wife BK, need to buy our current lease

[klc317]

My wife filed for BK 13 last year due to a failed debt consolidation attempt and threat of getting sued due to credit card bills.  Since none of the accounts were in my name I remained out of the filing.  However, my current truck loan was co signed by her and therefore got included in the bankruptcy.  My finance company (don't know if I should disclose the name but it is a major bank) listed this loan as a "Charge Off" on my credit report even though the payments are current, were current up until the BK filing.  and getting paid in full through the BK filing as a priority since it is a secured loan.  

Despite many attempts to get this charge off removed from my credit, both by filing disputes through the credit agencies and contacting the bank myself and attempting to get this solved, it has not been changed and they refuse to remove the charge off from my credit report.

Now the tricky part.  Our current lease is up in March on my wifes current vehicle and since we are going to be in need of a vehicle for her (its a 2011 Ford Escape) we are wanting to buy out the lease which will total about $15k.  Obvuously due to our credit reporting situation and her BK this may prove to be quite a task.  I do have several thousand dollars saved up for a down payment if need be (since I am not involved in the BK) and am just not sure where to go from here.  It's quite embarrassing to talk about and I was hoping to be able to remain clear of any repurcussions from her BK filing but that turned out not being the case.  This current lease loan is through Ford Motor Credit and was not included in the BK filing and has been current through its entire span.  Never any late or missed payments.

Her BK lawyer says that they should not be reporting that as such on my credit report however all lending institutions are different and obviously he is unable to represent me in this matter due to the fact that I am not part of the BK filing.

I guess my question is should I pay to get another lawyer to address this situation and attempt to get it resolved (may not work) or take my chances attempting to get financed to buy out the current lease on our current vehicle?  I would much prefer to keep it as I know exactly how it has been maintained and cared for and the lease buyout price is much lower than the retail cost of a similar vehicle would cost.  Any suggestions are much appreciated and I thank you for your help.  Just not sure where to turn in this matter.

[klc317]

On a side note, my credit score is nearly 700, I have 3 or more completed auto loans through FMC, plenty of paid in full, paid off credit cards and a fruitful and good credit history and no bad or missed payments aside for this big nasty "charge off" that is showing up.  Since I discovered this charge off I have been religiously monitoring my credit report.  As I said there are no negative marks aside from this one thing which unfortunately is a huge deal.  I guess I'm just scared and nervous since we have never had to deal with this before and my wife needs a good vehicle to transport our toddler daughter and get back and forth to work.  I dont want to have to give up our well maintained Escape (her vehicle) for a junk buy here pay here pile although I realize that a brand new vehicle is out of the question, I'm not expecting miracles.

Our home loan/mortgage is in the wifes name and has also been paid on time every month for 11 years and is not part of the BK filing.

[drkaje]

You may get results with a NACA lawyer. If they're accepting funds (on a debt discharged through BK) you shouldn't be getting punished.

[klc317]

Just wondering if its worth the risk and cost.  Ya think it may be worth a shot?  

Its under a current BK plan so not discharged, just a secured loan that gets a top priority over the unsecured loans in the plan and payments are being made under the plan currently.  It is going to be paid in full according to the plan before anything else.  Thanks for your comments BTW

[drkaje]

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@klc317 wrote:

Just wondering if its worth the risk and cost.  Ya think it may be worth a shot?  

Its under a current BK plan so not discharged, just a secured loan that gets a top priority over the unsecured loans in the plan and payments are being made under the plan currently.  It is going to be paid in full according to the plan before anything else.  Thanks for your comments BTW

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They're already hosing you so any risk is minimal, IMO.

She's primary on the loan so they have to report something. It's just kind of weird that they're intentionally screwing you. Perhaps there's an executive office number and reasonable person that can be reached.

[klc317]

I'm primary on the truck loan....thats the hang up.   She is the cosigner.  Her BK lawyer said he had to bring it into the BK repayment plan for whatever reason.  I've been through tons of people on the phone and online with the lender.  They refuse to change the credit reporting on my part.  

We questioned that on the initial filing but he said it had to be done since we didn't have  time to convert the loan to myself and refinance.  It was a short amount of time as her CC company had already filed suit with a court date.  Was a huge crazy mess.  We have both learned our lesson for sure and never trust a consolidation company.    Was a very dark day and period of time we will both never forget and allow ourselves to get into such a mess again.  Very scary.

I should clarify the truck loan in question is in my name with her as the cosigner.  Thats the one that got dragged into the BK.  The lease on her current vehicle lease is also in both our names but is current. The truck loan was current up until the BK filing and is getting paid in full according to th BK plan in full.  I'm getting screwed by the truck loan and that is the hang up here.  Just trying to be more clear.  Its a bizzare situation for sure.

I am very grateful that our home and other assets were not included in this mess.  Its been quite a ride for sure.

[StartingOver10]

I am a little confused. In your last post you said " The truck loan was current up until the BK filing and is getting paid in full according to th BK plan in full."

What the above sentence sounds like to me is that the payment being made now is the payment that the trustee pays as per your wife's BK plan. Most of the time the BK plan has payments to the creditor (Ch 13) as some small percentage of the debt owed (5%, 10%, 25% etc). There are 100% repayment plans out there, but it is not the norm.

Is the BK payment equal to 100% of the lease payment prior to the BK?

If not, I don't see it as a possiblity that you will be able to buy out the lease.

Is there a way for you to get another vehicle on your own, without your wife's income?

[klc317]

SOrry to be confusing.

The wifes escape is a lease and is being paid as normal outside of the BK plan.  All payments are current.

The truck loan is included in the BK plan.  The truck loan was current up until the BK filing and now is being paid through the plan at a 100% repayment.

[Creditaddict]

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@klc317 wrote:

SOrry to be confusing.

The wifes escape is a lease and is being paid as normal outside of the BK plan.  All payments are current.

The truck loan is included in the BK plan.  The truck loan was current up until the BK filing and now is being paid through the plan at a 100% repayment.

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Why did the bk attorney and you for that matter let her keep her lease out of the bk but put the joint lease in the bk if it was current?

sounds like that bk attorney should be helping you out because he F'd up if you ask me!!

but as far as reporting... I believe they are entitled to report the account as charged off even though it's currently being paid in the bk and at some point if you complete the plan I think it would be changed to included or paid through bk but ch 13 are different and they are allowed to do a little different reporting on car loans then if you filed ch 7.

but still not seeing the point of why 1 lease was kept out and 1 was included unelss she was within 6 months of lease end?

but still being a joint and you not part of bk, I would think you would have been able to reaffirm the debt outside the bk.

[Creditaddict]

oh and another thought... if it's anything like my bk 13 was with my car that was in 100% repayment... the lawyer gets paid through the bk FIRST (I wasn't aware she was collecting almost $3k additional to what I paid her cash before the bk filing, through my bk payments, then creditors and partial car payment started to be made and then after the creditors collected the 10-15% what ever it was that they were getting through the bk, the remaining time went to paying the car to 100% by completion... but at any point in the first 2 years they were very much not getting as much of a payment as they were before I went into the bk... so me, like many bk 13 I did not end up completing the program so when I left the program my car had been underpaid up till that point so even though if I stayed through it would have been paid in full as it stood I was upside down $7k and they wanted my entire loan paid in full or give the car back... so I left my bk, bought and turned in that car all in same week.

so you would need to look at the break down of her bk payments right now of where they are going to make sure that you are staying current with the lease (you have to get that through the trustee office)