Let me first start by saying we have made some really dumb decisions out of credit desperation. We filed a chapter 7 when our credit was over 760 but we just had too much debt and freaked out! (we were very young 24 and 26) This was in 2007. Fast forward 2 years economy got worse and we sold our home but did a short sale with home equity through USAA which was a nightmare. We had 15k left unpaid and a car we were behind on. Our lovely (hence sarcasm) lawyer who did the chapter 7 said we should file 13 and no one could come after us and we would pay less on the car. (this was beginning of 2010) However, after getting a little older and smarter we got legal advice and realized there was no reason to stay in the chapter 13 as we wouldn't be getting a discharge at the end of the 5 years anyways. By this point the 2nd mortgage has already fallen off and all that was on there was the car. So early Feb we voluntary discharged. We are at a much better place and our finances are much better. However, we don't want this to follow us forever! We want to buy the home we are renting within a year (already talked to several lenders and said it shouldn't be a problem as long as we continue to do well) It's a crazy good deal on our home and we hate not owning since we haven't owned in 3 years. BUT here is the dilemma! That STUPID CAR mentioned above is still haunting us. I have been proactive in have offered USAA an agreement to settle the vehicle loan. As far as they are concerned they don't know we are out of bankruptcy. So my question to you is if they don't accept my offer how to I avoid a repo? Can't afford that as the car is basically crap and don't need the ding on my credit. We can't drive it as it's not dependable. What should we do to avoid it? My husband and I both have 3-4 small Credit Cards we are shortly paying off. We are going to take out a small auto loan as a credit consolor we spoke with thought this would be a good line on our credit. Please help! We can't have a mistake from over 3 years ago continue to hurt us. BTW our scores are between 590-605 depending on which report you pull. The consolor also said when we pay off our credit cards and get the auto loan it will help our credit and get us over 620 needed for FHA. We just need help and advice as you can see our 20s have been finically devastating and we are trying to move on. Thinking about it makes me want to cry as we are decent people and try to pay and take care of our stuff.
