Good morning HML, You got a lot of help last night. Let's see if I can contribute! First of all, you need some help from your children, family, church, etc. for legal fees because you do need a lawyer. Secondly, are you ABSOLUTELY SURE all of your debt is credit cards? No home equity loan or equity line of credit? No loan from House Hold Finance etc? Do you still have a mortgage on your home? Having asked these questions, and the answer is no then I think either your lawyer or you misunderstood something. Unless you live in a weird state, cc debt is unsecured. Yes, they can sue to recover money and they can place a lein on your home but no way in heck can they force you to sell the house. The lein just stays in place and must be satisfied if and whenyou or your heirs sell the property. As to S.S. Remember, it is an EXEMPT ASSET! Meaning, it is exempt from creditor seizure. To prove that, you must file bankruptcy and have that noted on the petition. If not, they can win in court and then freeze your bank account. You can go to court to overturn the action, but that will take time and more expense. Better to handle it once the right way and be done with it. Have you tried your local county or city bar association for legal help? They maintain a list of lawyers who will do bono work and many do so. How about a legal aid society in your town? What about your local chapter of the AARP. Often times they have retireds lawyers that will handle things like this. You can beat this thing but, you need to be very sure of the facts and call out the calvary.
Attention -TML Here are offices for legal aid in Lane County, OR http://www.lanecountylegalservices.org/Offices.htm Here is some general information about what kind of cases legal aid can take (they can take yours) http://www.osbar.org/legallinks/legalhelp/FreeAndLowCost/LegalAid.html Amateur advice is wonderful, and has helped many of us. Shared experiences help us realize we are not alone. But you need professional legal advice now. We have not seen the documents you received, we are not aware of all the details and consequences. My best advice is to find a good bankruptcy attorney, do whatever you have to do to come up with the fee and get out from under this debt before it ruins your physical and mental health. I have been there. I know your heart is pounding most of the time, you cannot think about anything else. I know you can see your worst fears coming true, and, if you sleep, it is for very short periods of time. You probably are not eating at all. I know the anxiety is overwhelming, your thinking is fragmented, and your mind seems to be jumping from one thing to another. If you can't summon the financial resources to get a bankruptcy attorney, go to legal aid. They even accept collect calls if it is long distance. Do not try to handle this yourself, get the right kind of help. Contact your nearest legal aid office. Then hang in, put one foot in front of the other, and soon it will be over. breeze
