Should i file bankruptcy ?

Hi all. Female mid 40s. I live in Calif. My home payment is my only debt. I'm married but the house is in my name only. My husband is a disabled Viet Nam Veteran. I bought in May 05. I have no reported income to speak of and am running low on money since horseracing went weak in north Calif. I can't afford to live in Southern Calif. where the horses still run strong. I'm a gambler and have made my living mostly by gambling since 1979.  My vehicles are paid for and no credit card debt. Credit score was 800+ when i bought my house and have made no major purchases since.When I bought i planned to sell my house and take the equity to pay cash for a less expensive home. The real estate market went bad and and my payoff is almost equal to what i owe, rather than having $100K equity i'd expected.Should i file chapter 7? I've never filed or considered filing before. I'm thinking bankruptcy to solve the problem. Good idea?Thanks in advance.

I don't think so.  It sounds like if you had to you could sell your house and be debt free.  You may be able to keep your house and continue payments, or get out of your payments and loose the house but it's not likely you're going to get both.  If you don't owe more than what the house is worth then  you have the exact same options without filing for bankruptcy.

The bigger problem is you're out of a job, which is still going to exist with or without bankruptcy.  I'll spare you the speech on gambling.  If it's been your primary source of income since 1979, you must have a fairly good idea of what you're doing.  So you're problem is basically just that a track closed or went downhill?

Can you not still bet on the telecast races from the closest track, or online at Youbet?  Also moving to Southern California isn't the only option for moving closer to a track.  Oaklawn is an excellent track for example, and there's plenty of cheap houses in Arkansas. ;-)

Either way, you're problem is lack of a job now, not too much debt so I don't think bankruptcy is the solution.

Let me toss in my 2¢ as well. BK, as bankruptcy is called, is NOT the way to go. You don't have any debts requiring a BK. Jeremy is 100% on the mark w/that one. The only person who would win is the BK atty. You would pay him a fee for doing nothing but putting a BK on your credit history.

You may want to consider selling your home since you can sell it in several different ways. Rent to own, lease to own, for sale by owner, letting someone come in and pick up the mortgage in exchange for a few bucks (lenders are willing to do this as foreclosure costs them a lot of money). You could even turn it into a rental.

If it is close to a business district, you could get lucky and someone looking to open an office/business will buy it. Investigate your options. If what you say is true, BK isn't one of them.

Again, just my opinion but I'm in the field and listen to similar stories quite often. I hope this has helped.

I agree with the above advice. Also it's just a thought, but would you be able to take in a boarder or two? I guess it may depend on the zoning of your area, and the nature of it in general.

Over the years, we've had boarders from time to time, which helped with the monthly cash flow.

Good luck with your strategy.

As others have pointed out jumping into bankruptcy too soon eventually leads to a situation where your credit history is pretty much harmed for many years. It is best to never rush to file for bankruptcy

I really thank you all for your advice. It's all good, sound advice in my opinion.

 Two things i didn't mention. My husband is terminally ill due to Military Service. Not sickly, but a ticking timebomb with no ETA. He's 15 years older than i, but we've been married for 25+ years, living in separate residences. His PTSD is severe and he needs to be totally alone most of the time. He rents in Southern Cal. Also, neither of us have life insurance, and that worries me now for the first time ever. Just baring my soul a bit.

  Thank you all.

     G 

Is your husband retired military? If so, he has a monthly pension. If not, he may have kept his GI insurance up to date. If so, someone is the beneficiary. If it is you, you will get the proceeds if he dies.

Also if he is retired military he is entitled to hospital/medical treatment under CHAMPUS which is not called TRICARE. He probably hasn't been paying the premiums but that does not make any difference as he can apply to be re-instated on the program. There is a waiting period plus premium due. Neither are prohibitive.

If he isn't retired and has PTSD, he is eligible to be evaluated by the VA. A friend of mine was not retired and he got the evaluation. He was found to be 100% disabled and receives a nice monthly check plus gets his medical at the VA at no cost. Your husband probably would be in the same category if what you say is true.

The VA is one slow moving machine but once in the system, even if it takes 2 years, he will get his hearing. By the way, there will be paperwork involved so it is a good idea to round up what they say to include in the package.

Go to the nearest VA services office to get entered into the system. Don't go to a VA hospital because The VA hospital does not have anyone on staff to do the evaluation paperwork. You can find your nearest VA services office by looking in the white pages of the phone book or calling your county assistance office.

I hope this helps.

hi. He's not retired Military. He served late 60s for 3 years. He is 100% service connected disabled and receives about 2500 a month since 2002. All medical is free. PTSD really is a terrible thing. A service connected experiment is what's eating him up inside. At least the mountain of paperwork proved that fact. It took both of us working his claim for 3 years. 

 I'm so worried about my husband i can't think well enough to make my living. I just like spending time with him when he can handle company. He's still physically fit and funny, but night brings monsters that he has a hard time shaking off. No one else can get close to him. I've lived on savings the past 6 months and can't get back in gear so i can work. That's why i was considering bankruptcy... i make $1800 payments on this house i only live in part time. My savings are running low.

  Sorry. Emotions running high.  Replies have given me plenty to ponder. Thank you and all.

    G