Financial help/Advice...PLEASE

[Joe1]

If you have a lot of equity in your home, but do not own it outright, consider contacting the lender that has the loan now and l;ook into a refinance. Rates are good, and if you have a reasonable payment history with them, they may be the easiest to negotiate with. Also, the do not want to forclose if they can avoid it.

If you owe back income taxes as well and have no apparant way to get them current in a reasonable amount of time, the IRS and state will consider an "Offer in Compromise" which says in effect: I'll never be able to pay you but I want to, will you take this now and eliminate the rest? Depending on the situation, they sometimes take as little as .10 on the dollar. Keep in mind, however, that is a "forgiveness of debt" and is taxable in the year the debt is forgiven. Sorry, No free lunch.

Joe

 

[yooperdave]

Suze Orman addresses this issue all too often on her cable TV show. The key is to change your spending habits. Borrowing $5,000 will not do anything but put you into deeper debt if the spending habits of old are not permantly reversed.

$5,000 is not really that big of a loan, or that much equity to take out of a home. I used to borrow money from my credit union, and it was quite painless - no big deal. I hope you would not consider bankruptcy for this quantity of debt.

Hope you can keep your head above water as painless as possible.

Good Luck

Yooper Dave

 

[Buck]

1) Get credit counseling. This will be hard at first, but likely will give you a lot of relief once you formulate a plan.

2) I would make a meeting with the town or the county that you owe taxes with. Have a realistic plan written down and thought through. Consider what an alternative would mean to them. By this, I mean, what would they do if you went bankrupt? If it costs them more, then your plan ought to get approved.

3) Borrow friends equipment.

Good luck!

 

[Junkman]

Bankruptcy does not discharge taxes under any condition. Nor will it discharge a mortgage or any other secured credit obligation. It will discharge any past due balances on those credit obligations only till the date of the bankruptcy. After that date, you are still responsible for the monthly payments. If the spouse is a signer of the mortgage or the secured credit, she will also have to file bankruptcy along with you to keep from being held responsible for the $$ that you are trying to get discharged. Credit card debt is discharged in full in a bankruptcy. Student loans that were taken out while in college are not dis-chargeable from what I have been told. I was also told that any past due balances on student loans are not dis-chargeable, but I have not ever verified than. When I was a student in college, it was a pay as you go situation only. If you didn't pay, you didn't go to college. The only way that I would recommend that you consider bankruptcy, is when all other avenues of reconciliation with the lenders is impossible. Also consider that if you have had anyone ever sign as a co signer on any of the loans, they are still responsible for the debt of that loan in a bankruptcy. Also, if your spouse is a signer on the credit cards, she can and will be held responsible for the credit card debt if you file bankruptcy. This is one reason that you should never share credit cards accounts with the spouse.

 

[GerardC]

<font color="blue"> Student loans that were taken out while in college are not dis-chargeable from what I have been told. I was also told that any past due balances on student loans are not dis-chargeable, but I have not ever verified that. </font>

You are right on this Junkman. Now you can say this as a fact.

Actually, your whole post was pretty much right on the money. No pun intended ! G