New to this and terrified

[mademistakes]

I've been lurking around here reading everything I can and I just want to say what a great forum this is. I come here and actually feel at peace with life, crazy huh! lol

I've been robbing Peter to pay Paul now for about a year, ever since dh had a heart attack at the young as of 43, he's a truck driver and has no health insurance or disability pay. I do have health insurance through my job but have a very high deductable. He returned to work 2 months later (doing fine). I'm rambling, sorry... He is paid 1099 so he does not qualifiy for unemployment, so all that time of no income from him really hit us hard. I used credit cards for medical bills, utlitites and even played the transfering balances from one card to another game to try and make sure things were paid....it was ugly. Credit cards were high enough before all this happened, we simply were living above our means. Our stupidity!

We made the decision together this weekend to stop paying our credit cards, I haven't actually been able to go grocery shopping in months, it's just picking up a loaf of bread and a gallon of milk, a few odds and ends each week. We have NO play money whatsoever. While I'm fine with living within a budget having no food in the freezer is not a way to live. We also have 2 teenagers at home and dang, can they eat!

I guess what I'm really wondering here is how long before credit card companies start sueing us and will I have to worry about my wages getting garnished if we can not actually afford to pay for this bankruptcy for about 2 months? I'm scared silly at this point, but know this is the only way out. We are meeting with an attorney on July 12th. Dh being a truck driver, it's hard to find time for us to both be able to be somewhere at the same time.

I hope your eyes are not bleeding at this point...thanks for taking the time to read this.

[AngelinaCat]

Hi mademistakes: Welcome to the forum. Here is a link to a thread discussing the timing:

http://www.bkforum.com/showthread.php?64649-Judgement&highlight=lien+automobile

I hope DH is recovering well.

[AngelinaCatHub]

Welcome to the Forum mademistakes. We are ALL here because in our pasts we too have made mistakes. It is not shameful to have made mistakes as we are all human. I hope hubby is feeling better and he needs to at least be on an aspirin regimen and the fish oil pills. My doctor does this and he is younger than I.

You are not alone in your frustrations. We have all suffered the shock of the new life style. To answer your question about suit, you most likely have a good four months before any real action occurs. Do file before any Judgments, it is so much easier than fighting Judgment actions. There is a wonderful C7 book at Nolo Press that all here recommend. You might just be able to go pro se after reading the book. It is a download and costs about $25 bucks in pdf format. PM me and I can tell you more regarding the book. It has sample forms in it and covers many aspects.

One of your greatest resources is this forum. Practice the search option as well as read all the 'stickies'. I wish you the best on your journey. 'Hub

[mademistakes]

Thank you for your kind replies, and yes, Dh is recovering well and aspirin and fish oil are taken daily

So, any advise as to what exactly tell the creditors once they start blowing up my phone?

[keepmine]

It'll take months if not years {if ever} before you get sued.
Once you retain a lawyer, refer all calls to his office.

[Drazil65]

Hi, we just made the decision to stop paying DH CC (most of the debt in his name) and our out of state rental (1st and 2nd MTG, upside down by 22,000-30,000) starting last week. We had our 2nd free consult with an attorney (first consult with a big BK mill type of firm, not a good experience) with whom we immediately felt comfortable. We have never been late on a payment let alone behind on anything. The first payment missed we felt bad but handled it ok, this past weekend missed the payment for the 2nd mtg on the rental and I feel horrible this time. Maybe because we have a tenant in it and we are collecting rent but we subsidize the rent each month to pay the HOA fees. We know it will begin to snowball from this point on and we are terrified and heartbroken that we are at this point. We tried to do the right thing and keep everyone paid (husband had 2 lay offs in 10 months last year and we decided he had to go back to school for another career so he is a full time student until next year). But as the attorney told us last week we will never get credit for "being good and keeping everyone paid". The creditors will still come after us just like someone that never paid, that was a wake up call. So I guess we have been putting the creditors way before our family needs all this time and dug our hole deeper.

We are scared and sick to our stomach over this but we have to get over it and move on, its the only way. Our attorney said we have at least 4 to 6 months before things get more serious with the creditors but we are planning to file after October 1st. We will surrender the rental home but collect the rent in the mean time and make some other adjustments. Planning is key to a successful chapter 7 and it takes alot we are finding out. Find an attorney you are comfortable with and read as much here as you can. The best to you and your husband.

[LadyInTheRed]

Thank you for your kind replies, and yes, Dh is recovering well and aspirin and fish oil are taken daily

So, any advise as to what exactly tell the creditors once they start blowing up my phone?

I told my creditors that I am unable to pay right now, am looking at my options to deal with my financial situation and should know more in 30 days. This slowed down the calls a little, but they definitely did not wait 30 days to call again. Once I had talked to each creditor at least once, I used caller ID and let the collection calls go to voicemail.