I called a lawyer for "free advice" today and he said I have too much
equitity in my home and I probably will not qualify for Chpt 7, just
13. I am currently in CCCS and have been for 2 years. I cannot keep up
with the payments as well as my other bills. How will 13 help if I
can't handle CCCS? I have fairly good rates on these debts with the
help of CCCS and can't imagine things getting much better. I feel
cutting my payments by a few hundred will not halp much (I currently
give CCCS $1290 a month, all but $10 goes out to creditors.)

Will we just have further problems by filing 13? Should I just
struggle with CCCS and get a 4th job?

Thanks!

It depends on the details of your case. Often, not all creditors
file Proofs of Claim, and they get nothing in a Chapter 13 case.
Likewise, the amount of non-exempt equity you have in your house
might end up resulting in a significantly lower payment to your
creditors.

--
Brett

************************************************** ***************
* Personal Injury/Malpractice Bankruptcy *
* *
* BRETT WEISS, P.C. *
* Attorneys at Law *
* Maryland, D.C. and Federal Bars *
* lawyer@erols.com *
* http://www.erols.com/lawyer *
* *
* Small Business Estates & Estate Planning *
************************************************** ***************

The Small Print: This response is for discussion purposes only.
It isn't meant to be legal advice and you shouldn't treat it as
such. If you want legal advice, speak with a local lawyer
familiar with your state's laws who can review *all* of the facts
and the law applicable to your situation.
************************************************** ***************


"Patty" <pattyschuman@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:9ec121cc.0308181336.2461a6db@posting.google.c om... I called a lawyer for "free advice" today and he said I have
too much equitity in my home and I probably will not qualify for Chpt 7,
just 13. I am currently in CCCS and have been for 2 years. I cannot
keep up with the payments as well as my other bills. How will 13 help
if I can't handle CCCS? I have fairly good rates on these debts with
the help of CCCS and can't imagine things getting much better. I
feel cutting my payments by a few hundred will not halp much (I
currently give CCCS $1290 a month, all but $10 goes out to creditors.) Will we just have further problems by filing 13? Should I just struggle with CCCS and get a 4th job? Thanks!

How much equity is "too much equity"? Depending on which state you live in,
you might be able to keep $15,000 in equity. So, let's say you have a
little more equity than that -- say $20,000 -- then maybe you could stop
paying the CCCS and stop paying the mortgage. Once your delinquent payments
and interest bring you mortgage balance up to a point where you only have
$15,000 equity left, then file a Chapter 7, discharge your unsecured debts,
and keep your house. Then file a Chapter 7 to spread your mortgage "catch
up" payments over 3 years.

I think this is all legal, but I am not a lawyer.

If you like reading about this stuff, you could buy the Nolo press book on
How to File Bankruptcy ( http://www.nolo.com ). I has a lot in the earlier
chapters about legal strategies and ways to appropriately plan for
bankruptcy before you actually file.

"Patty" <pattyschuman@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:9ec121cc.0308181336.2461a6db@posting.google.c om... I called a lawyer for "free advice" today and he said I have too much equitity in my home and I probably will not qualify for Chpt 7, just 13. I am currently in CCCS and have been for 2 years. I cannot keep up with the payments as well as my other bills. How will 13 help if I can't handle CCCS? I have fairly good rates on these debts with the help of CCCS and can't imagine things getting much better. I feel cutting my payments by a few hundred will not halp much (I currently give CCCS $1290 a month, all but $10 goes out to creditors.) Will we just have further problems by filing 13? Should I just struggle with CCCS and get a 4th job? Thanks!