Ugh... Creditors. How dumb can they get?

[rilbrianne]

Ok, this may be a little drawn out but I'll try to keep it short and sweet. I need your advice...

(You can see my stats in my signature for reference)
We had Sprint (Nextel actually) and before we filed, we let it cancel. Oddly enough, in September, they send a letter saying we are going to get our deposit of $200 back because it's been a year. SO, it credits back to our account thus causing it to reinforce. So, I receive a bill for the last amount owed plus fees. I call and tell them I'm not paying them, we have filed BK, give them the case number and ask them to cancel the account. They say it will cancel Nov 3 which is almost a full month away. They say I shouldn't get anymore bills in the mail. I say "I had better not."

Nov 7 rolls around and I receive another bill. PLUS a $200 fee for the account canceling.
1. I had just got my "deposit" back onto the account which caused this disaster in the first place. How can they now charge me the fee for canceling? It never should have re-enforced.
2. I wasn't supposed to get another bill. Didn't we discuss this? Did I not just give you the case number and tell you that you can't contact me again?
I let it roll and do nothing. They send me back and forth from CS to Finance dept. and they are both too damn stupid to understand anything but they say they have my case #, blah blah blah.

Dec. 7. Ok, this is just ridiculous. Another bill. No more fees, just for the amount that is past due from last month. I'm not calling this time. I've seen that it is impossible to speak to these morons. I would like to send a letter to them. I have spoken to other creditors and sent other letters explaining my right under the stay and threatening to contact the trustee if they continue. It always worked. Ok, so I only sent one letter and told maybe 2 creditors not to contact me again. The others never bothered in the first place.

Should I report Sprint to the trustee now that the case is closed? I have the bills right in front of me. Should I send a letter to the creditor (I'm assuming it would float back and forth between the finance and customer service dept like my calls did.).

[wayne-o]

I would send them the letter and a copy of your discharge. Just curious, did you include them in your filing?

[rilbrianne]

Yes, I double checked that I had included them. Each time I spoke to them, they didn't know what would happen - with the account that is... I'm sure I'm not the only person who has ever filed BK with them.

[FreshLikeADaisy]

When you write your nice and very legal sounding letter, also include that you want your original $200 deposit refund check mailed immediately: they should never have posted it to a canceled and closed account, especially with the full knowledge that it would reopen the account without your permission.

You may never see the money, but it's worth a shot.

[rilbrianne]

I know I won't ever see it again. And the account wasn't closed but was in cancellation status. Apparently, it was canceling because of non-payment... we were planning our BK... but DID NOT close because we still owed $.

One thing I don't understand is who decides whether the $ goes to the customer or the account? Maybe it automatically goes to the account if there is money owed.

That's not really a big concern to me anyway because I don't expect it back. What I wonder is if I should sue their behinds because I have told them 3 times to stop contacting me, I gave them my case number, they received the discharge notice in the mail and had plenty of time to object, and yet continue to contact me anyway. It's illegal if they don't follow the automatic stay to begin with.

[rilbrianne]

Anyone? Should I go to the trustee with it?

[needafreshstart]

So you are thinking of suing or going to the trustee over a roughly $200 bill, unless I misunderstood something. If your confident this was discharged, just ignore the statements. I can't imagine the trustee is going to get excited, but that's just my opinion.

[rilbrianne]

It's not a $200 bill, that's just the fee for canceling the account. No, I just want to know what to do because the creditor has continuously violated the stay and keeps trying to collect.

I am confident that it was discharged but I don't want to have to keep calling them and telling them to stop sending me letters. Eventually, they may send it to collections if I ignore it and it may affect my credit report so I don't think ignoring it is a good idea.

[ameliabedilia]

I have had so many problems with sprint lately myself. I so wish I had included them in my bk. I had my 341 3 weeks ago, so I think it's too late to add them.
Good luck with this. I hope the first letter you send them will be good enough. Don't forget to send it certified or registered so there is no question they got it.

[nazstar]

I have had so many problems with sprint lately myself. I so wish I had included them in my bk. I had my 341 3 weeks ago, so I think it's too late to add them.
Good luck with this. I hope the first letter you send them will be good enough. Don't forget to send it certified or registered so there is no question they got it.

I cancelled a few years back with Sprint. 9 out of 12 bills were wrong. The funny thing is that they managed to mess it up in a "new and unique way" each month. I got out as soon as my contract expired.

[needafreshstart]

Right now they are just sending statements. If they send it to collections and that affects your credit report, then you have a case to sue for damages. Your case just closed, I would give it a little time and then check your credit report to see what it says.

[rilbrianne]

I just pulled my credit report today. It is a bill, and it says "due upon receipt". The bill before this one was due on November 27. Each time I have called they ask me to pay it and I tell them "I'm not paying it, it has been included in my bankruptcy". It's like talking to a monkey, they just don't get it. I told the guy " I don't think you understand, you can't contact me anymore...." I still haven't gotten anywhere and I'm tired of messing with them.

[FreshLikeADaisy]

One thing I don't understand is who decides whether the $ goes to the customer or the account? Maybe it automatically goes to the account if there is money owed.

Oh, I'm sorry. I think I misunderstood and thought you had voluntarily canceled with a $0 balance. No, if you owed money, then they would have every right to apply a security deposit on any leftover balance.

But in a way this is apples and oranges, because your real beef -- what it sounds like -- is that they keep contacting you in violation of the court in order to collect on a legally discharged debt. Because you're pro se, to me, IF you have kept good documentation of when you called and who you talked to and what got said, as well as the statements themselves, you could ask your trustee what to do in response to the situation and see what he says. You're already discharged and closed, so it's not like your bk itself is still at stake. The most he can do is say, no I can't help you, get an atty -- to me this is no great loss because it only puts you back where you were before you called him.

There's a blurb in the Nolo book about attempts to collect on discharged debts, which suggests that you first write a letter that basically says "I have been contacted by you multiple times in writing in response to your claim that I owe.... As you are well aware, this debt was discharged in bk on [date]. Thus your continued collection efforts violate federal bk law 11 U.S.C. Section 524. If you continue, I will not hesitate to pursue legal action against you, yada yada." The book then says you could sue them for harassment, or sue them in state or bk court (preferably bk) to stop collection activities. I would think a harassment suit a bit much, but that's just me.

I have just enough of the law (I hope) to get me through bk, but if someone pissed me off enough I would see if I could do more. Like you first suggested though, start with the letter. That's what the book says and it seems like good advice. Certified, return receipt requested, of course.

[PaKettle]

If I were you I would write them a legal sounding letter as in the above from the Nolo book, and then I would state that you want your $200 back or you WILL PRESS CHARGES.

That will kick it up to their legal dept. and should at least get them to stop billing you.

[genseeker]

2 seperate comments here...

amelia, you can amend you petition and include forgotten creditors, only costs $26 regardless of how many creditors you add

rilbrianne - skip the peons and send a letter (CMRRR) to Sprint's corporate office. Address it to "Office of the President". Explain they are trying to collect on a debt dxed in BK. Enclose a copy of your discharge and the page showing them listed. The president most likely will not read it but someone within his office will read it.

I had an experience w/ my cell where I got charged 2X for a payment during Rita. Because they took out 2 payments, I got a bunch of overdrafts. I sent a letter to the Office of the President (CMRRR) and had a response the same day because I provided my phone #. They agreed the double payment was their error and agreed to reimburse me for the OD fees & provided a letter to my bank explaining they had computer problems due to Rita and many customers got double charged. I faxed in a copy of my bank statement to show the OD fees and I was given the choice of a mailed check or immediate credit on my account. I took the immediate credit and didn't have to pay a cell bill for 2 months.