possibly being sued---i know this looks like a long post but someone plz help

[mtsto]

I am seeking so advice in a sticky situation my husband and I have seemed to get ourselves into. First I would like to start by saying that I live in Georgia..(in case that may be important with different laws). I would like to provide as much information as possible in hopes of getting the best advice. In 2007 my husband decided to go on his own and purchase a 2005 Harley Sportster. This was before we got married however so the purchase is only in his name. The motorcycle was financed on Polaris Star card through HSBC bank Nevada. So basically it was financed on a credit card, Which would have never happened if I had been with him when making this decision. But since he went on his own that got us to the purchase and first mistake. With that being said even after having the motorcycle several years and paying the monthly payments on time was still getting us no where. Therefore we decided we wanted to sell. This then brought us to our next mistake. We decided to sell to my cousin. However, he had horrible credit and couldn’t finance it. So we decided to leave it in my husbands name and do a bill of sale paperwork which we picked up from the lawyers office. We filled out the paper work had the seller and buyer sign had it notarized and everything. He made payments for a couple of months and then decided I guess he didn’t want to pay anymore. Which is what put us in the bind that we are in now. We were unable to make the payments which is why we sold it to start with. And after he stopped making payments it was so far behind there was no hope in us even trying. Which led to the repossession. We spoke to a lawyer about the bill of sale that we had but he pretty much blew us off and said it was our problem. Now to our surprise we have received a deficiency notice saying we owe $9000.00 or we could be sued..Being that this is the first time we have been in this situation we didn’t expect this at all. Obviously we do not have the money..so my question is options: what sort of options to I have in this situation. We basically live paycheck to paycheck which makes it hard to save any money and we certainly want to avoid having my husbands wages garnished. It has been almost 30 days since receiving the deficiency notice so I’m afraid our time is running short. What are our options? My husband has also mentioned bankruptcy but I am not sure this is the correct route..for one because our house and 1 vehicle are joint accounts and I have a good credit and don’t want to ruin it. Is it possible to file bankruptcy only on accounts that are not joint? And would this even be a good options? We have not yet contacted HSBC because we do not know what the best option is and we do not want to say or do anything that will hurt us further. So I guess my questions are::

What would be our best options?

How do I go about handling this situation?

Do we need to contact HSBC?

Or basically anything and everything that I can use to get us out of this awful situation would be greatly appreciated. I am sure there are a million other questions I should be asking but I am so overwhelmed that I don’t even know what to ask.. So if at all possible could you help me.

Is there any additional information that I can provide you with that would better help you assist me in my situation? If so please let me know. Thank you so much for your help in advance.

[vballchick]

Don't panic just yet. They have to get a court order (judgment) before they can take anything from you and that would take some time. In the meantime, start reading and educating yourself.

Check your state's Homestead exemption. (usually makes it hard for a creditor to take your home). BK is usually the absolute LAST thing anyone should do. Check out Dave Ramsey as far as getting out of debt. It would take the BOTH of you to do it and stay dedicated but IT WORKS!!! He is on the radio nationwide and he has a site to check out. It's his name plus the .com (I don't really want to post websites on the forum)

Is the deficiency notice from HSBC, the OC? If it was it a CA, you can probably DV them and buy yourself some time. Do you have a copy of the agreement or contract? Read it over as it may contain your rights for disputes and other helpful information. Figure out what it is you want to accomplish here. Do you want to make payments? If you are willing to try and work it out, you should probably contact HSBC and see if they will work with you in payment program you can live with. The worst they can do is say no for now.