Ask Me Help Desk - Bad credit due to divorce?

I was married 29 years... a soccer mom from Texas. Just prior to him leaving his business took a tumble and we went into severe debt personally paying off the IRS. (Only sure thing is death and taxes)... so going into the divorce the credit damage was already "written off" and sold to creditors. He is making 250,000 a year, and I am unemployed and living with my mother in Florida, divorced in Texas. Since the credit was already written off - I was advised not to discuss it in the divorce decree... community property state - so I am now finding it hard to get ANY credit even though his salary was how the credit was obtained to begin with. Don't advise me to pay off or negotiate with the creditors it has been 3 years since I've had a credit card. Trying to find a job have not been successful, is there anything I can do to fix my credit ? Or am I doomed to wait seven years for it to just fall off my report. If I file for bankruptcy now - it will add 10 years more to this disgusting situation. ANY HELP AT ALL?

You don't want to hear the fastest way to rebuild your credit so... who advised you NOT to fully disclose the financial situation at the time of the divorce?

My attorney did since by disclosing the financials would make me "legally" responsible for half of the debt. We were both in financial straights at the time of the divorce and he had no money to negotiate the debt either. I did receive a settlement however if I was to "negotiate" my bad portion of the credit my settlement (cash) would have been reduced to zero. There was nothing else to divide but the sale of the house which I received all of the proceeds. He has since taken a Corporate Position and I'm trying to find an hourly job.

Quote:

Originally Posted by bowiesabre

My attorney did since by disclosing the financials would make me "legally" responsible for half of the debt. We were both in financial straights at the time of the divorce and he had no money to negotiate the debt either. I did receive a settlement however if I was to "negotiate" my bad portion of the credit my settlement (cash) would have been reduced to zero. There was nothing else to divide but the sale of the house which I received all of the proceeds. He has since taken a Corporate Position and I'm trying to find an hourly job.

I understand that he is in a MUCH (to put it mildly) better financial position than you. I, however, question any Attorney advising against full, honest financial disclosure - for this very reason.

This/these debt(s) should have been settled prior to or as part of the divorce.

I'd be curious to know what a second Attorney would advise.

Ha. Yea so would I... I was told "future earnings" could not be entertained in a divorce case, only the facts as they were at the time of divorce... which was neither of us had anything. I will continue to find out if there is hope for my credit - but I would really like to know if I'll ever be able to own/purchase my own home and get back on my feet. Shoulda woulda coulda NEVER given up on my career to stay home and provide a stable lifestyle for my children... lots of great advice for someone else in my last sentence!

Quote:

Originally Posted by bowiesabre

Ha. yea so would I....I was told "future earnings" could not be entertained in a divorce case, only the facts as they were at the time of divorce....which was neither of us had anything. I will continue to find out if there is hope for my credit - but I would really like to know if I'll ever be able to own/purchase my own home and get back on my feet. Shoulda woulda coulda NEVER given up on my career to stay home and provide a stable lifestyle for my children...lots of great advice for someone else in my last sentence!

My honest opinion - and I know you don't think it's an option - is to see if you can come to some sort of agreement with your creditors.

I suggest that you write every credit bureau with your explanation of what happened along the lines of "the business went sour, you incurred joint debts in order to pay taxes (or whatever), you divorced, the debts were not addressed" and so forth. The "bad stuff" will still appear BUT your explanation will also be available to anyone who cares to see it.

My feeling is with that explanation as soon as you find employment you will be able to rebuild your credit. Have you tried opening a very small charge account, something along those lines, paying regularly? It's an opportunity to get something good on your credit report.

You could be very valuable on this Board, giving advice to other women - I see women who either give up a career or never have a career (or whatever) who are suddenly divorced, sometimes bitterly, have nothing to fall back on, end up living with their parents - and meanwhile the employed-the-whole-time husband dances along in his new, productive life. None of us ever think it will happen to us until it does!

I also think the lesson is to consult a second Attorney when the divorce advice seems either too good to be true or somewhat suspicious.

I truly wish you well. You're in a bad place but you're obviously well spoken, have thought things through, don't express the usual vindictive bitterness I see on the Boards. You just need to get one thing going for you financially, and then the ball will start rolling.

Yes, I do believe you will buy that house for yourself. I truly do.

Thanks so much for the encouraging words. I did open a Macy's account with a $400 balance on it... used it and paid it off for 12 months every month... at the time for renewal they cancelled it due to my credit history and sent me a check for $14.00 that I had "overpaid"! :) That was two years ago so perhaps it's time to try again. I will take your advice on notifying the credit agencies... certainly cannot hurt to have something on there in my defense.

Also - for anyone reading this post - I was not stupid with the little amount I received in the settlement - I opened a "safe from creditors" Roth IRA to start saving at the age of 50 for my retirement. I was able to put 6,000 dollars into it because of my age. I have scrimped to make sure that I have that $6,000.00 every year now to at least have a little bit of a retirement fund. And the creditors cannot take it - it's protected money.

Quote:

Originally Posted by bowiesabre

I did open a Macy's account with a $400 balance on it...used it and paid it off for 12 months every month....at the time for renewal they cancelled it due to my credit history and sent me a check for $14.00 that I had "overpaid"!! :) That was two years ago so perhaps it's time to try again.

That was going to be my suggestion. Try to rebuild your credit by using store cards, gas company cards, etc. Cards that are fairly easy to get and can show up on the credit bureaus as recent accounts that have been paid on time.

First written off means nothing except that they consider it a bad debt and for tax purpose wrote it off the books, It does not mean it is sold, ( although it may be) but it means it is still owed.

Next not disclosure at divorce can hurt you in settlement but also is an issue of not properly reporting things, even fraud if this was done to get a better settlement.

But not reporting it on the divorce does not effect your liability to owe the debt, since you and he were married, and it was a community property state, what you list or do not list in the divorce does not take away their rights to come after you.

Next depending on how much was owed to the IRS, often they are one of the easer places to reach a settlement for for less than you owe. I know of several cases where 30,000 became paid for 5000 and so on.

But another issue is not the 7 years, but if any of the debtors sue and gets a judgement, in those cases, they can garnish pay in the future, and keep the debt active and owed for 10 to 20 plus years.

But at this point, just one new credit ( where you pay it off) but so much of the new credit score has to do with debt to income ratio, so you will not really improve your score till you also get back to work.

Fr. Chuck - a) there WAS a financial disclosure full and complete during the divorce - it was just not addressed in the final decree. b) there are no longer IRS issues as they were paid in full through plenty of credit available at the time, hindsite bad decision because he used our joint "personal credit" to pay off "corporate" debt. (Man the things I know NOW... :)... and as for garnishing "MY" wages and getting a judgment... perhaps once I am back on my feet and making 250K a year... oh wait... what's the going rate for a housewife with 29 years experience?. :)

Scott Gem - if Fr. Chuck is right then without a job my chances of getting a credit card are nil, and with a job they can come get me... arrrghhh. Thanks all for your input! It's certainly got me thinking!

This is true, if you fill in an app and list no income, its unlikley you will get approved.

Are there judgments against you? If there are, they should be against your ex as well. And if he has such a high paying corporate job, they should be tapping him.

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Originally Posted by Fr_Chuck

But at this point, just one new credit ( where you pay it off) but so much of the new credit score has to do with debt to income ratio, so you will not really improve your score till you also get back to work.

I must disagree slightly - one debt with payments on time is better than no payments on time.

I do understand the debt/income ratio. Without knowing the IRS situation, it's hard to say otherwise concerning bankruptcy.