Creditor showed up!

[Looloocat]

Yesterday, my husband and I had our 341. When we were called up, another person besides us and our attorney walked up, it was a creditor. I seriously thought I would pass out. She was from bass & ass, representing our best buy card. She asked about our iPad, iPod touch, gps, laptop, and camera, if we still had them, their condition, and if we planned to surrender or reaffirm. My attorney requested that we be able to speak with her in private. The creditor turned to my husband and I and said "do you want to keep the stuff or not?" I told her I needed to consult with my atty, and it would depend on the terms. At that point, the trustee concluded the meeting. Once out, we went to a room to speak with our attorney and the creditor. They want us to pay $50 a month until the $1900 balance is satisfied or pay them $970 lump sum, or surrender the items. The laptop and gps are broken, the camera is a piece of crap, so we will willingly surrender those things. We would like to keep the iPod and iPad and our atty is going to make them an offer of $200 and see if they accept. Our atty was shocked, she said her clients have always gotten multiple letters from them in the past, they ignored them and they went away, but she has never had them show up at a 341.

Is this going to effect our discharge?ugh.

[AngelinaCatHub]

This should not effect your discharge. The 341 gives any creditor a right to object, then 60 days do object on paper. Your Trustee witnessed and approved the side talk about working this out so the would not be a preferential payment if you settle with Best Buy. I believe the 341 gives this an umbrella so to speak as it's purpose has been performed and recorded. 'Hub

P.S. Welcome to our forum family.

[tobee43]

it shouldn't. it may not discharge that one debt, but unless there are other objections the rest of the creditors should be discharged.

i can't believe best buy showed up either. i know after a couple of years on the board that they seem to be infamous in their attempt to retrieve their items back, but usually do go away.

i understand you want to keep your ipod and ipad, however, isn't it possible to buy brand new ones with what they are wanting in payment. is there anyway to back them both of them up, and just hand them over and tell them to go take a walk and then take the money and purchase new. that is unless they accept the $200.

man, they are getting low, it had to cost best buy half of that amount to have an atty show up, unless there were a few cases, but still.

best of luck!

[tobee43]

i'm sorry!! i forgot your welcome to the forum. thankfully hub has better manner than i!

[Looloocat]

We are going to offer $200, will go up to $300, if they won't accept that, then I'll surrender the ipod & ipad with the other stuff & buy new. The only reason I'm
trying to negotiate to keep the ipad is because I use it in my small business.

Thanks for the warm welcome!

[tobee43]

We are going to offer $200, will go up to $300, if they won't accept that, then I'll surrender the ipod & ipad with the other stuff & buy new. The only reason I'm
trying to negotiate to keep the ipad is because I use it in my small business.

Thanks for the warm welcome!

sounds like a good plan. can't you back up the ipad's system and transfer it to another computer if you have to? i'm not an ipad person, so i'm not really familar.

[justbroke]

I believe this is the first time Bass & Associates has shown up at a 341 Meeting. How ridiculous it must be to try to recover a GPS, laptop and an iPod/iPad? It probably cost Best Buy at least $250-500 for B&A to show up at the meeting!

I think your attorney is spot on. I'd actually offer no more than $200. Make them actually come and get the stuff. You don't have to bring it to them or otherwise go out of your way to effectuate the surrender. They will likely take the $200 and run with it. I might be willing to go to $250... the cost of their attorney.

Pure silliness.

[katztoo]

Our attorney listed Best Buy as a secured creditor since we still owed $607 on a washer bought there. They are being paid in full through our 13 so that can keep our washer.

[jst4f]

Not sure what Best Buy is trying to prove. I agree with JB, low ball an offer, 5% to 10% of outstanding equity, and if they don't accept the offer let them come and get it. While you can't actively hinder their efforts to collect the items, you don't have to do anything to help them collect. BTW: This wouldn't be the middle district of FL being aggressive again following the lead of the trustees? Just curious.

[Exployer1234]

Personally I would give them back their stuff. You can get an iPod really cheap right now and get another iPad or something similar for a lot less. You can get a first gen iPad for a really good deal right now. I say if they want their things back that bad then fine. Make them come to your house to get them.

[despritfreya]

She asked about our iPad, iPod touch, gps, laptop, and camera. . .

So basically you purchased 3 computers, a GPS and a camera at Best Buy.

When did you purchase these items? How much money did you put down, if anything? What was the full purchase price? How much did you pay on the account before you filed bk?

B&A rarely shows up at a 341. My guess is that you did a "load up" on the Best Buy account within a relatively short time before you filed bk. If so, and with all due respect to the other posters, Best Buy/HSBC is well within its rights to demand payment or the return of its property. Now, if you purchased those items say 2 years ago, then B&A is making a big deal over nothing but still within its rights to protect its client's interests. So, the real questions is, "when did you purchase the items"?

Des.

[tobee43]

So basically you purchased 3 computers, a GPS and a camera at Best Buy.

When did you purchase these items? How much money did you put down, if anything? What was the full purchase price? How much did you pay on the account before you filed bk?

B&A rarely shows up at a 341. My guess is that you did a "load up" on the Best Buy account within a relatively short time before you filed bk. If so, and with all due respect to the other posters, Best Buy/HSBC is well within its rights to demand payment or the return of its property. Now, if you purchased those items say 2 years ago, then B&A is making a big deal over nothing but still within its rights to protect its client's interests. So, the real questions is, "when did you purchase the items"?

Des.

very astute, as i was really wondering why they actually would make a physically appearance at the hearing. especially, in light of what it cost best buy to have the atty there. although, even if all the items were a "load up", it's still going to be difficult for best buy to prove actual intend with the fraud. but, they certainly can try, stranger things have certainly happened.

[mountanddo]

Well isn't is really like when you have cable and you cancel it and have to return the box. It isn't like if you don't return they just say "whatever" they bill you for it. If you agree to surrender it and you don't return it I'm sure they could just continue to bill you for it. It's a bit different if you yourself just say to come get it but if you agree in court to to return I think you'd better.

[justbroke]

My guess is that you did a "load up" on the Best Buy account within a relatively short time before you filed bk. If so, and with all due respect to the other posters, Best Buy/HSBC is well within its rights to demand payment or the return of its property. Now, if you purchased those items say 2 years ago, then B&A is making a big deal over nothing but still within its rights to protect its client's interests. So, the real questions is, "when did you purchase the items"?

I wholeheartedly agree. If the poster wants the collateral, then they will need to make an offer. If B&A doesn't accept the offer, then just surrender the collateral to them.

I say "don't go out of you way", as in actually packaging it up and heading down to the local Best Buy to effectuate a surrender. The code says nothing about what a debtor actually has to do other than making it "available" for the creditor to repossess the collateral.

I also wonder when the purchases were made. Since the poster wrote "iPad" and not "iPad 2", I figured that this iPad was at least 1 year old and maybe older.

I'm just shocked that B&A showed up at a 341 Meeting. They could have done the same thing by just sending a letter to the debtor's attorney. So, this now has me guessing, as Des has pointed out, that it may in fact be an "eve of bankruptcy" purchase or purchases and Best Buy is likely to recover some of their losses. Still strange.

[Looloocat]

No, it's not a load up by any means. We purchased the laptop and camera 3 years ago, the gps over 2 years ago, the iPod about a year and a half ago and the iPad is a 1st gen purchased in march of last year. We were paying on the account up until august and I made several extra payments on the card over the past couple of years, too. The only reason that I would like to negotiate to keep the iPad and iPod is because I have to have the iPad for work, so I would end up buying another one anyway, and I have a lot of purchased music on my iPod, but if I have to turn it back in, that's fine.

I was just very shaken that they showed up because everything that I have read says that is very rare.yes, we are in middle district Florida.