Plainfield Bankruptcy Attorney’s Case Study

This is the case of Warren.  Warren lives on Tall Oaks Drive in Plainfield, Illinois.  That’s Will County, Illinois.  She has not filed a bankruptcy in the past.  She is married to Mr. Warren, who is also here.  They have a single-family home worth $205,000.00 and one mortgage on it of $244,000.00.  They are behind about $6,300.00, but they have not decided to surrender that property yet.  They’re going to see if they can save it.  They’re not renting from anybody.  Nobody’s renting from them.  They have a ’03 Land Rover, financed through Wachovia Bank.  It’s worth $6,000.00.  They owe $11,000.00, so they’re upside down on that vehicle, and they have a ’98 Mercedes ML320, again, financed by Wachovia.  The value is $4,000.00, the balance is $8,000.00, so they’re upside down on that vehicle. 

A checking and savings account at Chase Bank.  Minor household goods.  Normal clothing.  They do have some retirement accounts worth about $20,000.00, but those are protected.  They can’t sue anybody for any reason, they don’t expect to inherit any money in the next six months, and they have no pets.  Again, they’re married.  They do have two children who are ten and five.  They are both working.  One’s working as a programmer; the other is working for the State of Illinois.  The combined monthly income for the parties is $7,500.00.  If we look at their expenses, they’ve got a mortgage payment of $3,075.00, normal food, normal clothing expenses.  They do have tuition for the children at $400.00 per month. 

The auto payment is $550.00 per month, and they’re making other installment payments on debt at $1,220.00 per month, for a grand total of $9,000.00 per month.  So they are upside down, income minus expenses.  So, this would be a good time to get out of debt with a Chapter 7 fresh start and keep paying for the vehicles if they want to.  Now, they’re upside down on those vehicles, so there’s no equity.  They can decide to surrender those vehicles and get out of the debt completely and get into something more affordable that’s on an even keel, or they can decide to keep those vehicles even though they’re upside down, as long as they continue to make their monthly payments. 

See Plainfield Bankruptcy Attorney or call (847) 520-8100 for an evaluation.