Getting Rid of Credit Card Debts but Keeping Home and Cars With Bankruptcy

I have 4 credit cards in my name only, that my husband and I can no longer afford to pay. We are only 30 days behind in payments, so only phone call attempts made, so far. 2 cards are Capitol One, 1 BOA card and 1 Discover bill, totalling about $25,000.00. I have not been employed for several years, I am a stay at home Mom and my husband is a permanently disabled American Veteran on disability.

After a screw up by the VA, which cost us several months of his disability pay, we are over our heads in credit card debt. We've kept our home in good standing (the home mortgage is in my name alone, purchased before we were married.)

Thanks to help from my Mother, we were able to stay current on our mortgage. We only own two cars (both in my name and paid in full), 1 a 1951 Chevy and the other a 1959 Rambler, neither are in excellent condition, but the 51 is my daily driver. We just can't handle the over 700.00 minimum credit card payments anymore.

We have no money right now to pay an attorney and not sure if bankruptcy is the right choice. I guess, I'm just trying to find out what is going to happen to us.

I don't really care about my credit rating at this point, I have a home, a car that's drivable, so no need to apply for credit anytime soon.

Can they put a lien against my home or take our cars?

I've heard people say that they can force the sale of our home to pay our debts--Is this true? I don't have any wages for them to garnish, so I'm afraid they will come after my assets (which aren't much, I've only owned my home for 7 years and also have a HELOC, so not much equity.). We've always been current on all of our payments, until now. So, I have no idea what to expect.

Can the credit card companies sue me and get a judgement, then force the sale of my home? Is bankruptcy a good idea for us and can we keep our home and cars if we file? What can I expect to happen over the next several months?

—M.D.