Frustrated, tired, and ready to cry

[Anonymous]

In attempting (successfully) to carry our business through a huge road construction project, I incurred huge debt on my personal line and credit cards to the tune of about 100K.  My payments monthly equal about 4K to the various institutions, my husband carries the home, insurance etc while I pay down the debt, which never seems to get much lower.  I am bent double with making enough each month to do it, but so far have kept up.  I have closed all cards, set up repayments where possible..but the level of monthly repayment is demoralizing.  I spoke to debt counseling, who said to file bankruptcy..which i keep hearing is too bad..my husband is not on the majority of this debt as I had the best offers for interest at the time...my income is commission based..some months nothing, some months just enough to carry the payments for an extra month..I am just about maxed out,..is there any way to consolidate this mess into a monthly payment that i have not found?

[Jazzzy]

Hi whattheheck, and welcome to the forums.

Sorry to hear about your tough times. Do you have any business assets that could be used as collateral? Any business property? Equipment?

What has happened to your FICO scores? Have you pulled them? Any late payments showing?

These, plus others, are the things you have to consider. If you are thinking about BK, start reading in the BK forum. I know one piece of advice you will get...if you are going to do it, do it BEFORE you start racking up late payments. Many people hang on too long and end up with the terrible late payment history plus their BK. Don't end up with both.

You say that you successfully carried your business through a huge road construction project. I can' t say that borrowing $100k to do so equals success. It may be time to bite the bullet, unless your income is increasing. There is life after BK. Like you, I would avoid it if I could, but you have to know that you can make these payments in order to continue.

[Anonymous]

thanks lynette..no, not one late payment..yet.   i am looking at debt snowball also, but that seems almost impossible too.  i have talked to creditors about settlement, some have agreed to lump sums, just hard to come up with such large lumps.  the road construction was 4 years..without a missed payment since..worried about doing a bk with kids cars etc wrapped up in my name

[Jazzzy]

Be careful with the lump sum settlements. They will negatively impact your credit as well.

You really need to pull your reports and FICOs to know where you stand. To know what damage may already have happened. Be careful about buying scores. There are only a couple of places to pull your true FICO scores. There are a lot of "credit scores" sold, but they are not FICO. Forum members can help you sort all that out.

Have you spoken with a BK attorney? Many of them will do a free consultation with you. He or she can help you sort out the ramifications of vehicles and house. You don't have to lose those things.

It's a scary thing, but it will be a relief to you when you can know which direction you intend to take. I congratulate you for looking at your options now and not wanting to live in limbo any more, before much more damage is done. The debt snowball is a good option if you have the income. You may be able to save this.

You are certainly welcome to list your cards here with their balances, credit limits, interest rates, and whether they are open or closed. There are a couple of ways to go about repayment, depending upon whether you are trying to save $$ or if you are trying to save your FICO. At this point, your priority is likely $$, and some of the experts here can help. It might help to get some advice here before talking to a BK attorney. Also, it's important to let us know how much (on average) you have to throw at this problem each month.

[smallfry]

I second what Lynette said. See a BK attorney. You do not have to lose your possessions. The most painful thing to do would be to throw more money at the debts only to find in a couple of years you can't keep up. Better to keep your money and get a fresh start. Good luck.

[theo78]

Do you have any Equity in your House?

[Anonymous]

I incurred huge debt on my personal line and credit cards to the tune of about 100K.  My payments monthly equal about 4K to the various institutions

If I read this wrong, pardon, but I read this as you are paying minimum monthly payments of $4000 on a $100k debt from a variety of sources. That would be a 48% annual APR. If you have actually been gouged at that high of an interest rate and can show that you have mostly kept up with those payments, it seems like any major bank or credit union would be glad to give you a real debt consolidation loan at a much fairer rate of say 15 to 20 % APR, which would cut the minimum payment by more than half.

[Anonymous]

You probably qualify for government help.  Unfortunately i

can't remember the name of the program.  Does any one know?

I just came off a BK.  It's a long 10 years.

Also there is an emergency  BK filing which you might check

into.  My attorney never told me about it.  I filed pro se and learned alot.

Make sure you get a good attorney.

[Anonymous]

I did try to use a supposed small business micro loan, two banks told me it is all talk and no action from the administration.  They have had only one loan close using it, and that was people that did not truly need it..our debt to income is too high to use it!   Never heard of an emergency bk..but will ask around..thanks!