Bankruptcy, Real Time Resolutions 2nd, EMC Mortgage 2nd, HOA lawsuit...help

[cisco3000]

Our goal is to keep our home. We used to have Countrywide for the 1st and 2nd then BofA took over. We were going for a loan mod at the time and we stopped making payments in order to do a loan mod. Around that time, Real Time Resolutions was assigned the 2nd. Some back ground history: we also owned a second property that foreclosed and still have an outstanding 2nd of 53K with EMC/FASLO and 13K of HOA dues (summons received for that). The home sold but was about 151K deficient on the 1st. We may get a 1099-C for the 151K this year.

We tried to do a settlement with Real Time Res for our primary residence. Our debt with them is 63K and we are about 13K late. For our settlement we offered 10.5K and of course they and denied it. I ended up paying for an appraisal to the property and I sent them our financials. Then they came back with a settlement offer of 59K to pay in full. We don't have that cash so from that point on we stopped all contact with them and so far they have remained fairly quiet. Also to note, our first loan on the primary residence is less than the property value. In other words, there is some equity; like 30K

My concern is, RTR is not contacting me and we cannot afford another lawsuit filing. Is it because they know the loan is secured and that when we sell the property, they can go after us then? We haven't made a payment to them in over a year or two.

Also the second mortgage on the home that foreclosed has not contacted us yet regarding the 53K deficiency either.

We are currently working with a chapter 13 lawyer. We are only eligible for chapter 13 (didn't pass means test for ch7, still had disposable income after all bills). We were told that we will end up paying back all the unsecured debts within 3-5 years. If we move forward with Ch13 we end up paying $129K which is the whole amount of our debts. We don't have credit card debt. To make matters worse we will be hit with a 1099-C for the 151K. Our lawyer said we should have come to him earlier before foreclosure.

We are in a lose lose situation and we feel the stress everyday. The only positive with filing bankruptcy, is we should get all potential and current law suits off our backs and slight peace of mind. However, we will be paying all debts in full and and the IRS. I don't know how the means test showed we have disposable income, we live paycheck to paycheck. The only thing I see is the extra overtime my wife and I put in the last few months of the year to pay for other bills.

I drive for work and current car is 10 years old and falling apart. We can barely afford a new one and we are not supposed to make a large purchase right before filing bk; it may constitute fraud.

Any thoughts or advice for bankruptcy? Should we settle the current 13K lawsuit with our foreclosed home's HOA then file bankruptcy later when the other collection agencies start suing us and we have a new vehicle loan?

We are still unsure of what to do. Thanks in advance.

[Denita]

Not all Ch 13's are 100% payback. Most are much less than 100% payback.
Have you only had a consultation with one BK attorney, or did you interview many?

I am asking because it is not typical to pay back 100% in a Ch 13 and you may very well have a better result by getting a more aggressive BK attorney.