Thanks. We couldn't pay back our credit if we stopped eating. Every time we thought we had a plan, we'd get hit with late fees that upped the ante to the point where we would really have to stop eating to pay it back.
No, because of our income level we don't qualify for Chapter 13. Believe it or not, some don't. If you, in the court's mind, can't pay it back, you aren't allowed to file Chapter 13.
For us it will be a clean slate, but that doesn't mean it's not stressful. We had two credit cards too that we planned on making double payments on to catch up (Hub was out of work for two months, and it wasn't a Workman's Comp so all we had was his palsy unemployment). When we tried to pay it back, we were informed that there were "late fees." They were astronomical so the cards never did get paid in full and the late fees snowballed, and you all know the rest. The Judgements were insane. One landlord puts judgements on everyone and hopes they stick (we didn't know this when we rented from them). They are truly scummy people. Right now they are fighting a move by the humane society to an area close to their rental homes (and they must own 200). They are afraid of "pet smell" and what it will do to their tenants (most who love pets). Since they have so much money, they are influential. They were horrible landlords. They used to come to our rental house all the time because they had lived there at one time and the old man liked to putter around the property so we had no privacy. Certain days he's wake us at 7am working on the deck. Or we'd see him and his son riding around the property to cut trees for firewood. I wanted to strip and do housework in the nude because Larry the Landlord was ALWAYS so close to the house, he almost had his face pressed to the window. WHen they put us on month-to-month, we gave notice and moved and they put a Judgement on us claiming the house was a mess and they had to clean it. ????--we had spent a month cleaning it.
Then we got a judgement by a Catholic School. The nun there had promised us scholarships for our kids, whom she loved. She said there are always monies put aside for less fortunate kids so that they could go to Catholic school and not to worry about the fee. We sent them for three years and nobody asked for a dime. A few years later, long after the kids were gone, the school changed hands and decided we had to pay them back in full for both kids, full tuition, so, yep, another Judgement. When we talk to the school they say, "Too late. It's already at the collection agency." And you know the collection agency won't bargain. So the late fees accumulate and I hope God is watching this Catholic School because we never would have sent the kids if we'd had to pay more than what we could afford (which we did).
All in all, we have a mess.
The school has threatened to garnish hub's wages, but they can't because he doesn't make enough, but with my anxiety problems, it is making me a nervous wreck and I just want it to go away.
Thanks for all advice. I wish we COULD use a credit counselor, but they all say we don't make enough to pay our debt so they advise bankruptcy.