Chp. 7 questions

[sunshine08]

ok - I wouldn't have put it quite that way. But I am sure lightening has gotten the message, but I don't think you can teach an old dog new tricks. We will just have to let him have his say, maybe that is what makes him feel better, venting on us. We can take his advice/comments with a grain of salt and move on.

[FXDBLOCKHEAD]

INDEBITINMD
First congrat's on the new addition and thanks for the reply.

Trying to save our home and file bankrupcy is looking more difficult each day that goes by.....
Last night we met with the lawyer and the bottom line is that he "thinks" that we have more equity in the house because of the recient market increase (the market evaluation was done months ago) Say'z the court is looking at this closely now and this would push us out of 7. The added difference (the higher equity portion to be paid back to the creditors), if we switched to 13, would be more than we can afford.

Will now need an certified appraisal at a few hundred bucks. I might not make it before Oct 17th.

[davidb81]

You cannot get a credit card without agreeing to the terms of use. I've never once heard of a bank sending someone a credit card without the person approving an application, but if you're going to stand by your statement, then you could have called the bank, canceled it, and cut it in half.

How is it the bank's fault that you walked into a store and charged things you didn't have money to pay for?

Credit card companies have no blame.

The more you believe they do, the more you become a helpless victim who will never achieve financial success.

PLease! As if those "terms" stay the same for more than 3 months and I did get that card without applying for it. granted I chose to activate it and as for cutting it up My God I wish I would have lol

[StaciMM]

See another just to cover your bases. A 7 can be changed to a 13 after filing, if necessary. If you're certain BK is the way to go, decide on an attorney & start getting paperwork, etc. in order. Have them tell you what will change regarding fee if your 7 turns into a 13, based on equity, etc. Before the 341, you should know more regarding equity, and can file a motion to convert.

[sunshine08]

Where did you get the value on your home? We went to a realtor (remax agency) I think we paid $75 for it. They came out and gave us a "real evaluation" on our property what we could hope to sell it for, based on same type homes in our area. If it needs repairs, etc. you can get an estimate for those also, take pictures. An appraiser usually is on the high end of the estimate, because that is normally what homeowners want and what the banks want. You need a more realistic value, What you could hope to sell your home for in a short time.
I would also suggest checking with other attorneys (the free consultations).
Hope this has helped you. Also my son is over eighteen but due to circumstances we were able to claim him and my mother. It was explained to us that we were to include those that depended on us financially.

[InDebtInMD]

INDEBITINMD
First congrat's on the new addition and thanks for the reply.

Trying to save our home and file bankrupcy is looking more difficult each day that goes by.....
Last night we met with the lawyer and the bottom line is that he "thinks" that we have more equity in the house because of the recient market increase (the market evaluation was done months ago) Say'z the court is looking at this closely now and this would push us out of 7. The added difference (the higher equity portion to be paid back to the creditors), if we switched to 13, would be more than we can afford.

Will now need an certified appraisal at a few hundred bucks. I might not make it before Oct 17th.

Thanks!

In our case we did a refi in summer 2004 where we combined our original mortgage and a 2nd mortgage we took out in 2001 (our 1st attempt to get our debt under control) to consolidate some debt. This new mortgage was for 200k, and that was what the house appraised for in summer 04. We filed in May 05.

I expected the trustee to demand another appraisal, but he did not. Looking up recent home sales in our area, and the highest thing that showed up was one that sold for $200k. So I guess he thought our appraisal was OK.

So, when we filed, we only had about $2k of equity in our house, based on that appraisal.

So, if I understand correctly, you are looking at two options:

1. Do a 7 and lose the house as the trustee will take it to get at the equity to pay creditors

or

2. do a 13 where you would have a pay at least the amount of that equity into the plan (which works out to more than you could afford per month)

Doing the 7 would certainly be better, but having to give up the house would be tougher I think when kids are involved.

I'm out of ideas, but please keep us updated.

[FXDBLOCKHEAD]

Were trying to keep the house. We've been it for 20 years, there's a great deal of sweat equity and we raised 2 kids in it. I guess were foolishly a conventional couple. Unfort'ly our home sits beside a very large house that just sold 6 months ago for $500K+ and the new owner is plowing another $150K into improvements as I write this. (crazy) The rest of the homes on the road are in the $275K area. The lawyer says the trustee will do a RE search and this will stick out like a sore thumb.

There are so many twists and turns with this process and things seem to change daily. I had to sell some stock a few weeks ago, the only stock holdings I had, at a substational loss (<$15K) in order to get some my hands on some cash. (That's where the $10K cash on hand came from) I had to pay the mortgage and cough up the tuition for my sons private school ($8.5K) (HS senior) and daughter grade school. This cost me $10K. Now the lawyer says that the trustee will go back to the schools and recover these payments and they can't be put in the "necessary living expenses" form. Meaning we'll have to pull my son from his last year unless we run the clock out 3+months before the creditors start to sue.

If we have the income to support the chp. 13 payments we, without a doubt would/will agree to it. Our goal is to get this 1000 lb. 12 year old monkey off our back. We spent the money and /would will gladly pay it back it we can. Proceeding is all to do with a: equity value in the house and b: husband getting a job.

I see a couple of good ideas on how to make some adjustments with the house value from some posts and there appreciated, thanks.

Our heads are spinning these days on what to do and witch way to go 13, 7 , wait, push before the Oct 17th deadline, lose house, pull kids from school, find employment with enough income to cover 13 payments, no retirement future, credit rating in a shambles....

Sorry Just venting..............

[Pinktiger]

Yes, Lightning -- F&amp;*K Off.

I couldn't have said it better my self.

[sunshine08]

Pinktiger, You may have a point.
Again look at repairs to home, there are many expenses that can be included, make sure you check those if they apply to you. Just because the house next door is super expensive, doesn't mean yours is. Is is mint condition? How old is it? How fast and for what price sould you sell it? Those are the things that a realtor looks at too.
Keep us posted.

[Minnymouth]

Also do a check as to your property value only - what's your propery taxes?? How much does your insurance cover???
You can get these from the PVA office at the court house....
Just because the house next door is expensive and sells high does not mean yours will.

Property tax info and insurance info may be enough for the trustee without doing a appraisal....

Talk to your lawyer.

Minny