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Record debt and out of options

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Anonymous
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Record debt and out of options

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Message 1 of 6
5 REPLIES 5
Kree
Established Contributor

Re: Record debt and out of options

looking at the numbers it does appear that you are in a tight situation.  For clarification though, how are you 82 month into a 84 month car loan and "upside down"? Did the car get totaled?

Message 2 of 6
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Record debt and out of options

Sorry, that is payments remaining. As in I have 82 of 84 remaining. Horrible horrible decisions were made in 2017 as things were looking up and then took a quick turn for the worse. 

Message 3 of 6
Kree
Established Contributor

Re: Record debt and out of options

Well, welcome to the boards. I'm not familiar with bankruptcy much, so other members will give you more detailed advice. I can say though that it is worth shopping around for a lawyer.  If you don't agree with his opinion it might be a sign that he isn't the correct lawyer for you.  Also take a look at the auto credit board, they might know ways to get out of your cars since they are fairly new.

Message 4 of 6
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Record debt and out of options

I know you are nervous about disclosing your line of work, however there are plenty of people around these boards who share it and you can feel free to do a search for the keyword on these boards. Also, I am not an expert on those matters, but there should be an Employee Assistance Program or some analog to it (whatever it may be called, my cursory search seems to have different providers for different, um, departments we'll call them :-)). EAPs are required by federal law to maintain confidentiality except in certain legal cases e.g. potential child abuse or potential harm to self or others. See also https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/worklife/employee-assistance-programs/#Confidentiality You can contact your EAP for a referral to a bankruptcy attorney who is hopefully going to be more experienced with people in your specific line of work. 

 

Make sure when you visit with an attorney, you have a list of questions. I mean, every single question you can think of to ask, specific to your situation. Look through your post and think through every scenario. Start reading NOLO's bankruptcy section, which is a wonderful, free educational resource prepared by attorneys - it will also bring up a lot of questions for you, because it can't answer everything specific to your life. And when you sit down for your free consultation, ask them everything you can. It may take an hour. Get a sense for whether they are patient with you, whether they are knowledgeable in the area, whether they are willing to look into areas they are not familiar with, or whether they hand-wave away your questions. And if they do not satisfy your concerns, feel free to thank them politely, and go back to your EAP, or an internet search for "(that keyword for your line of work) bankruptcy attorney" and find another one. I consulted with a handful of attorneys before settling on my first one, then had to move on to a second (through no fault of the first, situation outside either of our control). 

 

Best of luck OP. Keep us updated of your progress.

Message 5 of 6
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Record debt and out of options

The means test isn't always cut and dry. Talk to a few lawyers and MAKE SURE you don't qualify for a 7.

 

I don't know much about 13s, but is wage garnishment required for your repayments or can you submit them on your own?

 

If BK is a complete no go:

 

You need to get rid of all of your cars and toys like yesterday. Sell anything you have of value, move to the cheapest place you can, borrow from family whatever you need to do to get balance the negative equity. Buy a $1500 cash car and SHARE IT.

 

Then you need to pay everything else off. I would see if putting the credit cards and personal loans into a debt management program make sense or if it's better to just pay them off once you're on a strict budget and can throw heaps of money at them. You could budget yourself to be able to throw $25k/year at them, but it won't be fun. 

Message 6 of 6
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