First Day Not Paying Credit Card

[meinnc]

Well, yesterday was the first day I have defaulted on paying a credit card. It was Discover, so we will see how long it takes them to contact me.

My hubby and I are one of those who have been paying minimums for some time now. We finally decided we couldn't keep up with those minimums anymore. We consulted with several attorneys and chose one last week. We plan to file Chapter 7 next week, before we even miss payment with Bank of America or Citicard, so hopefully we won't hear too much from them with regards to the annoying phone calls.

Anyone have any info on how aggressive Discovercard is?

[mamaluv]

I let the majority of my cards go months ago, but tried to keep up with a few-one of which was Discover. I was late as of the 9th, I made it about 4 days before they started calling. They call me 6 or 7 times a day now.

[meinnc]

Wow

Wow- that's crazy! I wonder if they will leave us alone after I tell them I've filed Chapter 7. Do I just tell them that and have them contact my lawyer? I defaulted on the 17th (Tuesday), and we will file Chapter 7 on Friday, the 27th, so I guess I should prepare myself for some phone calls......

This is kind of weird for me because I've always paid bills on time...

[ready2puke]

Your not alone in the boat...we all paid our bills on time until we didnt..Have you been reading this forum much? The more time you spend reading up on everyone you'll see we're all in the same situation more or less. Good luck and dont sweat the calls..the way you've planned it, you wont get many really

[JRScott]

Once you file BK, have a case # etc, and they are notified of that they cannot contact you......doing so is a violation of the court automatic stay. Now the court might overlook them doing it once, but violations are like 1k a pop.....usually need several to prove the case

[gymbo]

We stopped paying mid-January... Menards called right away (which was our smallest debt!) No one else called til 2 payments were missed... Got 7 calls today from someone - didn't leave a message so not sure who.. We are filing Friday.

You should be fine

[ready2puke]

only 7 ? Lucky you lol..This 505 number calls serveral times with only 2 minutes between calls..cant remember if its boa or citi they all run together these days.

[DaisysMom]

I quit paying in February. Paid my $100 retainer in March but can't file for several months. Started giving my out my attorney # to all calls and they have almost stopped. I usually only get one or two a day. Sometimes I answer and give the lawyer info again. I refuse to discuss the debt....only to say that my attorney is handling all of my financial issues now, "please call him." Then I politely hang up.

I know this will sound stupid, but with all of the job losses, I know that there are many people doing the collections only bacause thay NEED a job. I don't fault them for that. They are just following the directions of the companies they work for. That is why I don't give them grief. I just end the call quickly and politely. And besides....for the ones that are obnoxious, I don't want to waste my time stooping to their level.

D....

[hopingforsanity]

If you are filing chapter 7. Don't pay those credit cards. Save your money for your household expenses, and a lawyer. The first thing my lawyer told me was to stop paying on all my cards. It's scary at first, and yeah, the calls come all day long. I turned my ringer off. Only took calls on cell phone. It is very stressful, but the light at the end of this tunel is: no credit card debt. It is a great feeling!!!

[Humonese]

Discover started calling me at 4 days late, then within another week it was 5-7 times a day. Brutal. Same thing with my wife's, but she just gave them our attorney's name so well see if that slows it down. They gave her a guilt trip "we gave you a loan in good faith" blah blah. She just repeated our lawyers name and number then hung up.

[2live]

Of 15 credit/retail cards, Target was a pain within 1 week of first ever late payment. PLUS, they would call at 8:31am every day for 3 weeks until I gave my attorneys info. then stopped totally. Now chase, which was one of my favorite mastercards had a rude a**hole call me and when he asked WHY I wasn't working and I said I'm "fighting cancer right now" he said "oh yea, right".
Jerk. From that point on I had no regrets not sending anyone anything.

[emmacat]

I was never late, always paid the mins, until a few weeks ago. I felt so guilty! I decided I did not want to even engage with my creditors. I had to totally detach. This is your legal right and why you hire an attorney. I've suffered so much in the months leading up to this- feeling horrible, beating myself up. I did not want to be made to feel more horrible by some idiot working for $8 an hour.

I got calls from Citi about 5 days after the due date. They call about 3 times a day and caller I.D. always shows who it is. Others are calling as well. I don't answer if it shows "restricted". I have the phone next to me and I just unplug it as soon as I know it's a creditor. You don't have to speak with them at all if you don't want to. Remember, this is a business decision for your life.

I mailed out a letter to my creditors, from my attorney, registered mail, stating that I was filing chapter 7 and they needed to contact me through my attorney. She filed last Monday.

I got two "live" calls today, so I'm assuming they received MY letter, but no case #/letter from court yet. It may be their last ditch effort because they know they're not allowed to call after the court sends them a letter (automatic stay, I think is what it's called).

Relax, have a glass of wine, and unplug the phone.

[MiSSMaGoo]

Also just an FYI if a collector calls you and you tell them to not contact you and ask for a supervisor most banks will stop calling you. I work for a creditcard company (lol I know, right?) and we have a policy we follow and if our card holder tells us to stop calling we take them out of our auto-dialer for 30days. I know not all banks do that but most of the time if you ask for a supervisor you will receive fewer calls immediately