unique situation

[frogger]

Fair enough, but honestly, I care more about my employment and fixing my situation than their perceived risk, and the advice on this board as well as those attorneys I speak to will help - I take attorney's advice with a grain of salt, and maybe another grain via these boards...

Agreed. Take your time here, read, study, and ask the questions, and there are a lot of people here that can and will help you. I know that for me, bk was not an option that was ever considered until there was no other option.

Should have done it 5 years before I did......

[airahcaz]

If you are in the banking business, let me give you some food for thought........

You are much more of a risk for a bank to employee you in your present state of financial affairs than you would be if you filed bk.

Fair enough, but honestly, I care more about my employment and fixing my situation than their perceived risk, and the advice on this board as well as those attorneys I speak to will help - I take attorney's advice with a grain of salt, and maybe another grain via these boards...

[frogger]

Future banking employment will probably be jeopardized I'd imagine.

If you are in the banking business, let me give you some food for thought........

You are much more of a risk for a bank to employee you in your present state of financial affairs than you would be if you filed bk.

[airahcaz]

I dont think its a dilemma at all in all honesty, the better route would be file CH. 13 IMO vs. getting sued, but only you know your financial situation. This is where a consult with legal would be beneficial to you. Why dont you schedule a few and see what the best route to go would be.

Bottom line is if you lose your job, it wont matter will it? Talk to your boss and see what would possibly work to allow you to keep your job; they're hard enough to find as it is. Again, you need to weigh the odds and no, just because one creditor offers to settle does not mean they all will.

ETA: you said you could put aside $3500 towards something else, I'm guessing that money is from debts you want to walk away from. Worse case scenario is if that becomes your DMI, then in the course of 5 years, you'd pay back $210K....right?

Sorry, I meant if one creditor summons me, in this case the OC (Discover and FIA for BofA thus far), then that will appear on my credit report. Will that open a can of worms for all creditors to now file suits..
Secondly, I've read that I should be less worried if the debts is sold off, it's really the OC's I need worry about?
Lastly, if I lose my job, yes, I'd immediately file BK, 7 or 13. I'd rather not lose my job of course, so I do need to decide whether to move ahead w 13, and whether to disclose to my employer and when. Future banking employment will probably be jeopardized I'd imagine.
I was hoping to address debtors if and when summoned, and yes, some of that DMI can be accumulated towards settlements.

[Pandora]

I dont think its a dilemma at all in all honesty, the better route would be file CH. 13 IMO vs. getting sued, but only you know your financial situation. This is where a consult with legal would be beneficial to you. Why dont you schedule a few and see what the best route to go would be.

Bottom line is if you lose your job, it wont matter will it? Talk to your boss and see what would possibly work to allow you to keep your job; they're hard enough to find as it is. Again, you need to weigh the odds and no, just because one creditor offers to settle does not mean they all will.

ETA: you said you could put aside $3500 towards something else, I'm guessing that money is from debts you want to walk away from. Worse case scenario is if that becomes your DMI, then in the course of 5 years, you'd pay back $210K....right?

[airahcaz]

yes, that's the basic dilemma - CH13 or "or - sit and wait for lawsuits, judgments and garnishments" - and there seems to be no hard and fast rule as to when or IF "or - sit and wait for lawsuits, judgments and garnishments" will come to play. I will ask however, that someone advised in another board that once you start to settle one debt, then they all see that on your report and start to follow suit? pun intended

[Pandora]

If an employed person cannot declare any chapter of BK for whatever personal reason, yet has defaulted on CC debt as well as mortgages (housing underwater, etc), how would one deal with the outstanding 5 figure CC debt?

after going back through your posts to try to comprehend why you'd say a person "cant declare any chapter of BK" - it appears as if you apparently dont qualify for a Ch.7, but do not want to be put into a Ch. 13. The only other option is to settle the debt. However, since you work for a bank and you state that filing BK may cause termination - in reality any financial issues while working at a bank is trouble. IMO not filing BK, even if Ch.13 - and doing nothing while attempting to gather up the funds to try settle all of your debt as you are able to is a huge mistake. There is no guarantee that anyone will settle with you, then there's that whole tax implication. It's better to be open about your financial picture with your employer vs. having a sudden garnishment come up and then have to answer why it all happened.

You have 2 choices: File and pay back some of the debt - or - sit and wait for lawsuits, judgments and garnishments. Which do you think your employer would be more inclined to fire you over; paying back some of your debt via a 13 or....?

What you're talking about doing here (http://www.bkforum.com/showthread.ph...111#post506111) wont work because in reality ("in another persons name") - you wont have that money, it'll be taken via garnishment as well as anything you own could get a lien attached to it. Buying a house in another persons name isnt going to get you out of the debt you're currently in.

No one wants to do a Ch. 13, but the reality of it is sometimes one has no choice in the matter.

[helpme2010]

If an employed person cannot declare any chapter of BK for whatever personal reason, yet has defaulted on CC debt as well as mortgages (housing underwater, etc), how would one deal with the outstanding 5 figure CC debt?

I would call each creditor/credit card company and tell them you need to pay a reduced amount each month, but don't allow them to tack on interest and penalties. Some creditors will do this. e.g. I worked a deal to pay half the amount each month, but after 6 months, discover refused to continue this and the whole time they kept on piling on interest and penalties. Finally bk was the only avenue left to get out of the ever-increasing debt.

[Peeps]

Couple of thoughts:

Win lottery, do a full payoff (and feel free to remember all your good friends here on the forum)... sorry, couldn't resist!

Negotiate the debts down and settle for pennies on the dollar. Lots of good threads on this topic, just use the search function

Ignore the CCs and wait for lawsuits. The CCs might use legal remedies to garnish wages or put liens on the underwater house. I think there is a maximum percentage (is it 25%? Anyone?) that can be taken out of a paycheck, so it's not like they can all garnish wages at the same time.

There are endless personal reasons why people won't file for BK. Far fewer reasons exist for why people can't file for BK. The more info you're able to share, the more likely people here can help with additional options & ideas. It's all anonymous. Best of luck to you.

[frogger]

I can't think of any personal reason not to file bk. Perhaps more details would be in order?

[keepsmiling]

There is probably no situation that is so unique that it hasn't been discussed here. If you give details, someone who has been in your shoes may well chime in.

[keepsmiling]

You could attempt debt settlement (don't use one of those services) for the cc debt. Since your home is underwater, you probably wouldn't owe any taxes for the forgiven debt (depends on your retirement funds situation)

[porkchopcash]

If an employed person cannot declare any chapter of BK for whatever personal reason

????? Not sure what exactly you are saying here. Are you under that assumption that you cannot declare BK if you have a job?

[airahcaz]

If an employed person cannot declare any chapter of BK for whatever personal reason, yet has defaulted on CC debt as well as mortgages (housing underwater, etc), how would one deal with the outstanding 5 figure CC debt?