Need advice re: Chap. 7!!

[yorkin]

Ok, are you ready for my long story.
December 2007, DH had to close his business due to the crash of the Construction Industry. Had no money saved so we pretty much immediately stopped paying everything and retained an attorney to file BK.
We never got around to filing, were trying to wait the 6 months until we would pass the means test for FL, and well, we just kept going without filing.
Fast forward to present, Nov 2009...
Moved out of home lost to foreclosure in November 2008.
Repossesion of car in August 2009.
Currently have no money in the bank and haven't had any money in bank in the last 2 years, all bank transactions basically represent money put in to pay a bill...goes right back out.
No employment in last 2 years for me or DH.
DH has been putting "sweat equity" into a start up company with 2 other partners for the last 2 years with no pay, he "owns" 33% of the company which an attorney said would be defined as a non-producing asset or something like that.
We have survived on selling practically EVERYTHING we own to pay our bills which are now not too much, approx. $1600 before groceries, gas, etc...
Any money we have gotten has been from ebay, craigs list, pawn shop, or my mom has helped us out periodically.
Haven't used a credit card for 2 years.
Lapsed on Life Insurance
No Health Insurance
Pulled kids out of private school in May 2008.
Don't do anything fun, spend money on anything fun, kids aren't even in any sports right now cuz we can't afford anything.
Don't pay rent, live in a house rented in my mom's name.
Bought a junkie car in May 2009, worth about $3500
Have one judgement from a CC company for about $4000.
Don't think all our possessions are worth more than the amount we're allowed to own since we don't own a house.
I feel like we don't have much for the court to question regarding our eligibility to file a no asset Chapter 7.
Still get about 15 phone calls a day from creditors.
Yesterday, I pulled my credit report...score is 522 and debt is....are you ready for this????
$816,000.00 and honestly, I think there's a few things not included in that.
So, does anyone have any thought as to whether we are in a good position to file or not??
Oh, to add, one thing that seems to have delayed the filing is we were always trying to come up with the $2500 to hire an attorney...now I think we should just do it ourselves. Is that nuts?? I know I can't come up with the money to hire a lawyer so what choice do we have???
Oh yea, I just got a job which I start on Monday, Nov 9th. I am so excited to be able to start earning some money but what will happen as I start to get paid if we have filed for BK??
I would appreciate any advice from the BK Veterans!!
I know this was long but thanks for listening ie. reading, and offering any information that may help us!

[signal]

You sound like you have had it pretty hard the last few years. Where did all that debt come from? Is part of it a deficiency judgement from the foreclosure? Is alot/most of it from the DH's failed business?

[yorkin]

$469,000.00 of it is from the foreclosure deficiency, 60,000 in student loans, $35,000 repo of car, and the rest is credit cards. Actually, none of it is my DH's business stuff, I actually forgot about that because it's not on MY report and we never even hear from those people...see, I told you there was probably more!LOL oh yea, another $116,000.00 of that was the second mortgage...do you believe the people who bought my house paid $300,000.00 for it and we owed $585,000.00. Crazy!!

[signal]

Admittedly, I don't know much about foreclosures, but how is it that you owed $585,000 and yet the deficiency is $469,000? That would put the houses value at $116,000, which doesn't seem right, but I suppose its possible..........

[yorkin]

Actually, the home's appraised value was $605,000.00, the 2 mortgages added up to $585,000.00, (469,000 + 116,000).

[yorkin]

Hello...Help Please????

Ok, are you ready for my long story.
December 2007, DH had to close his business due to the crash of the Construction Industry. Had no money saved so we pretty much immediately stopped paying everything and retained an attorney to file BK.
We never got around to filing, were trying to wait the 6 months until we would pass the means test for FL, and well, we just kept going without filing.
Fast forward to present, Nov 2009...
Moved out of home lost to foreclosure in November 2008.
Repossesion of car in August 2009.
Currently have no money in the bank and haven't had any money in bank in the last 2 years, all bank transactions basically represent money put in to pay a bill...goes right back out.
No employment in last 2 years for me or DH.
DH has been putting "sweat equity" into a start up company with 2 other partners for the last 2 years with no pay, he "owns" 33% of the company which an attorney said would be defined as a non-producing asset or something like that.
We have survived on selling practically EVERYTHING we own to pay our bills which are now not too much, approx. $1600 before groceries, gas, etc...
Any money we have gotten has been from ebay, craigs list, pawn shop, or my mom has helped us out periodically.
Haven't used a credit card for 2 years.
Lapsed on Life Insurance
No Health Insurance
Pulled kids out of private school in May 2008.
Don't do anything fun, spend money on anything fun, kids aren't even in any sports right now cuz we can't afford anything.
Don't pay rent, live in a house rented in my mom's name.
Bought a junkie car in May 2009, worth about $3500
Have one judgement from a CC company for about $4000.
Don't think all our possessions are worth more than the amount we're allowed to own since we don't own a house.
I feel like we don't have much for the court to question regarding our eligibility to file a no asset Chapter 7.
Still get about 15 phone calls a day from creditors.
Yesterday, I pulled my credit report...score is 522 and debt is....are you ready for this????
$816,000.00 and honestly, I think there's a few things not included in that.
So, does anyone have any thought as to whether we are in a good position to file or not??
Oh, to add, one thing that seems to have delayed the filing is we were always trying to come up with the $2500 to hire an attorney...now I think we should just do it ourselves. Is that nuts?? I know I can't come up with the money to hire a lawyer so what choice do we have???
Oh yea, I just got a job which I start on Monday, Nov 9th. I am so excited to be able to start earning some money but what will happen as I start to get paid if we have filed for BK??
I would appreciate any advice from the BK Veterans!!
I know this was long but thanks for listening ie. reading, and offering any information that may help us!

Hello out there....anyone have anything to offer here????

[awayalways]

yorkin you need to file BK7 asap. you certainly deserve a fresh start. it looks like your debts are unsecured so thats an easy BK7. im in florida too and i found a (real) lawyer on craigslist for $450 plus filing fees. go for it.

getting your debts discharged is a huge relief. i hope it all works out for you guys.

[yorkin]

Thank you for the idea of Craigslist...never would've thought of that...I'll look into that! The thought of going pro se is pretty intimidating but I didn't see another way so a cheaper lawyer would be great! Thanks again!

[southernbelle]

If anyone is a candidate for chapter 7, you guys sure seem to be. You should have some free consultations with attys in your area first to get as much information as possible before filing.

I'm extremely happy that awayslways found a great atty on Craigslist but always be careful because I've seen some pretty elaborate scams done through Craigslist so check out anyone you hire through the BBB before giving them any money.

JMO anyway. Good luck.

[yorkin]

Thanks for the advice...we will definitely check any lawyer out thoroughly before using them but I was happy to find some really reasonable prices thru Craigslist.
As far as being ready to file, when I read my post over I'm like, yea, we're definitely ready!!
thanks again for your post!