Reaffirmation Question

[vleisme]

What exactly is the purpose of a reaffirmation agreement? The way my attorney explained it, it seems it benefits the creditor to reaffirm.I have been trying to reaffirm a credit card that I bought a TV with but they don't seem very interested in talking to me (put you on hold for an hour and then say someone will call back and they don't)so if they don't seem too interested in trying to get a reaffirmation the attorney said chances of them coming to take back a used TV is very slim.

[keepmine]

Reaffirmations for the most part deal with large secured debts like mortgages or car loans.
Nothing in the code prevents you from paying back anyone you please post bk.
Listen to your lawyer. Nobody wants used consumer products.

[southernbelle]

I had a looonng discussion with my atty. about reaffirm's also and it mostly benefits the creditor, but in some cases like with homes especially, it could benefit you as well. For instance when you file BK, the mortgage lender might eliminate your online access or ability to pay them online and if you miss one payment, they can foreclose.

If you reaffirm, the mortgage lender will be more willing to help you catch up if you miss a payment and could reinstate your online payment option, but it's not guaranteed.

Also, your payments get reported to the credit bureau if you reaffirm with large purchases which will help you to reestablish your credit rating.

Now don't get me wrong, if you can't afford the payments DO NOT reaffirm, but if it's for an item you can comfortably afford and it's a large long term payment item (houses, cars) then consider it, but mostly it's not advised since you can continue to pay for the item with no problems unless you miss a payment.

In your case I ABSOLUTELY WOULD NOT reaffim a television!!! Just my opinion.

[Cali]

The things most people would reaffirm are cars and houses.

I am keeping one of our vehicles so I will have to reaffirm if they want that or not if they will just let me keep paying as if nothing happen.

[vleisme]

We originally filed ch 13 and we are planning continuing to pay for our mortgages and vehicle loans and under the 13 a Chase Circuit City card was considered partially a secured debt because we bought a TV. Now that we converted to a ch 7 we thought we would have to reafirm the Circuit City if we wanted to keep the TV. I think we will just ride it out and see if they contact us since they were not interested in talking to us we we tried to contact them.Under the 13 it was part of the monthly payment to the trustee along with the vehicle loans.I was just trying to understand the exact purpose of reaffirmation agreements since it appears you are not required to do them by the court.

[Cali]

Your TV must be expensive.

[Stilltheone]

When we first filed, we planned on reaffirming 5 things: Our 2 home loans, our car loan, and 2 "furniture" accounts. One account was a credit card, financed with GE Money Bank. The other was an actual loan, financed with American General.

We never reaffirmed our home, just did a ride through. We got reaffirmation papers for our car, which we signed and filed. We also got papers for our American General account....which we did not sign. We never got papers for our furniture purchased with our credit card and highly doubt we will.

From reading on this board, it seems like it's recommended NOT to sign reaff papers for consumer electronics/goods. Their value depreciates quickly and it's highly unlikely that the creditor will come get your stuff. It's costly to repossess. Not only does the creditor have to hire a lawyer, but they have to sue you and get a judgement against you for their property. In the end, it doesn't seem like the creditor will have monetary gain if they sue you....depending on the good/item, of course.

[vleisme]

Cali
It was 3 grand worth of electronics TV ,surround sound system and receiver. It's 2 years old now and the TV was a floor model so it was not even new when we bought it. I thought we HAD to reaffirm I did not know it was an option not to.

Stilltheone
Thanks for the info!

[blaze]

We had a chase visa circuit city card also and they sent our lawyer a re-aff. that they wanted us to sign for the entire balance on the card - about 7K - only 3K was stuff bought at the store - the rest was gas and groceries...obviously we did not sign - the most recent purchase was almost a year before we filed. Our atty does not think they will try to collect the goods - we'll see - we were discharged yesterday - so I'll let you know whether or not I hear anything. I sure hope I don't - I'd hate to have gone through all this and then have them calling me again. I can't imagine the stuff would be worth much - most of it is at least 2 years old. Good luck to you!

[AngelinaCatHub]

Blaze: I intended to ride through two small CC cards, a Lowes and Radio Shack. I went to Lowes as I had not seen a bill for so long. They said zero balance and zero credit, I was astonished and I went to Radio Shack and they could not find my account. It did not exist. It’s almost 100% sure they won’t want your old TV as the markup on stuff like that is not worth their time and trouble and resale value will be zilch. ‘Hub

[AngelinaCat]

From reading on this board, it seems like it's recommended NOT to sign reaff papers for consumer electronics/goods. Their value depreciates quickly and it's highly unlikely that the creditor will come get your stuff. It's costly to repossess. Not only does the creditor have to hire a lawyer, but they have to sue you and get a judgement against you for their property. In the end, it doesn't seem like the creditor will have monetary gain if they sue you....depending on the good/item, of course.

We listen religiously to Clark Howard--yeah, I know, we weren't religious enough . Anyway, he almost always recomends AGAINST purchasing a an extended warranty on any kind on electronics, including computers because they become obsolete so fast. I cannot recall a time when he DID recommend one. I will say however, that 'Hub once purchased a limited waranty on a set of radio earphones. When they accidentally got knocked into a pool of water, the contract was honored. But that is rare.

For a two year old 3000 dollar surround sound system, that was a floor model when bought? Sorry, vleisme, you will die before you pay off that debt. Remember the new digital equipment is coming in 2009.....

[PaKettle]

Do not reaffirm. No way!
They will not come and get your used electronics unless this is some kind of a small, local "mom and pop" store.

[vleisme]

I guess the reason I was concerned about reaffirming the Chase Circuit city acct. was because when we originally filed ch 13 they filed a claim against us. It was used on our means test when we converted to ch 7 as debt owed. I was afraid the trustee would somehow find out we are not paying back the 3000 and since we are over median I did not want not paying that debt to change our ch 7. We already have the "No Distribution" ruling from the trustee so maybe he won't know if we don't pay back the 3000 even though we listed it along with our mortgages and car loans and said we planned on reaffirming them??I just don't know how all this works the atty seems to not care so I guess I shouldn't.