First meeting with the atty today

[queenfluff]

emmacat, thanks for mentioning the Maxed Out movie. I just watched off of veoh.com. It is free - you just have to sign up for a free account and download their player than you can watch the whole hour and a half movie. The voices don't match up with people's lips moving but it is still very watchable.

I have come to the realization in the past year how evil the CC's are so I already knew that watching this. But I would definatley recommend this video to someone who hasn't figure it out yet. It took me 20 years to figure this out but I glad I have gotten here. I think this movie should be mandatory with the pre-bankruptcy couseling.

I couldn't believe those slick-o collecting agencies guys. They remind of used car salesmen - How young they are too? My guess is that they couldn't get a real job after college that was where they ended up...How do they sleep at night? What girl would ever date them? All the people working at the CA looked like they just graduated from high school. What in the world could they know about debt, money and the pressures of "real life"?

I also love the part where the vp's for the cc's were speaking and they were like "Oh, we are so sorry for what is happening. We are very sensitive to our customers needs and want to help them." What? Yeah right! I could line my garden with that crap. If they are going to lie at least be more convincing. Have your boss send you to acting class. It is going to take a lot more than that to convince me. Sorry, no Oscar Nod for you.

The most unbelievable and sad part was the two ladies talking about how their college aged kids killed themselves because of their credit card debt and how years later they were still getting credit card offers for their dead children in the mail. Just like those stories you hear about people who are dead getting loans? WTF? I think if the cc's COULD charge a dead person to have a credit card they would. They are that low.

They were talking about too that most Americans are so much in debt that they realistically would be dead before they could pay off all their debt. Several people were crying and you could tell they would rather be dead than have to deal with that. That was particularly sad because I know have thought that from time to time and I can very much relate to how those people feel. So trapped, you feel like there is no way out.

The section on Bankruptcy was interesting too - talking about the 2005 change to the law. A lady was saying that credit card comapnies would love Bankruptcy to be gotten rid of all together because it is the only way out for some people and they don't want those people to EVER find a way out - they want you to be in debt to them until you are dead. Well, if they really think this is fair, than there should be something applying to them too - super tough rules and regulations for the cc companies - Why is it that when a company goes bankruptcy no one thinks bad about them but if it an individual regular person than that person is looked at like they are the scum of the earth?

I could ramble on forever about it but I highly recommend watching it. I made me hate the cc's even more than I did before. Predatory, convincing etccc...all very good words to describe the companies.

[BEB]

I found that once I told cc that I was filing most just asked me for atty. phone # and wanted me to call when I had a case #. I never called them back but when they called again I gave them the case number and never had them call again. BOA offered a 20% settlement but only for 6 months which I couldn't afford anyway. I was like many of you ,never missing a payment but then having cards unilatterally raising interest rate. When it hit 27.99% and 32% I realized I had to do somethin. An online calculator showed that making minimum payments on total at 10% would take 82 years to pay off.
Since I'm 64 now I didn't think that that would be possible. Unnfortunately didn't find this site early but did find it after talking to attorney recommended by credit counsler at local non profit agency. Payment thru credit counseling was $1000 more than I made per month. I did have to do a 13 since I had just made last payment on house and wanted to keep it. Was confirmed Feb.24 and am 4 payments into plan,last time for creditors May 24. So far 2 have not filed for over $40,000. This forum gave me a chance to know that I wasn't only one out here who was in this predicament. I really don't care much about credit score. Once this is paid I still have a good pension and will also collect ss. Plan on going cash and using atm/visa card which were not affected since didn't owe anything to my bank. I got into this mess because since 1997 my check from my current job has dropped almost $4000
per year so am now making less than 1/2 of pay . I have no compete at employment so cannot go anywhere else in area to change jobs. Good luck everyone this forum is answer to prayer.

[WillinVT]

I am meeting with my attorney on Tuesday the 21st. I am actually looking forward to it.

I have been on time with all my payments for the past 4 years, but this month, I stopped. The guilt feeling is running through me from time to time, but I have to keep telling myself that it is for the best. This will be a new beginning for my family and I and that is what matters most.

I am officially late with 2 creditors now and on Friday the 17th, I will be late with 2 more. I haven't received any calls or emails (knock on wood), but I am sure they will start soon enough. I work nights and sleep during the day, so if they do call, I won't hear the phone. My wife knows not to answer the phone, unless she knows who's calling. All my creditors have my cell number, but I am sure they can get my home number if they want.

I am hoping to file by mid-May, so once that happens, no more calls.

I will write on Tuesday evening and let everyone know how my meeting goes.

Great Forum

[downsized]

I can say Amen to everything posted.

I'm also in the club who always paid on time without fail while the creditors forced out interest rates that made us unable to keep up. Add that to my dhs' job loss and we absolutely cannot pay. I called every creditor BEFORE the due dates and all have a hardship program that was nothing more than lowering our interest a bit for only 6 short months. Would have only saved us pennies every month. So, we went to them and contacted a BK atty. I've seen our situation in a completely different light thanks to this board. I shouldered all of the responsibility until coming here. I'm wiser now and retaining an atty was a huge weight off. I wanted to kiss the man before we left. It was a very different experience than I thought I was walking in to. I thought he'd judge me and I'd spend my time rationalizing and explaining. It was just the opposite. He was understanding and compassionate and, most of all, HELPFUL! Our first late payment was to Discover. Loyal customer since 2000. They started calling when my payment was 2 days late. I currently have 2 others that are late and neither has called. The atty gave me a card with their creditor line's number on it and told them to simply say that we're sorry we are now unable to pay and pass on our info and HANG UP! I hope that keeps the calls to a bare minimum.

Group hug, everyone! This isn't just an informational forum, it's a support group as well!

[WillinVT]

The atty gave me a card with their creditor line's number on it and told them to simply say that we're sorry we are now unable to pay and pass on our info and HANG UP! I hope that keeps the calls to a bare minimum.

You atty gave you a card with your creditors numbers on it? Just trying to see if I am reading that right.

That's pretty cool.

Hopefully it works out for you.

[downsized]

You atty gave you a card with your creditors numbers on it? Just trying to see if I am reading that right.

That's pretty cool.

Hopefully it works out for you.

Yep. He's got a seperate line for the creditors to call. Makes sense since I'm sure the must get tons of those. It's a business card with his name, address, the phone number for the creditor line, their fax number and I can write our case number on it when I get that.

[emmacat]

Hi There,
Downsized-Congratulations on a meeting to do all the preparatory paper for filing. You'll be so relieved when that's over. It's a waiting game after that. You could throw in some knots-in-the-stomach-waiting until you're 341 is over.

Downsized and JB1231, read my post titled:
341 Report. Can breathe now! (not sure how to make a direct link it here)
It was not bad at all. I give a very detailed description of the whole day.

Queenfluff-I'm so glad you watched the documentary Maxed Out about the evil credit card industry. That was a real eye opener and played a big part in my decision to FINALLY file.

Can't Wait- My attorney told me that once you decide you're going to file, you're just throwing money away by making further payments to the cc's. I, too wanted to avoid the creditor calls as long as possible, but just turn your ringer off, or screen them through an answering service.

I didn't talk to ONE of them. My attorney gave me a form letter to mail out that said we were planning to file and they needed to direct any further contact through her and that she would update them with a filing date. This seemed to cut them back a bit (it was a few weeks before I filed). Once I filed, the calls tailored off within a week. They can be fined penalties for contacting you once they're notified of your filing. The bankruptcy court will mail out a letter to all the creditors for you once you've filed.

Then.....PEACE (minus the pre-341 stomach churns which can be remedied with chocolate treats, a glass of wine, and even a valium now and then if you need it)

I also told myself, "It's not personal, just a business decision for my life" which helped me detach from the emotions of guilt, etc... It's just business. I think Donald Trump said that and he's filed bankruptcy like 6 times! If you can detach a little and take some of the emotions out of it, it helps.

Hope everyone had a nice weekend. I love following your stories....

[Fresh]

All of you don't know how much you help others just by telling your accounts. It is amazing how much support there is here and how much tangible information there is where it would be hard to find elsewhere.

With me, it was utter fear of just having to face the situation. Once, that happened, I felt so much better. There was a woman here who replied to someone who posted how great their family's credit score was, had never been late. The reply was you are one of many here who has moved to the other side, and there will be thousands to follow.

With the telephone calls, definitely unplug the phone and route your calls to an answering service like Answer Call or something online. Caller I.D. has been a real boon. Discover is by far one of the worst in terms of the calls. I had one day where my Caller I.D. had registered nearly 20 calls from them. The first message usually before 9am, they leave a message, then all the rest are just ringing you up. It has not even been 30 days since they have not received a payment.

[downsized]

Discover is by far one of the worst in terms of the calls. I had one day where my Caller I.D. had registered nearly 20 calls from them. The first message usually before 9am, they leave a message, then all the rest are just ringing you up. It has not even been 30 days since they have not received a payment.

Definitely true in our case. I've been loyal and never late with them for 9 years and they were ringing my phone off the hook when my payment was only 2 days late. TWO!!!!!! I ignored the phone for a couple of days. I finally answered telling them that I wouldn't be paying. They left me alone for exactly one week before calling back yesterday. I told the gal we're filing BK next week and passed our atty's info to her. We'll see what they do with it. I'm keeping a close record of their calls.