credit card interest increases

[gak555]

I am planning ahead for what looks to be an inevitable bankruptcy. Yes, I am robbing Peter to pay Paul. Right now my payments are current, but that will change when this Micky Mouse game I am playing comes to a screeching halt.

Should I buy a replacement (new) vehicle now while my credit is good ( I plan on reafirming that debt). My current vehicvle has mucho miles on it.

Secondly, I was thinking of doing the maximum cash advances available to me now. I'm not planning on filing for at least 6 months and what concerns me is what I read in a different thread. A gentleman indicated that his credit card companies arbitrarily raised their interest rates to close to 30% because of his high debt,even though he was current on his payments. In addition, some of the cards lowered their credit limit. I'm just trying to keep my float going for as long as possible before I file.

Any feedback ?

[aa06a47]

I am planning ahead for what looks to be an inevitable bankruptcy. Yes, I am robbing Peter to pay Paul. Right now my payments are current, but that will change when this Micky Mouse game I am playing comes to a screeching halt.

Should I buy a replacement (new) vehicle now while my credit is good ( I plan on reafirming that debt). My current vehicvle has mucho miles on it.

Secondly, I was thinking of doing the maximum cash advances available to me now. I'm not planning on filing for at least 6 months and what concerns me is what I read in a different thread. A gentleman indicated that his credit card companies arbitrarily raised their interest rates to close to 30% because of his high debt,even though he was current on his payments. In addition, some of the cards lowered their credit limit. I'm just trying to keep my float going for as long as possible before I file.

Any feedback ?

I don't think I would do the max cash advances because you will have to explain where that money went more than likely.....but I would plan on a new car purchase if you need to do so. I have heard many do this the day before they file.

I had 3 credit card company's now raise my rate from single digits to between 25% to 30.4%. I was late by 1 day on one payment and it was with Chase...they jumped on that quickly, and for some reason Citi did the same thing. There greed will get them nothing more than a letter saying sorry, but this dude is bankrupt. In all honesty, had my rates stayed low, and my payments not double, tripple, quadruple...ect.... I would of stayed a slave to them the rest of my life. I think if they show up for the creditors meeting, I will thank them for making me realize how far in debt I had become. That will chap there asses.

[notme]

If you know that you are going to file bankruptcy even if you are going to wait the 6months, doing cash advances is not a good idea, that would be considered fraud and I would not recommend it.

[FoolAndHisMoney]

I am planning ahead for what looks to be an inevitable bankruptcy. Yes, I am robbing Peter to pay Paul. Right now my payments are current, but that will change when this Micky Mouse game I am playing comes to a screeching halt.

Should I buy a replacement (new) vehicle now while my credit is good ( I plan on reafirming that debt). My current vehicvle has mucho miles on it.

Secondly, I was thinking of doing the maximum cash advances available to me now. I'm not planning on filing for at least 6 months and what concerns me is what I read in a different thread. A gentleman indicated that his credit card companies arbitrarily raised their interest rates to close to 30% because of his high debt,even though he was current on his payments. In addition, some of the cards lowered their credit limit. I'm just trying to keep my float going for as long as possible before I file.

Any feedback ?

The vehicle may not be a bad idea as long as the monthly payments are in line with the IRS means test standards for your area. Once you are thinking of bankruptcy it would certainly be fraud if you use any credit cards again. If you need money and think you may file then just stop using any credit cards. Now that you are thinking of it just destroy the cards and get used to not having them.

[gacreditguy]

gak55, sounds like I may the guy you were talking about above.. The cc companies raised my rates to almost 30% because I was less than one day late on a payment past October.. Payment was due by 1PM and I paid them around 4PM that afternoon!! No laws to protect us form the cc companies and their infamous rate jacking..

I too was in the same shoes you are.. All of my payments were current and I was doing everything I could to make it happen and get my debts paid off. However, when the cc comapnies started I knew right then I was going to then loose the battle and I knew it was only a matter of time before things started crashing.

It was a VERY hard decision for me to decide to file BK and even though I went through sleepless nights and even some depression, I can tell you that i KNOW that I made the right decision. It is not one to be taken lightly, but if you know that you too are in a loosing battle do something about it now while your credit is still good and those payments are on time because there is not need to have numerous late payment AND a bk on your report..

I filed BK7-No Asset on 1/29 and had my 341 meeting on 3/6. I signed up fro TrueCredit so I can monitor all three reports. THe BK has appeared on all three and I have seen overall revolving balances go from $49k to only $3k as of today.. Yes, my scores have dropped but only by about 30 points so far and there are a lot of innacuracies at this time but I will wait to start cleaning until after discharge and closure..

The people here are GREAT and we will give you all of the advise and support you could ever need. We can tell you and truly mean it when we say "we know how you feel"....

Don't put off the inevitable.

[fellowpoorman]

Planning on cash advances and filing bankruptcy, well anyway you cut it that is Fraud, I know we all must do what we must to survive in this world, be careful they say 90 days, but that doesn't mean you won't have troubles, simply put if you have to file then file, drive a junker for a year, by the way I am just 20 days past my 341, 40 to go, and I have already had 2 credit card offers, and for decent rates, anyway spring is almost here and you won't need a car thats 4wd or fancy in any way , ifi your poor and struggling, get a junker, noone is laughing at you, spend within your means, and be honest in your BR petition. Good luck

[aa06a47]

Planning on cash advances and filing bankruptcy, well anyway you cut it that is Fraud, I know we all must do what we must to survive in this world, be careful they say 90 days, but that doesn't mean you won't have troubles, simply put if you have to file then file, drive a junker for a year, by the way I am just 20 days past my 341, 40 to go, and I have already had 2 credit card offers, and for decent rates, anyway spring is almost here and you won't need a car thats 4wd or fancy in any way , ifi your poor and struggling, get a junker, noone is laughing at you, spend within your means, and be honest in your BR petition. Good luck

I agreen, don't make the mistake of cash advances. It is a problem you don't want to have to worry about when you go. My attorney has told me not to worry, however, I still do worry some (I wasn't planning bk when I took them by the way).

BTW, what was you planning on doing with the max cash advances? Stuff the money in a pillow?

[SinkingFast]

I wouldn't even go there on the cash advances.

We had lines of credit still available on all our cards. It's taken 3 missed payments, late fees, and increased interest rates to eat what was left on some of them. Most of our CC's didn't even jump the interest rates the first month we missed. Some of our CC's haven't even reported us late to the CRA's yet, which I find truly amazing.

If you max out your lines of credit, you'll be in much worse shape than that when you miss the first payment.

Not to mention, knowing you're going to file, and taking the cash against the CC's being fraud.

[fellowpoorman]

True, I've done the CA's too, mine were to pay my bills, lots of us know about that, filing was the last thing I ever wanted to do, but was inevitable. If you are are thinking about it just do it DO NOT CASH ADVANCE NOW! Don't plan on 6 months or whatever , admit the time has come, You won't beat these people, by hoping for a windfall and saying if it doesn't happen I'll just go bankrupt, they have rights too remember. Cut the cards uo , don't cash their checks( by the way they want you too, because they know you are in trouble , by your credit report which they do monitor , they know your debt, total debt, making minimum payments, cash advances, they know your spending habits, how much you make cuz they know you social security number, and I am sure your lowering credit score, they are the enemy! and treat it that way) CUT YOUR CARDS, Anything you charge within 90 days prior to filing, may be 60, IS NOT DISCHARGEABLE!!!!

[aa06a47]

What is not dischargable is luxury goods purchased 90 days prior and cash advances 70 days prior. I think once you see an attorney is when you should absolutly stop the use of cards, but under no circumstances should you make large purchases. I think groceries, gas for the car, medical stuff, won't get you in hot water, but that is just an opinion. The best thing to do is to just quit using them. If your going to starve by not using them, use them only for what is necessary.

[annikasaunt]

Don't use the cards...stop paying your creditors. I use the money I normally would send to creditors to pay for living expenses. I track everything and save every receipt. I am on a strictly cash only basis now. And let me tell you that it feels so good!! There is too much worry with credit cards and it never goes away. I think we'll be filing within the next couple of weeks. All the paperwork is being finalized next Monday at the attys office so hopefully we'll be on our way to a little financial freedom. Scary but exciting at the same time.

[keepmine]

Getting a newer car with a reasonable payment is a good idea.
The very second you decide to file, quit using those cards.
Large cash advances even 6 months prior to filing will get a look from your creditors. If the advances are outside the normal activity on the account their argument will be you were insolvent at the time and filing past the 70 day window was a deliberate attempt to circumvent the code. They'll claim the filing was a deliberate attempt to hinder or delay creditors. For sure, if Amex, MBNA or, Chase are your creditors be careful. Here and on a couple of other sites they pop up in adversarial proceedings.

[down @ out]

bankrutpcy planning

have to say you raise some good points. About 7 months before I filed my bankruptcy in October 05, before the law changed, I bought a new automobile. My jeep had 135,000 miles on it and I could see she didn`t have long to live. Anyway I had good credit and bought and good new automobile at 2.9% financing. That has turned about to be a good decision because the way the law works having that monthly payment really allowed my bankruptcy to go through without a hitch. My payment is $425.00 a month. Anyway in my district I was able to keep the vehicle by keeping the payments current and I didn`t have to re-affirm the debt. Not sure what you have to do now. Anyway after the bankruptcy I visited the fellow who sold me the car and was told that If I had waited to buy that car till now my interest rate would be 25% and a monthly payment of around 725-775 a month. So for me the purchase made a lot of sense. It helped with the bankruptcy and I have a reliable vehicle that will get me by until my credit gets back.

The cash advances is a different matter. I would say do what you have to do to survive. Just keep in mind what the laws are.

One final thing. Spend a lot of time educating yourself about the bankruptcy laws. By the time you file you need to understand exactly what you are doing and adopt stategies that work for you. Remember you are getting yourself into a den of thieves. Attorneys, trustees and assorted evil folks. All of them are trying to make money off of you. Not to speak of the cc companies and all the other folks who could care less.

Before I filed, I filed pro-se, I spent at least 200 hours studying the laws, visiting bankruptcy 341 hearings so by the time the process started I knew how to play the game. And it is a game. I spoke with several attorneys and frankly found them worthless and dangerous. You should view bankruptcy as a job. Learn it.

Good luck

[keepmine]

visiting bankruptcy 341 hearings so by the time the process started I knew

Good advice. I used a lawyer and that's how I found her-going to some 341 meetings. She filed a bunch of bk cases and her clients cases were well prepared and they sailed right through.

[aa06a47]

Getting a newer car with a reasonable payment is a good idea.
The very second you decide to file, quit using those cards.
Large cash advances even 6 months prior to filing will get a look from your creditors. If the advances are outside the normal activity on the account their argument will be you were insolvent at the time and filing past the 70 day window was a deliberate attempt to circumvent the code. They'll claim the filing was a deliberate attempt to hinder or delay creditors. For sure, if Amex, MBNA or, Chase are your creditors be careful. Here and on a couple of other sites they pop up in adversarial proceedings.

greeeeeeeat...Amex, MBNA, and Chase are my big 3.