Hi Mike,
listen, there are a lot of guys/gals on here that are going to tell you to do this, or do that, and a lot of it isn't going to sound good to you. The fact is that you reached out to us, asking for advice, and we're giving it, that's all. At least you'll get many varied opinions on what you should/could do. l'm a newbie here to VTCOA, but l myself have claimed BR. l tried the Debt Consolidation route, and it was a waste of money. Basically, all they do is contact all the banks you owe money to, and work out a plan with them for you. Altogether if all your bills every month are let's say $1500, and your total debt is $35K, they tell you to give them the $1500 every month, and they'll take care of your bills. What happens is the creditors stop calling you, because they've worked out a deal with the consolidation place, but the cons. place pays the hardest hitters first with your money. They've worked out deals with some of the places for probably a total of 20K, but you don't know that. You're not saving any money at all, and where you get screwed is there's always several that won't work out a deal, and they still come after you. You will almost guaranteed lose your vehicles, and you'll be in debt for years. l learned the hard way about this option after trying it, and my BR lawyer explained exactly what they do. lt's basically just a stall for the inevitable. Believe me, the BR Judge could give half a crap that you paid some of them off or not.
On the flip side, l finally jumped off the fence and claimed BR because one of the stubborn creditors finally went to a collections lawyer, who froze all of my bank accounts, and l couldn't do squat. l went to a BR lawyer, who told me flat out, l was going to have to sell or surrender my two cars, really no way out of it. Absolutely the best decision. l got my bank accounts freed up, the creditiors stopped calling, and everything got wiped clean, every single debt and judgement l had against me. l quite honestly do not know about your student loan; l didn't have one, and that may not be claimable. l claimed BR in '01, and have since bought a house and have had several car loans. l certainly have paid more in interest on those loans than any other average Joe, but that's my own fault. As several others have said, l suggest you do talk to a BR lawyer, instead of us. That's who can clearly tell you what you can or can't do, and what you should or shouldn't do. Maybe you can file Chap 13 instead of 7, and rework all of your bills to pay them down and off over time. l'm not too familiar with that route because when l heard how easy it would be to just liquidate everything, l went that way, but under 13, it'll be super hard to get another car loan, and practically impossible to buy a house until it's discharged, (you have to actually get the Court's approval first to assume a new loan of any sort..). lt won't, or shouldn't cost you anything to talk to them, and they can explain everything to you, and what options you may or may not have. Here in NY, it cost me a total of $450 to file, with the lawyer's fee included. lf your girl has halfway decent credit, you'll be able to do what you need to do on her credit while you re-establish yours, and you'll be able to own one of the first SRT 12's when they roll off the line in '12. Just my $.02... but in any choice you make, only the best of luck to you in making a new start. l know this isn't what you want to hear, but unfortunately, it's the truth, and we're just trying to help a fellow brother
