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ok here we go, I appreciate the time you're all taking to help me out btw. My overall goal in the beginning was to get my credit back on track, I didn't have any issues until back in 2012 when I had a roommate that moved out, I either co-signed or put things under my name because my roommates credit was shot, that should have been a red flag right there. My roommate moved out without warning and I couldn't afford the rent on my own or find another roommate in time, so being under a lease, we owed a lot of money, I'm ac tually going to list all my collections and maybe you can advise me what to do on each one? How do I get my medical excused for instance?
Also, I can afford to pay for my car right now, but eventually I will need to get a job because my unemployment is going to run out. My fiance does drive for Lyft btw but he doesn't want to jump into a different car just yet. He might be changing jobs soon where he makes more money, so he's not wanting me to jump into any financial decisions like BK or Repo. Oh, and I live in Los Angeles by the way.
Either way, here is a list of all my collections and everything on my credit, tell me what you think:
BMW - Open Account - $37,210.89
Verizon - Closed Account - $202 - Utility
Action Pro - Collection - $93 - Medical Diagnostic Imaging
CMRE - Collection - $52 - Medical
CMRE - Collection - $51 - Medical
Credit Collection - Collection - $76 - Progressive West Insurance ??? No idea what this is as I was never behind on my insurance policy
Enhancrcvrco - Collection - $230 - Time Warner - Can't even remember the last time I had cable television
FCO - Collection - $4.242 - St Claire Apartments - this was the apartment my roommate bailed on me on :/ so it's a joint account
Grant and Weber - Collection - $5,350 - Marian Medical Center
Grant and Weber - Collection - $882 - Marian Medical Center
Meditcredit - Collection - $1,073 - San Antonio Community Hospital
Universal Recovery - Collection - $88 - Multi State Insurance ??? Again, no idea what this is
I also have 42 Credit Inquiries, which was mainly Carmax shooting out my app to multiple banks when I was trying to find a car, they want you to do an app on every single car you look at before you commit to a car, and they shoot it out to at least 5-7 banks per car, this was before I worked in car sales, so I didn't know the effect it would have on my credit. I have no repo's or BK's or foreclosures.
Before 2011, my credit was clean and I had a car that I paid for with cash, $26K, but my score was only around 650, I was in a good financial spot, so I traded that car in for a new car with payments so I could up my credit score and then BAM the roommate situation happened, I sold the new car so I wouldn't be in a financial bind, got a less expensive car but had a co-signer (mom), my mom traded that car for a different car on her own, I signed no papers to release that car, even though it was MY car and I was making all the payments, then she got a repo (luckily not with me whew), and I got into the BMW mess I'm in now, so life happened and here I am....
i counted about 5-6 small collections and 3-4 medium sized collections.
i would send a letter to the 5-6 medical, cable collection offering to pay for delete. even if they dont respond i would promptly pay within 30 days and then dispute with all 3 bureaus. if you have paid and the check has had time to clear, often they will not respond to the verification and the account will be deleted. Then after this is complete i would wait 30-45 days to see what the results were. Hopefully all are gone and if 1 or 2 were stubborn they are updated to paid.
NOW you could think about the 3-4 medium sized collections:
Apartment $4,000
Medical $800
Medical $5,000?
You will likely end up addressing these after you are working, with increased income and have decided what to do with your current car. I would contact all 3 of these places and negotiate a settlement I could afford and have them confirm it in writing. Maybe offter 25 or 30% of the balance to each and see what they say- tell them if you file BK, they will get nothing.
You may also want to consider a secured credit card, to have good reporting while you are going through this process. If you cant see yourself resolving these items in 12-24 months then I would strongly consider BK because it is a fresh start. but i think of it as a fresh start with a Cloud on your file that will be there for years. 1 cloud is better than all these items in disarray. Things will get better, as you said LIFE HAPPENS. it happens to us all at different times. The trick is after it happens once to be better prepared, so the next time it happens we can smile.
@Anonymous wrote:
As for me, I'm screwed, I already got my check from BMW through my lawyer, I doubt I can talk to BMW about a buyback and there's no way I can get a loan with my credit for $9K, I can't even get a Target credit card, but I can get a $39K car?? So there in lies my issue, unless I make a ton of money overnight I think I'm pretty much stuck :/
Whoa....What does this mean????? How did you get a check from them but still have the car in our psoession???
@CreditDrama85 wrote:
If you cant see yourself resolving these items in 12-24 months then I would strongly consider BK because it is a fresh start. but i think of it as a fresh start with a Cloud on your file that will be there for years. 1 cloud is better than all these items in disarray.
Ask 10 people who have done a Chapter 7 BK and 9 of them will tell you that their only regret was waiting as long as they did to file. The OP will likely lose the car to repossession, and as others have pointed out, she'll be on the hook for the shortfall.
To some, it may seem like "only" a modest amount of debt and not worth a BK, but everything is relative. Unless the OP is confident her income will dramatically increase in the next 12 months, continuing to service this mountain of debt will keep her under the thumb of creditors and collection agencies for at least the next 3 - 4 years. But with a BK, she can get a clean start and make all of it go away within 100 days or so. In 3 - 4 years, her credit score can be in the 700 neighborhood with proper management. Sure, the BK will survive on her reports for 10 years, but after 4 - 5 years it has negligible impact if you have been responsible.
+1 on the advice about the car and the fiance. If his job requires a nice car, his job should cover the costs of a nice car. Otherwise, it's not a job, it's a hobby, and he probably needs to look for another type of work.
The BMW is the least of your problems. I think a load of weight will be lifted off your shoulders if you just find a way to get rid of that car and stop worrying about what your fiance needs. You need to get out of that loan. You are in a bad financial situation that you need to get yourself out of. And keeping a car because your fiance needs it is not a wise decision if it is ruining your credit. You are out of work and you have a baby on the way. You need to get your situation together before things get worse. I know things seem helpless right now but they aren't. There is a possibility you might have to file a BK with all those collections and start fresh. But first and foremost, get out of that loan and have your fiance get his own car loan.
Lets think about this logically for a minute.
What we don't know is your annual income when you are working. That makes a huge difference deciding to file BK or not. Do you normally make $50k a year or closer to $100k. That alone will tell you if Bk is a rational thing to do
The medical debt can be gotten rid of a myriad of ways without filing Bk. And it sounds like you have lots of medical.
If you talk to any decent Bk attorney, they will tell you not to file when you are unemployed because you can rack up bad debt after filing and it won't be dis-chargeable for years. That is why you see people file after an extended period of unemployment but they actually file just after getting the new job. This can be tricky. But at least then you have an actual income with which to start over after you are discharged.
If you are unemployed, you won't be able to start over rebuilding at all.
Believe me, I think Bk is a good solution but it isn't one to be wasted on debt that can be otherwise handled one way or another. Your best bet is to negotiate settlements on non-medical debt and try the Hippa method (on medical). If you had $100k in medical debt it might be a different answer depending upon the medical condition that caused the debt (is it ongoing or cured). If you are still having medical issues, do not file BK before those issues are resolved.
There is a way to get rid of the car - which is the biggest problem you have now. The others are right about not letting your boyfriend 'drive' the decision (pun intended). If he isn't making the payments or personally liable for the payments, then his opinion isn't relevant (sorry). Protect yourself and your credit.