Question: My husband and I lost our jobs within a week of each other in November, 2006. He had worked at the Norampac Mill for 25.5 years and I had worked in the service industry for about 12yrs. Up until then our monthly income was about $4000.
We both returned to school in spring of 07 so we lived on his severance and my E.I while we both went to school, he as a heavy equipment operator/truck driver and I as a Personal Support Worker. I have since found fulltime employment with Dilico in Thunder Bay and make about $1800.00 a month but my husband has not been able to find fulltime employment anywhere and cause of this we have used all of our savings, our RSP’s and our 2 lines of credits so we wouldn’t lose anything we have worked so hard for. Well with the savings all gone and our line of credits to the max were not sure what to do. My husband has been to Yes Employment and to Lakehead Employment for direction and help to find employment, he drives to Thunder Bay at least once a week to apply for jobs, he faxes and e-mails his resume numerous times per week and he still has not found employment.
We know that jobs in Thunder Bay and surrounding area are hard to come by these days but we have not worked this hard for the past 2 and half decades to lose everything overnight cause we have to claim bankruptsy. The husband seems to think that cause we own our house and vehicles free and clear we have no way of consolidating our lines of credit. We have been to our bank (Royal Bank) to consolidate and because my husband is not working we cannot consolidate. Please give us some ideas of what we can do so we don’t have to lose everything.
Answer: Thanks for your question. To give you a complete answer we would need to know the value of your house and vehicles, and the total amount you owe. If the value of your house is worth more than your total debts, a consumer proposal or a bankruptcy is not a good option for you, because you would lose your house in a bankruptcy. If the value of the house is less than the total owing on your debts, a proposal may be an option.
Consolidating may be a good option, but you are correct; the bank won’t consider it until your husband is back to work. For now, one option may be to simply wait until he is working, and then re-apply.
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