I owe more than my Condo in Chula Vista is worth and I can't afford to pay mortgage. Should I just go bankrupt
Posted on Jul 18, 2008 under mortgage |The thing is I bought it hoping it would go up, but now it's down and its been on the market for three months and no one is looking at it. I got the place when I was on active duty Navy, and I got disabled and an honorable discharge and am a 20 percent diabled veteran, and my disability is the reason I cant get a job and why i got into this situation. I'm living in Korea now and teaching and I love it. I dont even want to go back to the states. Should I go bankrupt or just not pay my bills? Or what? I know I can file chapter 7 because of this. Would it be better to just not pay my bills? or declare bankruptcy, and can I declare from Korea?
July 18th, 2008 at 9:03 am
It's hard to sell a piece of property if you are out of the country. Do you have someone trustworthy helping you? Lower the price, unload it, or rent it out. Try and avoid bankruptcy, you lose your credit and your condo–at least if you sell it you have something, even if you are taking a loss on it.
Does the military have any services that could help you?
Good luck with it, sounds like a complicated situation.
July 18th, 2008 at 9:03 am
If the choice is to either not pay your bills or File…File.
…assuming that you have no other assets.
And thank you for the job that you do for us…it's just a shame that you are in such a bad situation right now..glad you are happy though.
Take care.
July 18th, 2008 at 9:03 am
When I lived in Idaho years back the Navy had some program in which they would lease houses and rent them out to other Navy personal. I would spend some time and check into it.
July 18th, 2008 at 9:03 am
First, I'm not a lawyer. I was a legal secretary for sixteen years, but never worked in the field of bankruptcy. I speak as someone who has done it.
Bankruptcy does more than ruin your credit rating, although it definitely does that. It can ruin your self-respect, too. The fact is, honorable people do not understand how anyone can ask the court to be "forgiven" of their debts, because it is not the court that loses, it is the creditors. So quite apart from getting credit (and it doesn't matter what country you are in; the credit reporting is international now), you will find many people will not trust you at all, and will not respect you at all, if you declare bankruptcy.
But you can ask the real estate agent who has your place up for sale what he recommends you do. Many times the most sensible thing is to pay just the interest on the mortgage, hold on, and wait for the prices to go back up. You might ask the agent to contact the mortgage holder on your behalf, explain the situation, and see what they say. Since the down-turn may well be temporary, since you are a veteran and at least partly disabled, there may well be sympathy for your position, and may even be government programs to assist.
You don't want to lose money selling the place at a loss, but you will clearly lose the place and all the money you have in it already if you just let it go and do nothing. The mortgage company would then be forced to foreclose, and you'll probably never see another penny.
Get some serious advice before you make such an important decision. Since you are a veteran, there are probably VA people you can talk to. Being an American in Korea, the embassy would seem to be the most likely place to start asking questions. Just ask them who you should talk to about such a problem. There may even be a Korean bank you are banking with now that would be interested in assisting you on the reasonable belief that the market will recover soon enough for them to get back what they loan you.
Please consider bankruptcy the very last option, once all others have been investigated. You owe that to yourself.
July 18th, 2008 at 9:03 am
Hi,
I'm sorry to hear about your disability and the financial straits you're in. There's a great website that you should look into called myvesta.org. Here's an article about Prioritizing Debts & Expenses Before Considering Bankruptcy: http://myvesta.org/column/052305.htm
Another good article is "Threatening Bankrtupcty To Collectors Won't Change Situation": http://myvesta.org/column/053005.htm
Bankruptcy is really the last resort. Explore other options first! For more info about the legal aspects of bankruptcy, check out nolo.com: http://www.nolo.com/resource.cfm/catID/575C3BE9-F0C1-448E-B5F43D22FE36E9F2/213/161/176/
Good luck!
July 18th, 2008 at 9:03 am
Don't file bankruptcy, it will ruin your credit and you'll end up losing the place anyway in foreclosure. Do you have anyone in the states that has power of attorney over your property? If so, I can negotiate with them to dump the property or do something like refinance the property to bring in positive cash flow in rental income.
I am a licensed real estate broker and an investor. Contact me to discuss your options.