Friend in Trouble

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Friend in Trouble
Tue, 04-22-2003 - 10:35am
Knee-deep in my own debt resolution situation, I found out last night that my best friend of 13 years is nose-deep in her own, and I feel so helpless b/c I can't help her. She and her husband have been married almost 2 years, and they each brought an 8 y/o son to their marriage. They grossed $70,000 between them last year, but it's not enough anymore, and they can't pay their most basic bills. When he and his ex wife divorced, he had to pay her $20,000 to buy her out of the house, so now they're upside down on the mortgage, and the house is literally almost falling down around them. They have no equity, and couldn't sell it for even close to what they owe the bank. When his ex-wife stopped making payments on their SUV, he had to take it from her, and start making the payments himself--so now they have 3 vehicles with loans and insurance for 2 people. Again, they can't sell any of them for what they owe, and they can't lower their insurance b/c of having the loans. She works 40 hrs.wk, he works 50+, and luckily they have a family member watch their kids so they don't have to pay daycare. But last month, they got a forclosure notice on the house, and a repo notice on one of the cars. I was shocked, b/c they've always seemed to make good money. They don't even have any credit cards, which is the kicker. Their car payments, insurances, and mortgage takes up almost 70% of their monthly income, not to mention utilities, food to feed 2 growing boys, and all the other things that come along with life. They had to borrow $4000 to keep their home and car (he refuses to let them repo the car, although it would free up almost $300/mth for other things).

Sorry this is so long, I just feel sad that she is going through all this right now, and I can't help her. I really just wanted to ask for everyone's positive thoughts and prayers that they can get on their feet somehow. Thanks for reading this far.