LIFE just happens. Sometimes even the best laid plans can go wrong. How do you respond when this happens to you? Do you easily give up when you’re overwhelmed? Remaining calm can be difficult when things are chaotic so the usual reaction is panic. As a bankruptcy attorney, I often see this when people are facing a financial crisis. But let me tell you that even the worst problems rarely mean that it’s the end of the world. What may seem like a dead end may actually turn out to be a new path for a better life.
Recently, a middle-aged couple came to my office for bankruptcy help. A few years ago, they decided to invest in a few rental properties. They purchased three properties with zero down hoping to make some money "flipping" homes. Each property had a 2nd mortgage for more than $75,000.
The plan was a complete fiasco from the beginning. Since this couple didn’t do their research prior to buying, they immediately found out after purchasing that they couldn’t even rent the houses for enough money to cover the mortgage payments, property taxes and HOA fees. For some reason, they have also been unlucky in keeping good tenants so at different times over the last few years, some of the properties were vacant for months at a time. To make up the shortage in income, this couple started taking money out of their 401K plans and borrowing money from their credit cards.
To make a long story short, 3 years later, after deciding to engage in real estate investing and hoping to build a comfortable nest egg for themselves, this couple instead found themselves financially drained and with all 3 properties in foreclosure. Their biggest problem is the fact that the 2nd mortgage holders on the 3 foreclosed properties are now coming after them to collect on the now unsecured promissory notes. They are also now buried in credit card debt to the tune of $80,000. After going over their legal options with me, they decided to file bankruptcy to wipe out all their debts and start fresh. They realized that that it was pointless to continue struggling financially and hiding from their creditors when they clearly had no other way of getting out of debt. They’ve been thinking about bankruptcy for months but were afraid that "things will only get worse" once they file because they thought they would lose whatever little assets they have still have left. Of course, they found out that all these assumptions were actually false after speaking with me and in fact, filing bankruptcy under the circumstances was their only hope for a new life.
If you are currently facing a difficult financial time, it may be tempting to just throw in the towel and give up all hopes for a better financial future. But let me tell you that instead of getting frustrated and angry about things that you cannot control or change, your energy will be better spent focusing on finding a solution. Stop analyzing everything that happened and stop comparing yourself to other people. I’m a firm believer that things often happen for a reason and although you may not see it now, someday you will and you will be thankful that things happened the way they did. In life, things will not always go your way but keep your head up and focus on putting the pieces of the puzzle back together.
For a free consultation, call Toll-Free 1-866-477-7772. We have offices in Glendale, Cerritos , West Covina and Valencia.
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None of the information herein is intended to give legal advice for any specific situation. Atty. Ray Bulaon has successfully helped over 4,000 clients in getting out of debt. For a free attorney evaluation of your situation, please call Ray Bulaon Law Offices at TOLL FREE 1-866-477-7772.
( Published October 6, 2010 in Asian Journal Los Angeles p. B2 )
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