More Chapter 7 questions.

[adviceplease]

Sorry I am asking so many questions but I have never been through this before and I am lost.

1. Today I went and spoke with a lawyer. The first problem I had was that on the website it said free consultation and it also said this on the buisness card. When I arrived there was a notice in the window that anything over 10 mins for initial consultation they charge for. So I asked the lawyer and they said do not worry about it....what happens if I decide not to go with them, can they charge me since the meeting was more like 15-20 mins?

2. How does reaffirming things like mortgages and car loans work? Does the banks have to let you reaffirm with you if you are current? I have been behind but have made most of the payments up with the exception of 1 month on 2 cars (which I will pay soon). On the mortgage I did a forbearance before we decided to file for bankruptcy it is current but we have only been paying the taxes on it per the bank until Oct.

3. My dad said you have to stop using credit cards 90 days before you file because it could be considered fraud because you are still using it but are filing bankruptcy. I used a couple recently before I decided to look into bankruptcy. Will this delay the filing or get me into trouble?

4. I have a credit card through the bank that has a balance of under $1000 that will close once it is paid off. Can I keep this and just pay it off a little at a time? I would rather not make the bank mad since it holds my mortgage.

5. Does the credit card companies have to contact you before they sue you or garnish wages? I may not be able to come up with the down payment to retain a lawyer for 2 weeks which will put me 2-3 months late on some.


The meeting was bad as it was, they told me that my house has dropped $70,000 in equity since I refinanced 5 years ago because of so many multiple foreclosures in the area.

Thank you for the help, I was to worried about being charged a fee for the extra consultation so I was not able to ask.

[ForumReader]

Sorry I am asking so many questions but I have never been through this before and I am lost.

1. Today I went and spoke with a lawyer. The first problem I had was that on the website it said free consultation and it also said this on the buisness card. When I arrived there was a notice in the window that anything over 10 mins for initial consultation they charge for. So I asked the lawyer and they said do not worry about it....what happens if I decide not to go with them, can they charge me since the meeting was more like 15-20 mins?

2. How does reaffirming things like mortgages and car loans work? Does the banks have to let you reaffirm with you if you are current? I have been behind but have made most of the payments up with the exception of 1 month on 2 cars (which I will pay soon). On the mortgage I did a forbearance before we decided to file for bankruptcy it is current but we have only been paying the taxes on it per the bank until Oct.

3. My dad said you have to stop using credit cards 90 days before you file because it could be considered fraud because you are still using it but are filing bankruptcy. I used a couple recently before I decided to look into bankruptcy. Will this delay the filing or get me into trouble?

4. I have a credit card through the bank that has a balance of under $1000 that will close once it is paid off. Can I keep this and just pay it off a little at a time? I would rather not make the bank mad since it holds my mortgage.

5. Does the credit card companies have to contact you before they sue you or garnish wages? I may not be able to come up with the down payment to retain a lawyer for 2 weeks which will put me 2-3 months late on some.


The meeting was bad as it was, they told me that my house has dropped $70,000 in equity since I refinanced 5 years ago because of so many multiple foreclosures in the area.

Thank you for the help, I was to worried about being charged a fee for the extra consultation so I was not able to ask.

Don't worry about asking questions. This is what the forum is all about for giving feedback and support. I am still a newbie to the forum, but I will tell you a couple of things from your post.

#3 It would be considered fraud if you withdraw large cash advances or purchases right before you file. It is a good idea to wait 90 days before filing. However, I have heard of situations where filers have used their CCs for living expenses or really necessary expenses (having no cash in their bank accounts) right before filing. The big thing to be careful is large cash advances or purchases that you have no intention of paying them back before filing.

#4, ususally after filing for BK, credit cards are closed, they have a 50/50 chance of surviving a bankruptcy. I had one of the cards much less than 500.00 and the lawyer said to let it go. I have not used the card in months, but faithfully had paid on it until I had to file for BK. You might want to bring this up with the lawyer. Just the other day I received a letter from a creditor that my account was just closed due to BK.

#5 Usually credit card companies will call you if you are late with a payment, it depends on the credit card company, some might start calling after 2 days of being late on a payment others, after a month. As far as garnishing or suing, that will take at least 6 months (for suing/complaint) to start the process. I have not heard of garnishments to happen within 3 months.

Regarding lawyers, based on what you described, you might want to interview some more before making a decision which one you would feel comfortable with..unless you have already done so. I will let other experienced posters answer the rest of your questions or all of the questions

Best of luck and hang in there.

[adviceplease]

Thank you for the reply.

There was a $700 purchase made on 7/31. The CC was suppose to be closed and some how there was a mix up and an item that we did a special order on came out when we thought it was canceled. The bank was pretty mad because the card had just finished closing from being combined into a combination loan. I would like to still keep this account and pay on it even though it is already closed just to keep the bank on my good side.

I have been living off the credits cards, I will admit to that. I have spent maybe $150 this month and maybe $500 in the last 90 days (not including $700 mess up).