Question Sheriffs sale now what?

[mn12]

I have been trying to work out a deed-in-lieu with FIDELITY Bank since last October. They now tell me that they are proceeding with the Sheriff sale because they can't get an agreement with "the investor" for the DIL. So now what? How bad does this hurt my credit? Does it hurt it more if I don't pay my credit cards etc and just go on with life? If the foreclosure kills my credit, does it hurt more if I just stop paying on credit cards etc?

[BKParalegal]

You are basically asking what is better death by hanging or firing squad. I guess if you are not filing bk, the foreclosure is a one time hit and then stops reporting, where as the credit cards will hit every month you are late. I really don't know the point of this question though, you know this is a BK Forum, right?

[AngelinaCatHub]

You are basically asking what is better death by hanging or firing squad. I guess if you are not filing bk, the foreclosure is a one time hit and then stops reporting, where as the credit cards will hit every month you are late. I really don't know the point of this question though, you know this is a BK Forum, right?

LOL. OK, this is a great response.

[mn12]

Sorry BKPara, I guess I didn't give all of the facts. We are considering BK and/or best how to handle it. I was laid off for awhile, maxed the plastic to survive.... Got an OK job now, pays well but doesn't pay enough to keep up with it all, but stable. Way too much credit card debt/ outrageous interest, just barely break even each month. So now with a shefiff's sale ,and it's effect on our credit, does it matter if we just quit paying the credit card bills take the additional hit for 7 years (???) and/or file bankruptcy are we better off just sucking it up and just try to struggle thru it? I make over $50K so from what I understand pushes us to ch13 and more uncertainty. (Doesn't ch 13 setup a repayment plan and give us next to nothing for daily expenses???). We relocated several states away (for the job) and haven't lived in the house for over 2 years, trying to sell it. We rent & have 2 older cars with 200K miles on each so they are worth next to zero. Sorry, just found out today that the deed-in-lieu wasn't going to happen (investor wouldn't agree) sheriffs sale set for next week. We tried to turn over the house to fidelity since we 1st filed for the DIL last October, but they just drug this thing out... . Should we BK or not? THANKS for your help.

[BKParalegal]

$50k doesn't put you into a Chapter 13. A family of 2 can have anywhere from $51k to $61k in income and still pass part 1 of the means test. You should be a Chapter 7 no problem. Your credit score will be way better a year after filing BK (unless you mess it up again) then it is right now.

If I were you, I would BK faster than Usain Bolt running the 100 meter.

Good Luck

[thaynes]

You are in the same shoes a lot of us were in. We stopped paying on the house. And after that, I wondered, "If my credit is now screwed up, then what am I doing making payments on maxed out credit cards?" In many cases, BK is by far the obvious answer.

[JRScott]

In truth at this point your credit is probably not that good. The thing about the sheriff's sale is that if they get less than the note for the property, the lien holder (Fidelity) can come after you for the deficiency balance in most states.

This is a problem caused by banks packaging and selling loans to investors, they don't have the flexibility to work with customers anymore and one reason the legislation passed just before the August recess of Congress was bogus.

You've lived on credit during an emergency which many of us have done. In the end you find you can't pay the bills, and that's typical. Only you and your family can decide if bankruptcy is the answer. There is little chance you could get it filed before the sale, but it might not hurt to check with a few bankruptcy lawyers in your area. They can help you sort through your case and help you decide what is best in your situation.