New, Feel like things are "up in the air"

[Anonymous]

I am currently in the process of filing BK. I have been chasing debt for year's, always paying my minimums on time, or using "lateral moves" to get thing's paid off, I am out of moves now. 

My credit has been excellent and I took pride in that, it still, at this time, is good, 724. When I purchased my vehicle in Jan '15, it was 837 and when I mortgaged my current residence in Aug '16 it was 792-803 (interest on car loan 1.4% and mortgage 3.625%). I plan on staying in the home and continuing to pay the mortgage loan without reaffirming and am deciding if I want to reaffirm the car loan. I am current on all my necessary loan notes (car & mortgage, HOA, utilities, never been late) and just this month, I stopped paying my CC debt and some medical, which is around $32k. That, was really hard and felt "wrong."

What lead to deciding to file BK7 is I was just paying the minimums on them, still using them for necessities and not putting anything towards savings, and I am 49. I do not have any retirement fund, pension, etc...Health insurance is not covered through my employer and that is $350.00 per month and will go up with age. I make about $50K a year, not great money, a job nonetheless.

I thought I would re-fi the condo but I didn't see enough equity or increase in property value to actually resolve the debt completely or at least by 1/2 rendering that option not viable.

I cannot believe the amount of stress this is causing, it feels like a failure. I try to look at the long term picture, it's just hard to see that while you are in the thick of it still and I have no idea how this will actually all pan out as the lawyer is still in the process of paperwork and I owe them another $1200.00 (it will get paid by the end of September) before a 341 meeting is set up, class taken, etc.... 

I am concerned I won't be able to keep my condo. My mortgage balance is $87K (no second mortgage) and it's worth around $115K (a unit in  my building sold for that just in June of this year). I understand I have a homestead exemption in Illinois up to $15K, my car loan to value should be covered in the exemption for that if I choose to reaffirm the loan, plus there is a wildcard exemption as well, there is just all this worry of the unknown. Stems from being anxiety disordered I suppose, I have Asperger's as well and also, part of the nature of the beast and also that my lawyer said the trustee in my county is an a-hole....sigh

I hope I am making the right decision to file. I never saw this as an outcome...

Any advice in how to handle and/or navigate from here and through the process? I have seen the thread on getting to 700, when I have some time to read it, I will.

Thanks.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I am currently in the process of filing BK7 in Illinois. I have been chasing debt for year's, always paying my minimums on time, or using "lateral moves" to get thing's paid off, I am out of moves now. 

My credit has been excellent and I took pride in that, it still, at this time, is good, 724. When I purchased my vehicle in Jan '15, it was 837 and when I mortgaged my current residence in Aug '16 it was 792-803 (interest on car loan 1.4% and mortgage 3.625%). I plan on staying in the home and continuing to pay the mortgage loan without reaffirming and am deciding if I want to reaffirm the car loan. I am current on all my necessary loan notes (car & mortgage, HOA, utilities, never been late) and just this month, I stopped paying my CC debt and some medical, which is around $32k. That, was really hard and felt "wrong."

What lead to deciding to file BK7 is I was just paying the minimums on them, still using them for necessities and not putting anything towards savings, and I am 49. I do not have any retirement fund, pension, etc...Health insurance is not covered through my employer and that is $350.00 per month and will go up with age. I make about $50K a year, not great money, a job nonetheless.

I thought I would re-fi the condo but I didn't see enough equity or increase in property value to actually resolve the debt completely or at least by 1/2 rendering that option not viable.

I cannot believe the amount of stress this is causing, it feels like a failure. I try to look at the long term picture, it's just hard to see that while you are in the thick of it still and I have no idea how this will actually all pan out as the lawyer is still in the process of paperwork and I owe them another $1200.00 (it will get paid by the end of September) before a 341 meeting is set up, class taken, etc.... 

I am concerned I won't be able to keep my condo. My mortgage balance is $87K (no second mortgage) and it's worth around $115K (a unit in  my building sold for that just in June of this year). I understand I have a homestead exemption in Illinois up to $15K, my car loan to value should be covered in the exemption for that if I choose to reaffirm the loan, plus there is a wildcard exemption as well, there is just all this worry of the unknown. Stems from being anxiety disordered I suppose, I have Asperger's as well and also, part of the nature of the beast and also that my lawyer said the trustee in my county is an a-hole....sigh

I hope I am making the right decision to file. I never saw this as an outcome...

Any advice in how to handle and/or navigate from here and through the process? I have seen the thread on getting to 700, when I have some time to read it, I will.

Thanks.

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What does your attorney say about keeping your condo?

[Anonymous]

Steeler,

She said that I may need to have an appraisal, unsure at this time as we are not at the point yet. When I met with her for the consultation, she did some quick numbers. With taking off what the trustee would have to pay me ($15K exemption), realtor fee's, taxes, etc... She said that there would not be enough equity to make it worth the trustee taking it to pay a portion of debt back.

[Anonymous]

I see why that is causing you stress.

It does sound like you're right on the cusp. Sometimes I feel better if I think of the worst case scenario and make myself okay with it. I have a feeling you'll be fine with the condo like your attorney says. But . . . in the event that you weren't . . . you could get out from under this mountain of debt . . that terrible feeling in your stomach . . . rebuild successfully and be a homeowner again in as little as two years. I think even that worst scase scenario sounds heaps better than what you're feeling now.

This is a stressful time, no doubt. Nearly everyone in the BK forum has been in your shoes. It truly does get better and better from here. Just hang in there!

[Scupra]

I just wanted to say welcome to the forums @Anonymous! Just like NYC said, this is a very stressful time and a lot of us know how you feel. Just try to remember that no matter what happens, there is life after BK! Things will get better and having that stress lifted will help so much. I hope you can get something figured out with the condo.

[medicgrrl]

Maybe talk to your attorney about converting to a Ch 13 if the trustee wants to liquidate the home.  It would give you a "worst case scenario" plan to consider prior to your court date and time to decide if it's feasible for you or not.

[Anonymous]

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@Scupra wrote:

I just wanted to say welcome to the forums @Anonymous! Just like NYC said, this is a very stressful time and a lot of us know how you feel. Just try to remember that no matter what happens, there is life after BK! Things will get better and having that stress lifted will help so much. I hope you can get something figured out with the condo.

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Thanks, Scupra. I appreciate the hello and welcome. I know there is life after BK, that's what I need to hold on to. The long term benefit.

[Anonymous]

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@medicgrrl wrote:

Maybe talk to your attorney about converting to a Ch 13 if the trustee wants to liquidate the home.  It would give you a "worst case scenario" plan to consider prior to your court date and time to decide if it's feasible for you or not.

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[Anonymous]

I just want to say good job recognizing what you needed to do before you got in too deep a hole. My FICO scores when I filed for 7 were sub-500s. Not 12 months prior, I was nearly breaking 800 (had just reached 10y credit hx and had very high util). I had been making large payments on my cards until just about 1.5y before my bk, when I started doing minimums, then 9mo before, when I stopped paying at all (the summer of '16: my car was totaled on the street by a drunk driver, my cat died expensively of cancer, and I got extremely sick and missed a bunch of work). 

So yes, you are doing the right thing and recognizing it early. You may be able to salvage your credit and rebound rather quickly. It's going to take me years to climb out of my hole and my fingers may be stubs by then. 

All bk's are a HUGE amount of stress. I thought I would lose my job - even though it is illegal to be fired from my type of job for bk. I finally told my boss I'd be filing, after keying myself up about it for so long, you know what she said? "It's ok, it's ok! Relax! Calm down. I have had so much worse come through my door than this. You will make it through this." You know what my union rep told me? That he had been through his own bankruptcy and that I needed to relax and not stress out so much about it, that it happens to the best of people, for whatever the reason, and now you have a chance to rebuild.

I know you have things hanging, and that's the worst part. For now, focus on nailing down the things you CAN nail down. Do the things you CAN do. Distract yourself. Keep your questions about those "up in the air" things noted, off to the side, in your mind, because they are something that needs taken care of. But try to do a little mindful practice with it: notice it, let it pass non-judgmentally. Hello, I see you there, and I'm going to let you go on by now while I talk to my friend (some other topic, did you see that hockey is coming back in a month?!)

Best of luck.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I just want to say good job recognizing what you needed to do before you got in too deep a hole. My FICO scores when I filed for 7 were sub-500s. Not 12 months prior, I was nearly breaking 800 (had just reached 10y credit hx and had very high util). I had been making large payments on my cards until just about 1.5y before my bk, when I started doing minimums, then 9mo before, when I stopped paying at all (the summer of '16: my car was totaled on the street by a drunk driver, my cat died expensively of cancer, and I got extremely sick and missed a bunch of work). 

So yes, you are doing the right thing and recognizing it early. You may be able to salvage your credit and rebound rather quickly. It's going to take me years to climb out of my hole and my fingers may be stubs by then. 

All bk's are a HUGE amount of stress. I thought I would lose my job - even though it is illegal to be fired from my type of job for bk. I finally told my boss I'd be filing, after keying myself up about it for so long, you know what she said? "It's ok, it's ok! Relax! Calm down. I have had so much worse come through my door than this. You will make it through this." You know what my union rep told me? That he had been through his own bankruptcy and that I needed to relax and not stress out so much about it, that it happens to the best of people, for whatever the reason, and now you have a chance to rebuild.

I know you have things hanging, and that's the worst part. For now, focus on nailing down the things you CAN nail down. Do the things you CAN do. Distract yourself. Keep your questions about those "up in the air" things noted, off to the side, in your mind, because they are something that needs taken care of. But try to do a little mindful practice with it: notice it, let it pass non-judgmentally. Hello, I see you there, and I'm going to let you go on by now while I talk to my friend (some other topic, did you see that hockey is coming back in a month?!)

Best of luck.

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@Anonymous, @Anonymous. I appreciate the thoughtful reply. Sorry for your situation as well. Down the rode, things will be better for both of us. Good luck to you as this process moves forward.