When to Tell Creditors

[ApresMoi]

Is there any advantage to waiting to tell creditors I have hired an attorney? I am a good month away from filing. Could be 6 weeks away. Tell them now? Wait? I don't care about stopping the calls, since I never listen to them anyway. My preference would be to tell them, as long as that doesn't give them extra time to do anything to me in the interim. Or give them time to, say, prepare for an AP! If that's the case, i can wait.

[lrprn]

I don't care about stopping the calls, since I never listen to them anyway.

You've answered your own question. If you don't care about the calls, then there's no reason to tell the creditors you've hired a lawyer and intend to file.

My preference would be to tell them, as long as that doesn't give them extra time to do anything to me in the interim. Or give them time to, say, prepare for an AP!

It takes time to put a court case together, file it, get a court date, then get the judgment. Can't be done in 4-6 weeks unless the creditor is local and is very determined.

The primary reason to tell creditors you are filing is to shift the calls to your lawyer so you don't have to mess with them and get a break from the constant ringing. If you don't care about this, then leave well enough alone and wait out the 4-6 weeks until you file.

[DebtHater]

I never told my creditors my intentions to hire an attorney or to file. I'm assuming my attorney did as the calls stopped immediately once I filed.