help us

[josiejo3]

What is the name of your state? Minnesota
We owe $50K to 4 cc (2 high and 2 about $4K each) After paying the minimums for so long and not getting anywhere; transferring one balance to another to get the lower interest rates; used cash advances when we were short on money; we signed up with a debt management company where you don't pay the cc and the dmc negotiates a lower payoff as we save up the money.
I (wife) signed up with this dmc w/o my husbands knowledge b/c I didn't want to admit to him how bad off we were since it was supposed to be my job to take care of the finances. I am very lucky that he didn't leave me when I finally had to tell him. (Which I was so afraid of) But now, he doesn't know what to do either. Our credit rating is going down the tubes - fast; we're not sure about bankruptcy because we have some property that's older and would mean alot more to us to keep it, than to sell it for
harldly anything; creditors keep calling, even some attorneys have been calling and threatening. Can you help us with advice?

 

[adevine]

Someone with a lot of financial knowledge will answer you as you need to post dates of last payments to the creditors and are they collection agencies or the original creditors. Concerning marriage, the vows are "till death, do us part, " not financial illness. Seems to me that you need some good books on communicating or counseling, if you are so scared when bad things happen. I wish you luck.

 

[Ladynred]

First - get out of the DM 'program', they are NOT helping you, they are hurting you.. more and more every day and charging you in the process !!

As for bankruptcy, you live in a pretty good state .. great exemptions in your favor and you also can use Federal Exemptions .. so you have a choice.

The homestead exemption is:

"Real property, mobile home or manufactured home to $200,000 or, if the homestead is used primarily for agricultural purposes, $500,000; cannot exceed ½ acre in city or 160 acres elsewhere"

200k is a big one, so if they property you're worried about is your homestead, it may be safe.

Personal property exemptions are also quite generous:

"Appliances, furniture, radio, phonographs & TV to $7200 value

Bible, books & musical instruments

Burial plot; church pew or seat

Clothing (includes watch), food & utensils

Motor vehicle to $3200 (up to $32,000 if vehicle has been modified for disability)

Personal injury recoveries

Proceeds for damaged exempt property

Wrongful death recoveries"

Here's a link to all of the exemptions:
http://www.thebankruptcysite.com/exemptions/minnesota.htm

As adevine stated, give us some dates, if you can.

Obviously, its not your only option. This 'lawyers' are probably not much more than collection agencies, but if any of them decide to sue, a judgment will last a LOT longer and that property you're worried about, if not your homestead, would be in jeopardy.

The fact is, really, that these DMC's can't do anything that you cannot actually do for yourself, and you save yourself a lot of money and may be able to salvage your credit.. whereas they are only going to completely ruin it. Unfortunately, too many people who start with DMC's end up in bankruptcy anyway.

 

[josiejo3]

I signed up with the DM co. in April, 2003. I had checked into consolidation, but I guess I wasn't thinking straight and thought this would be the quickest, least painful way to go. Since I didn't confide in anyone, it was all my decision to forge my husband's name on the contract with the DM.(I am on meds for depression b/c of keeping this all inside). I hope we can get out of the contract with the DM - I hope so - my husband now handles those people-not me, although he's very busy with 2 jobs right now. I had always thought that if we could just hang on until this fall, b/c the youngest is in Kindergarten and I can get a job, that I could work this all out on my own. But it came to a head sooner than I figured. Anyway, one creditor has offered to settle for 40%
just like the DM, and also told us straight out that we didn't need to go through a DM. But this person was a very unusually nice,
helpful person. I don't know how the others will react b/c I have
caller ID and do not answer unless I know the number. We have already paid the DM $3150.42 for their services.
The property that I mentioned was an 20 yr old motorcycle,
a 20 yr. old small pickup, a pop-up camper that is paid off and we dearly love and use alot, an older boat w/a small engine and 3 Volkswagon bugs that need alot of fixing up.(Hubby got them in exchange for painting a house.) We have 2 vehicles that have loans(current) on them, but we can't really do w/o them b/c one
is for me and my husband needs a good vehicle for work. He's a salesman on the road and puts on about 35,000 miles a year. We cannot be without a good vehicle for him and it means we have alot more maintenence than most people. Our home is valued at about $60,000 in a small town. Any suggestions are so welcome!

 

[bearfootball]

sell your property and use the monies as part of a refi on your existing home.

 

[josiejo3]

Adevine - I'm not usually this scared, but this was a biggie! I guess I just underestimated what a good person my husband is. Thanks for your suggestion, though.

 

[Ladynred]

Ya know what ? A 20 yr old motorcycle, on bankruptcy papers, is just that.. on old motorcyle and unless its some super pristine 'collector' type fully restored, its not worth much.

The rest of those old cars are just that.. old cars and not worth much of anything, certainly not worth anything if they don't run.

When you get down to it, the ACTUAL value of all those things may not be enough to worry about losing them. Think of it this way, if you absolutely HAD to sell those things by Friday, how much do you really think you'd be able to sell them for ??

As for your vehicles, if they're financed, its unlikely you'll lose either one. Its the EQUITY that counts, nothing else. People reaffirm car loans all the time and keep their cars.

The fact that you have a lot more maintenance goes to your expenses and reduces your disposable income.

See a lawyer or two and see what shakes out. At the worst, you may have to consider CH 13 instead of 7 if you're in danger of losing any of that property.

The DMC - believe me, you CAN cancel out of that contract - people do it every day. Unfortunately, their ads make it all sound SOOOOOOOO simple and you'll be soooo happy and care-free... NOT ! They don't tell you the downsides - that your credit is usually trashed beyond help, that you could still be sued, that not all creditors will participate or 'deal' and they certainly misrepresent the amount of TIME it takes to get to 'debt-free' - usually its a LOT more than a couple of years - and you're paying them thru the nose all that time.

Get a full accounting, if you aren't getting one now, of every single dollar you've sent the DMC and where every single penny of it WENT. I'd be willing to bet the greater majority of the $$ you've paid them is in their POCKETS!!