Life happened, now I’m lost.

[u/Maynard420247]

My parents died when I was 19, I’ve been on my own since learning mostly by experience, the most expensive lessons. I have no one to turn to for advice and no clue what to do. I did fairly well worked my way into a specialty field in municipality water systems. Was making $125-150k a year, until some federal budget cuts cancelled virtually all our projects in my field. I lost my job and ultimately the business closed after I was let go. I received some UE but it ran out long ago and I still haven’t any job offers in my field. Due to my specific field and the federal cuts it’s overrun with unemployed older folks with much more experience, and younger ones that will work for less. I quit paying on all my credit card debt, about $70/75k and a personal loan around 10k. Sold the house so it didn’t go into foreclosure, bought a class A coach and hit the road to find my new life and career. I‘ve been living in it doing jobs working my way around the country with no permanent address trying to find my place. I’ve found a dream job and chose a career that only makes about $45k a year, but is much more fulfilling and contributes to others in a way that has changed me forever. As you might figure, there’s no way I can live and pay all my old debts. I haven’t made any payments in almost 2 years. Most of the accounts went to charge offs, and/or sold off. I’ve just continually blocked all numbers any one calls from. Over 1,000 numbers at this point. I’m lost on what to do, do I declare bankruptcy and go through all that, or just wait for 5 more years for all of the debt to fall off?

tldr $75k in CC debt, no payments in almost two years. Claim bankruptcy or let it all fall off in 5 years?

[u/fsociety1990]

File chapter 7 bankruptcy immediately after starting your job.

[u/Top_Firefighter144 → u/fsociety1990]

Exactly. Since your debt is only 2 years old, the creditors can most likely sue you and once they find out you have income, there's a good chance they will. In my state the statute of limitations is 4 years. If you can file bankruptcy, I'd probably go that route. Your credit is ruined anyways.

Take it as a lesson and don't use credit you can't afford to pay off each month.

[u/Yogi2210]

I don’t know anything about bankruptcy I just wanted to say that I’m sorry you’re struggling with this. Sounds like you’ve taken some positive steps. I would do some real online research and maybe talk to a bankruptcy lawyer to understand if it would be beneficial. Good luck.

[u/your-mom04605]

Bk is almost a requirement here. You can’t handle $75k of debt on $45k per year. Creditors are likely to sue, and once the judgment(s) hit the garnishment will come and you’ll be in a tough spot for a very long time.

[u/TelevisionKnown8463]

You can’t just wait out your debts; you will be sued and those judgments will hang over you forever with creditors trying to garnish your wages and take money from your bank accounts. Your case might be simple enough to file bankruptcy without a lawyer; check out Upsolve.org.

Lots of info and stories over at [r/bankruptcy](r/bankruptcy).

[u/Wonderful_Shame_4986]

Creditors ARE going to find you. At this point bankruptcy is your best option. Learn from your mistakes and you won't need advice from others.

[u/Level-Program-5489 → u/Wonderful_Shame_4986]

I dont know. I owe PayPal $2000 and they haven’t contacted me in 5 years. One more year for the statute of limitations to expire.

[u/Current-Factor-4044]

I see that most people are recommending bankruptcy but I’m not sure how many of them have been in your shoes

I have been in your shoes. I put in a horrible head on collision in 2017 and I had an amazing job that I could no longer do.

I had an Ample savings and kept up minimum payments for about six months maybe even a year waiting for this Accident case to settle or me to improve enough to get back to work.

I kept needing another surgery. There was another issue things that prevented this case from being able to go to getting it closed and getting it settled.

I also had to move into something way beneath what I was accustomed to and realized maybe if I stretched it real hard I could stretch my savings a few more years to survive . But that would mean making no more minimum payments so I didn’t.

By the time I began collecting disability, which was a very small amount I was also two years behind in my payments

I had 45 derogatory marks on my credit the day of the accident I had my mortgage approval and was about to close on a house suddenly with no income

Given my newfound low income, life and receiving disability I was able to barely survive, but no way I could pay any payment

I received some letters lots of phone calls a few emails about the Debts

Debt was getting old and the Debt was getting sold which made it appear that it was New Debt but since it wasn’t Debt and I did not know the creditors coming after me because they had bought the Debt I started disputing it

I discovered that statue of limitations, being with a debt’s gonna run out and be off your record begins the day. You were first late on your payment and no longer contacted the creditor.

I was able to wipe out about 40 of the derogatory marks between the 3 to 5 year, Mark in my state statue of limitations is seven years

2025 what is the seven year mark and all my derogatory marks were gone

The case settled the end of that year and my credit score is now 780

How do I file bankruptcy in 2018 when I stopped paying the debt or 2017 when I had the car accident I would still have the bankruptcy on my record .

In order to get judgment, they have to be able to serve you that means show up at your door which apparently they can’t find since you have no permanent address I did have an permanent address, but nobody showed up at the door

I don’t know what the statute limitations is in your state but you’re already two years into it the credit is already shot. A bankruptcy is only going to do more damage in my opinion.

I was much older about 58 at the time of my accident so I was concerned about even having time in my lifetime to bounce back

These are decisions only you can make
A bankruptcy attorney which I met with a few of them and realized they just wanted my money and
upfront.

For me this is all behind me but it did take time !

[u/justaguyinhouston]

Seriously, that is so sad. Sorry sbout your parents. You have had some back luck in life. Let it ride. You came this far.

[u/tofeethecatto]

Id consult a bankrupcy atty before deciding to wait it out. The debt falling off your credit report doesnt necessarily mean it disappears legally, and the rules vary by state. You deserve some peace of mind after everything you’ve been through

[u/DifferenceWestern752 → u/tofeethecatto]

In many states there is a time limit for filing a lawsuit. Three years may be enough for the clock to run out.