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two2 wrote:
So basically the CCCs hold all the cards and we're at the mercy of whatever terms they decide upon? That doesn't seem fair or ethical. Doesn't the threat of losing 70 grand carry any weight? And what if I go through with the threat of not paying at all?
@Anonymous wrote:
I just thought of something else: if I make a late pymt on any one of the 5, even to get them to talk, they will raise my interest rate to 27% on all of them. I think I'm screwed!
Well, it sounds like you have known this day was coming (taking cash out to live on, pay cars, pools, etc). For the amount of debt you have (as large as some people's mortgages), you very well face a potential lawsuit, especially if you have assets and income.
I would advise that you at least speak with a BK attorney about your options and not just "hope" that Chase doesn't sue you. As you mentioned, your FICO is the least of your concerns now. Now you need to get your financial life back, out of debt bondage. A BK13 is 5 years of payments and 7 years on your credit. $70k of CC debt, if you pay minimums, is a lifetime and default is huge interest, fees, potential suing you, garnishing wages, attaching assets in addition to your bad credit.
If you seek BK13 now and enter a payment plan BEFORE you default and CO, then your credit will be much less impacted and you will get a payment you can handle, pay your debts (you mentioned wanting to honor them) and have light at the end of the tunnel and debt free in 5 years.
Don't make an "uniformed" decision.
@Anonymous wrote:
Thanks for the reply. Damaging my credit score is the least of my worries. As I said originally, I couldn't buy anything big now anyway. We've already cut spending and luxuries to try to pay for college, and there aren't $900 more in cuts to be made, let alone $2100. I can't pay these bills. I know I got myself into this mess, but Chase is going to drive many people into default. I can't be the only one.
Are you still paying college bills for your stepdaughter?
I have never been in debt before the past few years. I bought a larger house with my wife and stepdaughter seven years ago, and got married four years ago. My wife got almost $2000 per month Social Security then, and worked, and spent every penny. A few years ago the SS ended, and she will not contribute to the household bills except for food. She says that she doesn't have the money. I did not use credit "to live on", actually. No fancy electronics, vacations, etc. Our house had a pool when we bought it. The liner went bad, so we had to replace it or it would have caved in if we left it empty, or we could have filled it with dirt and had a garden with a concrete deck around it. It's 11 ft deep on the deep end, and the liner was $6000. Our township installed sewers and required us to tap in: $9000 doing the work myself. Paid off my truck loan because the interest was cheaper: $11,000. Paid off some credit my wife had at higher interest from before we were married (dumb idea): $16,000. Did some needed repairs to our home and some improvements to apartments. All this instead of getting home equity loans and separate loans for business improvements with higher interest and payments. As I said, at 2.9% to 5.9%, the payments and interest were manageable. Pay on time, rates are good until paid off.
I married her mother a year before my stepdaughter started college. Her father had died when she was eight, which is why they got the Social Security. I assumed that she would go to school basically for free. Not so. They use the income of the household she lives in to award financial aid and grants (and do not subtract debts from income). Guys from work and my own brother-in-law pay nothing for their children's college because they live with their mothers. FAFSA says we are expected to pay $15,000/yr, we pay about $27,000 (mostly loans) because the school didn't come up with as much aid as they led us to believe. I didn't have a say in the school choice. She has one more year, and may go a 5th at another school to get a teaching degree. I'll be making pymts another 7 or 8 years. The bills that the loans don't cover: cash advance.
Last August, stepdaughter fainted and broke her jaw in 3 places, cracked and knocked out some teeth. Ins covered jaw. Dental work (still ongoing) cash advance.
This Feb, wife got breast cancer. Copays and deductibles. Missed work (no paid time off for either of us). Money is tight, but even with high CC debt, my net worth is over $250k, so I can't go bankrupt. Now is not a good time to sell anything, and I don't feel I should be put into default because Chase doesn't like that I haven't made a late pymt like they expect you to when they give you a good rate "until paid off".
Staying single would have been way cheaper. Divorce would be worse financially, I imagine. Bankrupcy is not an option, so I'll probably have to try to sell something at a loss to make the minimum payments.
Seems like you feel the need to drive your credit and life into the ground for your wife and step-daughter. That needs to stop ASAP.
You have choices here. Learn to say 'NO". Tell your step daughter she needs to get a full time J O B. What is this crazy talk
about paying for an extra year of schooling????