Couple of Bk ?'s

[Anonymous]

A few years ago I took out a Debt loan of @ 18,000. But being stupid I took those same CC's and used them again and now am in just as much $$ debt + the 18000 loan. I stopped paying on the BoA loan because of a $400 per month payment. (I pay all my other bills on time)

Long story short I have not made a payment since @ Feb. They want to settle with me for @ $8000. ($1600 a month for 4 months) I have a friend who is willing to help me on this since no bank will touch me right now.

They advised if I dont take this it will go to court and I will be sued. I just got a letter in the mail today from a law firm about this (unsure what it says I'm not home right now) soooooo...

Should I take the $8000 settlement and live with it?
Should I do a bankrupcy?
Or should I get sued?

My other question involves bankruptcy in the state of: Ohio


I owe ~18,0000 to Bank of America
~5000 to Chase
~12000 to Juniper
~8000 to US Bank
~1000 to HSBC
~22500 to Capital One (Car loan. Not a Lease)

I am really thinking about Chapter 7 because I'm behind ALOT on Bank of America, but not behind on any others.

If I would file Ch.7 but I'm current on my auto loan, would I lose my car? Or could I keep it.


I make ~ 37,000 a year before taxes.

[Anonymous]

I don't think you will have to give up your car.  When we filed we had 3 cars.  My husband had his van for work, I had my SUV, and my husband had another car that was paid in full and it was a non issue for them.  The car was in good shape,  We actually ended up selling it last year for $5000.00.  You need a vehicle to get to and from work anyway.  If you are upside down in the vehicle they cant get anything from it anyway.  As long as your current I wouldn't worry.

I can tell you my situation was similiar.  We owed 70,000.  I felt there was no way out so we filed BK.  We weren't late on anyone.  I just got really overwhelmed and freaked.  I went to an attorney and filed.  BIG MISTAKE.  I regret filing everyday.  I had great credit and some of the best cards out there.  If I could go back i wouldn't do it.  No one can really tell you what option is best for you.  I can tell you I get so depressed at times when I realize what i did.  Talk to a few attorneys and don't make a hasty decision.  It stays with you for a long time.  Good luck.

[Anonymous]

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columbusfd wrote:

If I would file Ch.7 but I'm current on my auto loan, would I lose my car? Or could I keep it.

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Read all the articles at the top of the forum. Follow the links, and read.

You can reaffirm the car loan and keep the car.

[Anonymous]

NEVER, EVER REAFFIRM.  Yes - I meant to yell that. 

• It gives them all the rights and gives you nothing. 
• It gives them the right to report late payments. 
• It does not require them to report anything good. 
• It does not remove the "Included In Bankrtupcy" on the credit line.
• It means that you are on the hook, even if the car engine seizes and the transmission goes bad.

Just keep making payments.  If things don't get better - you can walk away from it.

Don't file BK unless there is no reasonable way out.  Think twice about borrowing from your friend too.  We borrowed from family and still had to declare BK.  We had to list them as creditors - we felt like dirt.  We have repaired our relationships with family and life is good. 

What would we have done differently?  We would have stopped paying for 2 years on an empty house after my job moved me to another state.  We would not have robbed our 401K and borrowed from family to pay off business loans.  We would have filed sooner.

[Anonymous]

I work for a Texas collection law firm that represents CAs, so take this for what it is worth.  OK?

If you received a letter from a law firm, my guess is the BofA account has already been charged off and sold on the debt market to a CA, voiding BofA's $8,000 offer.  OC's usually offer a low-ball SIF (settle-in-full) amount prior to charge off, as a last-ditch effort to recover more than the "pennies on the dollar" they will get on the charged-off debt auction market.  Their offer usually has a very short window of opportunity.  I'm guessing yours has closed.

Ohio has very friendly creditor laws, especially if you own property.  Any settlement offer from the law office would be predicated on:

*    Age

*    Credit Rating

*    Availability of open lines on CR

*    Asset & Liability report

*    Income

These factors will determine what the law firm feels they can get from you.  If you have open lines, or own property and have a good credit rating aside from this account... the SIF offer will be higher than what BofA offered.  If you are "loaded", with credit lines maxed, don't own your home (see equity) and are seriously threatening BK, I've seen accounts settled for as little as 25-33%... payable in a single lump sum. 

My "helpful hint of the day" to anyone is this:  If you are negotiating with a law firm or CA, the VERY BEST time to get the very best deal is the last few days of the month.  They all have quotas and are more open to accepting low-ball, normally unacceptable offers the later in the month it is.  Have your cash ready, play hardball and negotiate.  The bottom-line figure goes back UP the first of each month.

To BK or not BK?  See an attorney. 

Hope this was of some value to you.  I tried to be objective.

[Anonymous]

Always talk to a lawyer for legal advice and not someone on the internet, regardless of how large a font size they use.

[fused]