I'm aware his shit stunk. Are you saying that presumably his expenses are still 5K? This after the Khando got taken away right? (I'm still wondering if he would've been better off just selling it at a loss)
You can't just sell the property at a loss unless you have the cash to make up the difference. For example, if the outstanding mortgage is $100,000 but you can only sell it for $80,000 you need to have $20,000 to make up the difference or the bank is gonna tell you to pound sand (they hold the deed). You can ask the bank to approve you for a
short sale, but those are generally only allowed if you have suffered serious financial hardship and would be unable to pay the mortgage. For example, if the sole breadwinner in the household becomes disabled and can no longer work their income would drop significantly and not be expected to rebound. Phil says he tried to ask for a short sale but was denied. This is unsurprising given that his 'financial hardship' was going from mid-high six figures to low six figures of income. That and the fact that he had another property which he had a significant amount of equity in that he could have sold to get the CT condo out from underwater.
His monthly expenses should be relatively the same in terms of the business. I'm unsure if this is correct, but some people speculated that he managed to lump his mortgage payment into his monthly expenses. From what I've read, this is legitimately possible especially since he has a dedicated "office" that is "purely business." He still had the CTKhando at this point, but he was always better off selling it in the first place. He can't sell it though because 1.) at this point he doesn't own it anymore and 2.) last I've heard, there was a stench, mold growing on the walls, and a hole in the ceiling. It's hard to sell a place that's been vacant for years on end with no upkeep that's literally across the country.
You can legitimately claim a
portion of your mortgage as a business expense if you have a home office. The amount depends upon the sq footage of the office relative to the home. The same thing goes for your utility bills. 100% of his business internet line could be claimed because it is used exclusively for the business, but maybe only 40-50% of his electricity bill (something his tax
attorney accountant guy would have figured out for him).
On his bankruptcy filing Phil claimed that as a household he and Kathy net $-34/month. So in a year he and Kathy need $120,408 in income that all will get sent right back out the door just to break even.
But if you add in his CT condo fees ($1,400 iirc) and estimated credit debt minimum payments (like $2,600 iirc) that means before Phil quit paying for the CT condo and his credit debt he and Kathy needed $168,408/year or $14,034/month in income just to break even, sound good?
The -$35 figure includes his CT condo mortgage, dues, and his credit card minimums. The point of the filing is to show that you cannot currently meet all your outstanding obligations so you need to have them discharged. Funnily enough during the entire process Phil was still bragging about eating out on his day off. Even if you take his ludicrous filing at face value, if he stopped going to out eat once a week he could have easily saved $35/month and made it work. I'm a stupid faggot.