“Dear Steve,
I am currently being sued by my credit cards for debts incurred prior to my divorce. During the divorce I gave the franchises to my ex although they were bought with a second mortgage on my house.
He is paying the second as required by the divorce papers but is paying late, once he missed 3 mos in a row. He is further ruining what little of my credit remains. I cannot get the house refinanced due to poor credit score so I have no way to pay off the credit card debt. I cannot claim bankruptcy because of the large amount of equity in the home.. I tried selling the home- bad market- no buyers.. I am frustrated and depressed. I have money in equity and no way to access it and every avenue seems to have been blocked. I dont know which way to turn… Do you have any ideas I havent already tried? Please help!
Is there any way to access my equity with such poor credit? (500-600) Was I given bad advice by bankruptcy attorney? I just need to know if there actually is a solution available without giving up the equity it took years to build. Thank you.
Sheri”
The Answer:
Dear Sheri,
This is a far too common problem faced by divorced couples. When you get divorced you legally divorce your spouse but not your creditors. Even though a divorce document may say that the ex is supposed to pay a specific debt, if they don’t it’s your credit that is damaged. Ultimately the debt is your responsibility.
If he isn’t paying it your option is to take your ex-husband back to court, at your expense, and try to force him to pay.
Equity on paper is not currency unless it is transformed to cash by a buyer or lender. Since the house won’t sell that tells me it is either not priced to sell at a fire sale sales price or there are no well qualified buyers in your market.
Why wouldn’t a Chapter 13 bankruptcy work for you? Were you trying to do a Chapter 7?
If you have a credit or debt question you’d like to ask just use the online form. I’m happy to help you totally for free.