being sued/money tree and bk

[jal1129]

I know that we are going to file chap 7. My husband broke both of his arms, surgeries etc and is not working. We have about 40,000 in cc debt that I have not made the payments on in 6-7 months. One of the reasons I have been waiting to file is because I have a small loan (under $1000) with Money Tree which has a local office in our small town. My dentist office made arrangements for me for the loan for my sons dental work. I was wanting to get this one paid off and not include it in a bk.

Anyway have kept the payments up on it until this month and am now 2 weeks late with it. I get the typical letter in the mail about late pay and if you are having financial difficulties call us so we can help you. I give them a call to let them know what was going on with DH not working and that I fully intend to pay it would just be late and she just starts yelling at me that I have to make a payment. I explain that I don't have any money and she says if a payment is not in thier office by noon the last day of month they will sue me. I explain to her I don't have any money and sueing me was not going to change that fact, so she repeats herself that if a payment is not in her office by noon the last day of the month they will be sueing me and garnishing my wages. Well DH is not working and I am an independant contractor so I don't think there is a way to garnish my wages, but I did'nt tell her that.

So anyway my reason for waiting to file is now over (LOL) and as soon as we can collect the money for a lawyer we will go ahead and file probably next month. If I really needed to I could probably scrape together the money to make a payment by the end of the month but really don't want to as we will be filing next month (hopefully). So my question is can they really sue me when I am only 30 days late, do you think they really will and can they move fast enough to make anything happen before we file? Should I make a payment so they don't sue or let it go?

[Princesskina]

They can sue if they want BUT I seriously doubt they will sue u for a 30 day old bill BUT dont tell them know u plan on filing. I would suggest u start making a list of ALL your creditors so u can be prepared.

And trust me any question u have was probably asked but ask again sometimes we need refreshing but this board has tons of info so just look through and hello.

[LostOne0069]

I wouldn't worry about it... like you said, your husband isn't working and you're an independant contractor... what are they going to garnish?

Besides, it take time to sue someone and get a judgement... it's not like the courthouse has a drive up window and they can get it on their way to the bank... take a deep breath... don't worry about it and get everything in order for your bk. Take care of yourself and your husband... really. We had a LOT more debt than you and were a LOT further behind before we filed and none of our creditors ever filed suit... even though MOST of them threatened to do so.

[jal1129]

ok thanks! I think it just caught me so off guard because they were the ones I really wanted to pay off and not include in the bk and here I am only 2 weeks late and they are screaming about sueing me and garnishing wages! It makes me wonder about thier collection methods, if they just would have been decent about things they would have got paid but instead they will get nothing! I have been reading around this site as much as time allows and am learning a lot!

[CindyLou]

I have a question....Why would you want to not include them?

[Princesskina]

I have a question....Why would you want to not include them?

Because she was going to try her best and actually pay them.

[lrprn]

Also many people have a long-standing, good relationships with their physicians and dentists and don't want filing to upset that relationship. Some (fortunately not all) physicians and dentists will tell the patient to find another provider after being included in a bankruptcy. Jal was likely trying to avoid that happening in her case.

[jal1129]

Exactly. I was very greatful that my dentist office was able to arrange this financing for me after my cc's were maxed. I wanted to do my best to pay them back. The cc's I don't feel quite so bad about because they have got lots of money out of me (in high interst and fees, for years)!

[CindyLou]

I was asking a legitimate question in order to offer advice. The company that financed your son's dental work is completely seperate from your dentist. Your dentist has gotten paid by the loan company. If you are going to filing BK, then paying one unsusecured bill over others can be considered preferential payment depending on the amount (greater than 600.00) and the loan company could be required to return the money to the trustee anyway. I do not see a benefit in paying off this bill. And, if you still have a balance you will be required to included them in your BK, even if you are current. You will then have to reaffirm with them. If you are having a hard time paying your bills, then killing yourself to pay this unsecured debt is not the best choice, even if it makes you feel better. Again, my question was valid. I wasn't sure of the reason you were choosing to pay the bill. Hope this helps.