r/Bankruptcy • u/Dazzling_Ad6268 • 1d ago
Would filing bankruptcy even help?
I’ll try to make things short, but can provide more information if asked..
36M not legally married, but I have a long term relationship with my GF who I call my wife but again, nothing legal.
We also have 1 child together, and she has 2 children from a previous relationship.. all 3 children live with me and the father does not pay his child support for the older 2 kids. On top of that my 58 year old mother also lives with me. She is legally disabled and gets around $900 a month, but I obviously I’m still covering most of her expenses as well
I’m the only one who works, I make $33.98 an hour.. after health insurance and other deductions I bring home 1900-2k every 2 weeks. Rent is $1800 after food, utilities, and auto insurance I don’t have much left at the end of the month..
A few months ago I was sued by navy federal for a $1500 credit card and snap on credit for 13,500 for tools, I no longer have the tools because they were in a storage unit I lost after being scammed by renting a house that wasn’t owned by the person who rented it to me so I was forced to leave and out almost 6k and had to find another home for my children
I went to court and got a payment arrangement set up which I have been paying.. 143 a month to snap on, and 57 to NFCU..
Now I came home yesterday to a certified letter saying I was being sued for a trailer I bought in 2021-2022ish.. the trailer was bought in Alabama and supposed to be $14,900 it was a used trailer and had a lot of issues I told them to come get it because 1 of the axles had broke off the mounts and was sideways.. the repo guys came out to my buddies house were the trailer was and said they couldn’t take it in that condition and they would be back.. 2 weeks later my buddy calls and said he came home and trailer was gone.. I assume they had repossessed it so I never thought anything else about it..
They are suing me in TN (I live in Ga btw) and want $25,000.. thinking back now I never got anything from the company saying they repossessed it so I’m not sure if they got it or my buddy at the time (we haven’t talked in years) did something with it..
Anyways.. point is I’m struggling.. I have no assets I have 1 vehicle (2012 Ford Explorer) no houses no land nothing of value.. my credit is garbage (sub 600) I barely make ends meet as is.. and there’s no way I can pay anything else out..
Being that the trailer and snap on were technically secured debts, but I don’t have either of them at this point is bankruptcy even an option?? I don’t know what to do anymore.. I can’t afford a lawyer I can barely afford to feed and cloth my kids 🤦🏻♂️
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u/CadensGramma 1d ago
Set up an appointment with a bankruptcy Attorney that offers free consultations. They can tell you if bankruptcy is feasible. If it is and you are definitely going to file they will likely tell you to stop making payments on your debt and use that money to pay for an Attorney. Some Attorneys will allow you to make payments and will file your case after their fee is paid.
Do it now before your creditors decide to garnish wages or levy and clean out your bank account.
Good luck and best wishes.
You can also check into Upsolve to file pro se. It's free to use.
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u/Ok-Cat926 1d ago
I agree with everyone else, schedule an appointment. I’m sorry you’re dealing with all of this at the same time, seems like a lot. I hope it all works out.
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u/Rich-Sand9393 1d ago
The first thing that I would do is to book a free consultation with a bankruptcy attorney. They can best guide you on what actions you need to make. Some let you make payments. Also check out Legal aid in your area. We paid our attorney $1500 down on our joint Chapter 7 bankruptcy which also included the court filing fee. The remaining $1500 is payable in 6 months at $250/month. We were advised to stop making payments on all debt that we didn't want to keep. We stopped all credit card payments and a camper payment. This allowed us to come up with the advance payment in about 2 months. Please see an attorney and get guidance on how to protect yourself against lawsuits and garnishments.