Att Bills

[EverHopeful]

I have an outstanding ATT landline phone bill of about 97 dollars and a SMUD utility bill on a house that i will be foreclosing on in CA (last payment was January 1,2009)

I am planning on filing BK Ch 7. Do you think I should pay the phone bill and also the utilities or list them as creditors? I am thinking I don't want to get into the bad books of the phone and utility companies since even after the BK, I may need to rent a house and they won't let me start an account when i need to get utilities or a phone line.

Can anyone tell me what I should do?? Thanks! I am unemployed and am trying to save money for the BK filing.

[livelaughlove]

My situation is almost exactly the same as yours. I am in Wisconsin and included an AT&T landline phone bill in my ch. 7. I also included my utility (gas & electric). In Wisconsin, when you include the utility bills, the utility company can ask for a deposit. In my case, I have to pay a $563 deposit, which they will hold for a year. After a year of on-time payments, it will be returned to me. My service continued and was not disconnected at any time. ONce they got notification of the bankruptcy, they just opened a new account and requested the deposit

[EverHopeful]

Thanks LLL, for the quick reply. I know that the amounts owed to ATT and the utilities company seem low and I should be paying for them. I am trying to save every cent and I know that even if I paid off the entire amount, after the BK, ATT can and may still ask me for a deposit when i try to get service from them later, right? This is for the house i am foreclosing on

I am just wondering how embarassing it would be for me to even mention and state these low amount of debt when I go and see the BK attorney. I guess nothing is too embarassing right, since the BK attorney probably has seen everything right?

[DeadManCrawling]

Nothing is too embarassing. In another post on this site is a 30 dollar judgement from a local creditor that sounds like one big pissing match that has cost both sides thousands.

I don't know, or want to know, all the details.

I would suggest you pay any utilities that you will need on the other side of BK. Of course you don't have to, but as you note, they will likely ask for deposits. They may anyway, I don't know what their standard policy is for post-bk services.

The amounts are covered by bk and can be discharged, but I'm not sure about doing it. Save 90 now and pay 300 or 400 in deposits in 3 months?

Maybe it makes sense to you, but it doesn't to me.

Good luck in all!

[coolgurka]

DMC, thanks for the reply to the OP. I am trying to think of any other debts to list. One is a 3000 dispute i have with an ex boyfriend.He claims I owe him the amount but I dont (long story) Should I list him as a creditor? Just so that he cannot come back and sue me in small claims later? I know he won't but I am trying to be extra cautious.

I will post on a new thread about post BK and utility deposits.

[DeadManCrawling]

coolgurka,

This is a little beyond my experience, but I WOULD list the debt (even if you don't believe it is correct) to your ex.

BK dishcarges ALL debts listed. In some (most?) districts it discharges even debts you have forgotten about.

I can't see any downside to listing the ex, unless you have broken the law in some other fashion. You didn't take a life insurance policy on his mother and off him, did you? That would not be discharged.

Most normal debts would be, and you can include him at no cost or risk to you.

Best,

-DMC

[coolgurka]

coolgurka,

This is a little beyond my experience, but I WOULD list the debt (even if you don't believe it is correct) to your ex.

BK dishcarges ALL debts listed. In some (most?) districts it discharges even debts you have forgotten about.

I can't see any downside to listing the ex, unless you have broken the law in some other fashion. You didn't take a life insurance policy on his mother and off him, did you? That would not be discharged.

Most normal debts would be, and you can include him at no cost or risk to you.

Best,

-DMC

Oh you are funny and i do need a laugh today!!! Nope I didn't take out any insurance policy on him or his mother. LOL A few months ago he came out of the blue and wrote me an email claiming I owe him money. Yep , i guess i will list him as a creditor in case he comes back years later again:-)

[zpbk13]

Just wanted to reply to the OP and say that I had a similar question about our natural gas bill. It is about $750 and we are on a budget plan. I was to pay $200 today but we still owe our attorney part of her retainer. I would rather spend that $200 on the attorney and bk the gas bill so I called them today. It seems like a simple process. They gave me the bk department's fax number and I just have to send them a copy of our filing and they will zero out the balance and issue a new account number to us. They do require a deposit but it is only $140 and they will stretch it across 3 payments. Sounds like a no-brainer to me. I am so glad I called and put my mind at ease.

Now I don't have to worry about our service being shut off, don't have to worry about that $200 payment and know that we can pay $47 plus our current bill since it's summer. Hope this helps you out!