One week before 341 now this?? wth help!

[outoffunds]

We had kept a credit card out of the petition because we wanted to keep it and pay it off. We told our lawyer this and she said it was ok to put her bill on it as well. I called her last week because I receive a letter from the cc company saying because of filing they were closing it and it would be also filed. I call my lawyer who tells me if I did this on purpose she would drop my case?????? I had to yell at her for her to stop talking and listen to me to tell her that in NOWAY would I ever do something like that..it is low. It was bad enough filing never mind cheating???? Anyway I said I had spoke to the credit card company and that if I wanted I could pay on good faith but would not be receiving any statements from them.

Fast foward one week: I receive a letter (not even a phone call) from my lawyer saying that the cc was disputing my card and that there were charges on it DUH!!! And either I can come up with a cash settlement of 2200 or stipulation in the sum of 2,966 which I have no idea what this means. So she tells me to let her know how I wanted to handle this after she comes back from vaca on august 2nd when our date for our 341 is august 5th!!! I am so angry. She never even called us to tell us this was going on and I had mailed her prior to this making sure I had everything I needed to proceed and she was nice as could be with her reply.

I am scared to death. I just want this over and I do not know what to do. I mailed her and explained once again I would never do anything knowingly and I need to meet with her face to face before deciding anything. How the heck am I supposed to come up with 2200 when I can't even come up with 10 bucks.

Help guys please?

[newbie2]

We had kept a credit card out of the petition because we wanted to keep it and pay it off. We told our lawyer this and she said it was ok to put her bill on it as well. I called her last week because I receive a letter from the cc company saying because of filing they were closing it and it would be also filed. I call my lawyer who tells me if I did this on purpose she would drop my case?????? I had to yell at her for her to stop talking and listen to me to tell her that in NOWAY would I ever do something like that..it is low. It was bad enough filing never mind cheating???? Anyway I said I had spoke to the credit card company and that if I wanted I could pay on good faith but would not be receiving any statements from them.

Fast foward one week: I receive a letter (not even a phone call) from my lawyer saying that the cc was disputing my card and that there were charges on it DUH!!! And either I can come up with a cash settlement of 2200 or stipulation in the sum of 2,966 which I have no idea what this means. So she tells me to let her know how I wanted to handle this after she comes back from vaca on august 2nd when our date for our 341 is august 5th!!! I am so angry. She never even called us to tell us this was going on and I had mailed her prior to this making sure I had everything I needed to proceed and she was nice as could be with her reply.

I am scared to death. I just want this over and I do not know what to do. I mailed her and explained once again I would never do anything knowingly and I need to meet with her face to face before deciding anything. How the heck am I supposed to come up with 2200 when I can't even come up with 10 bucks.

Help guys please?

There really isn't much you can do other than tell your attorney you don't have the money for the cash settlement, and then you will owe the amount after your bankruptcy discharges. This doesn't mean that the rest of the debts won't be discharged, just this one specific debt.

[justbroke]

You cannot "keep" cards of your choosing in bankruptcy. If it has a positive balance at the time of filing, then it is subject to discharge. I don't know why you believed you could "keep" a credit account and have it survive bankruptcy.

The bankcard people are absolutely right. They can sue you because you should not have been using the card. That they offered a stipulated settlement is really nice of them. You will need to comply or face an Adversary Proceeding (Complaint) and the non-dischargeability of that debt. Along with the $2900+ they'll attach attorney fees and other fees as well.

Sorry, and I'm sure you don't want to hear this, but the credit card company has an iron clad case in order to recover the monies that you charged. Whenever you want to "keep" a card in bankruptcy, people will make sure they have a $0 balance, and will wait until discharge before using it. That way, you ensure that you don't have the presumption of non-dischargeability because you charged within the 90 days.

[SMinGA]

Might be wise to go back thru your correspondence w/ your attorney - print it out - and show her that she told you it was ok to charge her legal fees to this credit card...

If you don't have it in writing, its your word against hers. I tend to do most of my communication by email, and the trail it creates is useful...

[outoffunds]

Thank you for the response everyone.



justbroke: If I thought for one moment what I was doing was wrong I would not have done it. I have never filed before and depended on my lawyer for guidance. I believed we could keep this one credit card because we asked our lawyer. so do you mean that letter is stating either pay 2200 to settle or fight the 2900? Is that what it means by stipulated.


SMinGA: Thank you for the tip. It was word of mouth unfortunately. I guess I learned my lesson.



newbie: thank you once again for answering me. You have been a tremendous help.

I am just really scared and sick and want this over with. I have been getting so excited to learn how to live without credit cards and budgeting and doing everything right that I guess I just thought the worst was behind us.

Thanks again.

[justbroke]

justbroke: If I thought for one moment what I was doing was wrong I would not have done it. I have never filed before and depended on my lawyer for guidance. I believed we could keep this one credit card because we asked our lawyer. so do you mean that letter is stating either pay 2200 to settle or fight the 2900? Is that what it means by stipulated.

I don't know the total you charged or the balance. To me, it reads as though they want $2,200 as a lump sum payment due immediately, or stipulate, in the complaint, to $2,900 payable over some period of time.

I am just really scared and sick and want this over with.

I understand completely. I feel bad that your attorney mis-communicated or left out the important parts of "keeping" a card. It's unfortunate, but it does happen. Don't blame yourself! I actually thought I could keep 2 cards myself and was charging on them even POST filing! I didn't charge much and was paying them off, so the balances were under $200. They were discharged.

[2manybills]

It's unfortunate that your attorney gave you such misinformation. Those are cases where I'm embarassed to say that I work in the legal field.

I was like JB and thought I could keep some of my gas cards. They shut them off as soon as we filed.

I was able to keep the credit card that the credit union gave us when we opened our account and still have that card more than a year later.

Unfortunately, you will have to work this out with the creditor. AP's are very expensive to fight. The last 2 I know of (mind you these were cases involving issues of between $300K and $800K), the attorney's fees were $15K just to file the first motion.

It is in your best interest to work it out. Good luck!

[outoffunds]

It makes me feel better to know I am not the only one that this has happened to I was feeling like a fool.


In these cases even they say lump sum would they work out a payment plan? I know I should ask my lawyer but since she is away I figured I would ask here. Also this does not mean I pay her again correct/

thank you everyone in advance

[2manybills]

It makes me feel better to know I am not the only one that this has happened to I was feeling like a fool.


In these cases even they say lump sum would they work out a payment plan? I know I should ask my lawyer but since she is away I figured I would ask here. Also this does not mean I pay her again correct/

thank you everyone in advance

No you will not have to pay your attorney again! She has been paid by the credit card company. If she's worth her salt, she should be able to negotiate a settlement for you that is reasonable. Remember this is not like it's a $10K charge or something, where it is really worth their while to file an AP. Also, they have to show intent to file an AP. It costs them equally to file. Remind your lawyer that she's the one that told you to put her legal fees on this card.

I'm not saying you won't have to pay something, but don't let them or your attorney push you into a corner. Most of the BK Courts are not looking favorably on the CC companies.

[outoffunds]

sometimes I forget the atty is working for us and I am feeling a bit bullied. thank you for pointing this out to me and responding it really does make me feel better.

[Fresh]

Put her fee on that credit card? That sounds like you need to report her to the Bar, find an ethical attorney, but mostly do NOT deal with her again. I am so sorry this happened to you. This is exactly why people hate attorneys so much!

[outoffunds]

I feel sort of stuck. We are to go to our 341 on Thursday and it has been such a long emotional road I just want it done with. I will hear from her today she is back from vacation so it will be interesting to see what she has to say. It is so hard to remember she is working for us when I feel like she is our only way out of this mess.

[2manybills]

I feel sort of stuck. We are to go to our 341 on Thursday and it has been such a long emotional road I just want it done with. I will hear from her today she is back from vacation so it will be interesting to see what she has to say. It is so hard to remember she is working for us when I feel like she is our only way out of this mess.

Remember, she is working for you. Keep throwing the ball back in her court and let her know that she is the one that told you to do this and if there is an AP from this creditor, it will be her responsibility to deal with.

Sometimes when we are in this situation, we tend to beat ourselves up first. All (or most) of us have some guilt at being in this financial mess, but you haven't done anything wrong. You deserve you're fresh start! This is just a little bump in the road, you will be fine!

[angles]

So when she asked for payment you gave her your credit card? You would think that as a BK attorney (hopefully experienced) she would know that you are about to file and have to include the card.

We were thinking along the same lines as you and during our initial consolation asked our attorney if we could pay using our HELOC and he said no way.

[ForumReader]

Just read the thread. To the OP, sorry this happened to you. I agree with some of the posters about your attorney. It sounds to me she misinformed you. She should not have let you use your card to put her fees on it. However, it does not mean your debt won't be discharged, just this particular debt. Your lawyer should have advised you to stop using cards and wait several months, put money aside to build up in order to pay your lawyer's fees. Despite this mess, I hope your 341 goes well as it can be. Keep us posted.