Creditors suing

[Thingshappen]

Hello. How soon will I get sued after stopping making payments? I have loans with Lending Club and credit cards with a couple of banks. Should I wait to get sued before filing? Thanks!

[shipo]

It is hard to say, each lender has their own plan/time table. That said, the general wisdom is to file before you get sued; if a creditor gets a judgement against you, that can muddy the waters of a Chapter 13. I'll let justbroke comment further as he has more knowledge than I do regarding such matters.

[justbroke]

Hello. How soon will I get sued after stopping making payments? I have loans with Lending Club and credit cards with a couple of banks. Should I wait to get sued before filing? Thanks!

There is no way to tell if or when a creditor will take the most aggressive action which is to file a lawsuit. Absolutely no way to tell.

As for timing of filing, I would file as soon as soon as I felt the desire to tap into my 401(k) or savings! That's just from experience. Each person much figure out the best time to file, but a lawsuit is not a prerequisite. The general consensus is that you should make sure that you haven't made any major purchases within the preceding 90 days of filing. Just to avoid the presumed non-dischargebility issues in that 90 day window.

[Thingshappen]

There is no way to tell if or when a creditor will take the most aggressive action which is to file a lawsuit. Absolutely no way to tell.

As for timing of filing, I would file as soon as soon as I felt the desire to tap into my 401(k) or savings! That's just form experience. Each person much figure out the best time to file, but a lawsuit is not a prerequisite. The general consensus is that you should make sure that you haven't made any major purchases within the preceding 90 days of filing. Just to avoid the presumed non-dischargebility issues in that 90 day window.

Ok. I haven't used a credit card since April this year. The credit cards started decreasing my credit limits once I started falling behind on my payments. I have been gathering all my papework for a few weeks. I also needed to open a new bank account since I owe money to the other bank and I was afraid they would freeze my account. I felt the need to tap into my retirement account but I have read everywhere that it is not a good idea.

[justbroke]

I felt the need to tap into my retirement account but I have read everywhere that it is not a good idea.

Yep... it's not a good idea. We call it robbing your future to pay for your current sins.

[Thingshappen]

Thanks for your help Justbroke!

[Carmella]

Thingshappen

Our credit cards took a long time to actually sue us. I think Capital One was the quickest. And when you are sued in my area you had 30 days to respond which I waited until the last minute to respond to draw it out. We ended up going to court on a few and there's someone there from the creditor who tries to get you to settle and feels you out to see if you are going to be able to pay or if you are going BK. They were all very nice surprisingly, not demanding.

Would I wait to get sued? NO!! That was our biggest mistake putting off, procrastinating. I would file for BK soon as you can, find a good attorney and get your papers in order and file.

The good news in your scenario is they haven't tried to sue you, yet. They will try to collect with internal and/or external debt collectors prior to sueing and offer you settlement amounts in the mail. Then when all fails to collect the debt they file in court and serve you papers....

[Thingshappen]

Carmella That make sense. It seems that procrastinating has made things worse for many people. I am currently working with a lawyer and putting all the papers together. I am planning to file soon. I can't take the multiple collection calls a day. It really stresses me out. Thanks a lot for responding!

[Carmella]

Carmella That make sense. It seems that procrastinating has made things worse for many people. I am currently working with a lawyer and putting all the papers together. I am planning to file soon. I can't take the multiple collection calls a day. It really stresses me out. Thanks a lot for responding!

That's great! The calls will stop and you won't have to worry about court appearances. My job has flexible hours so I literally left work a few times to run and errand when I was actually at court. And I had a few pretrials over the phone from my car in the parking lot including one where my husband drove to my work place and I met him in the car since it was one we both had to be at.

I was so stressed and emotional prior to filing. If going back I would never procrastinate, at least not to that extent.

[flashoflight]

I took partial days off to attend hearings where I thought I would get a motion for default judgment if I didn't show up. Twice the plaintiff sent a joke rent-a-lawyer that looks like Saul Goodman who was only there to motion for a default if I didn't show up. File earlier and get it over with. I had three or four new lawsuits upcoming when I filed. Saved me the time and money on filing a couple of more answers. After that, I never set foot in my county courthouse again. The phone calls will end too.