[I Was Naked]
When I Wrote ThisFull Circle
2007-03-06
If anyone read my last post, they may understand how difficult today is for me. Normally I am the last person to share my problems with the world, as I am the one people come to in life, and at work to resolve theirs.
But at 4:30 today, I am meeting with a bankruptcy lawyer. I've come to terms with it, and look at it now as a business decision. Which chapter it ends up being is yet to be determined, my thought was 13 which is a reorg and you get to keep your house. Chapter 7 is the big one, everything is dismissed but your assets are disolved. Which would make sense, because essentially over the last two years, and a series of unfortunate events, an unscrupulous subcontractor, predatory credit card companies I find myself looking around my house, knowing I will probably have to sell it. I've had to put a ton of money into it. I knew when I bought it, I had a home inspection done. Plus it is 160 years old, and the last owners were here for 33 years, and tried to convince me it was maintenance free. Yeah, so I fixed all that, from the heating, electric, water- that was the first 12,000.00. Cosmetically I was happy with the wallpaper and paint..but the kitchen? If you were over 5'8 you would hit your head on the ceiling fixture. It was suggested to find out what was underneath the ceiling, and I agreed it would be a good idea. Because I trust this person, who has done the work in my last home also, she recommended her nephew who was a contractor to do the job. I called him to come out and give me an estimate. He showed up, took a look around, figured it was a weeks worth of work and his rate was $300.00 per day. I work for homebuilders. I know what pricing is, and essentially I figured 1500.00 wasn't a bad bid considering the scope of work. So I agreed on a start date. That got delayed but no big deal, he eventually showed up one day in May.
Now I am a trusting soul, and when it comes to subs, etc..I leave my house open, while I am at work and my cell phone numbers.
So the job starts and he drills carefully first through to see what he can see, before he starts tearing out. Turns out there was a total of 4 ceilings on this part of my house, with a huge beam that runs across it. You would think the multiple ceilings rested on this for support but no. Once all the ceilings were removed, I had a celing that sloped from 12' at the top above the door frame as you enter the kitchen, down to about 6.5 feet above the windows on the other side. But it opened up the space. I still had to decide what to put up there, and as I always wanted a tin ceiling I ordered the panels from the original American Tin Ceiling which has been in business for about 140 years.
Now, what happens after this, in hindsite, was the start of my struggle with my finances. He still had cleanup to do, while I waited for the ceiling tiles to get delivered. Then the phone calls started while I was at work. The walls of my house our 20" thick stone. There was concern that the cabinets were bad, then the walls, and I would come home every day to a new problem. I'll fast forward this for you, what was supposed to be a week job and 1500.00 turned into a 5 month job, a gutted kitchen down to the earth, and 50,000.00 I didn't have. I refinanced twice, took out a loan to pay him at 25% interest, and used two Christmas bonuses to pay some debt off or down. I also had to hire electricians, plumbers, get cabinetry and Home Depot involved. But I still trusted him, even though some days I couldn't tell what got done, so I kept my own records on a calendar. Eventually that job was finished, and I only had a few things left around the house that could wait, til I was in a better finacial position.
Two days after he left I came down the stairs and saw a portion of my ceiling on the floor. I called him back and asked him to help. My window AC unit in my bedroom upstairs wasn't tilted the right way and water found its way down through the wood sill, the walls and left a hole. He pretty much patched it with 5 lbs of joint compound, let it dry and while I knew I had already paid once to have the LR painted it needed it again, since it came down the wall. So I asked that he do that and replace a rotted post outside on my porch. If you take a moment to look at my house, you can see the brackets that give it its charm. All but two are gone, as he decided to take a hammer to them and busted them into pieces without my consent. He thought he was going to fix the post one way, had my order 4 posts, gave me the measurements, and I had to spend an extra 500 on delivery since he couldn't pick them up. Then he measured wrong. So I had to buy 4 more posts that were longer. Now I'm pissed but I just want the job done. He started painting once the joint compound had dried and it took him about two days in his time to replace the posts. I heard later from his aunt that he kept saying I owed him for 21 days of work and I came home one day to his bill of $6300.00. I called him and asked what the bill was for, and show me 168 hours worth of work for painting a living room and the repair, and replacing a post. His reply was...I kid you not, " I never said I worked 8 hours a day. If I have to come to your house for half an hour, you get charged a full day, because I can't work for anyone else that day."
Suffice it to say, I told him to kiss my ass and I paid him 3000, which I thought was more then fair for the work done, and the fact it will cost me well over a thousand dollars to try and replace the brackets that were hand made on my house. I know, I've priced it out. Nothing that is made these days has the same dimensions or quality, and has to be made by a carpenter. I was also heart sick, knowing how many times I came home during the kitchen that this guy just needed a job and worked me over. I paid him roughly 15,000 for his labor, and on the whole the kitchen was about 46,000.00.
So I am mortgaged to the hilt, the bills keep piling up, but I was falling further behind. The pressure got to me, and as seen on Oprah, she was touting CreditSolutions.com one of those so called credit counselors, so I gave them a call. They promised and put in writing they would take my 40k in debt negotiate it down to 16k and their cut was 15% of the negotiated balance. Which they take the first three months and you give them a limited power of attorney to act on your behalf. Then they tell you how much to save so you can pay your debt. According to their plan, my payments to the companies would start March of 2008. They also claim they let your accounts age, to give them the upper hand and negotiating in their court. I told them, I didn't need them to do that, please negotiate right away. I am the kind of person who pays my credit cards weekly, so I am always paying more then the minimum amount due. Plus they were charging me a hefty sum, over 6000.00 for this, and quite frankly, as the payments came out monthly of my bank, and the phone calls continued from creditors, I got more and more upset. I called, I put in writing, I wanted to see the agreement that the negotiations were accepted. After all, its what they based their fee on. After three months of this crap,and to find out the only thing that had been done was 1 fax sent to each credit card company, with my POA and they had taken over 1800 from my account, I cancelled them in January, and they won't return my money. Now I have to file a complaint with the Attorney Generals Office, but my credit is shot to hell as the accounts aged over 120 days, and the credit bureaus have been reported as closed and charged off.
The last dominoe to fall in this little chain of events was my Christmas Bonus. The last thing I was counting on and let me tell you, I'm fortunate that its never been a small amount. I would make more in a bonus then some people make in a year. Did you remember I worked for home builders, and where is our economy? Suffice it to say, I got less then one fourth of my bonus last year, and that was the final nail in the coffin.
Which brings me to today. Bankruptcy lasts 10 years on your report, but in lieu of a miracle, I don't have any other recourse. I know that even if I lose everything, I don't lose who I am, and as beautiful of a home I have made this, I can recreate it somewhere else. I've had nothing before, worked my ass off for everything I have, and I may lose it again. Well, I'm always up for another adventure and I've always said, all I need is my cat and my laptop. Its' kind of freeing in a way, letting it all go, knowing I can rebuild it will just be a little harder. I think the universe has other plans for me, and maybe my load needs to be lightened so its easier to move.
But please if you do find yourself in the same position, avoid Credit Solutions or anyone of these credit counselors who are for profit. Also bear in mind, that the creditors have the right to send you a 1099 for the charged off portion, as the IRS now looks at that as income and taxes are owed. As for my subcontractor? Well, suffice it to say the IRS will catch up with him eventually, as I swing a whistle from my fingers. He hasn't filed taxes in over 20 years. My friends daughter has a boyfriend who always wanted first shot at buying my house, if it ever goes on the market.
Life always works out the way its supposed to, based on our actions. I just know I'm not going to blame anyone else but myself for this predicament, and as much as I tried to think outside the box with my online fundraiser..(oh I thought of it all), sometime you have to lose everything to find yourself, and realize once you hit bottom the only way to go is back up.
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