Referring creditors to attorney

[jp2861]

What are you guys feelings on telling callers to contact your attorney? Does it give creditors the edge in having more time to get prepared if they are going to object? It seems like you would want to give them as little notice as possible, wouldn't you? What are your thoughts on this? I've been simply ignoring them because I can't file until the beginning of November or possibly December.

[BKTango]

If you have already retained an attorney, you should be giving your lawyers information to the creditors that still call. Unfortunately, until you actually file they can continue to call, but givng them your attorney's name and number to field the calls through their office (most attornies tell you to give this info to the creditors) eases the amount of calls you may receive. As far as giving them notice in time enough to hurry up and sue frankly would be a waste of their time. Should you still get served, you have at least 20 days to answer, then you get a court date and frankly you will have filed by then. They won't want to waste their time or money when you will be filing within 2 months or so.

[JasonK94Z]

I've been avoiding the calls for about two weeks now because we are filing next week Oct 2. Last time I gave a creditor my attorney info, they sold off my debt to a collections agency, and within a week I was already getting notices from the new place.

[WantToBeDebtFre]

I just retained my attorney but I haven't filed yet. He told me to give the creditors his phone # and they should call him. But he said if they don't get bankruptcy information in about 30 days (meaning I actually filed) they'll probably start calling me again. I do plan on filing within 30 days so whenever they call I'm planning on giving them my attorney's phone number.

[ARO96]

My attorney told me to wait til we actually filed before I gave out the information. We retained him 4 weeks ago, and have just been avoiding the phone. We filed yesterday, and now I am telling the creditors that we filed and are giving them the attorney info.

[Lindsay]

We haven't retained a lawyer yet, but we're going to shortly. I usually don't talk to creditors, but every now and then, I'll take a call. I took a call from Citibank today to see what they were going to say. They offered me $183 month payments at 0% until the account was paid. I'm to the point (stopped paying most of them in July) where the creditors are calling agresssively (50+ calls yesterday on 8 delinquent accounts), but they are pretty nice when they call. I think it is because we had a perfect long history with most of them.

I hear that the actual collectors don't get savage until they go to actual collection agencies.

It will be great to give a lawyers name, right now I talk to them a little sometimes because I'm afraid they'll call all my relatives and neighbors.

Does anyone know what the collectors say when you give them a lawyers name and number? Do they assume you are definitely filing BK and get nasty then? I always think that it will give them advance notice to object, but thats probably a silly fear because they get the 60 days so I guess the early warning wouldn't make much difference. One of my creditors, American Express, was the first one that I stopped paying and I think they're pretty close to charging off the account now. I stopped paying them in June, but I paid all the other cards that month. It was actually just an oversight.

[familyof7]

I would just say I have retained an attorney for the puropse of filing bk or I am in the process of filing I have an attorneys name and # please direct any further contact with the atorney.

[ARO96]

We haven't retained a lawyer yet, but we're going to shortly. I usually don't talk to creditors, but every now and then, I'll take a call. I took a call from Citibank today to see what they were going to say. They offered me $183 month payments at 0% until the account was paid. I'm to the point (stopped paying most of them in July) where the creditors are calling agresssively (50+ calls yesterday on 8 delinquent accounts), but they are pretty nice when they call. I think it is because we had a perfect long history with most of them.

I hear that the actual collectors don't get savage until they go to actual collection agencies.

It will be great to give a lawyers name, right now I talk to them a little sometimes because I'm afraid they'll call all my relatives and neighbors.

Does anyone know what the collectors say when you give them a lawyers name and number? Do they assume you are definitely filing BK and get nasty then? I always think that it will give them advance notice to object, but thats probably a silly fear because they get the 60 days so I guess the early warning wouldn't make much difference. One of my creditors, American Express, was the first one that I stopped paying and I think they're pretty close to charging off the account now. I stopped paying them in June, but I paid all the other cards that month. It was actually just an oversight.

I can say this much, so far the creditors I have spoken to since we filed yesterday have been friendly the moment I mention BK. Usually they give attitudes, but now I politely interrupt them and say, "I filed BK, I have the case number and attorney info to give to you" they immediately become nice.

Good luck to you.

[PaKettle]

Sorry, I didn't see this thread and asked basically the same question.
My concern is that by telling them a few weeks before we actually file, it gives them more chance to build a case against me if they plan to object to balance transfers a tv I bought just 3 months ago. Not sure if maybe it's best just not to tell them until we do file...? (though I have already "made the mistake" of telling a few of them, anyway)

[lrprn]

Does anyone know what the collectors say when you give them a lawyers name and number? Do they assume you are definitely filing BK and get nasty then?

In my experience, telling our creditors that we had retained a lawyer to file bk gave us a bit of a reprieve for a little while, but although the call frequency decreased, they still kept calling. I didn't notice any difference in their statements or emotions after we told them either.

After a few months of no payments, they picked up the call pace again because we still hadn't filed. After four months of no payments, our original creditors were passing us off to collections and the rest were back calling very frequently asking why we hadn't filed yet. I just kept telling them we were still in process and nothing more.

We filed Ch 13 after five months of no payments to any unsecured creditor (and of course, no payments to any collection agencies either). Once I gave them our case number, THEN they stopped calling

I always think that it will give them advance notice to object, but thats probably a silly fear because they get the 60 days so I guess the early warning wouldn't make much difference.

Yep, just telling them you intend to file bk won't make them any more likely to file an objection. Debt collectors hear this day in and day out. Most of the time the people are just using it as a stall technique and have no intention of really filing. They even pick bk random lawyer names out of the yellow pages and try to pass them off as their lawyer.

Some people fear that telling your creditors that you have the INTENT to file might push them to getting judgments and liens in court faster. However, given the very slow speed of our court system, as long as you are filing within 4-6 months of stopping payment to your unsecureds, you should be fine. Some folks have gone without paying much longer before filing - up to 12-15 months - and not had a creditor take them to court. Just depends on the tenacity of your creditors. Smaller, in-town creditors are far more likely to take you to court quickly than the "big boys".