*

Robin_K2

  • A Cup
  • 2969
Debt -- bankruptcy and other advice, please?
« on: December 12, 2016, 05:30:35 PM »
I wish Pb were still with us. I need counsel.

I'm at the point where credit card debt will soon cripple me. I've looked for other, better work since the recession, but I'm in my 50s, and . . .

I welcome suggestions. Can I/should I work with my credit card companies? Tell them I cannot pay, and ask for their help? Ask for a new payment arrangement? Or just stop paying, yank my savings, preserve my small funds as cash, and file for bankruptcy?

(Yes, I already have a debt-consolidation loan. I've made regular monthly payments. My credit union so far refuses to refinance it because of my debt-to-earnings ratio. I've also asked all my credit card companies to lower my interest rates -- a surprisingly easly task, which they are happy to help with. I sincerely recommend it to everyone.)

Perversely, I have an excellent credit rating because I owe so much and I pay regularly.

I continue to look for a better job. (Hopefully SCORE or the BEA will hire me?  ;)   :-[  )

*

bignatslover

  • P Cup
  • 5208
    • I love the BEA
Re: Debt -- bankruptcy and other advice, please?
« Reply #1 on: December 12, 2016, 06:43:50 PM »
I am not an expert on this, but co-workers have told me they have been able to re-finance their homes and put some or all of the credit card debt into their new home mortgage.  Is that possible?  Do you have a home mortgage?

*

SwitcherX

  • Legend
  • 6598
Re: Debt -- bankruptcy and other advice, please?
« Reply #2 on: December 12, 2016, 09:16:14 PM »
talk to a bankruptcy lawyer
Switcher X
A.K.A. Tina Fey Eichmann

"Thank you herr professor Tina Fey Eichmann, nuclear brain surgeon and moustache jockey."
-- Mammeister


"SwitcherX, you were always Mammeister's favorite...you bastard."
-- Notty

Re: Debt -- bankruptcy and other advice, please?
« Reply #3 on: December 13, 2016, 01:05:04 AM »
I wish Pb were still with us. I need counsel.

I'm at the point where credit card debt will soon cripple me. I've looked for other, better work since the recession, but I'm in my 50s, and . . .

I welcome suggestions. Can I/should I work with my credit card companies? Tell them I cannot pay, and ask for their help? Ask for a new payment arrangement? Or just stop paying, yank my savings, preserve my small funds as cash, and file for bankruptcy?

(Yes, I already have a debt-consolidation loan. I've made regular monthly payments. My credit union so far refuses to refinance it because of my debt-to-earnings ratio. I've also asked all my credit card companies to lower my interest rates -- a surprisingly easly task, which they are happy to help with. I sincerely recommend it to everyone.)

Perversely, I have an excellent credit rating because I owe so much and I pay regularly.

I continue to look for a better job. (Hopefully SCORE or the BEA will hire me?  ;)   :-[  )

Don't seek help at bank or credit card companies, I would say. Look for someone like SwitcherX said or if there are any debt consultants. At least in Germany you usually work with them before or during the private banktruptcy filing.

Better you do that then rising the debts higher and higher ...

Sure currently the interest rate is still low, but do you guys in the US have always variable interest rates or you can have fixed ones? I know re-financing in the US works different then in Germany. We have currently as low as 0.97% for 100,000 Euro fixed for 10 years.
Anti-social behaviours lack consideration for the well-being of others. Any types of conduct that violates basic rights (human rights is one of them) of another person. It can show as covert or overt hostility.

*

Robin_K2

  • A Cup
  • 2969
Re: Debt -- bankruptcy and other advice, please?
« Reply #4 on: December 13, 2016, 09:15:54 AM »
I sincerely appreciate this advice, and I welcome more.
No, I don't own a house or even a car to borrow against.

Re: Debt -- bankruptcy and other advice, please?
« Reply #5 on: December 13, 2016, 04:39:18 PM »
I sincerely appreciate this advice, and I welcome more.
No, I don't own a house or even a car to borrow against.

Then get a consultation at the bancruptcy lawyer or consultant. One last comment on trying to ask bank or credit card company. Who would you trust more to the extinction of a burning house? The arsonist / fire accelerator or the fire fighter?
Anti-social behaviours lack consideration for the well-being of others. Any types of conduct that violates basic rights (human rights is one of them) of another person. It can show as covert or overt hostility.

*

Robin_K2

  • A Cup
  • 2969
Re: Debt -- bankruptcy and other advice, please?
« Reply #6 on: December 14, 2016, 10:07:01 AM »
Excellent point. Thank you!