Tuesday, August 18, 2015

Is Chapter 13 Bankruptcy a good idea?


My girlfriend is considering filing bankruptcy. She has 1 car debt of $7,000, another car debt of $10,000, and a personal loan from her father for $35,000 (This is an actual bank loan in his name rather than just "borrowing" money from dad). The loan from her father is off the books so there's no paperwork, and she has been making $360 payments to him for the last few months. She has an annual income of about $35,000 and has only $200 or so in disposable income (minus the $360 for her dad). Her stocks and money in her bank accounts totals less than $3000. She has a car that she is currently paying off, payments of $300 monthly with 18-months to go (Car payments are $280 so she has been paying $20 extra per month… Just to add more complications it seems…).

Here's the problem… Her dad owns a home in Arizona and she is on the deed with him for the house. The house is paid off in full, so no mortgage. Although she only has about $3,000, she is part owner of the home. Additionally, she lives in California and the home is in Arizona.

She cant afford to pay off $52,000 of debt while making so little money, and even if she managed to get a higher paying job, it would take her decades to pay this off.

So the questions… Will Chapter 13 protect her father's home? Will they even accept a Chapter 13 with her only making a few hundred disposable income? How much of her income would they actually take? What happens with her car/car payments?

Thanks!

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