Well lets just start by saying I’m an idiot and probably deserve where I’m at now.
With that said, a few years ago I helped a friend of mine out renting a van to take several people to disneyland for a birthday.
I let them put the rental on my credit card sayin that they will pay for all the charges, they just needed the car for the weekend. The car was scheduled to be taken back on monday, car being rented on friday, and the next thing I know its like a month later and the car hasn’t been returned and the car rental place is saying my $7k credit card is maxed out from this and can no longer keep the car.
Needless to say, I was upset but went and got the car returned, and needless to say they haven’t repaid me for the debt.
Then about a little over a year ago, it was comming up to christmas time and i told my girlfriend of the time to go buy a few gifts for christmas with another credit card I had and told her not to go about $500 at the VERY most.
Well next thing I knew shes callin me up sayin the card isn’t working for some reason and I call the credit card company and the credit card had a $12,500 credit limit and it was maxed out. Turns out there was some things that didn’t go through yet and it turned out to come out to about $14k.
I struggled to make payments and pay rent and other bills but just couldn’t do it. I had to stop making payments on the cards.
I also have 2 student loans, 1 in my name for about $17k and 1 in my dads for almost $50k. Then about 6 months ago I got laid off from my job and have debt collectors calling me constantly.
So here i set on about $67k in student loans (which i know theres not much i can do about) and about $20-25k in misc debt. Should i file for bankruptcy or is there other options that may be more beneficial to me? Any advice would be greatly appretiated. Thanks.
Sean
Dear Sean,
As I always say, there’s no sense wasting a perfectly good mistake. In your case the lesson you should walk away with it ti NEVER let anyone use your credit ever again. That means no co-signing as well in the future.
Lesson over.
Considering the fact you are currently unemployed the most logical solution would be to pursue bankruptcy for your unsecured debt so you can focus on the most important debt, the student loans.
Once you wrap up the debt and get that stress off your back you can then focus on just getting a job and earning money again.
Let’s start with the basics.
I’d suggest you first read How to Get Out of Debt. The Honest and Unvarnished Truth and The Truth About The Success Rates, Failure Rates and Completion Rates of Credit Counseling, Debt Settlement, and Bankruptcy. They will give you a great overview of what we need to deal with to get you moving in the right direction.
Then use the free How to Get Out of Debt Calculator to review your options.
After that, come back here and comment about what seems to make the most sense and let’s discuss that.
Does that sound like a reasonable approach?
Please post your responses and follow-up messages to me on this in the comments section below.
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Thank you for your prompt reply. Ive done just a bit of my debt on the calculator you recommended and its already sayin that the least amount I would need to pay is like $500 a month for like 60 months. So I’m probably looking at bankruptcy as the option. With bankruptcy would I be able to keep my car? With that, I have 2 cars in my name, one is my driver, a 1999 Hyundai Tiburon, that I take to interviews, appointments, etc. the other is a 1966 Buick Skylark that sits on the side of my parents house as sort of a restoration project for me and my dad to work on, although with my finances haven’t been able to work on it in some time. The Tiburon is worth maybe $400-500 on a good day, if that and I dont think the Buick would be worth much of anything, especially in its current state of repair. So basically would I loose one or both of the cars in the process?