Q. I owe about $109,000 on my mortgage, but my house is only worth about $80,000 and has a lien on it for $11,000. (It's a grant I don't have to repay until the house is sold.) I also have a signature loan for $10,000. I lost my job and found another one paying much less. I just don't know what to do. I cannot find anyone willing to refinance my house because my credit score has dropped to 500. But ''how can I sell my house when I owe more than it's worth?

A. You have a serious problem that needs immediate, professional help.

Start by allowing a credit counselor to review your finances and offer any suggestions for selling your house, paying off your debts and rebuilding your credit -- not to mention your life. The most obvious place to start is with a "short sale," which is when you negotiate a deal with your mortgage lender to sell your home for whatever it's worth, even if that's less than what you owe. The lender takes all of the money and writes off the remainder of your debt. A short sale may be difficult given the huge difference between the value of your house and the balance of your loan, not to mention the $11,000 lien. But an experienced credit counselor might be able to pull it off -- or come up with an even better idea for getting you out of this mess.

We recommend that you go to a member of The National Foundation for Credit Counseling, the nation's biggest and oldest credit-counseling organization. Its 120 member agencies abide by a set of professional and ethical standards that has served many individuals and families very well over the past 50 years. The fees will be very modest. Many NFCC members charge nothing to review your finances and less than $100 to establish a debt repayment plan. Click here to find a member near you.

If that doesn't produce a plan you can live with, the next stop should be a bankruptcy attorney. "If her home really has no equity, she would be able to keep it upon filing bankruptcy provided that she stays current on her regular mortgage plus property taxes and insurance," Los Angeles lawyer Leon Bayer told us when we told him about your plight. We don't know if you can afford the current payments on your house. But even if you can't, a good attorney will listen to your story, look at your finances and determine if the best way to a fresh start is through bankruptcy court.

Whether you're buying a home or refinancing an existing mortgage, we have a mortgage calculator that can help you make the right decisions.