Why Are/Have You Filed BK?

[pageturner]

Why I filed for chapter 13BK

Victim of Fraud, subprime loan, excessive debt that I wouldn't be able to get out from under. I've been dragging debt behind me for 20 years. Lost a parent young. Family that can't assist. Finally coming to my senses and learning how to live within a budget.

[syn]

I am here gathering information for my dad. Excessive credit card debts, business loans and IRS troubles have forced into either filing chapter 7 or 13. Every was fine with the business until he tried to purchase a second location which happened to pass at the wrong time, gas went up and people stopped driving (he is in the automotive trade) so he became behind on the IRS by $30,000 over two quarters. He is forced to sell the second location or the mortgage company is going to take it for being 4 months behind. Luckily the IRS put a lien on the property so if he can sell it the IRS will be gone. The mortgage company seems in no rush to auction it off.

$140,000 deep in credit cards he is in. $50,000 in business loans so it's alot. Not to mention the $150,000 home equity loan on my house that my dad can't add into it but that will probably be entirely separate issue since he is 2 months behind on that.

So that's my issue, haha.

[brokemfer]

I'm here primarily because of divorce. My ex-wife and I were married, bought a house, and had 1 child. We ran up quite a bit of credit card debt slowly over the years, and never made more than the minimum payments. I made good (not great) money, she made decent, and there was always enough to pay the bills, save a little, and have some fun.

We ended up separating and eventually divorcing after 7 years. In order to keep the divorce out of the courtroom, and to keep life as normal for our child, I agreed to take on about 85% of the marital debt. I also agreed to a child support arrangement that ended up being just over 50% of my take home pay. I figured I made enough money, and could cut living expenses that I could make it work.

I made it work for about 18 months. However, in July my paychecks (even with a 2nd job) just couldn't cover all my obligations. I made an appointment with a credit counseling service. I walked out sixty minutes later and made an appointment with a bankruptcy attorney the next day. The three choices that were presented to me were to add a third job on top of the other two, go back to court to get the child support order reduced, or declare bk. I chose the third. I filed chapter 13 in September. I had my 341 hearing in October, which went off without a hitch. My confirmation hearing is set for the second week of November, and my attorney anticipates no challenges in getting the plan confirmed. It seems I filed just before a tidal wave of filings hit here in Michigan.

[momof3inSD]

I am new here, so any advice would work. Heres my story; We were living in Iowa we then moved to SD and put our house on the market not a bite so we are making a house payment and a rent payment.(we have had our house on the market since april of last year) We also have a contract for the house we are renting that we buy it when our other house sells, but we did look at the contract and it says we will lease this premise until we are able to purchase it. Well we won't be able to if we file if, it goes that way. Just recently we started talking about the B word we were living off my hubbys 401k and well now its credit cards he took a few cash advances a few months ago to try to get some sort of cushion but it didn't work. I have a daycare and my daycare kids eat better than us. By the time we pay all of our bills we have between 250 and 300 left thats for groceries gas and ect for the month.My hubby is on his way for jury duty so we have to see how that goes today, so hopefully we can get an appt with an attorney next week. It just kills me not knowing if we would even qualify or how any of this works. Sorry for babbaling it just makes me sick. It's like how did we get here and so quickly? Thanks for reading this.

[jas256]

What to do?

Hello all! I'm brand new to this forum and find it comforting. Here's my story: I have a very good job and make a very comfortable income. The problem is not with me - it's with my wife. I only have my mortgage and school loan for debt and make well into 6 figures.

My wife has about 35K in consumer debt that she cannot seem to get ahead of. I have already bailed her out NUMEROUS times and figured I have spent about 80K of my own money to help her out in the past 3 years! I didn't mind doing it at first, as long as she was able to start fresh. However, every time I paid off her credit cards, she would rack a couple thousand on each of them and be right back to where we were before. After doing this over and over, I have had it. It's really to a point where it's affecting our marriage. I have never, and never will share accounts. I'm tired of living poor because she can't manage her money! My name is not on any of her credit cards, debt and her name is not on our house or cars.

She is so overwhelmed that she wants to consider BK. Iowa is not a community property state, but an equitable distribution state. My question: If she files for BK, and my name is not on any of her debt, will I be responsible for any of it?

[biggomez777]

Let's see. I'm 25. I got my first credit card at 20. By the time I was 22 I had $20,000 in credit, most of which I hadn't used. Bought a bunch of stuff I shouldn't have bought, my wife was unemployed for a spell, and that slowly jacked my balances near $22,000(had 30k in credit at this point). THEN the medical stuff hit. I had 4 surgeries in 2 years, one suicide attempt(bipolar), and ALL of the medical bills associated with all of that shit. Even with insurance my pills were running $300/month, plus doctors at $300/month, and we(me and DW) didn't have enough to pay for it. So onto the CC's it went. Didn't even think about it. We came to a point where I looked at all of our balances and went "shit, we're out of credit, how did that happen" and it took 2 weeks to go from "la-de-da, everything is fine" to "we need to declare BK, now." Another month to find a good lawyer. And here we are now.

[stargazer]

I don't yet know about filing, but mine was due to everything but divorce.

I had about 30K I had to take out for necessary surgery. I couldn't do that except through student loans -- they were more than happy to throw that money at me, and I was desperate. I robbed Peter to pay Paul alot. Actually, I tend to refer to it as "robbing the mob to pay grandma" because I borrowed from the WORST possible place to pay off the debts of least concern. And I'm having to do it again with using tax money to fund emergencies so I can still pay credit cards -- it's all just to a FAR lesser extent. Yes, I've learned my lesson but when you have an aching cavity or two, you will fork over any cash you have to get better.

Anyway, the credit card debt has been on-going for 6 years. Moving to a new state, job losses, pay cuts, school costs, surprise costs, emergencies, bad planning and budgeting, basic youthful stupidity, ignorance, medical costs because of a lack of insurance combined with ongoing health issues, untreated Bipolar disorder,... it all tends to blur together into this one giant wrench that wrecks your financial vehicle. I don't even know anymore what all constituted for 65K. I do know the least of it was simply living above our means. But we did that too, especially when I was unmedicated and I'm incredibly "persuasive" with my partner when manic.

For those who have relationship issues, I'd like to offer a little consolation because BK doesn't always have to mean the ruins to a relationship too. Yes, the stress doesn't help the relationship and we are not perfect. But in the face of this kind of stuff, we always ultimately wind up strengthening our bond. We've been through alot of hell together, and as long as we're together, we can deal with it. We are each others strength. I don't think either of us would have been able to get through this alone -- although I feel if it weren't for me, this would have never been a problem.

[subxisting]

Credit

I haven't filed yet just in the process, but my husband told me the day after we got married that he was $80,000 alone in credit card debt

[blftx]

Lost job,ex and a nasty mortgage company who im not finished with yet. Got behind on my mortgage payments. Mortgage company says I have no rights,loans in ex's name and "I only signed the deed of trust." So they wouldnt let me do a forebearance,or modification without ex's signature. Ex wanted them to take the house and foreclose. So I wasnt allowed to modify the loan but when it came time to foreclose they held me just as liable and was foreclosing on me too.I filed bankruptcy 2 days before the foreclosure sale......Im not thru with the mortgage company yet.....Since I didnt get the paperwork on the house in the divorce im researching. I found the deed of trust online and on every paper I initialled and signed as "borrower". This companys so nasty(along with ex) that they refused to send me statements,tell me where they were going. They we're late on my insurance and taxes after bankruptcy and refused to talk to me.Even tho ex gave permission and i've spoke to them for the last 5yrs now they,"dont have permission to speak to me." I also filed the quit claim deed from ex. Researching seems Ever*Home is notorious for nastiness............but again,im not thru with them.

[kileyj]

My husband is filing, I am not. And I hope to never have to. Fingers crossed.

I married into some of the debt. Husbands student loans (not 'student' but borrowed for school) are $75,000.

Then there's about $150,000 of other debt. My husband started a business, did well with it but he did too much too soon. Then the rest is credit card debt - living outside our means, he bought a nice car, we were eating out A LOT, etc. MY share is about $35k worth and I am working on knocking that out. My husband has a spending problem and now that he has admitted it and is seeking help for that, things are getting a lot better with other aspects of our lives, most importantly our marriage.

Can't wait to see positive numbers on our credit report!

[Reddrocket07]

Eh my wife and I are considering filing Bankruptcy for a number of reasons, but mainly because of credit card debt.

I was married once before and accumilated some debt from that marriage, like $6,000 worth. On top of that, I used my credit card to survive when I couldnt find a job after college, which was a HUGE mistake. My current wife and I rushed into buying a house and our economic hardship deferrment period on our student loans ends in december. As of right now, we have..

$130,000 Mortgage
$86,614 in Student Loans
$56,993 in unsecured debt including car loan.

My wife and I spoke to a lawyer once before, but we do not qualify for Chp.7 because we fail the means test. We make about $1600 about the median income poverty line.

With the housing market the way it is, we would never be able to sell the house and the only job I have been able to find is over an hour away from where I live. I spend about $400.00 in fuel a month.

It is just frustrating that we live paycheck to paycheck, we have no savings, cant afford to have children, and we cant afford new clothes for work.

Tomorrow is our appointment with the lawyer, I am dreading what they will say about how much it will cost to file bankruptcy!

[No Gravy]

I had a very good job so plenty of money and that's when I was given four credit cards, Discover and three MCs. Lost that job (office was eventually closed); had another job that didn't pay half as much, but was laid off from that one, too. (Only two jobs I've ever lost, btw.) Since then have been self-employed.

Sister got sick (cancer) and was paralyzed/bedridden for about a year before she passed away. I didn't work very well during that time; I used to get phone calls from her--when was I coming over? She couldn't reach her husband, could I see if I could? She wanted out of the convalescent facility, could I call her doctor for her? I went over every other day at least and fed her dinner--about the time I realized she could feed herself and just wanted to make sure she had company/attention, she stopped eating and I would have given anything if I could have fed her. In addition to losing her, in the past five years or so I've lost three other friends to cancer.

So . . . had a mortgage so sold my house to move somewhere cheaper, paid off mortgage and bought house outright. Time for a new start . . . nine months in the new house and then the flood; spent 11 months in a FEMA trailer (not fun in upstate NY in the winter). Yes, I did get aid from FEMA and the state and some other agencies, but I also had a ton of expenses because of this. Like the $400 electric bill one month for running the air conditioner and a dehumidifier full time to try to dry the house out. And replacing the tank of heating oil I lost (not to mention the tank itself).

When it got to be a choice between paying the credit cards and getting my walls/floors/cabinets/furniture/furnace/water heater/electrical box replaced, what decision do you suppose I made?

I'm good at cutting corners and getting creative with whatever is left in the fridge and pantry and doing without entertainment (can't remember the last time I went to a movie theater), but it has become clear that I can make enough to pay basic expenses but I was never, never, never ever going to get caught up with the credit cards. And so I've just filed Chapter 13 and realized I can't go to my family reunion in two months and I'm freaking about the fact that I have an 11-year-old car and I doubt it will last through five years of the plan. Yes, I know people can buy another car in Chapter 13, but it just sounds like another huge struggle to be able to do that and I'm so, so, so tired of struggling already. But giving up is not an option, either.

Good luck to everyone.

Wow. So many parts of your story I relate to, and others I can't even imagine how you got through it. I can really relate to being tired of struggling. Amen to that!

I'm glad you're here.

[jtamay3]

I've heard this too...

Similar story, utilized credit to afford court awarded alimony and child support, as ex-wife pleaded with the court for add'l funds so that she could return/finish college so as to support our two children as a single mother. Court so awarded it.

Two weeks after divorce final, she remarried a fairly wealthy friend of mine, which happened to be her boss. Rec'd her degree, and then decided she didn't want to work full time, using our/his children as the reason.

After my son's Christmas visit, she decided I had become too successful and filed for a modification to child support.

Despite the evidence provided, courts allowed her an increase in child support and granted her my son's tax exemption.

In order to keep my house and vehicle I am more or less forced to clean my debts to afford this new order and subsequently, the accumulated attorney fees..

Thx for allowing me to vent..

Stuff like that would make me not want to get married.

[jpdude]

psychological reasons played a role, in my case...

My wife of 10 years left me in 2001...we had 2 houses (one was a rental), 3 cars and all the trappings..including positive net worth.

7 years later I am renting a very modest home (2BR, 25-yr old TH), have over $140K in credit card debt, and a zero balance in my savings and 401K accounts. And have earned a steady income during the whole time period.

?? What the heck happened ??

My reaction to the loss of my marriage was to overspend to make me feel better...not just a little, but fanatically. I got INTENSE gratification from going to Macy's at lunch and spending $500 on some clothes (most of which I would never wear). Any woman I happened to be dating was sure to receive MANY gifts. Leaving a $20 tip on a $25 lunch bill gave me a thrill I never before needed. Real big man.

And isn't it my right to drive a $50,000 car?

When finally (after a couple of slow payments about a year ago) all of the CC companies jacked my rates from 7.5, 9.9 and 11.9 to 29.99, 31.49, etc.) my minimum payments went from $1500/mo to $3300/mo. I finally was forced to address the issue.

When I tried to figure out what I had done with the money, I was distraught---other than some nice clothes and some memories of good meals I couldn't recall where it had all gone!!

Started causing major depression, so my doctor referred me to a psychiatrist, where I was diagnosed with Bi-Polar 2 (similar to Bi-Polar 1 but less dramatic), have been taking 600mg of Lithium daily and seeing a shrink 2x a month--also, some Debtor's Anonymous classes every other month or so. It is all working really well, except for the utter humiliation that the past few years have left me with.

[LittleDoe]

combination of factors, like so many of us

I had a very good job so plenty of money and that's when I was given four credit cards, Discover and three MCs. Lost that job (office was eventually closed); had another job that didn't pay half as much, but was laid off from that one, too. (Only two jobs I've ever lost, btw.) Since then have been self-employed.

Sister got sick (cancer) and was paralyzed/bedridden for about a year before she passed away. I didn't work very well during that time; I used to get phone calls from her--when was I coming over? She couldn't reach her husband, could I see if I could? She wanted out of the convalescent facility, could I call her doctor for her? I went over every other day at least and fed her dinner--about the time I realized she could feed herself and just wanted to make sure she had company/attention, she stopped eating and I would have given anything if I could have fed her. In addition to losing her, in the past five years or so I've lost three other friends to cancer.

So . . . had a mortgage so sold my house to move somewhere cheaper, paid off mortgage and bought house outright. Time for a new start . . . nine months in the new house and then the flood; spent 11 months in a FEMA trailer (not fun in upstate NY in the winter). Yes, I did get aid from FEMA and the state and some other agencies, but I also had a ton of expenses because of this. Like the $400 electric bill one month for running the air conditioner and a dehumidifier full time to try to dry the house out. And replacing the tank of heating oil I lost (not to mention the tank itself).

When it got to be a choice between paying the credit cards and getting my walls/floors/cabinets/furniture/furnace/water heater/electrical box replaced, what decision do you suppose I made?

I'm good at cutting corners and getting creative with whatever is left in the fridge and pantry and doing without entertainment (can't remember the last time I went to a movie theater), but it has become clear that I can make enough to pay basic expenses but I was never, never, never ever going to get caught up with the credit cards. And so I've just filed Chapter 13 and realized I can't go to my family reunion in two months and I'm freaking about the fact that I have an 11-year-old car and I doubt it will last through five years of the plan. Yes, I know people can buy another car in Chapter 13, but it just sounds like another huge struggle to be able to do that and I'm so, so, so tired of struggling already. But giving up is not an option, either.

Good luck to everyone.