Thursday, October 14, 2010

Options

I spoke with my attorney this morning, at an hour when most unemployed people are still asleep, and we discussed my options with my bankruptcy arrangement. To sum it up, they all suck.

Option 1: I convert from a chapter 13 to a chapter 7. I lose my car but am able to add the new debt to the bankruptcy and get rid of it.

Option 1A: Same as above except I pay what I owe to this date on the car, minus what the trustee paid, then resume regular car payments. I don't know what the exact figure would be but I estimate between 1,000 and 2,000 dollars are owed on the car to get the payments up to date. Also, the car payments are only about $100 less than what I pay to the trustee.

Both option 1 and 1A come with a $700 attorney fee plus court fee of $25.

Option 2: Surrender my......as I was writing this I was interrupted by my older cat, Punkin, having a seizure. It is her second one of the day which is unusual for her since she usually has them at night and rarely more than once a week or so, that I know of. She recovers quickly but, while in the middle of the thrashing about, it scares me. I've had her for 15 years, almost as long as I have been in California, and I don't want to lose her. I also feel guilty because all I can think about is "be okay because I can't afford to take you to the vet".

While this incident certainly puts things in perspective, I still don't know what decision to make about my bankruptcy. Basically, in order to save any money, I have to give up my car. With no car, how do I function? I don't exactly live in a city with a good public transportation system and now I am thinking about Punkin having an emergency and me not being able to get her to the vet quickly. I can't afford my current situation but I can't afford to lose my car. I just don't know where to go from here so for now I am just going to hold onto Punkin and be thankful that she is okay.

2 comments:

Shelly said...

Once upon a time, I chose Option 1 and then bought a 1988 Ford Escort for $595. I learned to drive stick in the dealer's parking lot (barely a dealer, though - one of those odd little places that has like 10 cars for sale). It had so many holes in it that I got wet every time it rained. But that car lasted 4 years - long enough to get me back on my feet (and ironically, it was still running when I donated it to the leukemia foundation. I got a tax deduction that was larger than what I paid for the car initially).

April said...

Thanks for sharing, Shelly. I could probably do something similar. I'm sure my brother could find me a cheap car to drive for a few years. The bigger issue is the $700 I would need for the attorney. I don't have it and my dad paid for the attorney for the Chapter 13 so there is no way he is going to pay again.