Please remind me it doesn't matter??

[nickifan]

Hello,

Had a FedEX envelope in my door today...from FIA Card Services (for one of my two Bank of America cc's.)

It is my "final notice" before my account "may be charged off" as a bad debt. Then it goes on to say I "may" continue to be called by FIA or my account "may" be sold to a third party. In that latter case I will "no longer have the opportunity" to work out payments arrangements. I am to call before June 29th, as "time is running out!"

The hyperbole aside...these notices do get me so down. I still plan to file BK, so their threat that in the event of charge-off, "for the next seven years, any potential employer, mortgage company, car dealerships or creditor will be able to see this bad debt on your credit file" is less the worry it normally would have been.

So that's the part I need reminding about...that the BK is about as bad as it gets, so I shouldn't be thinking about these charge-offs, right?

I wish so much I could just call the attorney and pay her in full and get this thing rolling...I'm just so terrified that there will be no rent money in August as I'm once again out of work. And running out of friends/family to ask for loans... I'm also so worried about a lawsuit...it's been six months at the most for some creditors. BofA over the two cards is now over $15K of debt.

Deep sigh. All words of wisdom/comfort/support very much welcomed.

[nlund]

Hi Nickifan,
I had a BofA account that went through the same as you are saying. They will continue to call and call. Believe me FIA sucks... But they didnt do anything to me until about a year and a half after default. When BofA sells the account to a Howard Lee Schiff then they will be persuing a lawsuit. When you get the paperwork from the court just dispute the fees and say you would like a trial, that will buy you usually about 6 months.
Im speaking on personal experience, and in no way is this legal advice.

Nick

[keepmine]

It doesn't matter!

Don't get bluffed into filing prematurely. Be sure you have a basic safety net around before you file. You want to be able to support yourself post bk.
Concentrate on finding work and put the bk on the backburner for the moment.

[nlund]

i agree with you keepmine always put you and your family first, like i said it took them almost a year and a half to come after me, and ive heard the same from other people. Find a good job and get a little cash saved up.

[blockhead]

You can pretty much always buy a couple months at least if you get sued. First off you typically have 15-21 days (depending on state) to file an answer and you DO want to file an answer. If the complaint is anything like mine it is a one liner of the form "so and so owes $27,280 in credit card debt to CC company" or even if it is more detailed, you can file an affirmative answer saying "I cannot affirm or deny" and that will normally get you a court date at least 4-8 weeks ahead. If it gets near a court date, my atty told me he would appear for me and get the case delayed based on preparing for an imminent BK filing. So do check with your lawyer on this because you do need to plan the BK to make sure you and your attorney are comfortable with the filing.

Of course no one likes being served, but time is on your side it it happens

[dumpinmydebt]

My debts got charged off 2 years ago. My wife had debts charged off 3 years ago. The most we get is a call now and then. They've all changed collection agencies so many times I can't count. They never come after me. It will get to a point where it's just another piece of paper.

[nickifan]

Thanks everyone for the replies. It is helpful to hear that it could take a year or more to actually see a lawsuit...just going by the Caller IDs the most frequent callers are NCO, Discover and a James West supposed law firm. I don't even open most of the mail right now; I put it in a box to collect for the attorney. I did a spreadsheet months ago on all the addresses/phones of all the creditors for her paralegal...now I'll need to update with the collection agencies, though I imagine everyone gets a notice anyway.

I HATE the "wait to hurry up" though...like I said, I wish I could just file. The best scenario would be to get a job that wouldn't start for a month or two <G> and then file before that. That...or just don't get a job paying more than $38K!!