Scary Phone Call

[lostinflorida]

Chase Visa just called and said they sent letters out yesterday informing us that they will be filing lawsuits against us for the 2 accounts that we have with them because we are 60-90 days late. Tried to talk me into paying the payments which I can't because I don't have the money. Offered a settlement of $6000 on our $10000 balance, but again I don't have the money.

The lawsuit thing scares me, she said they will send a court summons to be served to my husband and then they will go to court and get a judgment against us, place a lien on our assets and garnish our future wages. We are planning to file bk Chapter 7 the first of December. We live in Florida, own our property as husband and wife....does anyone know what will become of all this?

Is this normal for this to happen this fast? I was hoping we would have more time.

[laurannm]

This very much could be nothing more than a scare tactic to get you to pay.

[lostinflorida]

Collection Agency

I thought they would at least send it to a collection agency first....I was just totally caught off guard by the phone call....I am shaking now thinking about actually being sued. Don't know if I'm ready for all this.....

[AnnaO]

Pay Attention to Letters

It could be scare tactic, but it depends on how long you have not paid and on the financial company. It didn't take Bank of America long to figure out that we had a BofA personal checking account and they literally stole money out of our personal checking account (after BK automatic stay was in effect) to pay business credit card debt without giving us any notice of that intent (we are still considering suing them for this action).

My lawyer's advice was to ignore phone calls (isn't caller ID grand?) until the creditors were notified of the BK. Then after you have your BK case number, take the calls and refer them to the BK case # and they have to stop calling. But NEVER EVER ignore anything in writing received through mail or courier delivery. It has be addressed in one way or another.

Even after the automatic stay was in place, we still had creditors calling and a few things via mail and courier. Now I take the calls because it is past the date when creditors can file a claim (and as of today, the debts are discharged!).

Good luck!

[WoodSprite]

I am shaking now thinking about actually being sued. Don't know if I'm ready for all this.....

You're going to be okay. Try not to panic. It does seem unusually quick, but considering what's going on on Wall St this week, I suppose it's not surprising. Put your energy into planning for this, and this could be all over for you guys by Memorial Day.

Do you really need to wait until December to file? Have you found a lawyer yet? Do you have a copy of the Nolo book? Stick around here, let people help you through it, and you'll get through it. Really. All the best.

[AngelinaCatHub]

This is very common. I doubt it is the actual company but a sub that does this. Friday is the usual day and expect a call that they will fax you papers and cut you a deal, but Monday it will be too late. Don't dare pay them a cent as you will renew your clock on that debtor. They work on the emotions. You can easily stall a suit until December. There are things they must do, and give you 20 or thirty days, then you can object and that gives them 20 or 30 days by then you can file and they are S.O.L. 'Hub

[AngelinaCat]

I thought they would at least send it to a collection agency first....I was just totally caught off guard by the phone call....I am shaking now thinking about actually being sued. Don't know if I'm ready for all this.....

You are doing EXACTLY what they want you to do. You are worrying needlessly, and they have timed it to ruin your weekend!

Don't give them that power.

Time is on your side. First they have to file a lawsuit against you. That means you will be subpoened with a date to appear in court. You have 20 days to answer the summons. You MUST appear in court. Do NOT JUST NOT SHOW UP. If you do that, they will get a default judgment. Not what you want.

When you appear in court, you and the creditor will be given a date to go to Arbitration. Arbitration is where the two of you work out a payment plan. In our district, Arbitration occurrs only one day each month. When we were given a date to go to Arbitration, we were going to be out of town, and said so. That bought another month. Processes started against us in August of 2007. Through the various legal maneuvering we did--which is court ordered (20 days to answer is standard, but in some districts it may be 30) wes filed on December 28, 2007. This stopped all the lawsuits in progress, and these were discharged on August 13, 2008.

Good luck to you, and try not to let the phone calls worry you. That is called 'Psychological Warfare.' The best you can do is to ignore it. Easier said than done, I know.

[lostinflorida]

Trying not to panic...not really working

You're going to be okay. Try not to panic. It does seem unusually quick, but considering what's going on on Wall St this week, I suppose it's not surprising. Put your energy into planning for this, and this could be all over for you guys by Memorial Day.

Do you really need to wait until December to file? Have you found a lawyer yet? Do you have a copy of the Nolo book? Stick around here, let people help you through it, and you'll get through it. Really. All the best.

Thanks for trying to calm me down...In order to get our 6 month income to be below the state median, I believe we will have to wait until Dec. My husband got a large one time bonus in July and we got our tax rebate in July so that month is really messing up our 6 month avg.

I haven't found a lawyer yet, if anyone can recommend one in the central florida area, I'd appreciate it....I am ready to see one, because I am hoping the attorney can calm me down and tell me exactly what to expect. I've been reading on here but I still have so many unanswered questions...

[TEW]

It doesn't matter once you file they will be included in the BK. they are wasteing thier money
Just hang up on them. give them your lawyer's name and phone number if you have one.
and take a deep breath

[Keebler]

Chase Visa just called and said they sent letters out yesterday informing us that they will be filing lawsuits against us for the 2 accounts that we have with them because we are 60-90 days late. Tried to talk me into paying the payments which I can't because I don't have the money. Offered a settlement of $6000 on our $10000 balance, but again I don't have the money.

The lawsuit thing scares me, she said they will send a court summons to be served to my husband and then they will go to court and get a judgment against us, place a lien on our assets and garnish our future wages. We are planning to file bk Chapter 7 the first of December. We live in Florida, own our property as husband and wife....does anyone know what will become of all this?

Is this normal for this to happen this fast? I was hoping we would have more time.

First let me say that Texas is different and wages can't be garnished so a lawsuit here is exceptionally pointless and your experience may be somewhat different. However, I have a little experience with the folks you're talking to and I'm convinced that this is nothing more than a show to create some drama.

Keep in mind that the credit card companies are REQUIRED to write your account off as a loss after 180 days and they will do almost ANYTHING to keep an account from being written off. Why? An account written off is a loss on their books but a delinquent account isn't. With all the problems the banks are facing now, they'll do anything to postpone the loss until another quarter or fiscal year. All they want is a payment or two so that THEY decide when they take the loss instead of YOU.

Remember: If they choose a lawsuit it'll be expensive and slow. In the end you'll file Bankruptcy and the time and money they've spent going the legal route will have been completely wasted.

Nobody wants to be sued, but you need to stick to your timetable for filing your Bankruptcy so you can be successful. Remember, even if they sue and win it'll be rendered useless when you file. If they do file a suit, you'll respond and do what you can to throw obsticles in their way and this will buy you weeks of time and maybe even months. Let them do whatever they choose but you should stick to your plans and not yield to thier scare tactics.

If they thought a lawsuit was the easiest way to get paid, they wouldn't be calling you on the phone and trying to scare you. Scary phone calls is all they have to work with and they'll use that tactic against you as long as they think it might work.

Next time they call, completely refuse to speak with them due to "pending litigation" and you'll see them go crazy with frustration because it's all a show.

Find the website in your area where civil cases are posted and check it a few times a week. You'll see a case show up if it's true but you'll probably never see it show up.

[lostinflorida]

Thanks!

Thanks to all who replied, I do feel better now....after that phone call I was feeling like a criminal and looking over my shoulder for a sherrif to come and serve notice...I swear I just can't wait for all this nightmare to be over!!!

What really irritates me is watching the news and seeing these CEO's making hundreds of millions of dollars and their companies going under and then they want US taxpayers to bail them out!! Are you kidding me? Who is helping bail us little guys out? We get treated like criminals for small potatoes, maybe the government should rework the bankruptcy code for those guys!

[Cali]

I am sorry they scared you, but with the way things are going on in our economy I can see why they called after 90 days.

As for the CEO's, their contracts were set up for them to get paid that money, it wasn't given just because.

I never felt like a criminal through this whole ordeal. I knew what I had to do and I did it. Now it's over and I am onto a new chapter in my life.

Just remember this is a business decision, nothing more. And don't take any of it personally.

What really irritates me is watching the news and seeing these CEO's making hundreds of millions of dollars and their companies going under and then they want US taxpayers to bail them out!! Are you kidding me? Who is helping bail us little guys out? We get treated like criminals for small potatoes, maybe the government should rework the bankruptcy code for those guys!

[TEW]

As for the CEO's, their contracts were set up for them to get paid that money, it wasn't given just because.

[JRScott]

It is too soon for an actual lawsuit, they are just trying to scare you as the others said. I do suspect lawsuits will come sooner in the future rather than later. However I still don't see them suing before the 180 days late.

[Overmylimit]

I got a certified letter today from Advanta Business about 30k owed. It says respond/pay within 15 days or they are suing for judgement. I am only 2-3 months behind now. I wonder if some companies do this (legal action) in house and some use an outside company. Maybe with the economy going bad possibly they are speeding up the usual wait time to seek judgements.