your intimate life is better than your financial understanding as there seems to be a lack of communications. I see your frustration. BK is easy, but hard on the nerves. You have to first admit failure, then admit you recognize it, then admit you are big enough to correct it, then admit that you will not make those mistakes of the past after your new start. I sure do wish you well ‘brother’. Your hardest difficulty is not financial, it is reasoning. GBWY ‘Hub

[Flamingo]

Good posting - some people are so used to making exuses and dodging the bullet a blaring neon sign in front of them spraying fireworks would not get their attention as to the problem. Unfortunately, it doesn't go away and is there the next day staring you in the face. The invisible person does not come in at night and take it away either. Eventually reality sets in. Obama said it perfectly to describe a situation..."You can put lipstick on a pig but it's still a pig." How true. When you are insolvent, you are insolvent. It doesn't matter what kind of car you have in the driveway; nothing changes that.