Michigan- bankruptcy (mortgage, good credit, lawyer)

[mimberly]

With so many people loosing jobs and homes in this state has anyone other than us had to start a bankruptcy and is there any hope to move on afterwards meaning renting and starting again. We had to because of jobs and it has been hard. We don't have anything but we will loose the home. My husband had to take a job in another state so we will move. It is a good job so although we don't want to move we have to move forward. Is it possible to do that after a bankruptcy?

[Sociologist]

Originally Posted by mimberly

With so many people loosing jobs and homes in this state has anyone other than us had to start a bankruptcy and is there any hope to move on afterwards meaning renting and starting again. We had to because of jobs and it has been hard. We don't have anything but we will loose the home. My husband had to take a job in another state so we will move. It is a good job so although we don't want to move we have to move forward. Is it possible to do that after a bankruptcy?

I have known several families that have declared and lived well afterwards. Renting is almost guaranteed, and many creditors will approve a loan after bankruptcy although rates will be very high. One of my closest friends had the unfortunate situation of doing so, he was able to secure several credit cards and eventually regain most of what he lost. The big thing is, if you start missing payments again, getting a loan will be almost impossible. Laws are different in every state regarding Bankruptcy, I would consult your attorney for that question. I've even known of people who have declared multiple times and still lived a relatively normal life. If your moving out of state you probably will have to rent for at least a year. Open up a (only 1) credit card and start using it sparingly. Within the year or two you should be able to look at homes. Good Luck!

[mimberly]

THanks, it is a very hard thing to do and we don't take it lightly. We worked very hard to pay what we had to and until 4-5 months ago never missed a mortgage payment. I never thought we would not people back. THe hard thing is that our lawyer did not make clear that if we had any savings which we did from our income tax to help with the move to the new job to get it out of the bank. We had a van payment and a loan at the bank and that took the money in our savings. I understand why but it is all we had.

[malamute]

Originally Posted by mimberly

With so many people loosing jobs and homes in this state has anyone other than us had to start a bankruptcy and is there any hope to move on afterwards meaning renting and starting again. We had to because of jobs and it has been hard. We don't have anything but we will loose the home. My husband had to take a job in another state so we will move. It is a good job so although we don't want to move we have to move forward. Is it possible to do that after a bankruptcy?

I've known a couple of people who lost a home in foreclosure. It seemed like once it was over they were okay, back to renting and one of them did go on and get back into home ownership.

Good luck with your move, good thing your husband has a good job because for most of us, a job is what makes all the difference.

[A2Mich]

We've been told by several mortgage lenders that generally 3-4 years after your discharge date, with good credit in the meantime, you can get a mortgage with a fairly good interest rate.

[scottmi]

I suggest renting for a year or two and saving up a couple thousand dollars. Then, whereever you are working or want to work (make sure you have a good job lined up first), look for homes on a land contract. They won't be fancy and you might pay a bit more oever the long run...but you won't have a bank hanging over your head (that wants you to fail in order to repossess the house) and you won't be tossing money out the window in rent.

If you don't want to do that, you can always shop around for an older mobile home and find a piece of property that has a well and septic already on it. Then, just put the two together and viola---there's another starter place. (You may need to buy the land on land contract though, since it'd probably be pretty pricey...between $15k and 30k I'd guess for a few acres in a non-urban setting).


You can do it, trust me.

As long as you're okay living at a "basic" level you'll do fine in a starter home or mobile home.