Been there. It’s awful but you can and will put it behind you. Try to stay positive and don’t lose your love of life in the meantime.
Hugs.
Hence my “pie in the sky” crack upthread.
Lawyers are scum. But they’re scum who won’t do shit unless their paid.
Bricker may wish to argue that point. And the legal profession is like all others- some will accommodate those who can’t pay immediately. Maybe different in your part of the world.
I feel for you, Marlitharn. You’re going to be OK, though. Really, you are.
Things will get better. Don’t lose hope, and keep an eye open for opportunities to improve your situation. I’d bet there are more opportunities out there than you know right now.
Also, keep in mind that a setback like this, while it really, truly sucks, doesn’t make you less worthwhile as a human being. Like the pizza and beer you mentioned, this too shall, indeed, pass.
Well, just for the naysayers out there, I know several people who have gone bankrupt.
And not one of them had to pony up all the money up front. It was about the same amount mentioned here, but they were allowed to pay it over several months. And they didn’t have to beg for this option or provide special circumstances either, it was offered to them, in recognition of the fact that money was clearly not easy to come by at that moment in their lives.
So, maybe, just maybe, not all lawyers are scum.
And maybe, it’s not the same everywhere.
I’m just saying.
Crap, I was hoping this was a bragging thread.
Sorry 'bout that, and good luck!
I’m missing something. Isn’t the point of bankruptcy to allow you to renegotiate with your creditors over things like your house and car? Are you sure you can’t do anything to keep these assets as you re-establish your financial footing? I know there are exemptions from things creditors are allowed to seize from people in bankruptcy, although you will still have to make payments they will generally be reduced. Have you gone to a bankruptcy counselor? You don’t say where you’re from, but I’m sure numerous people here on the SDMB would be willing to help find resources for you, myself included, if you think you haven’t run down all the possible leads to be able to keep your homestead and car. Car especially. I understand that even after refinancing you may not be able to keep the house, but unless you’re lucky enough to live in one of the cities with really good public transit, I’d suggest you really look hard at keeping the car.
Steven
I am so very sorry. I hope once you push the reboot button, you can start anew and get going again.
Well, we had one bright spot today. The loan company holding the lien on the car agreed to re-write the loan, so now our payments will be cheaper and the first one isn’t due until October 1st, so we have a little breathing room.
We checked into chapter 13 bankruptcy, but our monthly income is less than $1500, we were already several months behind on our mortgage, and the lawyer said unless we could come up with the money to pay all the arrears on the mortgage there was no way a repayment plan was going to work. So we’re scrapping our lives and starting over. Incredibly depressing in one way; in another way it’s oddly freeing, like faithfool said; we can’t fuck up our lives any worse than they’re fucked up now. Unless one of us develops a crack habit, which I don’t see happening, because crack’s expensive.
Thanks, all of you, for the support and good wishes. It means more to me than I can say, but if I say any more right now I’m going to start bawling here at work, and that would be a bit embarrassing.
Where do you live? I grew up in public housing and I wouldn’t trade it for the world. Yeah, there were plenty of bad apples, but most of the people in my neighborhood were recent immigrants from all over the world. It made for a colorful, lively, interesting place. Some people are in public housing because they are losers, but an equal number are normal people who have fell on hard times, senior citizens, new immigrants, young families and plain old working people who just weren’t quite making enough.
Good luck! Remember, things can turn around for the good just as quickly.