went to BK court today

[Zoe Girl]

Okay it is pretty much done. The only thing I missed (I was really worried I missed something) was that I was supposed to start making payments and have one that was due a week ago! I want this to be the start of total financial integrity so that I recover as quickly as I can. It wasn't clear so I don't think that will count against me and I am putting my payment in the mail first thing tomorrow.

It was very uneventful. My lawyer said that this was the best part of his day, my court date, because there were no adjustments, no disagreement from creditors, all smooth. I think as much as I sometimes still hate this, it will be freeing to move forward. I have hesitated on applying for jobs and looking forward. They asked if anything had changed in my income or employment so I could say no. Now I can look for better paid employment without worrying it will complicate this process.

[SteveinMN]

Congratulations (?), Zoe. March on with intent!

[EDIT]: it seems odd to congratulate someone on a BK, but this is a firm footing for moving forward. From that perspective, it is worth noting the occasion.

[try2bfrugal]

Good work, ZG. It sounded like your best move. Wishing you smooth financial sailing from here on out.

[Zoe Girl]

It is okay to say congratulations, I understand. It is freeing, and heck there was no way around it so might as well accept that.

[Float On]

I think if you do find better employment if the income is some certain percent over your current income you have to report it and they can adjust your payments up a bit. How long do you have to make payments? I forget, does this take care of that problem with the old house mortgage too?

[Zoe Girl]

Thank you all,

Float It was really just for the 2nd mortgage. The 1st was handled in the foreclosure and got pretty close to paid but the 2nd was not paid. I had to pay the 2nd this way since my ex has the option of suing me and did not respond to any of my inquiries about that. I will check with my lawyer on the increased income, mine is so low but I also have increased health care now so unless it is a big change I am not sure it will matter.

I have 36 months to make payments, I realized it is very reasonable since I had the months I was trying to short sale and didn't pay the mortgage when it was obvious it was going to foreclose. I really wish that it showed somehow in foreclosures or BK the different ways you handled it. For example I paid my mortgage until it was a few months from foreclosure and it would not have changed anything. I also did the BK on the 2nd and a very small amount of debt (I tried to keep it out of the BK but couldn't pay it entirely in the time I had, but they are getting paid something at least). I have a friend who works with people in foreclosures with her company to try and work out refinance deals and alternatives so I hear the stories of people with high net worth and low payments still not paying, ones with huge car loans who don't pay their mortgage, and people who have gone years and years instead of my 6 months. To the best of my knowledge it looks the same although if I wanted credit or tried to rent a new place to live I could write a letter of explanation.