I am the plaintiff in a lawsuit against my former employer in federal court. At this point we are near the end of discovery. As I understand it after that the defense will prepare a motion to dismiss, if we defeat it then expert testimony is completed. After that point, it would go to trial. All of this assuming my former employer will not try to negotiate a settlement which is very likely.
I have already spent $50k on this lawsuit. I have a very good case, but anything can happen. I am still feeling very positive that at a minimum my legal fees will be paid. I am guessing if this heads to trial I will probably need to pay an additional $20k to $30k. I am guessing at least another year of litigation before then end.
Up until this point I have and continuing to play the credit card shuffle with balance transfers. I know this is not sustainable for too much longer. Right now I am trying to determine the best way to finance existing, but primarily future costs.
Below are my current credit card balances.- MC (1.99% - 9/15/18) - $11.2k
- Discover (0% - 9/2019) - $14.3k
- Visa 1 (B of A) (0% - 10/2018) (1.5% back Reward & No interest on purchases until 10/2018) - $10k
- Visa 2 (B of A) (0% - 9/2019, No Balance Transfer Fee) - $5K Limit - $0
I have 2 other loans that have absolute pay in full due dates before the end of the year. See below.
Other LoansSolar Loan $8k due 10/18/18
Relative $10k 12/31/18 – If necessary I could extend this, but would prefer not to.
Current plan to rebalance the balance transfers- I just opened the Visa 2 (B of A) (0% - 9/2019) - $5K Limit - $0 yesterday. After I get the card I was told by the representative that I should be able to transfer some of my credit limit on the other B of A Visa, somewhere between $10k-$15k.
- Balance transfer Visa 1 (B of A) to Discover Card.
- Balance transfer MC to Visa 2 (B of A)
This would take care of these balances for another year.
There is still left the issue of funding additional legal fees and the repayment of the 2 current loans.
Options:1. HELOC – Unfortunately I do not have much equity in my home for this to be possible. I know this would be the best option, but very unlikely to be possible.
2. Refinance Mortgage with a cash back up to original balance of the loan. I probably would be able to get an interest rate between 4-5%.
3. Personal Loan – Interest Rate 7% plus
a. I have been receiving several debt consolidation loan offers. Yesterday I received one from Greenlink (never heard of it.) They are offering $35k with interest rate as low as 5.49%.
4. Borrow from 401k – Interest Rate to Self 5% +
One issue is that my credit score is typically between 720 and 750, but with my last legal credit card charge my credit usage went above 30% and tanked my credit score to 670. I ideally need to get my credit utilization back down and improve the credit score before doing any of the loan options. Also to note I have about $6k cash in savings.
What is the best loan option above? And why?
