Going to drown in debt Here_I_go: I have an excellent credit standing, but since I filed for divorce hubby handed me a stack of bills and said pay them...at the time I didn't even have a job (he owns and operates his own business). He has always paid all the bills I was a stay at home mom for 2 years. He had bad credit when we got together and i put him on as an authorized user on my cards(to help him re-establish his credit).Now my share of our marital debt is $23,000-just the cars and credit cards. In his name is aprox. $17,000. He makes 3-4 times as much as I do per month.I want to keep my credit standing, don't want ch 7. Any suggestions on how to handle bill collectors? What should I say they do not accept divorce as a legitamate excuse for being late. ::)
Re: Going to drown in debt Red_Fusion: Here_I_Go,
I can totally relate to your situation. For the time being, I have an excellent credit standing as well. Unfortunately, everything is in my name only (the house, the cars, the credit cards) because of his poor credit. The ironic part is he makes over twice what I do. You can bet I will never let this happen again. Right now my biggest concern is the house being foreclosed on if he quits paying 1/2 before it sells. (He lives with the OW.)
One thing I've learned over the years when trying to help my s2bx with his credit: communication with creditors is key. While most will not be sympathetic to your individual situation (afterall, they hear these sob stories day in and day out - they just want their money), sometimes they are willing to work with you by, for example, reducing your minimum payment. While reducing minimum payments isn't key to getting your debt paid off sooner (after all, creditors still get their interest and end up making more money off you the longer it takes you to repay your debt), reduced payments may be an option until you can find a better solution.
And remember, late payments won't appear on your credit report until they are 30 days or more past due. While most creditors will impose late fees after the grace period, the credit bureaus only track 30+ days past due.
Hope this helps.
Re: Going to drown in debt totallyconfused: I had a friend in your situation when she divorced. She went to consumer credit counseling and they totally helped. It didn't affect her credit in any way she said. It may be an option.
TC
Re: Going to drown in debt Red_Fusion: If you ever plan to purchase a house in the future, think twice before consulting Consumer Credit Counseling. It's unfortunate, but my mortgage company gave me a hard time about that one. They viewed it as a credit problem even though I was seeking help for (at the time for the s2bx).
Re: Going to drown in debt Carrie: Geez! Talk about lame! I just can't understand why creditors can't take an obvious commitment to paying what you owe to other people. I never understood that view. Anyway - this is a real "kick 'em when they're down" deal. (Can you tell that stuff like this ticks me off?) >:(
I guess I can be thankful that my husband and I have very little joint debt. One of the problems with our marriage was that we never actually joined financial forces - never talked about financial goals for house downpayments and the like. It's a little relieving that when we close our joint bank account that'll be the end of the story. It's almost like we were never married in the first place. :-/
However, I wonder what I'm going to do about my $25K of school loans and $10K of credit card debt. Being a student for my entire life (now a grad student) hasn't really helped me out.
I guess we'll all make it through somehow. One day at a time.
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