New here....stressed out.

[boyohboy]

Hi everyone. Been a lurker for a bit reading and learning as much as I can. This forum has been a good therapy for me. Anyways, I'd like ask for some advice now, from you wonderful people.

I'm around 110k in unsecured cc debt due to mostly stupid spending or paying for medical expenses. Spouse will not file, just me. I have not charged since late December and can no longer keep up paying the minimums. As i've read you should try to pay at least 3 months before you stop paying but what if you just can't? Will it hurt when I file?

The calls are coming in now, it's really embarassing at work cause my co-workers always ask who's calling. Then they'll tell me "Hey, <insert cc company> is calling again. You want to speak with them?" Oh geeese the humiliation!

I hope to retain an attorney in April and file for BK7 in June. Is that a good time frame? I made a $3000+ charge on one card in Dec (paid property tax).

My miminum payments, should I pay what a can even if it's less than the minimum. At least i'm trying. My chase went from 4.99% to 29.99% in a blink of an eye. Even on the one I was never late on. Talk about putting salt on the wound.

What can I tell the cc companies when they call? One cc wants to put me on a hardship program but I don't know what to tell them.

If you guys could give me some pointers, i'd really appreciate it. Thanks so much.

[kst7488]

dont make any payments for at least 90 days if your planning on filing at all and dont make any purchases on them in that 90 day span. simply tell them next time that they call that you are planning on filing and are currently seeking a lawyer if you dont have one yet. it should slow the calls for a while, or youll get some offers for settlement. dont take the settlement if you cant afford it. if you can, they will want it paid in full, tell them to send you in writing that it will show up as paid in full on your credit report.

but really if you are filing, i wouldnt do any settlements.

[deadbroke99]

If you tell them they are not allowed to call you at work most of them will stop. Legally they cannot call you at work if you tell them your company does not allow it.

[jeb]

Boy, we all have been through what you are now - there is light at the end of the tunnel. The more you read and learn here, the more comfortable with how things work you become the better you will feel.

Ref. them calling you at work - next time, answer by just saying, "$1,000.00". If they say "what", just say "$1,000.00."

When they ask what you are talking about say, "That is the amount it is going to cost you if you call me at work again." Then hang up.

Surprisingly, every single call I had was very nice - after explaining my situation, some even wished me good luck.

Other here get all kinds of nasty call - I don't know why but I was nice to them so it may have something to do with it. - jb

[TEW]

I don’t know of a rule of how long to pay before you file. You should wait 90 days at least after the last use of the cards.
You can tell the creditors not to call you at work or you will be fire and they must stop.
Have you made any payments on the 3 k you charged?
If not make a couple so it does not appear that you never intended to pay.

[ready2puke]

Tew I think thats what the OP was saying..about paying twice..I think she did and cant make anymore payments. If you can wait as long as possible even 6 months before you file. I so know if feels like a lifetime, but it will start to go faster than you think, really. Even with the calls. You should write them and mail it certified and have them sign for it. That way they cant say they didnt get it and they will stop calling you at work.
As far as making smaller than min. paymts. dont bother, it wont matter. You're just throwing all that money down the toilet. Save your money, if you cant make the min. dont make any and wait..90 days at least 6 months is better. Good luck and your in good company..

[BornAgain]

Why is waiting 3 to 6 months necessary? Seems from my research that as long as there are no violations of the 70/90 day rules and there are no charges that are fraudlent, then there's no reason to wait.

Can anyone point me to the information about why to wait for as long as possible?

Thanks.

[Trixie007]

Waiting 3-6 months, or even a year in some cases, isn't a hard and fast rule. It really depends on how the cards have been used. The real issue there is not the fraudulent use statute of 70 days - it's whether the creditor is likely to object to discharge of an account based on use. Flags to a creditor to file an adversarial complaint may be large purchaases, balance transfers, running the card up to or over the limit, etc - and then no payments made on the account.

So it really makes sense to look at your use of each account, going back as far as you or your attorney deem necessary. I have a spreadsheet of all 10 of our cc accounts, showing each balance, payments made, total charges in any given month, with BT checks highlighted - then a running total of all cards at the top. I can see the flow of debt from one card to another, and it paints a picture of our credit use for going back two years. For me, that's long enough to age the most recent transactions, but also long enough to show that we handled our accounts the same way well before filing BK became an issue.

It's not that the transactions were fraudulent - we stopped charging 4-6 months before we made the decision to file, and it will be 11 mos from last use and 12 mos from last BT check by the time we file- it's that we don't want the creditor to even think they might be able to prove we couldn't pay.

[boyohboy]

Have you made any payments on the 3 k you charged?
If not make a couple so it does not appear that you never intended to pay.

Thanks for the replies everyone. Yes, I did make couple of minimum payments since december. But for being late on one payment, my interest rate gets rasied to 29%, there's no way I can make a minimum payment as it has more than doubled. I feel kind of bad not paying anything.

It's been only 2 months since last charge and payments, can I tell them I'm planning on filing BK? I hope to retain an atty in April and file in June.

[ready2puke]

my opinion is I wouldn't say anything to them. Dont give them any amo to speed things up. Keep under the radar so to speak.