Looking for guidance

[jtgodwin]

I am new here and have been reading around as much as I can to find information. But I would still like to ask for specific advice for my situation.

I will be receiving $15,000 and I want to use it to pay off all of my wife's and my credit card debts. Listed below are cards, balance and a brief history of the accounts.

AMEX - $2692.03 - This is a business credit card and I closed the business. I don’t believe the card shows up on my credit report but I did personally guarantee it.

Chase Platinum - $3856.95 - This is a relatively new account and it has never been late or missed a payment

Chase Bankone - $1211.27 - This card has been late and I have missed some payments on it in the past but it is current right now

Capital One - $845.79 - This card has been late and I have missed some payments on it in the past but it is current right now

Bank of America - $4265.58 - This card is on a hardship program and has a few months left on it the program. We missed several payments and were late very often prior the hardship program

Discover - $3245.19 - This card is on a hardship program and has a few months left on it the program. We missed several payments and were late very often prior the hardship program

At&t Universal - $4891.06 - This card is on a hardship program and has a few months left on it the program. We missed several payments and were late very often prior the hardship program

The total debt is 21,007.42

We will not be able to afford the payments on these cards even with the hardship program (due to a change in employment and a new baby). Most of this debt was incurred while I was trying to get my business started and that did work out so I took the best job I could find and now we are not able to afford everything. Even worse is when the hardship programs expire we will be even worse off. On top of that I was just recently hurt and had to make 2 trips the emergency room and I do not have insurance. The medical bills will be over $7000 when they all come in and there is no way I can pay them as well.

Sorry for long post - aka sob story - but I really need some advice, help, steps to take, and where to start. I have been reading around a lot and most people are dealing with collection agencies, so I am looking at getting some help aimed at dealing with the credit card companies.

Thanks

JT

[jtgodwin]

Here is some information that I may have forgot:

We live in Georgia

The first two cards are mine, the bank of America is a joint, and all the others are my wifes.

I am willing to give more detail if it will help, but no personal info

Thanks

JT

[randy2029]

I wish I could help with your specific questions, but I am not a really qualified financer or anything. I got this great link the other day (it may have been at this other board when I was lurking), and it has some investment calculators and finance info that I found useful. Maybe it can answer your questions.

If not, from what I've read, this board has a lot of people who really know their stuff. So you'll probably get some good advice.

Good luck with your situation, it's so easy to get in debt (I know this from experience) when life shifts just a little.

Randy

(the link I was talking about is http://www.inchargeorg.org)

[willingtocope]

Welcome...we'll help if we can...

First...DO NOT get involved with anything like www.incharge.org ...almost all of the debt counselor / consolidator / elminator companies are scams. They'll take your money and run. The few that are legitimate don't do anything you can't do yourself...and most of those are funded by the OCs to begin with.

Second, you're already doing pretty much what you can by getting on the hard ship programs. You might want to sit down and do a budget or spreadsheet...for example, if you took you $15k and divided up among the CCs, would you be able to manage the payments on the $6k that's left? You'll have to work out a payment arrangement with the hospital, also. You might be able to offer "less than balance owed" settlements to some of those folks...say about 75% or so, but your credit reports will get dinged.

You could also, of course, look into a Chapter 13 BK, which would effectively force the CCs to play along, but again, that will really ding your credit.

[Gettinout]

In conjunction with the research you are doing, you might consider the option of paying off the joint and all of your wifes accounts. Your personal credit will take a hit, but you might be able to save your wifes credit rating. You could then let the remaining accounts come close to charge off and negotiate a settlement on your remaining accounts. Perhaps reversing the scenario might yield a better response.

My situation is that my wife has no outstanding debt, but I have two accounts approaching charge off. I am beginning negotiations to settle the debts and will attempt to repair my credit after the dust settles. Meanwhile my wifes credit remains excellent.

In most cases I believe hospitals are obligated to take very minimal payments in hardship cases. This could be very helpful.

Do lots of research. Unfortunately no matter how much help you receive here you will ultimately make the decision how to best tackle your situation.

DEFINITELY speak to 2-3 bankruptcy attorneys. The laws are changing dramatically in early October. All three attorneys I spoke with gave me very different strategies. Their free advice has helped me stay away from BK and realize that settling my debts will utimately get me out of debt sooner. As I stated before, my wifes credit remains unscathed. My credit is trashed temporarily, but I will be out of debt much sooner.

You'll find your way out. I've been terrified for quite a while, but nearing my first settlement, I realize that it's simply a slow process and not a measure of who we are as people.

GOOD LUCK!

Anyone is welcomed to debate my strategies or correct me if I am giving misguided advice.