Should I file?

Have you contacted your motgage company and the card companies and explained you situation
? Mortgage companies are sometimes willing to do a loan modification. Credit card companies are often willing to reduce interest. Join our site and go to the free counselling link and you will get help from a professional to discuss your other options.

Use bankruptcy as a last resort. As was stated, talk to your lenders and see if they will help you out, even temporarily. The CC places may freeze your account so you are not able to charge any more, but that would keep you from accumulating any more debt. Also take advantage of the free counseling this site offers. You might have other solutions other than bankruptcy. I stress, use bankruptcy as a last resort. It will stay on your credit file for 7 to 10 years. Take it from someone who knows....been there done that. If it does turn out that Bankruptcy is your best bet, then find an attorney and see if he will work with you as far as payments go. Some will and some won't. But if they do, 9 out of 10 times, they will not file anything until you have paid more than half or all of the fee. Check all your options though and don't just jump into bankruptcy.

I'm jumping in here because of a statement made by the OP which caught my eye.
Quote:

I don't know about free, some attorneys may lower some fees or isn't there something called legal aid? I don't know if they deal with bankruptcies or not.

You might want to look into a debt managment or consolidation plan first.

Talk to a reputable credit counselor about your situation. They might be able to assist you.

By applying for a mortgage modification with my lender, I was able to be put on a hardship program. It was for basically the same reason, loss of income. I had to provide information on our income and expenses, but once the modification was approved, it dropped my payment by about $600 per month for three years, and reduced my interest rate slightly for that same three years. However, at the end of that three years, my payment will be about $100 per month more than it was before.

Pretty much all of my credit card companies offered me hardship programs also when I explained our situation to them. Most offered a reduced interest rate (0% to 10%), along with a temporarily reduced minimum payment amount. The hardship programs generally last for six to twelve months. The minimum payment that they all want is 1% of the outstanding balance.

If getting those modifications would help you, then I would definitely recommend giving it a try. In my case, I couldn't even come up with the reduced payment amounts for the credit cards, so we were forced to file for BK. But I'd say that it's definitely worth the effort to try to avoid it if possible.

Good luck!

Shaz - Yes, very low income people can apply to have the filing fees waived. Also, there are legal aid type places that will help low income people with the paperwork.

But - When I say low income, I mean low income. Like minimum wage earnings or lower . . . . .

I'm sure I wouldn't qualify, but I was interested in learning more about it. I didn't know they would waive fees. Interesting. Thanks!

yep - But it's super hard to qualify for. I mean, you pretty much have to be totally destitute . . . . .

If you are considering filing Bankruptcy you should contact an attorney. Many attorney's will offer a free consultation. You should consult one who has a lot of experience in the Bankrupcty field.

Some attorney's will accept their Chapter 13 fees through the plan. Depending on how far behind you are on your home you might not have a choice but to file a Chapter 13 in order to save your home. Good luck.

Yes, if you are under the Federal poverty level, which I think is $25,000 you do not have to pay the court filing fees. You can also seek legal aid and get an attorney pro bono. I am disabled and under the poverty level so I tried legal aid and haven't heard back from them yet. Now I must try to find an attorney which will do it pro bono for me, which I have a advocate to help me find.

If all else fails, the most I will have to pay for is the attorney fees.

Hope that helps.

At most you would have to pay is attorney fees? Um, that is the majority of the cost. Attorney fees range from $700 to $1500 . . . . The filing fee is only $299.

EASY! We had the same issue, as soon as you put a down payment down with the attorney, no one can touch you, you just redirect all their calls, letters, etc to your lawyer.

ALSO most lawyers accept payment plans, thats what we did, it took us 7 months to pay him.

No one can touch you? That is a total lie. They will not call you, but they can ABSOLUTLY still sue you until you file your case. Just hiring a BK lawyer is not really any sort of protection.

And yes, most lawyers accept payment plans, but they wont FILE the case until you've paid in full. In fact, on a Chapter 7, it's unethical and possibly illegal for them to file and allow you to pay them after, because it's a debt that you did not include in your BK paperwork. The lawyer would have to be stupid.