Consulidate or Bankruptcy?

I am writing because my fiance and I need HELP! Noone gives you a straight answer. My fiance has a really good job, and with that he decided about 4 years ago to by some rental properties fix them up and rent them out. Great idea right? well Wrong! We did not have good tenants and it costed lots of money to fix them up after each tenant and also paying the morgage without rent coming in. Lots of Credit card debt incurred and now its making life very challenging, and he can not do it anymore. He is letting the houses go back, we are trying to sell them but in this market not going so good. SO now there is all this credit card debt that goes with the houses. He is thinking of filling bankruptcy but he makes good money still so they are saying he will have to pay a lot back and plus go through all the hardship of bankruptcy. My question is do you think it would be better to try to just consolidate and pay back that way vs bankrutpcy and paying back? Please help.
Thank you for your time!

First off, bankruptcy would stay on your report for ten years, and seven years for ch-13 and may damage your credit beyond repair. Your situation doesn't sound as despair especially when he is still making good money. I think he can make a good candidate for consolidation. But there are factors which can still alter the situation. This site offers free debt consultation. You may like to enroll for it. Further you can also check with the 'do it yourself' section to get a better idea of your situation.

Also, please speak with an attorney. Some attorneys will give you a free consoltation, with the hope you will hire them. Remember this though, as I did a chapter 7, in a bankruptcy your are given protection by the court to use against collectors and creditors, and you have an attorney working for you. The down side of bankruptcies is the hit you take on your credit.