SECURED DEBT

ANYONE?

Secured debts can be a challenge but if you do some legwork, you can probably make some progress.

I know you said you wanted options other than BK, so here are some suggestions:

1. I personally am not aware of debt consolidators who work with secured debts. If you haven't done so already, call the secured creditors and ask if they have any hardship plans to get you back on track.

2. You might want to search your local attorneys who specialize in debt issues and ask them what you might be able to do to work with your secured creditors (b/c you don't want to go the BK route). I would NOT seek out a BK attorney for this task b/c they make their money when people DO file so they probably are not objective enough.

3. If you file BK - like a Chapter 13, you can pay your arrears in the plan but you must be able to pay both the secured regular payments plus the plan. In a Chapter 7 all your debts are wiped out, but you can reaffirm some debts such as mortgage and car in order to keep them.

4. Besides the standard suggestions such as borrow money from family, get a second job, etc., I am at a loss for ideas. Perhaps someone else here can help us.

I was able to get put into a hardship program by my mortgage company. I had to fill out some forms and fax them in. Then I had to follow up with a few phone calls, answer some questions, and fax some more forms. They reduced my interest rate for three years and reduced my payment amount for three years. I am paying almost $600 per month less. However, at the end of that three years, the loan get reamortized and I owe the remaining balance by the normal payoff date. At that point, my payment will be about $100 per month more than it was before I started the hardship program.