23 years old and I’m in a little bit of a mess.

[Anonymous]

Back story been working on my credit seriously for about 12 months and I got from a 365 to 520 TU. I got into some stuff I shouldn’t have been involved in and lost my job in late 2016/ early 2017 and got my vehicle repoed and let my two cap 1 cards go, both with just 1k limits.. I got back on track in late 2017/ early 2018 I really got my act together. I managed to get a new job and clear 60k at my day job and made another 15k on the side and save 5k for my emergency fund and another 5k for a house in the future and put 5k down to get a new car, got away from my crazy family and got and furnished an apartment and took a small vacation. I also set up a payment plan with the finance company that repoed my car and have been paying 400 a month towards the balance (Pretty successful year for me) I also opened a secured credit card with Citi bank and premier bank which I’ve maintained well until now.... and here’s the kicker so in Nov/2018 I got a DWI (I believe I was just being harassed by the police) and I sell cars at a dealership, which means I have to have a clean record to say on the company’s insurance to test drive customers.. with that being said I’m fighting it and I spent 1300 on my bond and 750 to get my car and 13,500 so far on my attorney. I also owe him another 2500 by the end of April. So I’ve burned thru my entire savings and of course the beginning of the year is kinda slow for the car business so I haven’t been making much..I currently have 2371 in bills each month. My issue is I’m halfway thru this month and I’m not sure how I’m going to come up with the 2500 I owe my attorney and I’m also two payments almost 3 behind on my car and I have rent and utilities on the first. (I also hit a brick last month in the road and cracked a rim and blew out a tire so I had to basically spend my car note on wheels and tires. I also have like $30 to my name right now with my credit cards maxed. I wanted to avoid trying to get a payday loan, so I just applied for a personal loan of 4000 with Citi bank in hopes I can get it and have 12 months to get things back to normal... the only thing I have going for me since my credit isn’t great is the fact that I’ve ran over 32k through my personal account with them since December. And I just looked on CK and I’m showing a 438/446 due to my missed payments on the car and maxed out credit cards... I refuse to lose everything that I’ve worked so hard to get. My girlfriend of (8 months) has a mid to high 600 with a paid off auto and a credit card that’s not maxed but pretty close to it. Should I ask her to co sign if I can’t get approved. I really don’t want to ask her for help because she doesn’t know about my credit situation... I’m quite embarrassed about it, but I am like 99% sure that she wouldn’t hesitate to help based on the fact that last month I was stressing about the rent because I had deals missing off my pay sheet for that week and she went and got a 500 pay day loan without telling me to help and said “you’re my partner and you make sure I’m taken care of 100% of the time so why can’t I do the same” (I’ve paid it off the payday loan for her already)... I know my priorities are straight and it wouldn’t be an issue to take care of a loan from my bank but still. Should I maybe suggest that it would help me, but we can also possibly get a higher amount to pay off her credit card too? I think she only owes like 1k of a 1200-1400 limit. I’m so hesitant because I feel like if her parents found out somehow they would be upset or judge me, however she does live with me... does anyone have any other suggestion or advice. Life is really kicking me down right now. Thank you.

[Anonymous]

$13,500???????

I don't see how you can get "Harassed" for a DWI.

Nonetheless $13,500 is steep. Does the attorney give you any leeway?

Regardless of how bad your situation is at least you're tracking it and know what is going on.

Best I can say is work with the attorney and state your circumstances.

[Brian_Earl_Spilner]

I don't know what state you're in so I have no idea if a DWI is just being impaired or if it is equivalent to a DUI, but is it worth the money you're spending to fight it? Typically, you either passed the test or you didn't. I understand your job hinges on a clean driving record, but do you even have a chance of winning? Claiming you were harassed won't change test results. If there's almost no chance of winning, I would cut my losses and put that money elsewhere. My wife would take a loan out for me if I asked, but I would never put her in a position where a bad month, week, or day could jepordize her financial well-being. If you're having trouble making ends meet, what will happen once you add a loan payment?

Good luck with what you're going through.

[Cred4All]

OP,

I won't go into much detail here because each state varies, but as hinted above, paying that amount of money to fight a DUI/DWI is 90% of the time, a poor investment so to speak.  Courts typically give you a very light penalty for the first DUI such as a few thousand dollar fine, drivers education, and alcohol classes.  This all just by signing that you were guilty, made the mistake, and move on.  Many many people have unfortunately experienced this, and it's simply the best way to accept it and move forward.  (Don't get me wrong, I'm all for defending yourself if it's justified, but likely a DUI/DWI is a clear cut give-me of a case.)

I'm presuming you're already down the road on this thus far, meaning if you are stating the number $13,500 then likely that's for services already rendered and not anticipating.  On that subject, all you can do is work out a payment plan with your attorney if possible and hope to put the majority of your funds on items that are Necessary*... things like mortgage/rent, utilities, and payments due to prevent future hits to your credit.  A 30 day late is bad, a 60 day late is very bad, and 90 days + is excruciating to your profile.

I'd say, take the the court issue with a grain of salt and move forward, don't fight and waste the money if you truly/honestly/no-questions-asked did drive while under any type of influence.  Even in those cases, courts will ask you outright what you can afford the day of the hearing, especially when pleading guilty, and many times openly state "Don't tell me a price you cannot afford, even if it's $25 I'd rather it be a lower number then one you will not be able to make."

As for the significant other being a co-signer, I'm not sure what if any good things could come of that, or if it's even possible with her being in a 600 range.  I would do everything known to man short of selling an appendage to stop myself from asking/putting them in that situation.  You did a fine job getting out of your previous predicament, continue on that path, achieve success solo and help keep 3rd parties or people you love from being involved in it.  Reminder: Most relationships fail due to financial issues...  I'd avoid it like the plague!

Good luck, everyone is always here to offer advice / opinions so we're glad you asked!

[Kree]

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@Cred4All wrote:

OP,

I won't go into much detail here because each state varies, but as hinted above, paying that amount of money to fight a DUI/DWI is 90% of the time, a poor investment so to speak.  Courts typically give you a very light penalty for the first DUI such as a few thousand dollar fine, drivers education, and alcohol classes.  This all just by signing that you were guilty, made the mistake, and move on.  Many many people have unfortunately experienced this, and it's simply the best way to accept it and move forward.  (Don't get me wrong, I'm all for defending yourself if it's justified, but likely a DUI/DWI is a clear cut give-me of a case.)

---

I think op was pretty clear that with a DUI he will, not only lose his job, but also be unemployable in his industry. So I think this does count as the 10%.

OP, only advice I have is do your best to prepare yourself to change industries. I would suggest looking into something like, windows or blinds,  commission sales that doesn't require driving. Also I've heard that car salesmen often do better at finacial planning than other applicants, because really financial planning isn't about the financing, but the selling of your firm. Also highly commision based.

[Anonymous]

What did the lawyer tell you he could do for the $13.5K? DWI is usually pretty cut and dry, either you were or weren't over the legal limit. If a lawyer told me he could get a charge dropped knowing (or should have known) that was false, I would consider it fraud and consider legal action to get my money back if possible.

[Anonymous]

What ended up happening Himista?

[Anonymous]

I appreciate everyone’s advice. I ended up calling my lien holder on my car and got two payments deferred and made a payment. And I also ended up busting my ass at work and making enough to cover the rent on my own. My lawyer is letting me have another 2 months to come up with the 2500 because he got the videos in finally and he’s 100% sure he can get it dismissed because I look great in the video. I also confirmed that my drivers license is not suspended right now and is not going to get suspended as he handled the license “trial” (Apparently in Texas on a refusal they take your license and hold a separate Trial with another agency or something along those lines) so since my DL is good I’m looking to jump to a new dealership where I can make more money as things have changed at my current store and we’re not getting enough business.. I know someone at the store I’m going to and I’m hoping to make at least 7-8k a month..( he’s averaging over 13k a month but he’s been there for a while.. however I’m trying to be reasonable with my expectations... I did also get news that my girlfriend is about 8-9 weeks pregnant which is extremely bad timing however. We’ve talked about it and we’ve decided that we’re going to get a joint account and get serious about saving money and sticking to our budgets. We had a what’s yours is mine talk and discussed our debts and bills. Our goal is to pay off majority of our debt and stick to our budget and save as much as we can before the baby gets here. We’re also going to sign an agreement stating that in the event that we decide to split we will split the checking and savings. 50/50. We’ve also decided to keep our own personal checking accounts and have our checks deposited into it and transfer everything but what our weekly budget for ourself, into the joint account. We’re also going combine our phone bills and car insurance so we can save some money. Is the joint account thing a bad idea? I feel 100% comfortable with it but idk if I’m making the right decision on it. I just see it as the best way for us to truly do this 100% and stick to our weekly budgets and keep each other accountable.

[Anonymous]

Congrats on the baby news. Keep in mind that will be putting your girlfriend out of work and unless her job/your state covers women out on mat leave, she may be out of income for some months when she takes leave; not sure if this was something you guys had even talked about before it happened. Not wanting to get into a controversial topic here, but given everything else you have going on, just keep in mind that you and her have choices in this country, despite the current political climate.

In any case, my advise on the joint account is this:

1. Calculate all of your joint expenses. Food, Car Insurance, Rent, Utilities, etc. This is going to give you amount X
2. Calculate your total individual incomes each month. Since you are in a commission role, use the average of the last 6 months for this exercise, not the anticipated higher income you are going to have. Add the two incomes together. This is going to give you amount Y
3. Divide your individual incomes by the total household income (amount Y, from # 2). This will give you the % of the household income you each bring in. We'll call this amount Z for each one of you
4. Take Amount X from # 1 above and multiply it by your Amount Z - This is how much you should be contributing to the joint account
5. Take Amount X from # 1 above and multiply it by your GF Amount Z from # 3 - This is how much she should be contributing to the joint account.

This ensure that the division is equitable as a percentage of your income, it works out way better than a 50/50 split if there's a significant wage difference between the two of you. If you roughly make the same give or take a few thousand bucks then just split 50/50. I will also suggest that if you are just going to be paying bills from this account, you either forgo the debit cards associated with it, or keep it the debit cards in a ziplock bag full of water in your freezer so that you do not use them for incidental purchases.

While this is the MyFico board, I think your FICO score and damage to your credit at this point should be the least of your worries. If you are already 60+days late on your cards and other payments and they are reporting as such, the damage is done. Focus on getting your finances in order to prevent this from happening again in the future like you did once already with building savings. The scores will recover with time, but your soon to come baby needs parents that are not stressed out about keeping a roof over your heads. Hope this helps, and sorry if it comes across a little harsh, not my intention.

[Anonymous]

Hi Himista, let me first say welcome to MyFico!

You've done a  lot of great work in getting things in a better place from your original post. I hope the DWI works out in your favor too.

Oh, and congratulations on the baby!