<prompt> Human: Friend is a 50-year-old disabled veteran, no kids. Struggled, made a lot of stupid decisions, but was finally doing ok. Then he had to get both knees replaced and physically couldnt do his job anymore. While he was unemployed, his wife filed for divorce. He was out of work for a long time, burned through all savings, and now makes 10hr as a security guard. They are underwater on a terrible house in a terrible neighborhood. She got the house in the divorce but was unable to refinance to get his name off the 2 mortgages and moved away and stopped making payments. He got the Florida timeshare they still owe 10k on after having fallen for 1500 worth of scams trying to sell it. He was making payments on it but stopped when he found out his credit was already ruined from the missed mortgage payments. He moved back into the house since it was abandoned. They were just served with a notice of foreclosure for the house with 28 days to respond. Ex-wife gave him the number to a lawyer to restructure the loan in his name to try to prevent foreclosure. She wants to wash her hands of it. The lawyer is pitching to him that he will negotiate the amount owed with the bank, my friend would only have to pay 200 per month to stay in the house with a balloon payment after so many years that he can refinance in the future, and he would qualify for programs that will replace the windows, water heater, etc to make the house more livable. It would still be a terrible house in a terrible neighborhood and the house was not supposed to be his problem after the divorce. Im sure he shouldnt put another dollar into that house, and hes considering allowing the foreclosure and declaring bankruptcy since his credit is already ruined from this. Is this the best plan? If the ex-wife would take responsibility for the house, his only real debt would be the timeshare. I dont know how to sort out this mess.Location - Southern OhioIncome - 2800 1500 security job 1300 military disability paymentMortgageRent - 200 if staying in the house, 700 if he moved to an apartmentUtilities - 400 house poorly insulatedAuto Insurance - 66Auto Maintenance - 200 2003 Chevy Silverado, cant get financing for a newer carGas - 200 Cell Phone - 140CableInternet - 90Groceries - 200Medical - Free through VATime Share - 292 10k owed, 300 yearly maintenance fee after paid offHouse - Estimating 65k owed, would sell for 40k except houses in the neighborhood arent selling Credit Card Debt - noneSavings - Small 401k from previous job. Current job offers no benefits.He sees his ex-wife on Facebook with her new car, good paying job in her new city, her new boyfriends beautiful house, and he is in despair. He is frustrated at his employment situation, but he only has a high school education and with his disabilities cant do any of the physical jobs that made him decent money in the past. I know people that have pulled themselves out of this situation, but they were all much younger and had time to get educated and get better jobs. He has no money in his accounts and very little saved for retirement. What should he do?Tl;dr: 50 yo disabled veteran loses job. Wife was supposed to take on the house after divorce, didnt, foreclosure pending. Should he declare bankruptcy? How do you start over so late in life?  <response>: I would also recommend bankruptcy. This kind of situation is what it is for, after all. Better to wash his hands of these debts as much as possible.Budget notes:There is no way 700 is a realistic amount for an apartment in southern Ohio. I rented in Columbus for 450mo. for a small 2-bedroom. I think he can find something for less than 700mo, yes?140 for 1 persons cell phone? Is he calling international every month? I pay less than that for 2 people unlimited everything, which I consider a luxury... he could get tracfone for 25mo.That income is not luxurious, but its doable for a single person, especially with free health care. 