Why Are/Have You Filed BK?

[Drazil65]

We (me, husband, 4 year old son) moved to NC (from home state of Ohio) Jan 2007 for husbands job, he was making $82,000 without his bonus, rented out our home there as we thought we would only be down here until project finished, maybe 2 years. Things good, had CC debt but had stopped using them the year before and was on Dave Ramseys method of paying them off (started the year before we left and up until last fall (2010) had paid down from $66,000 to $29,000 using this method in 4 years, we were very proud and used cash to pay for everything). We decided that we would build a house in early 2009 (husband was project manager for real esate developer) as we could build with significant equitity and use as nest egg (which we did not have because we were paying everything off), husband built house in early 2009, moved in June 1st to our new home and out of the blue he was furloughed (fancy name real estate developer used ofr laid off) on July 1st, they were now going to finish the big project we had moved here for 2 years earlier. Obviously, the building industry was a very hard industry to try to get a job in dduring that time espcially in a state where husband did not know anyone but now we have this new home, a tenant locked into a lease back home in our old home and no jobs to speak of in Ohio so that was not a real option for us at the time. We had used a portion of the construction to finish paying off our CC (well supposedly and it was int he bank to do that at the time) but instead of using it to pay off CC bills we ended up using it to live on while my husband looked for a new job and I looked as well (we live in a very small resort town in NC so all our efforts were focused out of town in the bigger cities), our son had just started kindergarten so we had daycare issues to work around. Unemployement was not alot here so we were thankful to have the intended pay off the rest of the CC money sitting in the bank and my husband finally found something in the middle of October, 5 hours from home. So this meant he would have to have alot of gas money and luckily they provided him with housing during the week, we saw him on Sat. afternoons when he got home and then he would leave late Sunday to go back for Monday. They started him at $60,000, no benefits, 1099, so with him being out of town during the week and no family here we decided that it would be better if I continued to stay at home because of daycare costs and the fact that our son was having a hard time with his dad being gone. Things were looking up but of course we still had to use the money we had for the CC to supplement things as the gas costs and several other work related things (husband had 13 year old car that was on its last leg) and the distance prompted us to get a new (used) vehicle in January 2010 as his car was not going to make it much longer and was costing us alot of money to keep fixing. We get the car mid January and he is once again laid off the second week of Feb. 2010. We are devasted and he begins to search once again, laid off 2 times in 10 months (he had never been laid off before) after being in the business for 20 years had never happened to my husband and it took its toll. He found a temporary position in mid April slated to last until mid August (he was finsihing a project) but this time it was 3 1/2 hours from home in the other direction! We had to pay for gas once again and he actually stayed during the week with another employee that worked for the same company as he could not do that comute on a daily basis, they started him at $40,000, half of his salary from his original job he was laid off from only 10 months prior, we were thankful to have something but we used all the construction money we had to supplement things including our new mortgage that was not even 1 year old. We went to the mortgage company (local bank) and begged for a modification and they graciously gave us one that saved us $500 a month on the mtg. We knew husband had to get out of business as we could not keep going like this so we started to look at the health care industry and was fortunate enough to be near a college that had an accredited program (2 year allied health program) full time, we knew it would be hard but applied for private student loans (husband already ahd 4 yr degree so no help for us had to go all private) and I was able to get a full time position (out of town but only a 45 miniute commute) and he was accepted. He has been in school since last August and as of this summer semester (still carrying full time load with 15 credit hours this summer and 20 hours of homework) he is about to start his clinicals this August through the fall. He is the top of his class and he is already being looked at for a job early next year, the problem is that my salary does not cover everything and we once again maxed out our cards to live month to month, we cannot get any more credit and we have been crazy trying to keep up our payments to our creditors, no late payments yet but that will change next week because we are out of money completely, no crdit to pull from, back in debt and we are stressed to the max, we stand to lose both houses as well, husband wants to quit school but he is 80% through the program and it will be a good field for him to be in as there are more jobs than certified people to fill them, he also has a chance for a job next year at Duke Medical where he will do his clinicals being he is the top of his class, how do we walk away from that chance? Have our first consult this friday and second next week, the stress is about to kill us both and we feel horrible about even thinking of bankruptcy not to mention it could hurt his job outlook? I don't know at this point...

[msadar123]

hi buddy

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[Sk2010]

I have been out of work since 2009. Apply for about 10-15 positions every day but no luck.
Survived on parent's help, some savings and paying bills through credit cards. Now running of funds to pay for stuff. I have no house, no car and about $1000 in bank

[TwentyTwelve]

Basically, being out of work and because companies practically push cards on dumb college kids.

I got my first card when I was 18 and my second card when I was 19. I figured my limit would be low because I reported on the application an annual income of 4000. They sent me a card with a 1500$ limit and later raised it to 3k. I was a dumb kid and used it to live through college and figured I would land a great job after graduating with a shiny new degree. Yeah. The great job never came. In fact NO job came and I was forced to go back to school. By then I had been sued and the total due on those two cards was over 10k and climbing with all the attorney fees and everything. After I got out of school the 2nd time I found a job with a whopping 25k/year salary. I had incurred 30k in student loan debt and the gov is going to get theirs whether anyone else does or not. I could not afford to pay everything and ended up going bankrupt.

It has been a humbling experience, to say the least. On the bright side, I am now more responsible and understand how to use credit properly, as well as following a budget and actually having a savings account.

[jjim120]

None of your choices fit my situation. Five years ago, my husband and I were successful business people, owned several businesses, owned our home and a small acreage outright, had no credit card debt. We had been in the process of transferring business control to our son, preparing to step out and retire. We were approached to help a pair of investor-developers continue a project near my husband's home town, told that their problems were the result of major health problems - one with tongue and jaw cancer who had undergone a very disfiguring surgery and the other with severe heart problems. The first phase of the project was complete and they said they wanted one of the best commercial and industrial builders in the area, one with integrity, honesty, and who could control and minimize the cost overruns and change orders they had had on the first phase. They had sought out the recommendation of the builders' association that covered the area, and said that the group recommended only two or three builders in the area who had that kind of reputation for complete quality work and integrity. They told us they were prepared to offer the minority partner's shares as inducement to get us on the project, if he could continue as a consultant to the project and would retain the rights to purchase a selected large unit. They agreed to find a lender willing to fund it.
Sympathetic to the plight of the two gentlemen, and impressed by the level of planning and excellence of the project plan, my husband agreed to do their project as his last before retirement. He was especially sympathetic to the man with cancer, as one of his employees and and a friend had had similar cancer and was left with the inability to eat solid food, only consuming liquids. That employee had been single and alone, and my husband spent many hours on the phone with him late at night, trying to help him out of major depression. Ultimately, the employee drank himself to death, essentially committing alcoholic suicide.
Unfortunately, there was no way to know, going into the project, that the attorney for the man with cancer (also an attorney, the majority owner of the project), apparently was a crook. During the course of the project, it turned out that he had made the bulk of the money he invested in the project by suing his former law partners, that he was nearly wedded to the crooked attorney, and that apparently the crooked attorney had a private agenda for the project outside his client's best interest.
The con game that they ran was massive. We, and our son, lost everything we had, including our home, as we spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees and never saw the inside of a courtroom until we got to bankruptcy court. We have now been discharged from bankruptcy, but still face issues relating to default judgments because all the lawyers eventually backed away from the case because they would not be able to collect any money for their work, and still have an appearance scheduled in bankruptcy court which will determine whether we face the rest of our lives living in poverty or whether my husband will be forced to testify to the satisfaction of the con artists so that they can scam several insurers and a title company. The tally of people put into bankruptcy continues - 8 that I know of to date - and an additional 3 companies, one of which was a supplier on the project, closed their doors, laying off another 60 people. Four people involved are now at death's door, and when they do die, I will consider these evil attorneys murderers. The con game continues, as I have detailed elsewhere on this forum.
Our bankruptcy attorney says that the story of the project and the con game is not admissible in that court, and everything that has happened has been done by attorneys, protected by confidentiality rules and attorney-client privilege. Massive verbal fraud by these lawyers has been committed, but is not "illegal," and cannot be proven in court. No doubt the insurance company and the title company will make the attorneys' greed worthwhile - once again, settling out of court for some big sum.

[Alt2Att]

We had to file divorce because my husband was unemployed for a long period of time. It was a difficult 5 years prior to bankruptcy, but now that the creditors are off our back it is much easier.

[justpassingb]

Husband lost his job due to downsizing in 2009; three months later my job was outsourced to India. We lived off our savings and unemployment for a year, but were unable to find work. Eventually he found a job in another state and we moved.

We were unable to sell our house at all, even after reducing the price multiple times. We had a large HELOC on the house, mainly because we thought we were going to be there for the next 20 years. We were both long-term employees with our respective jobs and made good money. We used the HELOC to pay for college for our kids, as well as braces, medical/dental expenses not covered by insurance, and home renovations.

We finally filed in Feb 2011

[MWM]

Defaulted on a commercial lease with a personal guaranty. That killed the business and all its cash flow. No choice.

[dyarlett]

When my wife and I initally got married, she was just a substitute teacher and not making regular income. I had a steady job, but it wasn't enough for groceries, utilities, etc. Basically, we used our CC's as a cecking account, robbing Peter to pay Paul each month and then things snowballed once our interest rates skyrocketed.

[AKB]

My husband was a owner operator in the trucking business and when fuel cost got so high he could not make any money. We tried to get the finance company to work with us but they refused. They got government money but would not lower or refinance his truck so we said come get it. Now he is driving company truck making more than he did owning his own. So we had to file chapter 13 to cover the difference in what they sold it for and what we owed. I am 2 payments in 58 to go.

[FXClarence]

Long term unemployment here. My wife luckily has an excellent job. I'm in the I.T. field. It seems any job I can find is far less than half what I was making and it is in another state. The problem with that is, then my wife would have to quit her job and we would need to go ahead and throw in the towel on the house. We want to try to keep the house, and we can not replace her job else where. Our bills were based on both of our incomes. We racked up credit card bills helping to supplement thinking things would be better as soon as I found another job. I believe now knowing what we know and where we are at financially, we would have made major changes soon after me losing my job.

I wish we were not so emotionally attached to this house. However, if we get the second stripped off then it will not be as bad as it could be. I know others have it far worse than we do and I truly feel for them. We have our health and we have each other.

[Snax]

We ultimately decided to file Ch7 a year before we actually did. A gradual reduction in income and a home refinance that just wasn't happening pushed us into a corner. We COULD meet our debt payments every month, but barely, and it required sacrifices to things like a healthy food budget. Forget about taking a vacation or going anywhere for the next 5-6 years. With 3 school age children, it just wasn't a life we could continue to lead, working at every opportunity and sacrificing their opportunities for sports and such, we needed to break free.

It took a year for us to file because we really wanted a mortgage modification to take off some of the heat in hopes of actually not needing to file. 9 months later, we got the mod, but it was too little too late. Other creditors thought they could play hardball and jack up interest rates even further, and the mortgage company refused to negotiate our principle down even a penny, so we were still left with little choice. Now, with a home that is negative by over $60k, our only wish is that we had done this sooner.

The banks don't want to help. They just want to keep negotiating for this or that payment or hardship plan on the hope that people will continue to hand over every last penny they can. So taking the same sociopathic view, we took the reigns and are now cutting our losses to begin a much better and frugal life without credit.

So screw the banks. They've done their best to screw us.

[gml120]

STUDENT LOANS, STUDENT LOANS, STUDENT LOANS. Me and husband completed BS in chemical engineering to find out that all our jobs were sent overseas, plants closed, etc. Payed on the loans first, tried to keep up with car repairs and groceries by utilizing credit. We have never lived beyond our means, we have never driven a car with less than 100k miles on it, and have paid over 80k so far in rent on shitty slum apartments in the worst parts of towns. The ultimate kick-us-while-we're-down was all of those loans we struggled to pay on since 2003 AUTOMATICALLY went into default because of the chap 7. We never did get "good" jobs anywhere near our field of study out of hundreds of interviews and 6 moves around the country to be "nearer to opportunity". With a chap 7 plus loan default on our credit for 10 years our dream of ever owning anything is smashed. Good news is, our neighbors living on welfare next door just told me they bought a house with land to "grow their signature weed." Thanks USA.

[ashleywatson]

I think before file for eh bankruptcy we should take the help of legal counsel for the alternative solution for the bankruptcy, because after filling for the bankruptcy you may face lots of problem.

[pychk2pychk]

Separation almost divorce, wife and I split up, she moved out of state but was unable to get a job for over a year, used cc's to keep two households afloat. Interest rates went thru the roof and was unable to keep up my cc payments, actually took out a 401k loan to pay off some debt last year, it didn't help much, now I have a 800/month 401k loan payment and in ch13. On a good note, the wife and I are still married, live in the same house and have learned a very valuable lesson.